The Best Feel-good Movies on Prime Video

What it's about: An African prince decides it’s time for him to find a princess... and his mission leads him and his most loyal friend to Queens, New York. In disguise as an impoverished immigrant, the pampered prince quickly finds himself a new job, new friends, new digs, new enemies and lots of trouble.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: In the tradition of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” comes this refreshing comedy about a rebellious prankster with a crafty mind and a heart of gold. Rascal. Joker. Dreamer. Genius... You've never met a college student quite like "Rancho." From the moment he arrives at India's most prestigious university, Rancho's outlandish schemes turn the campus upside down—along with the lives of his two newfound best friends. Together, they make life miserable for "Virus," the school’s uptight and heartless dean. But when Rancho catches the eye of the dean's sexy daughter, Virus sets his sights on flunking out the "3 idiots" once and for all.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Google Play).

What it's about: Truman Burbank is the star of The Truman Show, a 24-hour-a-day reality TV show that broadcasts every aspect of his life without his knowledge. His entire life has been an unending soap opera for consumption by the rest of the world. And everyone he knows, including his wife and his best friend is really an actor, paid to be part of his life.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu, fuboTV & 1 other), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Royal Tenenbaum and his wife Etheline had three children and then they separated. All three children are extraordinary --- all geniuses. Virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums was subsequently erased by two decades of betrayal, failure, and disaster. Most of this was generally considered to be their father's fault. "The Royal Tenenbaums" is the story of the family's sudden, unexpected reunion one recent winter.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Born into a tight-knit wrestling family, Paige and her brother Zak are ecstatic when they get the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to try out for the WWE. But when only Paige earns a spot in the competitive training program, she must leave her loved ones behind and face this new cutthroat world alone. Paige's journey pushes her to dig deep and ultimately prove to the world that what makes her different is the very thing that can make her a star.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu, fuboTV & 1 other), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Pakistan-born comedian Kumail Nanjiani and grad student Emily Gardner fall in love but struggle as their cultures clash. When Emily contracts a mysterious illness, Kumail finds himself forced to face her feisty parents, his family's expectations, and his true feelings.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity. Based on the true story of Joseph Merrick (called John Merrick in the film), a severely deformed man in 19th century London.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PlutoTV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Kanopy & Paramount+) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A holiday favourite for generations... George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town is George's modest building and loan company. But on Christmas Eve the business's $8,000 is lost and George's troubles begin.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & TVision) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: An isolated lake, where an old monk lives in a small floating temple. The monk has a young boy living with him, learning to become a monk. We watch as seasons and years pass by.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & PlutoTV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Viktor Navorski is a man without a country; his plane took off just as a coup d'etat exploded in his homeland, leaving it in shambles, and now he's stranded at Kennedy Airport, where he's holding a passport that nobody recognizes. While quarantined in the transit lounge until authorities can figure out what to do with him, Viktor simply goes on living – and courts romance with a beautiful flight attendant.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu & Epix), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: When an alien takes the form of a young widow's husband and asks her to drive him from Wisconsin to Arizona, the government tries to stop them.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu, fuboTV & 1 other), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Set in the summer of 1984 – Margaret Thatcher is in power and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is on strike. At the Gay Pride March in London, a group of gay and lesbian activists decides to raise money to support the families of the striking miners. But there is a problem. The Union seems embarrassed to receive their support.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: New York City. Melvin Udall, a cranky, bigoted, obsessive-compulsive writer, finds his life turned upside down when neighboring gay artist Simon is hospitalized and his dog is entrusted to Melvin. In addition, Carol, the only waitress who will tolerate him, must leave work to care for her sick son, making it impossible for Melvin to eat breakfast.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu & Epix), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Inspired by a true story, a comedy centered on a 27-year-old guy who learns of his cancer diagnosis and his subsequent struggle to beat the disease.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu & Epix), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: An unknown middle-aged batter named Roy Hobbs with a mysterious past appears out of nowhere to take a losing 1930s baseball team to the top of the league.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hoopla) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: In this modern take on Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," Frank Cross (Bill Murray) is a wildly successful television executive whose cold ambition and curmudgeonly nature has driven away the love of his life, Claire Phillips (Karen Allen). But after firing a staff member, Eliot Loudermilk (Bobcat Goldthwait), on Christmas Eve, Frank is visited by a series of ghosts who give him a chance to re-evaluate his actions and right the wrongs of his past.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu & Epix), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A high school slacker who's rejected by every school he applies to opts to create his own institution of higher learning, the South Harmon Institute of Technology, on a rundown piece of property near his hometown.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: True story of the undersized Depression-era racehorse whose victories lifted not only the spirits of the team behind it but also those of their nation.