Genre: Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Actor: Kim Sang-joong, Lee Ha-nee, Lee Jong-won, Lee Ki-woo, Park Se-hyun
Director: Jang Tae-yoo
Seeking that warm, fuzzy feeling? There’s a time and place for drama, but other times we just need stories that melt the heart. Here are the best heart-warming movies and shows to stream now.
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Actor: Kim Sang-joong, Lee Ha-nee, Lee Jong-won, Lee Ki-woo, Park Se-hyun
Director: Jang Tae-yoo
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Actor: Aasif Mandvi, Adrian Martinez, Alan Aisenberg, Ato Blankson-Wood, Bernard White, Billy McFadden, Dana DeVestern, Daniel London, Emma Roberts, Jared Goldstein, Jeremy Davies, Jim Gaffigan, Karen Chilton, Keir Gilchrist, Lauren Graham, Leo Allen, Lou Myers, Macintyre Dixon, Matthew Maher, Molly Hager, Morgan Murphy, Roddy Skeaping, Rosalyn Coleman, Stewart Steinberg, Thomas Mann, Viola Davis, Zach Galifianakis, Zoë Kravitz, Zoe Kravitz
Director: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Genre: Animation, Drama, War
Actor: Alex Jordan, Brenda Blethyn, Duncan Wisbey, Gillian Hanna, Harry Collett, Jim Broadbent, June Brown, Luke Treadaway, Pam Ferris, Peter Wight, Raymond Briggs, Roger Allam, Simon Day, Virginia McKenna
Director: Roger Mainwood
The Murder Case of Hana & Alice is a charming and whimsical anime film that tells the story of two teenage girls who team up to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a classmate. The film is beautifully animated in a rotoscoped style giving it a unique and dreamlike quality. Hana and Alice, who is new to the town, decide to team up to solve the case.
Part mystery, part coming-of-age story, and part slice-of-life make for a refreshing and unpredictable viewing experience as the film commits itself to each. The cast makes the story funny and heartwarming with their well-timed quips and well-written dialogue. This is a truly unique and enjoyable animated film about a beautiful friendship budding most unexpectedly.
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Actor: Anne Suzuki, Haru Kuroki, Kaku Tomohiro, Midoriko Kimura, Ranran Suzuki, Ryo Katsuji, Sei Hiraizumi, Shoko Aida, Tae Kimura, Tomohiro Kaku, Yu Aoi
Director: Shunji Iwai
There’s a natural competitive thrill to this chronicle of the 1999 Scripps National Spelling Bee and eight of its bright young participants, but Spellbound has more than an edge-of-your-seat pull going for it. For one, there’s its holistic approach to profiling the competitors: director Jeffrey Blitz makes this as much a portrait of the village that raises these kids by interviewing their proud families and supportive communities. We get intimate snapshots of each of their disparate young lives, which together represent a cross-section of American society: from Angela — the self-taught daughter of Mexican ranchers who don’t speak English — to Neil, whose parents employ an army of tutors to prepare him for the oncoming “war.”
Spellbound ultimately sees the good in everyone — even the pushiest parents — and charitably foregrounds the obvious love and pride they all have for their kid geniuses, no matter what happens. What’s even more impressive, though, is the inspiring resilience and emotional intelligence of the young competitors themselves, some of whom have transcended deeply entrenched social inequalities to earn their place in the contest. Even those who don’t have a stirring backstory are nonetheless compelling characters (see: the delightful Harry), making Spellbound an alternately emotional, funny, and always gripping watch.
Genre: Documentary
Director: Jeffrey Blitz
You know how How to Train Your Dragon has a town terrified of dragons, but it turns out they’re actually cute? My Daemon has a similar situation, except this happens after a nuclear explosion, plenty of these monsters are still murderously terrifying, and even the cute ones are fairly creepy. But that doesn’t keep elementary schoolkid Kento Tachibana from adopting one, even as they get hunted down by bounty hunters. The bond between boy and his daemon is a heartwarming one, but the treatment between the various monsters questions the different ways we treat different animals, and whether or not we can successfully live alongside them. With its unique art style, it’s a totally stunning adventure, though with some creepy crawlies along the way.
