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20 best movies like It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

List of the best movies like It's a Wonderful Life (1946): Heaven is for Real, The Family Man, When Night Is Falling, Ordinary Love, Scent of a Woman, Wonder, Cemetery Junction, A Monster Calls, The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, Mon oncle Antoine.

Tags: movies similar to It's a Wonderful Life (1946) - full list

Markimdb: 5.8
Genredrama, family, biography
CountryUSA
Duration01:40
CharactersGods, Firefighters, Family, Priests, Parents
PlotOn real events, Supernatural, Religious, Life after death, Meaning of life
PlaceSmall cities
StyleTo cry, Inspirational, By books, Touching, Serious

Heaven is for Real recounts the true story of a small-town father who must find the courage and conviction to share his son's extraordinary, life-changing experience with the world. Four-year-old Colton shares the details of his amazing journey with childlike innocence and speaks matter-of-factly about things that happened before his birth... things he couldn't possibly know.

Markimdb: 6.8
Genrefantasy, comedy, melodrama, drama
CountryUSA
Duration02:05
CharactersAngels, Friends, Losers, Businessmen, Brides
PlotLove, Life, Fate, Family life
TimeNew Year
StyleTo cry, Cute, Inspirational, Soulful, Touching

Jack's lavish, fast-paced lifestyle changes one Christmas night when he stumbles into a grocery store holdup and disarms the gunman. The next morning he wakes up in bed lying next to Kate, his college sweetheart he left in order to pursue his career, and to the horrifying discovery that his former life no longer exists. As he stumbles through this alternate suburban universe, Jack finds himself at a crossroad where he must choose between his high-power career and the woman he loves.

Markimdb: 6.5
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryCanada
Duration01:34
CharactersLesbians, Angels, Family
PlotLove triangle, True love
PlaceCollege
TimeNew Year
StyleSoulful, Touching, Serious

A prudish woman, working on tenure as a literacy professor at a large urban university, finds herself strangely attracted to a free-spirited, liberal woman whom works at a local carnival which comes to town.

Markimdb: 6.6
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryUnited Kingdom
CharactersFamily
PlotLove, Survival, Money, Friendship, Cancer
PlaceHospitals
TimeNew Year
StyleRomantic, To cry, Philosophical, Fascinating, Heavy

An extraordinary look at the lives of a middle-aged couple in the midst of the wife's breast cancer diagnosis.

Markimdb: 8
Genredrama
CountryUSA
Duration02:36
CharactersFamily, Students, Disabled people, Friends, Blind
PlotLove, Time travel, Adventure, Relationship, Friendship
PlaceHotels, USA, New York
StyleTo cry, Inspirational, Fascinating, Explicit scenes, Touching

Charlie Simms is a student at a private preparatory school who comes from a poor family. To earn the money for his flight home to Gresham, Oregon for Christmas, Charlie takes a job over Thanksgiving looking after retired U.S. Army officer Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade, a cantankerous middle-aged man who lives with his niece and her family.

Markimdb: 8
Genredrama, family
CountryUSA, Hong Kong, Canada
Duration02:15
CharactersTeachers, Family, Pupils, Surgeons, Poor
PlotFight, Money, Friendship, Computers, Mystery
PlaceSchool, Beach, Hospitals, Summer camp, Lake
TimeHalloween
StyleAction, Light, Inspirational, Soulful, By books

The story of August Pullman – a boy with facial differences – who enters fifth grade, attending a mainstream elementary school for the first time.

Markimdb: 6.8
Genrecomedy, drama
CountryUnited Kingdom
Duration01:35
CharactersFamily, Friends
PlotFriendship
PlaceEngland, Small cities
StyleTo cry, Inspirational, Atmospheric, Smart, Touching

In 1970s England, three blue-collar friends spend their days joking, drinking, fighting and chasing girls. Freddie wants to leave their working-class world but cool, charismatic Bruce and lovable loser Snork are happy with life the way it is. When Freddie gets a new job as a door-to-door salesman and bumps into his old school sweetheart Julie, the gang are forced to make choices that will change their lives for ever.

