3 Feel-Good Movies on Prime Video You (Probably) Haven’t Seen — Including One with 99% on Rotten Tomatoes

In an era marked by anxiety and despair, streaming services like Prime Video promote feel-good movies as a panacea for our collective ills. Three such films – “Driveways”, “Paterson”, and “A Man Called Ove” – have garnered attention for their ability to boost mood and provide respite from modern life’s stresses.

While these movies do offer moments of comfort and tranquility, they reveal more about society’s values than initially meets the eye. On the surface, they appear to be innocuous celebrations of human connection and community, but upon closer inspection, they betray a subtle nostalgia for a bygone era.

“Driveways”, set in upstate New York, is a poignant portrayal of Kathy, a single mother struggling with her late sister’s legacy. Her journey towards healing and self-discovery is facilitated by Del, an elderly man who serves as a patriarchal figure from the past. This narrative relies on the unspoken assumption that women need men to guide them through life’s challenges.

Similarly, “Paterson” presents a sanitized vision of working-class life, where contentment is rooted in mundane routine. The film’s celebration of quietude and routine glosses over the real struggles faced by its characters, ignoring systemic issues that have created our societal woes. This nostalgia for a simpler time overlooks the complexities of modern life.

“A Man Called Ove”, meanwhile, perpetuates the stereotype of the grumpy old man whose curmudgeonly nature is gradually worn down by his new neighbors’ enthusiasm. While this narrative may seem harmless, it reinforces the notion that older adults are in need of rescue and rehabilitation. This trope is particularly egregious given the growing demographic of older Americans facing unique challenges.

These films demonstrate a broader cultural trend: our longing for comfort and security in an increasingly inhospitable world. By promoting these feel-good movies as a cure-all for societal ills, we’re ignoring underlying issues that have created this crisis. We’re buying into the illusion that nostalgia can solve problems rather than confronting harsh realities.

In doing so, we risk perpetuating systems and structures that have led to our current predicament. The comfort of these films is fleeting, a Band-Aid on a festering wound. What’s needed instead is a nuanced understanding of our world, one that acknowledges both its complexities and capacity for change.

As we continue to stream these feel-good movies, it’s worth asking: what are they telling us about who we want to be? Are we seeking comfort in the familiar, or do we truly believe these narratives offer a genuine solution to our problems? The answer may lie not in the films themselves but in the cultural currents that underpin them.