It's a Wonderful Life may be one of the most unique, timeless classics ever made, but there are plenty of similar thematic movies like it.
And when we say 'timeless', just like It's a Wonderful Life, these chosen movies aren't only valid to watch during the holiday season...
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
While It's a Wonderful Life showed George Bailey facing a personal dilemma that nearly led to his suicide, The Best Years of Our Lives follows three World War II veterans who must readapt to the American Midwest civilian life after they return home.
From PTSD to unemployment, this 1946 film sheds light on the physical and emotional challenges that they must overcome and live with.
Streaming Platforms: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu
Little Women (2019)
Four sisters, four tragic endings. The 2019 film adaptation follows the four March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, as they navigate their adulthood in 19th-century Massachusetts, during and after the Civil War.
The difference in Greta Gerwig's version is that the film presents two meta-fictional endings, leaving its viewers to make the decision of which ending served its purpose better.
Streaming Platforms: Hulu
Click (2006)
Have you ever wondered what life would be like if we could fast-forward the hard times and get to the good endings? Click stars Adam Sandler as Michael Newman, who seems to have it all but has essentially missed out on spending time with his family.
He meets an eccentric inventor who mysteriously provides him with the remote to control his life, which turns out to be just the lesson he needs to help him learn how to cherish the life he has.
Streaming Platforms: Hulu, Apple TV
Forrest Gump (1994)
Forrest Gump stars Tom Hanks as the slow-witted titular character who, despite his low IQ, ends up becoming a college football star, fighting in Vietnam, and captaining a shrimp boat; the once-thought-to-be-the "town idiot" turned out to have become the inspiration people have long been looking for.
Streaming Platforms: AMC+, Amazon Prime Video
A Man Called Otto (2022)
A Man Called Otto centers on the grumpy, suicidal widower named Otto Anderson, whose life turns upside down when his new neighbors next door end up helping him out of his shell and find a new purpose by helping others in need.
Based on the Swedish novel, A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, the film explores similar themes to It's a Wonderful Life, except their endings bear significant differences.
Streaming Platforms: Hulu, Amazon Prime Video
A Christmas Carol (2009)
A refined albeit haunting version of the classic A Christmas Carol story, this animated version is led by Jim Carrey voicing Ebenezer Scrooge, whose grumpy demeanor against the holiday season led him to be visited by three spirits: the Ghost of Christmas Past, Present, and Future.
Streaming Platforms: Disney+
Spirited (2022)
Inspired yet again by Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, the 2022 film, Spirited, shows a different take, this time, from the perspective of the ghosts themselves.
Will Ferrell, aka the Ghost of Christmas Present, sought to help a "dark soul" to reform, only to meet Clint Briggs (Ryan Reynolds), a man who turns the tables on the ghost by having the Ghost re-examine his own past, present, and future.
Streaming Platforms: Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video
The Holiday (2006)
Sharing the personal problem George Bailey faced in It's a Wonderful Life, this 2006 film, The Holiday, brought together two women, Amanda and Iris, who decided to swap each other's homes for the Christmas holidays to escape their enduring heartbreaks.
The twist, however, sets in when they end up finding unexpected and unlikely romance with the locals.
Purchase or Rent: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV
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