The best feel-good movies should leave you refreshed and full of joy. And that’s exactly what we all need at this time—when any additional negativity beyond, you know, worrying about your health is just too much to take on. The world is in chaos, we can’t go outside, and there enough eggs at the grocery store to bake another batch of banana bread. So all you can do, really, is sink into your couch and watch the very best feel-good movies that Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and other streaming services have to offer. And if you want to add a White Claw slushie to the mix…hey, we’ve got a recipe for that.
Sorry, now is not the time to be watching tragedies or serial-killer thrillers. (But if those are your thing, we’ve got recs here and here.) This is a period meant for teen classics (hello, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) or a newer Netflix romantic comedy like Set It Up—movies with sweet premises and low-stakes drama that boost your endorphins. As Legally Blonde’s Elle Woods would say, ”Endorphins make you happy!”
Here’s a whole list, below, of the best feel-good movies to add to your streaming queue.
If you’re all out of TV shows and movies to watch while passing the time in coronavirus quarantine, don’t worry: A new onslaught of titles is coming this week to help. From the premiere of Ryan Murphy’s highly-anticipated Netflix series, Hollywood, to a Parks and Recreation reunion, there really is so much to look forward to.
Behold, all the TV shows and movies to earmark for this week:
Sunday, April 26
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels: A spinoff of the popular series Penny Dreadful. Here is the synopsis, per Showtime: “In darkness, everything comes to light. When a grisly murder shocks Los Angeles in 1938, Detective Tiago Vega and his partner Lewis Michener become embroiled in an epic story that reflects the rich history of the city. Starring Natalie Dormer, Daniel Zovatto, and Nathan Lane.” 10 P.M. ET on Showtime
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Monday, April 27
Cup of Joe: Joe Jonas stars in this new, eight-part travel docuseries in which we get to see the pop superstar travel the world while on his Happiness Begins tour with brothers Kevin and Nick. In each one of their tour stops, Jonas links up with a celebrity friend, and together they go sightseeing. Sounds like the ideal thing to watch while you’re stuck at home, right? Streaming on Quibi
Never Have I Ever: Here is Netflix’s official synopsis of this show: “Never Have I Ever is a new coming-of-age comedy about the complicated life of a modern-day first-generation Indian American teenage girl. The series stars newcomer Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Devi, an overachieving high school sophomore who has a short fuse that gets her into difficult situations. Never Have I Ever is created by executive producer Mindy Kaling, with Lang Fisher serving as executive producer, showrunner and writer.” Streaming on Netflix
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Tuesday, April 28
The Photograph: When Mae Morton ( Issa Rae ) finds an old photograph of her mother, she’s sent on a journey that leads to a rising-star journalist, Michael Block (Lakeith Stanfield). Available for digital purchase
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Wednesday, April 29′
Normal People: Read Hulu’s description, below. Streaming on Hulu
“Based on Sally Rooney’s best-selling novel, Normal People is an exquisite, modern love story about how one person can unexpectedly change another person’s life and about how complicated intimacy can be. It follows Marianne and Connell over several years—both from a small west of Ireland town, but from very different backgrounds—as they embark on an on-again/off-again romance that starts at school and continues through college, testing their relationship as they explore different versions of themselves.”
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Thursday, April 30
A Parks and Recreation Special: Your favorites from Pawnee are coming back for a one-night special to raise money for coronavirus relief. 8:30 P.M. ET on NBC
Dangerous Lies: A Netflix thriller starring Camila Mendes that looks like Riverdale meets Lifetime? Sign me up. Streaming on Netflix
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Friday, May 1
Hollywood: Ryan Murphy’s glittery new series explores what classic Hollywood could have been if it weren’t in control by white, straight men. Streaming on Netflix
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Saturday, May 2
JoJo’s new album, Good to Know: The singer’s highly-anticipated follow up to 2016’s Mad Love is out now. Available on music streaming platforms
As another week of self-isolating and quarantine because of the coronavirus approaches, new TV shows and movies are coming to help you unwind and recharge. From the much buzzed-about quarantine spinoff of 90 Day Fiancé to a new show starring Chris Evans on Apple+, you’ll have plenty to watch to keep the boredom at bay.
Below, all the TV shows and movies worth checking out this week.