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Peacock Premium) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: When David Greene receives a football scholarship to a prestigious prep school in the 1950s, he feels pressure to hide the fact that he is Jewish from his classmates and teachers, fearing that they may be anti-Semitic. He quickly becomes the big man on campus thanks to his football skills, but when his Jewish background is discovered, his worst fears are realized and his friends turn on him with violent threats and public ridicule.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Paramount+) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Out of Africa tells the story of the life of Danish author Karen Blixen, who at the beginning of the 20th century moved to Africa to build a new life for herself. The film is based on the autobiographical novel by Karen Blixen from 1937.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: The true story of a brilliant but politically radical debate team coach who uses the power of words to transform a group of underdog African-American college students into a historical powerhouse that took on the Harvard elite.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hulu) & rent or buy from $9.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: After an extremely regrettable one night stand, two strangers wake up to find themselves snowed in after sleeping through a blizzard that put all of Manhattan on ice. They're now trapped together in a tiny apartment, forced to get to know each other way more than any one night stand should.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Sheffield, England. Gaz, a jobless steelworker in need of quick cash persuades his mates to bare it all in a one-night-only strip show.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: The auto-biographical story of Howard Stern, the radio-rebel who is now also a TV-personality, an author and a movie star.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PlutoTV, Plex, PopcornFlix & 1 other), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, fuboTV & Paramount+) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: An ageing rock star decides to change his life when he discovers a 40-year-old letter written to him by John Lennon.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: With the help of their high school's newest teacher, four Hispanic students form a robotics club. Although they have no experience, the youths set their sights on a national robotics contest. With $800 and parts scavenged from old cars, they build a robot and compete against reigning champion MIT. Along the way, the students learn not only how to build a robot but something far more important: how to forge bonds that will last a lifetime.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, fuboTV & Epix), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Awkward teenager Charlie Bartlett has trouble fitting in at a new high school. Charlie needs some friends fast, and decides that the best way to find them is to appoint himself the resident psychiatrist. He becomes one of the most popular guys in school by doling out advice and, occasionally, medication, to the student body.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PlutoTV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hoopla) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A small Egyptian police band travels to Israel to play at the inaugural ceremony of an Arab arts center, only to find themselves stuck in the wrong town.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & PlutoTV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: As law enforcement officers, Adam Mitchell, Nathan Hayes, and their partners are confident and focused. They willingly stand up to the worst the streets have to offer. Yet at the end of the day, they face a challenge that none of them are truly prepared to tackle: fatherhood. They know that God desires to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, but their children are beginning to drift further and further away from them. When tragedy hits home, these men are left wrestling with their hopes, their fears, their faith, and their fathering. Can a new found urgency help these dads draw closer to God ... and to their children? COURAGEOUS is the fourth release of Sherwood Pictures, the movie making ministry of Sherwood Church in Albany, Georgia.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Hector is a quirky psychiatrist who has become increasingly tired of his humdrum life. As he tells his girlfriend, Clara, he feels like a fraud: he hasn’t really tasted life, and yet he’s offering advice to patients who are just not getting any happier. So Hector decides to break out of his deluded and routine driven life. Armed with buckets of courage and child-like curiosity, he embarks on a global quest in hopes of uncovering the elusive secret formula for true happiness. And so begins a larger than life adventure with riotously funny results.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PlutoTV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hoopla & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Four couples meet for Sunday brunch only to discover they are stuck in a house together as the world may be about to end.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A socially awkward teenage math prodigy finds new confidence and new friendships when he lands a spot on the British squad at the International Mathematics Olympiad.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hoopla & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $4.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: In the wake of their friends' marriages and eventual offspring, longtime pals Julie and Jason decide to have a child together without becoming a couple. By becoming "time-share" parents, they reason, they can experience the joys of parenthood without significantly curbing their personal freedom. However, when Julie and Jason both become involved with others, they discover that they secretly harbor romantic feelings for each other.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Epix), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: When an entire town in upstate New York is closed down by an unexpected snowfall, a "snow day" begins when a group of elementary school kids, led by Natalie Brandston, try to ensure that the schools stay closed by stopping a mechanical snowplow driver by trying to hijack his plow truck. Meanwhile, Natalie's big brother Hal is using this day to try to win the affections of Claire Bonner, the most popular girl in his high school, while Hal and Natalie's father Tom, a TV meteorologist, faces off against a rival meteorologist for weather coverage of the day's events.