PickYourBinge

Best Feel-Good Movies for Fall (2025)

Cozy, uplifting, rewatchable. From modern comfort watches to timeless classics, this is our ranked guide to the best feel‑good movies for a fall night in—complete with critic scores and where to stream.

Shorter days, warmer drinks, happier movies. These picks deliver heart, humor, and catharsis—perfect for the fall vibe.

1. Paddington 2 (2017)

Paddington, now happily settled with the Browns, picks up a series of odd jobs to buy the perfect present for his Aunt Lucy, but it is stolen.

IMDb 7.8 Rotten Tomatoes 99%

Streaming on:

Starring: Ben Whishaw, Sally Hawkins, Hugh Bonneville

Directed by: Paul King

2. Coco (2017)

Despite his family’s baffling generations-old ban on music, Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz. Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead following a mysterious chain of events. Along the way, he meets charming trickster Hector, and together, they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel's family history.

IMDb 8.4 Rotten Tomatoes 97%

Streaming on: Disney Plus

Starring: Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt

Directed by: Lee Unkrich

3. Good Will Hunting (1997)

Headstrong yet aimless, Will Hunting has a genius-level IQ but chooses to work as a janitor at MIT. When he secretly solves highly difficult graduate-level math problems, his talents are discovered by Professor Gerald Lambeau, who decides to help the misguided youth reach his potential. When Will is arrested for attacking a police officer, Professor Lambeau makes a deal to get leniency for him if he gets court-ordered therapy. Eventually, therapist Dr. Sean Maguire helps Will confront the demons that are holding him back.

IMDb 8.3 Rotten Tomatoes 97%

Streaming on: MGM Plus

Starring: Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck

Directed by: Gus Van Sant

4. Spirited Away (2001)

A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.

IMDb 8.6 Rotten Tomatoes 96%

Streaming on: HBO Max, HBO Max Amazon Channel

Starring: Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino, Mari Natsuki

Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki

5. The Princess Bride (1987)

In this enchantingly cracked fairy tale, the beautiful Princess Buttercup and the dashing Westley must overcome staggering odds to find happiness amid six-fingered swordsmen, murderous princes, Sicilians and rodents of unusual size. But even death can't stop these true lovebirds from triumphing.

IMDb 8.0 Rotten Tomatoes 96%

Streaming on: Disney Plus

Starring: Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin

Directed by: Rob Reiner

6. Sing Street (2016)

A boy growing up in Dublin during the 1980s escapes his strained family life by starting a band to impress the mysterious girl he likes.

IMDb 7.9 Rotten Tomatoes 95%

Streaming on: Netflix

Starring: Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Lucy Boynton, Jack Reynor

Directed by: John Carney

Poster of The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

7. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

The Grand Budapest Hotel tells of a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars and his friendship with a young employee who becomes his trusted protégé. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting, the battle for an enormous family fortune and the slow and then sudden upheavals that transformed Europe during the first half of the 20th century.

IMDb 8.1 Rotten Tomatoes 92%

Streaming on:

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Mathieu Amalric

Directed by: Wes Anderson

8. School of Rock (2003)

Fired from his band and hard up for cash, guitarist and vocalist Dewey Finn finagles his way into a job as a fifth-grade substitute teacher at a private school, where he secretly begins teaching his students the finer points of rock 'n' roll. The school's hard-nosed principal is rightly suspicious of Finn's activities. But Finn's roommate remains in the dark about what he's doing.

IMDb 7.2 Rotten Tomatoes 92%

Streaming on: Hulu, Paramount Plus, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel

Starring: Jack Black, Joan Cusack, Mike White

Directed by: Richard Linklater

9. La La Land (2016)

Mia, an aspiring actress, serves lattes to movie stars in between auditions and Sebastian, a jazz musician, scrapes by playing cocktail party gigs in dingy bars, but as success mounts they are faced with decisions that begin to fray the fragile fabric of their love affair, and the dreams they worked so hard to maintain in each other threaten to rip them apart.

