10 Most Uplifting Oscar Best Picture Winners, Ranked (2024)

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who every year give out the Oscars — nothing less than the most prestigious awards in the film industry — sure do love serious films. Most of the movies that have been awarded the coveted Best Picture Oscar have been somber dramas which, if not downright depressing films, do tend to be deeply poignant and thought-provoking. On a few treasured occasions, though, the Academy has gone for something a lot more uplifting.

From a simple, down-to-earth family comedy like the recent CODA to a grand soul-soothing musical like the nostalgic The Sound of Music, a select few Best Picture recipients have allowed themselves to lift audiences' hearts and souls up into the stratosphere. Everyone loves a good, intelligent drama full of provocative themes; but every now and then, even the most hardcore cinephiles crave a simpler film that will make them feel a little bit better about life.

10 'Slumdog Millionaire' (2008)

Directed by Danny Boyle

His reputation has somewhat dwindled in recent years, but British director Danny Boyle is still one of the most successful filmmakers of his generation. His most award-winning movie is Slumdog Millionaire, a drama about a teenager from the slums of Mumbai who becomes a contestant on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. When suspected of cheating, he revisits his past and reveals how he had all the answers.

It may not be one of the most popular Best Picture winners, but Slumdog Millionaire is nevertheless a delightful pastiche of Bollywood inspirations and classic rags-to-riches stories. Energetic, enthusiastic, and beautifully full of hope, the film benefits from Boyle's unique idiosyncrasies and his seemingly perfect understanding of what makes Indian cinema so beloved.

Slumdog Millionaire

R

Drama

Romance

Crime

Where to Watch

• stream
• rent
• buy

*Availability in US

Release Date

December 25, 2008

Director

Danny Boyle , Loveleen Tandan

Cast

Dev Patel , Saurabh Shukla , Anil Kapoor , Rajendranath Zutshi , Jeneva Talwar , Freida Pinto

Runtime

120 minutes

Writers

Simon Beaufoy , Vikas Swarup

9 'The King's Speech' (2010)

Directed by Tom Hooper

One of the most low-key Best Picture Oscar winners ever, The King's Speech is a beautiful period drama that's perfect for those who like their films really dialogue-heavy. It's the story of King George VI, his unexpected rise to the British throne in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the monarch ensure he overcame his crippling stutter.

One of the highest-grossing original British movies of all time, The King's Speech is elegant, surprisingly profound, and emotionally rousing. It's not rare for biopics like this one to allow themselves to be inspiring and uplifting — bordering on cheesy —, but it's not common for them to do so with this much style and power. It's also certainly not common to see those kinds of films get Oscar gold. Predictable though it may be, this is one of the best feel-good films of the 2010s.

The King's Speech

R

Drama

History

Biography

Where to Watch

• stream
• rent
• buy

Not available

See Also

2024 ASWA High School Football Rankings: Week 5Media Professionals: Walsh - WangNational Geographic Titles Among Winners At Last Night's Documentary Emmys - LaughingPlace.comOUT at the Movies International Film Festival

*Availability in US

Release Date

September 6, 2010

Director

Tom Hooper

Cast

Colin Firth , Helena Bonham Carter , Derek Jacobi , Robert Portal , Richard Dixon , Paul Trussell

Runtime

118 minutes

8 'The Sound of Music' (1965)

Directed by Robert Wise

It's not every day that musicals deal with complex topics like WWII. It's not every day that they're able to balance darkness and joy with grace and poise. It's not every day that they're as full of terrific performances as The Sound of Music, Robert Wise's masterful biopic centered on the von Trapp family. It's about a young novice sent by her convent in 1930s Austria to become a governess to the seven children of a widowed naval officer.

The Sound of Music never shies away from the grim layers of its subject matter as a film about WWII set in Austria; but it also flawlessly manages to be a beautiful family film full of hope, love, and delightful tunes. Movies like this one tend to be overwhelmingly saccharine, but Wise imbues the movie with so much heart and complexity that its sweetness becomes just another great detail in a great film.