Genre: Action & Adventure, Animation, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Actor: Ayane Sakura, Fumiko Orikasa, Jouji Nakata, Kokoro Kikuchi, Miyuri Shimabukuro
Bright, breezy, and refreshingly unburdened by the seriousness of so many live-action Superman shows and movies, this new animated series wipes the slate clean and boils down the titular hero to his most endearing qualities. Here, Clark Kent is still learning to be more in touch with his identity and emotions—most evident in his enigmatic flashbacks to his childhood, and in his absolute nervousness around the energetic and spontaneous Lois Lane. So while the action and the intrigue in My Adventures with Superman are still somewhat ordinary for an animated series, the undeniable, bashful chemistry between its two leads is what keeps these adventures worth going on. It's a romcom and a coming-of-age story wrapped in a classic superhero adventure, where selflessness and courage are firmly at the heart of everything.
Genre: Action & Adventure, Animation, Family, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Actor: Alice Lee, Ishmel Sahid, Jack Quaid
Just like with his mentor and contemporary, Fred Rogers, there are no dark secrets to Ernest Coombs' earnest belief in giving children the space to be gentle and creative. Even with relatively little "drama" throughout the life of the man called Mr. Dressup, it's still profoundly moving to see him put in the work to make the world a kinder place. Director Robert McCallum keeps this documentary exactly as straightforward as it needs to be, moving through Coombs's life with total reverence but plenty of modesty—making sure not to inflate the idea of Mr. Dressup into something Coombs himself would have disagreed with.
In its act of honoring this person with an everyman personality and a trunk full of quaint costumes, the film also serves as a tribute to low budget educational television. Working within a very small studio, with simple puppets and no strict script to follow, Coombs and his friends found any way possible to stick to their original idea of teaching very young kids that being kind and communicating one's feelings clearly were the best things one could achieve. Behind Mr. Dressup's softness is a remarkable work ethic, a deep respect for children, and a commitment to thoughtful, universal values.
Genre: Documentary, Family
Actor: Andrew Phung, Bif Naked, Bruce McCulloch, Catherine Tait, Ed Robertson, Eric McCormack, Ernie Coombs, Fred Penner, Fred Rogers, Graham Greene, Jim Creeggan, Jim Parker, Jonathan Torrens, Judith Lawrence, Kevin Hearn, Lynn Coombs, Michael J. Fox, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Peter Mansbridge, Scott Thompson, Terry McManus, Trina McQueen, Tyler Stewart, Yannick Bisson
Director: Robert McCallum
This sensitive and elegantly crafted melodrama recognizes that a death in the family doesn't have to lead to the same expressions of mourning we expect from movies; there might not be any real sadness at all. But when different family members come together again and bring their own personal conflicts with them, suddenly everyone else's little griefs fill the space, and the road to recovery becomes even messier. Little Big Women understands all this with an understated touch and brilliant, naturalistic performances from its cast. It makes for a loving tribute to the generations of tough and complicated women who often hold a family together.
Genre: Drama, Family, Romance
Actor: Buffy Chen, Chang Han, Chen Shu-fang, Chen Yan-Fei, Chia-Kuei Chen, Ding Ning, Grace Chen Shu-Fang, Han Chang, Honduras, Hsieh Ying Shiuan, Hsieh Ying-xuan, Janine Chang, Lung Shao-Hua, Sara Yu, Siu Wa Lung, Sun Ke-Fang, Vivian Hsu, Weber Yang
Director: Joseph Chen-Chieh Hsu, Joseph Hsu
When your dad is single, and he isn’t in a relationship with someone else, naturally, a kid would wonder about their real biological mother. Hi Nanna is a take on this familiar tale, though Shouryuv’s directorial debut makes it feel brand new by telling the love story in a way a father would tell his daughter– mindful of the audience, so slightly embellished, but no less sweet. By doing so, it makes the viewers yearn for the lost love before raising our hopes and revealing the possibility of getting it back, especially with the natural chemistry of Nani and the striking Mrunal Thakur.
