hopeful backdrop

Movies with hopeful vibe

301. Robots

Robots
Animation Comedy Family Science Fiction Family Animation
6.4
20051h 30minUnited States
Director: Chris Wedge

Overview

Rodney Copperbottom is a young robot inventor who dreams of making the world a better place, until the evil Ratchet takes over Bigweld Industries. Now, Rodney's dreams – and those of his friends – are in danger of becoming obsolete.

Themes

Spare parts inequity, Greed versus need, Community resilience, Outsider alliance, Leadership restoration, Corporate deception, Innovation versus obsolescence

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

302. Because of Winn-Dixie

Because of Winn-Dixie
Family Comedy Drama Animal Companion Family Family Drama
6.4
20051h 46minUnited States
Director: Wayne Wang

Overview

A girl, abandoned by her mother when she was three, moves to a small town in Florida with her father. There, she adopts an orphaned dog she names Winn-Dixie. The bond between the girl and her special companion brings together the people in a small Florida town and heals her own troubled relationship with her father.

Themes

Community healing, Parental resilience, Animal companionship, Absence and longing, Small-town kindness, Friendship across divides

Available on

Disney Plus
Amazon Video
Apple TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

303. The Place Promised in Our Early Days

The Place Promised in Our Early Days
Animation Adventure Drama Romance Anime
6.8
20041h 30minJapan
Director: Makoto Shinkai

Overview

In a post-war alternative timeline, Japan is divided into the North, controlled by the Union, and the South, controlled by the United States. A mysterious high tower rises within the borders of the Union. Three high school students promise to cross the border with a self-built airplane and unravel the secret of the tower.

Themes

Loyalty and betrayal, Identity under pressure, Memory vs reality, Technology and power, Occupation and resistance, Ethical warfare and manipulation

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
HBO Max
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

304. Saving Face

Saving Face
Comedy Romance Drama Romantic Comedy Family Drama
7.4
20041h 37minUnited States
Director: Alice Wu

Overview

A Chinese-American lesbian and her traditionalist mother are reluctant to go public with secret loves that clash against cultural expectations.

Themes

Intergenerational conflict, Cross-cultural romance, Cultural expectation vs desire, Closet vs outness, Family concealment and revelation, Parental pressure in romance

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
fuboTV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

305. If Only

If Only
Drama Romance Fantasy Bittersweet Romance Tragic Drama
7.0
20041h 32minUnited Kingdom, United States
Director: Gil Junger

Overview

After his impetuous musician girlfriend, Samantha, dies in an accident shortly after they had a fight (and nearly broke up), Ian Wyndham, a grief-stricken British businessman living in London gets a chance to relive the day all over again, in the hope of changing the events that led up to her getting killed.

Themes

Memory shaping identity, Grief and coping, Devotion under pressure, Time loop and agency, Love vs ambition, Creative pursuit vs relationship

Available on

Amazon Video
fuboTV
The Roku Channel
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

306. Tokyo Godfathers

Tokyo Godfathers
Animation Drama Comedy Anime Dark Comedy
7.8
20031h 32minJapan
Director: Satoshi Kon

Overview

On Christmas Eve, three homeless people living on the streets of Tokyo discover a newborn baby among the trash and set out to find its parents.

Themes

Homelessness and care, Kidnapping and deception, Family estrangement, Search for parental ties, Chosen family bonds

Available on

Apple TV
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

307. The Miracle of Bern

The Miracle of Bern
Drama Comedy Sports Competition
6.7
20031h 58minGermany
Director: Sönke Wortmann

Overview

The movie deals with the championship-winning German soccer team of 1954. Its story is linked with two others: The family of a young boy is split due to the events in World War II, and the father returns from Russia after eleven years. The second story is about a reporter and his wife reporting from the tournament.

Themes

Football as social glue, Coach selection bias, Family reintegration tension, Political divide within family, War memory shaping identity, Economic miracle symbolism

Available on

Amazon Video
blue TV
Apple TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

308. Under the Tuscan Sun

Under the Tuscan Sun
Romance Comedy Romantic Comedy
6.8
20031h 53minUnited States
Director: Audrey Wells

Overview

After a rough divorce, Frances, a 35-year-old professor and writer from San Francisco takes a tour of Tuscany at the urgings of her friends. On a whim she buys Bramasole, a run down villa in the Tuscan countryside and begins to piece her life together starting with the villa and finds that life sometimes has unexpected ways of giving her everything she wanted.

Themes

Reinvention through relocation, Home renovation as healing, Cross-cultural friendship, Divorce resilience, Belonging through community, Love after heartbreak, Independence and self-discovery

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

309. Monsieur Ibrahim

Monsieur Ibrahim
Drama Coming-of-Age Drama
7.3
20031h 31minFrance
Director: François Dupeyron

Overview

Paris, 1960s. Momo, a resolute and independent Jewish teenager who lives with his father, a sullen and depressed man, in a working-class neighborhood, develops a close friendship with Monsieur Ibrahim, an elderly Muslim who owns a small grocery store.

Themes

Class inequality, Economic precarity, Found family, Mentorship across cultures, Belonging and identity, Spiritual resilience

Available on

Amazon Video
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

310. Piglet's Big Movie

Piglet's Big Movie
Animation Family Family Animation Animal Companion Family
6.1
20031h 19minUnited States
Director: Francis Glebas

Overview

When the gang from the Hundred Acre Wood begin a honey harvest, young Piglet is excluded and told that he is too small to help. Feeling inferior, Piglet disappears and his pals Eeyore, Rabbit, Tigger, Roo and Winnie the Pooh must use Piglet's scrapbook as a map to find him. In the process they discover that this very small animal has been a big hero in a lot of ways.

Themes

Loyalty under pressure, Belonging under exclusion, Heroism through small acts, Teamwork over misperception, Memory as navigation, Shared storytelling as guidance

Available on

Disney Plus
Amazon Video
Apple TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.