Markimdb: 7.5
Genrefantasy, drama
CountryUnited Kingdom, Spain, USA
Duration02:30
CharactersMonsters, Giants, Family, Pupils, Terminally ill
PlotFriendship, Loneliness, Death, Depression, Cancer
PlaceSchool
StyleTo cry, Touching

A boy imagines a monster that helps him deal with his difficult life and see the world in a different way.

Markimdb: 6.4
Genrefamily
CountryUnited Kingdom
Duration01:31
CharactersFamily, Friends, Soldier
PlotFriendship
PlaceSmall cities
TimeNew Year
StyleTo cry, Gloomy, Touching, Serious

When a broken hearted boy loses the treasured wooden nativity set that links him to his dead father, his worried mother persuades a lonely ill-tempered woodcarver to create a replacement, and to allow her son to watch him work on it.

Markimdb: 7.5
Genredrama
CountryCanada
CharactersTeens, Friends
PlotFriendship, Family life
PlaceVillage, Canada, Small cities
TimeNew Year
StyleTo cry, Touching

Set in cold rural Quebec at Christmas time, we follow the coming of age of a young boy and the life of his family which owns the town's general store and undertaking business. Mon Oncle Antoine is Director Claude Jutra's masterpiece: A poignant, starkly honest, but humane film, shot through with authenticity from beginning to end. Realized with an unflagging artistic vision, Mon Oncle Antoine poetically portrays a young boy's coming of age, vividly capturing the Quebec mining town in which he lives.

Markimdb: 5.3
Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama, family
CountryUSA
Duration01:39
CharactersFamily, Friends
PlotTravel, Friendship, Holidays
PlaceCalifornia, Small cities, Los Angeles
StyleTo cry, Touching

Vada Sultenfuss has a holiday coming up, and an assignment: to do and essay on someone she admires and has never met. She decides she wants to do an assignment on her mother, but quickly realises she knows very little about her. She manages to get her father to agree to let her go to LA to stay with her Uncle Phil and do some research on her mother.

Markimdb: 7.5
Genrefantasy, comedy, drama
CountryUSA
Duration02:18
CharactersKnights, Heroes, Psychiatrists
PlotMagic, Friendship, Mental disorders, Depression, Radio
StyleInspirational, Touching

Two troubled men face their terrible destinies and events of their past as they join together on a mission to find the Holy Grail and thus to save themselves.

Markimdb: 6.2
Genrefantasy, melodrama, drama, family
CountryCanada, USA
CharactersFamily, Elves, Santa Claus
PlotLove, Friendship, Inheritance, Holidays, Rivalry
PlaceHotels, Small cities
TimeNew Year
StyleRomantic, Light, Soulful, Touching

A successful businesswoman, Mackenzie, inherits her beloved aunt's inn, and chooses to restore the hotel to its original grandeur only to sell it right before Christmas. Unbeknownst to Mackenzie, she receives some unexpected help from a team of elves headed by the cheerful Clementine, who helps Mackenzie rediscover the true meaning of Christmas.

Markimdb: 5.7
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryJapan
CharactersFamily
PlotLove, Obsession, Friendship, Fate
StyleRomantic, To cry, Soulful, Touching, By manga

Natsume Mochizuki works as a teen model in Tokyo, but she learns that she has to move to her father's hometown of Ukigumo. She is in a desperate situation because she can't do the things she wants to do in Ukigumo. One day, she meets Koichiro Hasegawa. He is the successor of the Hasegawa family. His family is wealthy and is respected in the area. Natsume Mochizuki and Koichiro Hasegawa become attracted to each other, but something changes their fate.

