Best movies like Wish You Well

Believing in family can create miracles.

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Wish You Well Starring Ellen Burstyn, Mackenzie Foy, Josh Lucas, Ned Bellamy, and more. If you liked Wish You Well then you may also like: Unstrung Heroes, The Wizard of Loneliness, One Christmas, One True Thing, The Big Green and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

A young girl and her brother come of age at their great grandmother's house in Virginia during the 1940s. After a family tragedy, a young girl moves from New York with your younger brother to live with their great grandmother on a Virginia farm and comes closer to understanding the land and roots that inspired her father's writings while discovering herself, the love of family, and the power of truly believing.

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Unstrung Heroes

Steven Lidz, unhappy with his home life since his mother became sick, moves in with his two eccentric uncles. As Steven grows closer to his uncles, he learns how to cope with his emotions and to value his own uniqueness.

The Wizard of Loneliness

After his mother dies and father goes to fight in World War II, a young boy moves in with his aunt and uncle who live in the countryside. Lonely and unhappy, he starts believing he has super powers. Then a "dead" man shows up.

5.5 / 10 1994 Drama Family
suggested by: user256u510m5sd

One Christmas

Based on Truman Capote's bittersweet tale of a young boy's adventures with the father he's never known in New Orleans in the 1930s..

One True Thing

A career woman reassesses her parents' lives after she is forced to care for her cancer-stricken mother.

The Big Green

In a depressed Texas town, British foreign exchange teacher Anna attempts to inject some life into her hopeless kids by introducing them to soccer. They're terrible at first, but Anna and her football-hero assistant whip them into shape. As they work overtime, the pair help kids build their self-esteem and also get involved in solving family squabbles.

Country

Jewell and Gil are farmers. They seem to be working against the odds, producing no financial surplus. Gil has lost hope of ever becoming prosperous, but Jewell decides to fight for her family.

The House of the Spirits

A rancher, his clairvoyant wife and their family face turbulent years in South America.

Children on Their Birthdays

Havoc is created in a small Southern community when a 12-year-old shows up, causing a couple 13-year-old friends to fall in love with her, thus possibly jeopardizing their friendship.

Dreamer: Inspired By a True Story

Ben Crane believes that a severely injured racehorse deserves another chance. He and his daughter Cale adopt the mare and save it from being sacrificed by the owner.

Georgia Rule

Georgia Rule follows a rebellious, uncontrollable teenager who is hauled off by her dysfunctional mother to spend the summer with her grandmother. Her journey will lead all three women to revelations of buried family secrets and an understanding that - regardless what happens - the ties that bind can never be broken.

The Grass Harp

Based on the novel by Truman Capote, this often-witty coming-of-age drama looks at a young man growing up with an unusual family in the Deep South in the 1940s. Becoming an orphan in 1935, Collin moves to his dad's cousins Verena and Dolly. Verena is a rich, bossy businesswoman. Dolly, Collin and the maid revolt, moving to a tree house.

Independence Day

Mary Ann Taylor loves the comforts of her hometown in Mercury, Texas. She has a steady job as a waitress in her father's diner, yet she can't help but feel unfulfilled by a life of pouring coffee and grilling hamburgers. Mary Ann's real passion is photography, but pursuing her dream of becoming a photographer means leaving Mercury behind.

The Legacy

When considering taking a few weeks off, Dr. Rainville places an ad to find a replacement who would agree to take his place in Normétal, in Abitibi. Jeanne Dion from Montreal accepts the offer and goes to the site, where it comes into contact with old customers and the lonely doctor. The problems of the inhabitants of the small community are varied, but Jeanne adapts well to her new environment. When Dr. Rainville was struck by a heart attack, he must still be replaced some time. She could even take his place permanently...

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Mermaid

Four year old Desi learns to accept the death of her father by sending him a letter on a balloon to which she receives a reply. Based on a true story.

The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry

The lives of three 12-year-old buddies -- sharing a carefree existence in the summer of 1970 -- suddenly change when one of them, Dustin, makes an unexpected friend after cutting the lawn of 75-year-old Jonathan Sperry. As Jonathan shares lessons in faith with Dustin and his pals, a spiritual transformation occurs in this Christian drama.

6.1 / 10 2010 Comedy Drama Family
suggested by: spellbinder

Snowmen

Three young friends find adventure and purpose in their attempts to set a Guinness World Record. Set in a wintry mountain town, the unpopular trio pursues fame through a series of schemes and stunts that eventually imperil their own lives. Along the way, they conquer schoolyard bullies, unite their community and discover that while fame is fleeting, true friendship lasts forever.

Return to Peyton Place

Residents of the small town of Peyton Place aren't pleased when they realize they're the characters in local writer Allison MacKenzie's controversial first novel. A sequel to the hit 1957 film.

Hide Away

A successful businessman attempting to resurrect his life buys and boards a dilapidated sailboat.

The Gold Retrievers

A boy and his dog must go in search of a fabled local treasure in an effort to save the family house from foreclosure.