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Plex, PopcornFlix & Crackle), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, fuboTV & Paramount+) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Captures a generational moment - young people on the cusp of truly growing up, tiring of their reflexive cynicism, each in their own ways struggling to connect and define what it means to love and be loved. Six New Yorkers juggle love, friendship, and the keenly challenging specter of adulthood. Sam Wexler is a struggling writer who's having a particularly bad day. When a young boy gets separated from his family on the subway, Sam makes the questionable decision to bring the child back to his apartment and thus begins a rewarding, yet complicated, friendship. Sam's life revolves around his friends — Annie, whose self-image keeps her from commitment; Charlie and Mary Catherine, a couple whose possible move to Los Angeles tests their relationship; and Mississippi, a cabaret singer who catches Sam's eye.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Plex), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hoopla) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: After a fictitious marriage with a Russian emigrant, Cellisten Louka, a Czech man, must suddenly take responsibility for her son. However, it’s not long before the communication barrier is broken between the two new family members.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: Grace, a compassionate young supervisor at a foster care facility, helps at-risk teens. But when a new charge dredges up memories of her own troubled past, Grace's tough exterior begins eroding.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Peacock & 3 others), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Fandor, Hoopla & 1 other) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Despite grumpy 59 year-old Ove being deposed as president of his condominium association, but he keeps looking over the neighbourhood with an iron fist. When pregnant Parvaneh and her family move into the terraced house opposite Ove and she accidentally back into Ove’s mailbox, it sets off a series of unexpected changes in his life.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hoopla, Kanopy & 1 other) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Albert Einstein helps a young man who's in love with Einstein's niece to catch her attention by pretending temporarily to be a great physicist.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PlutoTV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Paramount+) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: This Canadian made comedy/drama, set in Hamilton, Ontario in 1954, is a sweet and - at times - goofy story that becomes increasingly poignant as the minutes tick by. It's the fictional tale of a wayward 9th grader, Ralph (Adam Butcher), who is secretly living on his own while his widowed, hospitalized mother remains immersed in a coma. Frequently in trouble with Father Fitzpatrick (Gordon Pinsent), the principal of his all-boys, Catholic school, Ralph is considered something of a joke among peers until he decides to pull off a miracle that could save his mother, i.e., winning the Boston Marathon. Coached by a younger priest and former runner, Father Hibbert (Campbell Scott), whose cynicism has been lifted by the boy's pure hope, Ralph applies himself to his unlikely mission, fending off naysayers and getting help along a very challenging path from sundry allies and friends.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hoopla & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Wallace, who is burned out from a string of failed relationships, forms an instant bond with Chantry, who lives with her longtime boyfriend. Together, they puzzle out what it means if your best friend is also the love of your life.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Dentist Bertram Pincus is a man whose people skills leave much to be desired. When he dies unexpectedly, but is miraculously revived after seven minutes, Pincus wakes up to discover that he now has the annoying ability to see ghosts.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PlutoTV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Paramount+) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A Chinese-American lesbian and her traditionalist mother are reluctant to go public with secret loves that clash against cultural expectations.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & PlutoTV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Respected lawyer, Henry Turner survives a convenience-store shooting only to find he has lost his memory, and has serious speech and mobility issues. After also losing his job—where he no longer 'fits in'—his loving wife and daughter give him all their love and support.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, fuboTV & Epix), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: The legendary true story of the Red Dog who united a disparate local community while roaming the Australian outback in search of his long lost master.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Vudu).

What it's about: The youngest son of an alcoholic former boxer returns home, where he's trained by his father for competition in a mixed martial arts tournament – a path that puts the fighter on a collision course with his estranged, older brother.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu, fuboTV & 1 other), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Eighties teenager Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time to 1955, inadvertently disrupting his parents' first meeting and attracting his mother's romantic interest. Marty must repair the damage to history by rekindling his parents' romance and - with the help of his eccentric inventor friend Doc Brown - return to 1985.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Philo, fuboTV & 1 other), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (AMC) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: An aspiring painter meets various characters and learns valuable lessons while traveling across America.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PlutoTV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Based on the long running play by Jang Jin, the story is set in Korea during the Korean War in 1950. Soldiers from both the North and South, as well as an American pilot, find themselves in a secluded and naively idealistic village, its residents unaware of the outside world, including the war.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 3 services (Google Play, YouTube & FandangoNOW).

What it's about: When his wealthy grandfather finally dies, Jason Stevens fully expects to benefit when it comes to the reading of the will. But instead of a sizable inheritance, Jason receives a test, a series of tasks he must complete before he can get any money.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Peacock & 1 other), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Dove Channel & Up Faith Family) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).