Markimdb: 6.7
Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama, family
CountryCanada
CharactersLawyers
PlotLove, Friendship, Fate, Competitions, Holidays
PlaceParty
TimeNew Year
StyleRomantic, Light, Cute, Touching

A chance meeting between two strangers who share a disdain for Christmas results in The Mistletoe Promise, a pact to help them navigate their holiday complications - together. But as they spend more time with each other and experience the magic of Christmas the phony couple discovers there may be more to their contract than business.

Markimdb: 3.9
Genrecomedy, melodrama, adventure, family, sport
CountryRussia
Duration01:54
CharactersFamily
PlotLove, Basketball, Friendship, Rivalry
PlaceSchool, Japan
StyleExciting, To cry, Inspirational, Fascinating, Touching

The amazing story of sports commentator Stepan Vershinin, which loses its prestigious place on television. In search of a new job, he becomes part of unusual competitions.

Markimdb: 7.6
Genredrama, family
CountryUSA
CharactersFriends, Losers
PlotFriendship, Family life
PlaceUSA, Small cities
StyleTo cry, Soulful, By books, Touching, Serious

Welcome to Fuller Junction, Wisconsin, a friendly small town settled by Norwegian farmers. Here we see the exploits of two young cousins, Selma and Arnold, who learn about their world and experience the ups and downs of life as the season pass.

Markimdb: 5.6
Genredrama
CountryUSA
Duration01:22
CharactersAlcoholics, Fathers, Mothers
PlotLove, Friendship, Loneliness, Death, Pursuit
PlaceUSA
StyleTo cry, Soulful, Heavy, Touching

A man struggles with the tragic memories of his past to make sense of his present, but soon realizes that time isn't the enemy he thinks it is.

Markimdb: 7.3
Genrefantastic, action, fantasy, comedy, drama, adventure, family, cartoon
CountryUSA
Duration01:37
CharactersHeroes, Family, Fairies, Santa Claus, Friends
PlotAdventure, Friendship, Saving the World, Dreams, Holidays
PlaceUSA
TimeNew Year
StyleExciting, Touching

When an evil spirit known as Pitch lays down the gauntlet to take over the world, the immortal Guardians must join forces for the first time to protect the hopes, beliefs and imagination of children all over the world.

Markimdb: 6.4
Genredrama
CountryDenmark, Sweden, Netherlands
Duration02:57
CharactersFamily, Students, Journalists, Friends, Lovers
PlotLove, Friendship, Death, Love triangle, Jealousy
PlaceCountry houses
StyleExciting, Fascinating, Tense, Makes me think, Touching

Erik, a lecturer in architecture, inherits his father’s large old house in Hellerup, north of Copenhagen. His wife Anna, a well-known television newscaster, suggests that they invite their friends to come and live with them. In this way she hopes to evade the boredom that has begun to seep into their marriage. Before long, a dozen women, men and children move into the country house, make collective decisions, engage in discussions and go swimming together in the nearby Øresund strait. They also rub each other up the wrong way on account of their smaller and larger idiosyncrasies. Their fragile equilibrium threatens to come undone when Erik falls in love with his student Emma and the young woman moves into the house. Fourteen-year-old Freja, daughter of Erik and Anna, aloofly observes these goings-on and seeks her own way.

Markimdb: 7.4
Genredrama, biography, sport
CountryUSA
Duration02:50
CharactersTeens, Teachers, Family, Trainers
PlotOn real events, Sports, Friendship
PlaceSchool, USA, Small cities
StyleExciting, To cry, Fascinating, Touching, Serious

A track coach in a small California town transforms a team of athletes into championship contenders.

Markimdb: 5.6
Genrefantasy, comedy, melodrama, drama
CountryUSA
Duration02:03
CharactersAngels, Family, Losers, Priests
PlotLife, Family life
PlaceNew York
TimeNew Year
StyleTo cry, Touching

Good natured Reverend Henry Biggs finds that his marriage to choir mistress Julia is flagging, due to his constant absence caring for the deprived neighborhood they live in. On top of all this, his church is coming under threat from property developer Joe Hamilton. In desperation, Rev. Biggs prays to God for help - and help arrives in the form of an angel named Dudley.