Mommy Is at the Hairdresser's

in the summer of 1966, in Beloeil, Québec, where a young girl named Élise is enjoying summer vacation. Summer 1966. It's time to enjoy the summer holiday, total freedom. Suddenly her mother leaves her family to pursue her journalism career in London. Her urge to leave is triggered when she coincidentally listens in on a conversation between her husband and his male lover. Her brother Coco seeks solace in the garage, building a super racing car. Her youngest brother Benoît throws himself into his own inner world. The father seems absolutely knocked out by the situation. Élise decides to take control of her family, in an eloquent attempt to save them. With the assistance of flourishing nature around her, she stands on the threshold of an incomparable summer.

Miles from Home

Two brothers who are forced off their farm in the debt stricken mid-west become folk heroes when they begin robbing the banks that have been foreclosing on farmers.

All the Way Home

In the early 1900's Tennessee, a loving family undergoes the shock of the father's sudden, accidental death. The widow and her young son must endure the heartache of life following the tragedy, but slowly rise up from the ashes to face the hope of renewed life.

A Haunting at Silver Falls

A small town is haunted by the twin daughters of a wrongfully convicted man. Young Jordan is sent down the path to who the real killer is only to find the killer is very close to her.

Candles on Bay Street

DeeDee returns to her hometown with her 11 year old son, Trooper, 13 years after she ran off with her boyfriend. Her childhood best friend, Sam, is now married and he and his wife, Lydia, are the town's veterinarians. Lydia is a little wary about DeeDee after Sam tells her that they were best friends growing up and DeeDee was his first crush. But DeeDee and Trooper find their way into many hearts of the townspeople with their sweet helpfulness and friendships. DeeDee sets up a candle making business in town square and invites many of the ladies of the town to weekly candle making parties, and through these parties she and Lydia become good friends. One evening after dinner with Lydia and Sam, DeeDee tells Sam she's very sick and she doesn't have much longer to live and she needs his help to find a good family in town to adopt Trooper. Sam later tells Lydia everything and they decide to adopt Trooper themselves if/when something happens to DeeDee.

Lightning: Fire from the Sky

Overwhelmed by a disastrous lightning storm that his son predicted, a man must learn to trust his son in order to save his family and the whole community.

The Heart of Christmas

Told in flashback from the perspective of Megan, the storyline unfolds when her commitment to faith and family is renewed after reading the blog of Julie Locke, the online journal that Julie kept after her 13 months old Dax was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).

The Trial of Old Drum

Inspired by a true story set in Missouri, "The Trial of Old Drum" tells the story of a valiant golden retriever, Old Drum, an orphan dog that becomes a boy's best friend and is then forced to stand trial for killing a neighbor's sheep.

One Small Hero

Joey Cooper is a small boy who wants more than anything to be a member of the "Wilderness Club." But he has failed over and over again to pass the test and was not allowed to join. But when Joey gets home after his latest failure, he finds his mother has bought him all new camping equipment for his trip. Joey can't bring himself to tell her he didn't make the club so he takes the gear and leaves for the trip anyway, hiding on the bus. When a couple of kidnappers grab the kids, Joey is still in hiding and it's left for Joey to save them all.

A Painted House

A young boy, his family, and the migrant workers they hire to work their cotton farm struggle against difficult odds to raise and sell the crop. Meanwhile, the boy dreams of living in better conditions. However, with this particularly tough farming season, the boy learns that his challenges guide him in discovering who he really is.

Pizza

A pizza deliveryman develops a bond with a girl nearly half his age.

The Rooftop Christmas Tree

A legal team must work together to figure out the mystery behind a rooftop Christmas tree to keep the owner from going to jail for Christmas -- again.

Charms for the Easy Life

The story of three women who live in a North Carolina town and defy the traditional roles set forth for them by society.

Love's Unending Legacy

Missie three years later: being a single mother after her husband Willie was shot during a poker scuffle. She and Maddy move back in with her parents Clark and Marty. She finds a new home, and finds a new teaching position that she settles right into, but Missie has lost all faith in herself, until a chance encounter at her father's church where she adopts homeless orphan Belinda Marshall.

Hannah Free

Hannah and Rachel grew up as little girls in the same small Midwest town, where traditional gender expectations eventually challenge their deep love for one another.

You Lucky Dog

After her mother's death, New York City fashion designer Lisa Rayborn (Natasha Henstridge) returns to her hometown and family farm. Due to a weak economy, her brother Jim (Harry Hamlin) has converted the family business from a cattle farm into a sheep farm, despite their father's (Lawrence Dane) objections. To help out, Lisa decides she will stay to help on the farm. She adopts a border collie from the local animal shelter and trains it as a sheepdog, naming the dog Lucky. Jim and Lisa decide to enter Lucky into a sheep herding contest, but when a severe thunderstorm sparks a forest fire, Lucky helps rescue trapped children and bring them to safety. While doing so, Lucky gets her leg burned, and it looks as if she will not be able to compete.

When Zachary Beaver Came to Town

Zachary Beaver, a sideshow attraction also known as the world's fattest boy, arrives in the sleepy town of Granger, Texas.