The Sound of Music

G

Biography

Drama

Musical

Where to Watch

• stream
• rent
• buy

*Availability in US

Release Date

April 1, 1965

Director

Robert Wise

Cast

Julie Andrews , Christopher Plummer , Eleanor Parker , Richard Haydn , Peggy Wood , Charmian Carr

Runtime

172 minutes

7 'Moonlight' (2016)

Directed by Barry Jenkins

Tragically, it will probably always be remembered as the deuteragonist of the Best Picture fiasco at the 2017 Oscars, but it's always worth having a reminder that regardless of the scandal, Moonlight is one of the best indie movies of the 2010s. It's the touching story of a young African-American man grappling with his identity and sexuality while experiencing the everyday struggles of childhood, adolescence, and young-adulthood living in the sidelines of society.

There's a lot of darkness and pain and sadness in Moonlight, too, so it's definitely not a feel-good movie. And yet, it manages to be admirably sobering and uplifting at the same time. Where other films may find shock value, it finds great beauty; where other filmmakers may see a shot at creating a gut-wrenching trauma-porn drama, Barry Jenkins sees a chance to craft one of the most tender, hopeful, empathetic coming-of-age films of the 21st century.

Moonlight

R

Drama

Where to Watch

• stream
• rent
• buy

*Availability in US

Release Date

October 21, 2016

Director

Barry Jenkins

Cast

Janelle Monae , Edson Jean , Alex R. Hibbert , Mahershala Ali , Ashton Sanders , Duan Sanderson , Jaden Piner , Shariff Earp , Patrick Decile , Naomie Harris , Rudi Goblen

Runtime

111 Minutes

Writers

Barry Jenkins

6 'Rain Man' (1988)

Directed by Barry Levinson

One of the best — and nowadays, also one of the most underrated — movies of the 1980s, Rain Man may have a portrayal of autism that's admittedly a bit dated, but it more than makes up for that with its incredible performances, fun script, and amusing sense of humor. It's a road trip dramedy about a selfish L.A. white-collar worker who learns that his estranged father left a fortune to a brother with autism and Savant syndrome that he didn't know existed. So, he takes his brother across the country in the hopes of gaining a larger inheritance.

Tom Cruise and especially Dustin Hoffman are terrific in the lead roles, serving as the emotional and tonal anchors of the movie. The movie's positive portrayal of autism and its engaging themes of family and growth make it an experience that's impossible to not smile at. Clearly, the Academy thought so as well, since they gave it 4 Oscars, including Best Picture.

Rain Man

R

Comedy

Drama

Where to Watch

• stream
• rent
• buy

See Also

Relentless attempts to suppress the truth about Israeli crimes: Conflict at New York’s 92NY and, in the face of attacks, the Emmy victory of Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda

*Availability in US

Release Date

December 16, 1988

Director

Barry Levinson

Cast

Tom Cruise , Dustin Hoffman , Valeria Golino

Runtime

134 Minutes

5 'CODA' (2021)

Directed by Sian Heder

Some may call it the weakest Best Picture winner of the 2020s so far, but the fact is that CODA is one of the best-made purely feel-good family movies of recent years. It's about a Child of Deaf Adults (CODA) who's the only hearing member of her family. When the family's fishing business comes under threat, she finds herself torn between pursuing her passion for music and her fear of abandoning her parents.

CODA has an endearing ensemble of characters (played beautifully by a talented cast), a mellow-but-not-super-corny tone, and a variety of deeply touching moments, which makes it one of the best coming-of-age films of the decade. Whether it was Best Picture material or not is up for debate, but what's hard to deny is that its positive messages and moving family dynamics make it an irresistibly uplifting film.

CODA

PG-13

Comedy

Drama

Where to Watch

• stream
• rent
• buy

Not available

Not available

*Availability in US

Release Date

January 28, 2021

Director

Sian Heder

Cast

Emilia Jones , Eugenio Derbez , Troy Kotsur , Ferdia Walsh-Peelo , Daniel Durant , Marlee Matlin

Runtime

111

4 'It Happened One Night' (1934)

Directed by Frank Capra

It speaks volumes about the timeless power of films that the seventh-ever winner of the Best Picture Oscar, nearly a century old, is still remembered as one of the greatest rom-coms ever made. It's Frank Capra's It Happened One Night, a delightful little gem that critiques the Hays Code as much as it mocks and pokes holes in it. It's about a reporter trailing a runaway heiress for a big story, joining her on a bus from Florida to New York. When the bus leaves them behind at one of the stops, though, they're stuck together and must find a way out of their predicament.