Markimdb: 6.4
Genremelodrama, drama, music
CountryUnited Kingdom
Duration01:52
CharactersLifeguards, Friends
PlotAnorexia, Music, Friendship, Mental disorders, Depression
PlacePsychiatric hospitals, Scotland
StyleTo cry, Atmospheric, Touching, Serious

Eve is a catastrophe—low on self-esteem but high on fantasy, especially when it comes to music. Over the course of one Glasgow summer, she meets two similarly rootless souls: posh Cass and fastidious James, and together they form a group.

Markimdb: 6.4
Genrefantasy, comedy, adventure
CountryUSA
Duration03:03
CharactersChildrens, Angels, Thieves, Jews, Family
PlotRelationship, Friendship, Religious
PlaceParty, Metro, USA, New York
TimeNew Year
StyleTwisted plot, Inspirational, Heavy, Makes me think, Touching

In New York City for their annual tradition of Christmas Eve debauchery, three lifelong best friends set out to find the Holy Grail of Christmas parties since their yearly reunion might be coming to an end.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genredrama, family
CountryUSA
CharactersFamily, Autistic, Scammers
PlotFriendship, Mental disorders
PlaceSmall cities
StyleTo cry, Vital signs, Makes me think, Touching

A teenage con artist tricks a desperate mother into hiring her as a live-in companion for her autistic daughter.

Markimdb: 6.7
Genrecomedy, drama
CountryUSA
Duration02:30
CharactersTeachers, Students, Terminally ill, Teachers
PlotLife, Adventure, Meaning of life, Friendship, Death
PlaceCollege
StyleTo cry, Vital signs, Fascinating, Makes me think, Touching

A world-weary college professor is given a life-changing diagnosis and decides to throw all pretense and conventions to the wind and live his life as boldly and freely as possible with a biting sense of humor, a reckless streak and a touch of madness.

Markimdb: 6.1
Genremelodrama, drama, family
CountryUSA, Canada
CharactersDogs, Family, Santa Claus, Sisters
PlotFriendship, Breakup, Snow, Holidays
PlaceSmall cities
TimeNew Year
StyleLight, Touching

Jackie Foster, a dynamic Assistant District Attorney and single mom, is looking forward to wrapping up her latest case and spending Christmas with Gracie, her adorable and precocious, eight-year old daughter. But when Jackie’s estranged dad, Jack , a gruff retired police officer, unexpectedly shows up at her door, they will be forced to confront old wounds.

Markimdb: 6.6
Genrecomedy, drama
CountryUSA
Duration01:45
CharactersStrong women, Family, Bulimia, Sisters, Single mothers
PlotDancing, Friendship, Contests
PlaceTexas, Small cities
StyleLight, Inspirational, Touching

To prove a point about measuring up and fitting in, Texas teen Willowdean “Dumplin’” Dickson enters a local pageant run by her ex-beauty queen mom.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genrecomedy, melodrama
CountryUSA
Duration02:26
CharactersFamily, Old man, Interns
PlotFriendship, Loneliness, Fate
PlaceHotels, USA, Office, New York
StyleLight, To cry, Cute, Inspirational, Soulful

70-year-old widower Ben Whittaker has discovered that retirement isn't all it's cracked up to be. Seizing an opportunity to get back in the game, he becomes a senior intern at an online fashion site, founded and run by Jules Ostin.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genredrama, family
CountryUSA, Canada
CharactersDogs, Teachers, Family, Students, Sisters
PlotFriendship, Holidays, Gifts
TimeNew Year
StyleTo cry, Touching

After being dumped at the alter on her wedding day, Maggie Conway moves to the island town of Friday Harbor in Washington State, where she meets Mark Nagle, the local coffee shop owner.





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