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It's a Wonderful Life poster

Movies that feel likeIt's a Wonderful Life (1946)

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.

If you loved It's a Wonderful Life, the closest films we have are Still Walking (2008), Wolf Children (2012) and A Monster Calls (2016). All three share It's a Wonderful Life's warm and cozy feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Diary of a Country Priest (1951).

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If It's a Wonderful Life hit the spot, these will too

Still Walking poster
Still Walking
2008 · dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda
🍅 100%★ 7.9drama · family

Both land stillness and warmth at once

The difference: Trades the dream logic of It's a Wonderful Life for an angle of its own

A family gathers together for a commemorative ritual whose nature only gradually becomes clear.

Wolf Children poster
Wolf Children
2012 · dir. Mamoru Hosoda
🍅 95%★ 8.1animation · family · dramaMax

The same mix in both: comfort, then dream logic

The difference: Sits closer to animation than It's a Wonderful Life does

After her werewolf lover unexpectedly dies in an accident, a woman must find a way to raise the son and daughter that she had with him. However, their inheritance of their father's traits prove to be a challenge for her.

A Monster Calls poster
A Monster Calls
2016 · dir. J. A. Bayona
🍅 86%★ 7.4fantasy · adventure · family

Melancholy family, and it commits to that

The difference: Easier on the stillness than It's a Wonderful Life

12-year-old Conor encounters an ancient tree monster who proceeds to help him cope with his mother's terminal illness and being bullied in school.

A Little Princess poster
A Little Princess
1995 · dir. Alfonso Cuarón
🍅 97%★ 7.6drama · family · fantasy

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

The difference: 49 years apart, and the 1990s show

When her father enlists to fight for the British in WWI, young Sara Crewe goes to New York to attend the same boarding school her late mother attended. She soon clashes with the severe headmistress, Miss Minchin, who attempts to stifle Sara's creativity and sense of self-worth.

The Secret Garden poster
The Secret Garden
1993 · dir. Agnieszka Holland
🍅 89%★ 7.3drama · family · fantasy

Warm fantasy in both cases

A young British girl born and reared in India loses her neglectful parents in an earthquake. She is returned to England to live at her uncle's castle. Her uncle is very distant due to the loss of his wife ten years before. Neglected once again, she begins exploring the estate and discovers a garden that has been locked and forgotten. Aided by one of the servants' boys, she begins restoring the garden, and eventually discovers some other secrets of the manor.

The Wizard of Oz poster
The Wizard of Oz
1939 · dir. Victor Fleming
🍅 98%★ 8.1adventure · fantasy · familyMax

Family built on comfort, twice over

Young Dorothy finds herself in a magical world where she makes friends with a lion, a scarecrow and a tin man as they make their way along the yellow brick road to talk with the Wizard and ask for the things they miss most in their lives. The Wicked Witch of the West is the only thing that could stop them.

The Amazing Mr. Blunden poster
The Amazing Mr. Blunden
1972 · dir. Lionel Jeffries
★ 6.8family · fantasyPrime Video

Fantasy with a pulse of dream logic, in both cases

Mysterious old solicitor Mr. Blunden visits Mrs. Allen and her young children in their squalid, tiny Camden Town flat and makes her an offer she cannot refuse. The family become the housekeepers to a derelict country mansion in the charge of the solicitors. One day the children meet the spirits of two other children who died in the mansion nearly a hundred years prior. The children prepare a magic potion that allows them to travel backwards in time to the era of the ghost children. Will the children be able to help their new friends and what will happen to them if they do?

Pinocchio poster
Pinocchio
2019 · dir. Matteo Garrone
🍅 84%★ 6.3drama · family · fantasy

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

Old woodcarver Geppetto fashions a wooden puppet, Pinocchio, who magically comes to life. Pinocchio longs for adventure and is easily led astray, encountering magical beasts, fantastical spectacles, while making friends and foes along his journey. However, his dream is to become a real boy, which can only come true if he finally changes his ways.

Jason and the Argonauts poster
Jason and the Argonauts
1963 · dir. Don Chaffey
🍅 85%★ 7.3adventure · family · fantasy

Both lean on warmth more than on family

Jason, a fearless sailor and explorer, returns to his home land of Thessaly after a long voyage to claim his rightful throne. He learns, however, that he must first find the magical Golden Fleece. To do so, he must embark on an epic quest fraught with fantastic monsters and terrible perils.

Fly Away Home poster
Fly Away Home
1996 · dir. Carroll Ballard
🍅 87%★ 6.9adventure · drama · family

Drama with a pulse of melancholy, in both cases

Amy is only 13 years old when her mother is killed. She goes to Canada to live with her father, an eccentric inventor whom she barely knows. Amy is miserable in her new life... until she discovers a nest of goose eggs that were abandoned when a local forest was torn down. The eggs hatch and Amy becomes "Mama Goose". When winter comes, Amy and her dad must find a way to lead the birds South.

A Dog's Purpose poster
A Dog's Purpose
2017 · dir. Lasse Hallström
🍅 35%★ 7.3adventure · fantasy · family

Cozy fantasy, and it commits to that

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

A dog goes on quest to discover his purpose in life over the course of several lifetimes with multiple owners.

Diary of a Country Priest poster
Diary of a Country Priest
1951 · dir. Robert Bresson
🍅 95%★ 7.7drama

Both are working the same pair: small town life, black and white

An inexperienced, sickly priest shows up in the rural French community of Ambricourt, where he joins the community's clergy. But the locals don't take kindly to the priest, and his ascetic ways and unsociable demeanor make him an outcast. During Bible studies at the nearby girls school, he is continually mocked by his students. Then his attempt to intervene in a family feud backfires into a scandal. His failures, compounded with his declining health, begin to erode his faith.

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The best-reviewed films that share It's a Wonderful Life’s defining feeling.