IMDb 8.0 Rotten Tomatoes 91%

Streaming on: Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads, MovieSphere+ Amazon Channel

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, John Legend

Directed by: Damien Chazelle

10. Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

A family loaded with quirky, colorful characters piles into an old van and road trips to California for little Olive to compete in a beauty pageant.

IMDb 7.8 Rotten Tomatoes 91%

Streaming on:

Starring: Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell

Directed by: Valerie Faris

11. Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

An American-born Chinese economics professor accompanies her boyfriend to Singapore for his best friend's wedding, only to get thrust into the lives of Asia's rich and famous.

IMDb 6.9 Rotten Tomatoes 91%

Streaming on:

Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh

Directed by: Jon M. Chu

12. Amélie (2001)

At a tiny Parisian café, the adorable yet painfully shy Amélie accidentally discovers a gift for helping others. Soon Amelie is spending her days as a matchmaker, guardian angel, and all-around do-gooder. But when she bumps into a handsome stranger, will she find the courage to become the star of her very own love story?

IMDb 8.3 Rotten Tomatoes 90%

Streaming on:

Starring: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus

Directed by: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

13. Dead Poets Society (1989)

At an elite, old-fashioned boarding school in New England, a passionate English teacher inspires his students to rebel against convention and seize the potential of every day, courting the disdain of the stern headmaster.

IMDb 8.1 Rotten Tomatoes 84%

Streaming on:

Starring: Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke

Directed by: Peter Weir

Poster of Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

14. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

After high school slacker Ferris Bueller successfully fakes an illness in order to skip school for the day, he goes on a series of adventures throughout Chicago with his girlfriend Sloane and best friend Cameron, all the while trying to outwit his wily school principal and fed-up sister.

IMDb 7.8 Rotten Tomatoes 83%

Streaming on: Netflix, AMC Plus Apple TV Channel , AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+ Roku Premium Channel, AMC+, AMC, Philo

Starring: Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara

Directed by: John Hughes

15. Forrest Gump (1994)

A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.

IMDb 8.8 Rotten Tomatoes 75%

Streaming on: Hulu, Philo

Starring: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise

Directed by: Robert Zemeckis

16. The Intouchables ()

A true story of two men who should never have met – a quadriplegic aristocrat who was injured in a paragliding accident and a young man from the projects.

IMDb 8.5 Rotten Tomatoes 75%

Streaming on:

Starring:

Directed by: Collin D'Cunha

17. Legally Blonde (2001)

Fashionable sorority queen Elle Woods has it all, but, she wants nothing more than to be Mrs. Warner Huntington III. But he dumps her before heading to Harvard Law School. Elle rallies all of her resources and gets into Harvard, determined to win him back. While there, she figures out that there is more to herself than just good looks.

IMDb 6.5 Rotten Tomatoes 72%

Streaming on:

Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, Selma Blair

Directed by: Robert Luketic

18. About Time (2013)

The night after another unsatisfactory New Year's party, Tim's father tells his son that the men in his family have always had the ability to travel through time. They can't change history, but they can change what happens and has happened in their own lives. Thus begins the start of a lesson in learning to appreciate life itself as it is, as it comes, and most importantly, the people living alongside us.

IMDb 7.8 Rotten Tomatoes 71%

Streaming on:

Starring: Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy

Directed by: Richard Curtis

Poster of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

19. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

A timid magazine photo manager who lives life vicariously through daydreams embarks on a true-life adventure when a negative goes missing.

IMDb 7.3 Rotten Tomatoes 52%

Streaming on: Hulu

Starring: Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Sean Penn

Directed by: Ben Stiller

20. Chef (2024)

An enigmatic chef turns a small, austere bathroom into his peculiar kitchen. With unusual creativity, the chef transforms the sink into his work area, where a unique culinary process begins: instead of cooking, he uncooks. He takes some cooked noodles and, by dipping them in boiling water, returns them to their raw state. This process culminates when the chef presents his final work to a terrifying customer, revealing his mastery of reverse culinary art that defies all expectations.

IMDb 6.1 Rotten Tomatoes N/A

Streaming on:

Starring: Mateo Blondont

Directed by: Francisco Quintana

We weighted Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb, then considered cultural impact, rewatchability, and general feel‑good factor. Availability reflects the US catalog at publish time.