The Santa Incident

During a ride on his sleigh Santa is mistaken for an alien in a UFO. After an attack, he ends up seriously injured in a small town. Two children must help him, so Christmas is not jeopardized.

Foreign Letters

A bittersweet coming-of-age film, Foreign Letters is itself a love letter to the unshakeable bond between friends. Set in the pre-email era of the 1980s, young Ellie, newly arrived to the US from Israel, anxiously waits for letters from her best friend back home. Suffering from homesickness, language difficulties and rejection at school, life brightens when she meets Thuy, a Vietnamese refugee her age. As the two bond and become inseparable, they eventually hurt each other, and Ellie must find a way to restore their trust. Based on director Ela Thier's personal immigration experience, Foreign Letters is a film about poverty, prejudice, shame, and the healing power of friendship.

7.8 / 10 2003 Drama Family
suggested by: user449y5iytbfr

Pollyanna

Pollyanna Whittier goes to live with her wealthy but bitter aunt after the tragic death of her father. Pollyanna shares a game her father taught her -- the 'Glad Game' -- in which everyone can find a silver lining in even the darkest cloud, and her sunny nature, good humor and determination to look on the bright side of life prove to have an astonishing effect on those around her. With the help of her orphaned friend, Jimmy Bean, she casts her spell on the grumpiest townsfolk of Beldingsville -- including the cynical shut-in Mrs. Snow, the morose millionaire Mr. Pendleton and the enigmatic Dr. Chilton. And Pollyanna masterminds the romance between her Aunt's maid, Nancy, and the handyman, Tim. It is only Aunt Polly, who cannot bring herself to embrace Pollyanna's innocence and joy. But all is not straightforward in Pollyanna's war against pessimism, since she must overcome a personal tragedy that threatens to banish "glad" from her vocabulary forever.

Heaven's Door

12-year-old Riley Ann Taylor recently lost her grandfather, who died right in front of her while teaching her how to play soccer. She soon finds a portal leading to the place people talk about but never see: Heaven. She gains a miraculous healing ability and uses it to help those who are sick but soon gains the diseases these people and animals had. You know what they say, every good thing comes with a price.

Due East

Mary Faith Rapple, a bright high school senior, has never been part of the "in crowd." She teaches a night class, cares for her widowed father and pretty much keeps to herself. When a fellow loner moves to Due East, she finds herself in a relationship for the first time, leading to a small town scandal that changes her life forever.

The House Without a Christmas Tree

A young girl named Addie, living in Nebraska in 1946 wants nothing more for the holidays than a Christmas tree, but her widowed father, is bitter and refuses due to events from the family's past.

Changing Hearts

A modern Prodigal Son story starring Brian McNamara, Daphne Zuniga, and Brad Johnson. James Reed, quite content with his current life, reluctantly returns home to the family business, a sick father, and a brother with whom he's always at odds.

A Town Without Christmas

In the small town of Seacliff, Wash., a child's letter to Santa Claus captures the nation's attention. When the little boy, Chris, writes that he wishes to leave this world so he will no longer be a burden to his divorcing parents, a race begins to find him before he harms himself.

Toe to Toe

Out on the lacrosse pitch, wealthy but troubled Jesse and poor but driven Tosha form an easy and deep bond, but their relationship is threatened once they enter the hallways of an elite prep school they attend in Washington, D.C. There, they must work to overcome racial and other tensions in their classmates, and in themselves, if they hope to keep their friendship alive.

Pass the Light

Pass the Light tells the story of Steve Bellafiore, an 17 year old high school senior who decides to run for Congress in order to protect the faith that he so loves.

Lightning Bug

In this drama thriller set in the South, a young boy named Green (Bret Harrison) longs to escape his unhappy life but feels trapped in his hometown. A gifted special-effects makeup artist, Green has big dreams of working in Hollywood. But the boy's personal demons -- a drunken, abusive stepfather, a group of religious zealots out to destroy his work and the love of a girl who prefers small-town life -- may stand in the way of his dreams.

Zelly and Me

A young orphan who lives with her grandmother in a large Virginian home infatuates herself with the voices of Joan d'Arc. Her French nanny seeks out the help of a rich suitor to take her and the orphan away when she realizes that the grandmother cannot offer the orphan the love that she needs.

Charlie & Me

When her beloved grandfather Charlie suddenly falls ill, twelve year-old Casey finds herself making some life or death decisions—and learning to live with the consequences.

Home Before Dark

It's 1963 in rural Massachusetts, and Nora James has the usual worries of an eleven year-old girl:lipstick, first crushes, staying out of trouble at school...not easy when your teacher is the elderly Sister Concilia. And even harder when your parents are struggling to heal from an almost unbearable loss. Then tragedy strikes another Massachusetts family, the Kennedys, and shatters the fragile bonds holding the James family together, Nora, sent to live with her brittle Aunt Rose, soon learns who she is, what she wants, and what she must do to achieve it. She makes a decision that is both cruel and courageous. Nora's choice unlocks the way to what amounts to the rescue of her family. (Maureen Foley, writer/director of the film)

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