It's nothing if not commendable that all these years later, It Happened One Night still feels as revolutionary and transgressive as it did back in its time — which it was well ahead of. There's one aspect, though, where it (thankfully) doesn't deviate from the rom-com norm: It's beautifully uplifting and full of laughs, joy, and happy endings.

It Happened One Night

Comedy

Romance

Where to Watch

• stream
• rent
• buy

Not available

*Availability in US

Release Date

February 22, 1934

Director

Frank Capra

Cast

Clark Gable , Claudette Colbert , Walter Connolly , Roscoe Karns

Runtime

105 minutes

3 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' (2003)

Directed by Peter Jackson

For a long time, it was believed that J.R.R. Tolkien's Legendarium may very well be impossible to adapt into a film worthy of its name. Then came Peter Jackson and obliterated those expectations. His Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of the best movie trilogies ever, and the Oscars acknowledged that with a whopping 28 nods for the whole series. Those nods translated into 11 wins for Return of the King, the final installment, where the split Fellowship makes its final effort to destroy the One Ring and defeat the tyrannical Sauron.

One wouldn't typically think of a rousing fantasy epic full of monsters, large-scale battles, and legendary heroes as "uplifting", exactly, but that's one of the main ways to describe Return of the King. Whether it's because of the many spirit-raising sections of its ending (home of one of the LotR franchise's best quotes), its many moments of hope and triumph, or the satisfying arc of each of its main characters, this is easily the most uplifting epic fantasy film ever made.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

PG-13

Action

Adventure

Fantasy

Where to Watch

• stream
• rent
• buy

*Availability in US

Release Date

December 17, 2003

Director

Peter Jackson

Cast

Noel Appleby , Alexandra Astin , Sean Astin , David Aston , John Bach , Sean Bean

Runtime

201 minutes

2 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' (2022)

Directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert

On paper, one would never have imagined that the apparently over-ambitious Everything Everywhere All at Once could ever work. Certainly not as well as it did: Its popularity ended up leading it to an admirable 7 Academy Award wins. Even still, the Daniels proved naysayers wrong with this equal-parts-hilarious-and-exhilarating-and-poignant tale of a middle-aged Chinese immigrant who discovers that in order to save reality, she must connect with the lives she could have led in parallel universes.

Those more prone to debilitating existential crises might find Everything Everywhere horrifying. On the other hand, those looking for a philosophically complex action sci-fi tale about family, generational trauma, the meaning of life, taxes, and everything bagels will discover in this idiosyncratic adventure one of the most beautifully uplifting films they'll ever be able to find.

Everything Everywhere All at Once

R

Adventure

Fantasy

Comedy

Drama

Where to Watch

• stream
• rent
• buy

*Availability in US

Release Date

March 25, 2022

Director

Daniel Kwan , Daniel Scheinert

Cast

Jenny Slate , Michelle Yeoh , jamie lee curtis , Ke Huy Quan

Runtime

139 minutes

1 'Rocky' (1976)

Directed by John G. Avildsen

The ultimate uplifting Best Picture winner and probably the best sports movie of all time, Rocky is a legendary boxing drama about a small-time Philadelphia boxer who gets the chance of a lifetime to fight the world heavyweight champion, in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect. This pretty much became the template for all sports films that came after, and it isn't hard to see why.

What makes the film even more inspiring and empowering is the story of how Rocky got made, itself a powerful rags-to-riches story for the hyper-dedicated Sylvester Stallone, writer and lead of the film. The boxing scenes are nail-biting, the training montage is iconic, the characters are deeply endearing, and the performances are top-notch. Ultimately, there's no humanly possible way of watching Rocky and not wanting to become a better person by the time its credits roll.

Watch on AMC+

NEXT:The Worst Best Picture Winner of Each Decade