Sunday, April 19
The Longest War: Per a Showtime description, “This documentary feature unpacks the human stories and drama behind America’s involvement in Afghanistan, now the longest war in U.S. history.” 10 P.M. ET on Showtime
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Monday, April 20
90 Day Fiancé: Self-Quarantined: A new reunion special that will show you how some of your favorite couples are doing while in quarantine. Watch on TLC
Tuesday, April 21
Bad Boys for Life: The third installment of the Bad Boys franchise hit theaters in January but is getting an early VOD release date. Available to rent on digital platforms
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Wednesday, April 22
PeoplePresents Harry & Meghan: A Royal Rebellion: Per a statement from People magazine, “The two-hour documentary special event will examine the events leading up to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s announcement to step down from senior royal duties; predictions for their next chapter in North America and more.” 8 P.M. ET on The CW
Thursday, April 23
We’re Here: Three veterans from RuPaul’s Drag Race travel from small town to small town in an effort to inspire people to embrace their true selves. 9 P.M. ET on HBO
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Friday, April 24
Defending Jacob: In case you’ve been missing a superhero Captain America in your life, Chris Evans is back with a more dramatic turn in this crime series about a father grappling with his 14-year-old son being accused of murder. It’s based on a novel of the same name and sounds utterly fascinating. Streaming on Apple TV+
Sometimes you just need to watch someone kick some ass on screen for a few hours—that’s where the best action movies come in.
Taking down bad guys, stealing cars, starting an intergalactic war, and good old-fashioned saving the world moments are what the best action movies are made of, but, for some reason, people seem to assume that the genre is dominated by muscled up actors who look like The Rock…or Harrison Ford, if you’re in an Indiana Jones sort of mood. We’re here to tell you that there are a ton of great picks that star and feature some pretty badass heroines. Yes, even before Wonder Woman hit the big screen in 2017.
Take ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ as the perfect example. The film, starring Charlize Theron, proved that women can even dominate a supposedly male-led franchise (sorry, Tom Hardy). Still don’t believe us? Here are 51 insane action flicks that also happen to have strong female leads throwing the punches.
Shailene Woodley revealed that her acting career almost ended, just when it was starting to take off.
While promoting her new movie Ending, Beginnings, the Big Little Lies star told The New York Times she battled with a life-threatening medical condition that nearly forced her to “let go” of her career while filming the Divergent movies.
“I haven’t spoken much about this yet publicly, and I will one day, but I was very, very sick in my early twenties,” Shailene Woodley shared. “While I was doing the Divergent movies and working hard, I also was struggling with a deeply personal, very scary physical situation.”
Woodley in Allegiant (2016)
Courtesy Everett Collection
Without going into specifics, Woodley revealed she was forced to take a step back from the spotlight. “Because of that, I said no to a lot of opportunities because I needed to get better, and those jobs ended up going to peers of mine who I love,” she explained. “They went on to a lot of success, but there was a mix of people saying, ‘You shouldn’t have let that go!’ or ‘You shouldn’t have been sick!'”
Though the 28-year-old didn’t elaborate on the details of her illness, she said it was unclear if she’d be able to continue working. “I was in a place where I had no choice but to just surrender and let go of my career, and it brought out this negative voice in my mind that kept spinning for years and years afterward,” Woodley said, adding that outside factors were also adding to the destructive narrative.
“In my late teens, I had a strong idea of my identity and the meaning of my life, but then I went through an abusive relationship,” she said. “That combined with, honestly, the commercial success I had in this industry began to wear on my strength.”
The actor, who became a household name for The Secret Life of the American Teenager in 2008 and The Fault in Our Stars in 2012, starred as Tris in the 2014 dystopian film trilogy, Divergent, which also included Insurgent in 2015 and Allegiant in 2016. A fourth movie titled Ascendant was scheduled for a 2017 theatrical release but was canceled—allegedly for fiscal reasons.
Thankfully, Woodley told the publication that she has since fully recovered from her health scare and is in a better place now. “Now I’m on the other side of it, thank God,” she said. “A lot of the last few years has been about focusing on mental health for me, and it’s a slow process. But because of that work, I feel very grounded and rooted in who I am and very clear about everything in my life, whether it’s my career or my relationships or my own internal worth.”
Woodley added, “I feel very grateful to have walked that line of fire because now I know what I don’t want to ever go back to.”