Genre: Drama, Family, Romance
Actor: Angad Bedi, Baby Kiara Khanna, Jayaram, Mrunal Thakur, Nani, Nassar, Neha Sharma, Priyadarshi Pullikonda, Shilpa Tulaskar, Shruti Haasan
Director: Shouryuv
This lovely comedy-romance from Ireland is about a closeted gay teen and his lesbian schoolmate who pretend to be in a relationship to avoid being bullied at their school.
This premise makes Dating Amber an original story in a genre in which that's increasingly rare. This is added to the setting, in 1995 rural Ireland, which is executed to gorgeous perfection in everything from the clothes to the music.
Dating Amber ends up being more coming-of-age than a comedy-romance. It's a tale of friendship and self-acceptance.
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Actor: Adam Carolan, Ally Ni Chiarain, Anastasia Blake, Andrew Bennett, Arian Nik, Art Campion, Barry Ward, Corey Millar, Emma Willis, Eva O'Connor, Evan O'Connor, Fionn O'Shea, Fionn O'Shea, Ian O'Reilly, Ian O'Reilly, Jonny Woo, Karl Rice, Lauryn Canny, Lola Petticrew, Peter Campion, Sharon Horgan, Shauna Higgins, Simone Kirby, Tara Flynn
Director: David Freyne
Directed by Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda, the Korean film Broker is a simple but tender story about chosen family. It follows Moon So-young (IU), a young mother who decides to drop her baby off at a church, seemingly for good. But when So-young decides to return for the child, she discovers that he’s been stolen by two brokers who’ve put the baby up for adoption on the black market. She joins them in the hopes of meeting her child’s prospective new parents (and staking a claim at the payment) but the more they spend time with each other, acting like a real family on the road as they do, the more it becomes real for her, and the more she feels conflicted about the decision she’s about to make.
As with any Hirokazu Koreeda film, Broker is an affecting, empathetic story that succeeds at humanizing its misunderstood cast of characters. Admittedly, it’s not the best Koreeda movie out there, even when the category is narrowed down to stories about found families (the best in that regard would be his 2018 film Shoplifters). And Koreeda fans will find Broker somewhat scrubbed and Disney-fied for a larger crowd, lacking the edge that his previous Japanese films had. But it is undeniably heartwarming and beautiful. The road trip setup allows the characters to build their rapport naturally, and the warm crisp tones capture the seabreeze ease of the film. Regardless of your view on Koreeda, Broker is well worth a watch.
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Actor: Bae Doona, Baek Hyun-jin, Bek Hyun-jin, Choi Hee-jin, Choi Hui-jin, Gang Dong-won, IU, Jeong Jong-yeol, Jong Ho, Jung Ji-woo, Kang Gil-woo, Kim Do-yeon, Kim Keum-soon, Kim Sae-byuk, Kim Soo-hyeon, Kim Sun-young, Kim Yae-eun, Lee Dong-hwi, Lee Doo-seok, Lee Ga-kyung, Lee Joo-young, Lee Moo-saeng, Lee Mu-saeng, Lim Seung-soo, Oh Hee-joon, Oh Hee-jun, Park Hae-jun, Park Kang-seop, Park Kang-sup, Ryu Kyung-soo, Seong Yu-bin, Song Kang-ho, Song Sae-byuk, Yun Seul
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Although (or because) it lacks structure and specific insights into death from the perspective of children, Beautiful Something Left Behind emphasizes what it believes is the more important thing to keep in mind when talking to kids. One cannot impose an adult's perspective on the way children choose to process their feelings, but one can and should be able to provide a protected space for those kids to speak freely. It's an incredibly kind film, one that fully believes that young people are already fully formed "characters" whose ignorance about the world isn't seen as a flaw nor as innocence to be romanticized.
Genre: Documentary
Director: Katrine Philp
Genre: Animation, Drama
Actor: Eriko Matsui, Haruka Shiraishi, Hiroki Touchi, Makoto Furukawa, Naoya Uchida, Ryoko Shiraishi, Takuma Terashima, Yoshino Nanjo
Genre: Drama, Romance
Actor: Brenda Lo, Cherie Chung, Chow Yun-fat, Danny Bak-Keung Chan, Danny Chan Bak-Keung, George Gerard, Gigi Suk Yee Wong, Gigi Wong, Huang Man, Wu Fu-Sheng, Yun-Fat Chow
Director: Mabel Cheung