15 inspiring movies that will lift you up

Are you looking for inspiration to get your mind going again? Movies can be the perfect spark: they evoke a wide range of emotions and draw us in. For a few hours, we experience how real or fictional characters fight for their goals, overcome obstacles, push themselves, and strengthen their relationships – and find inspiration for our own lives in the process.

We have gathered 15 inspiring movies, each of which is absolutely worth watching and a gem of cinema. But most importantly: each of them can connect with you in its own way, take you along, and leave you freshly inspired back in the here and now.

We have linked the trailer for each movie on YouTube as a little decision-making aid. You can find the full movies on various video-on-demand platforms such as YouTube, Amazon Prime, Maxdome, Netflix, or Apple TV.

1. Biking Borders 

Friends Nono Konopka and Maximilian Jabs – passionate non-cyclists – set off on a 15,000-kilometre bike journey from Berlin to Beijing. With this unusual stunt, they want to raise donations for the aid organisation Pencils of Promise. What started as a visionary idea became a unique trip, during which the creators far exceeded their own goals: they completed their long bike journey and enabled the construction of two large schools in Guatemala with the donations. Let yourself be inspired by their documentary travelogue about how far you can go when you leave your comfort zone!

This movie is for you if:

• you want to experience how fulfilling it is when both the journey and the goal are right
• you want to experience that adventures are still possible in our modern times
  
• you want to get a unique insight into the beauty of nature, but also unvarnished impressions of the two friends' crises and emotions

2. Erin Brockovich

It takes a lot of courage to grow beyond what others expect of you. That is precisely why this fairly funny legal drama based on true events about the office assistant and single mother who uncovers one of the biggest environmental scandals in US history is so fascinating. Erin (Julia Roberts) could have buried her head in the sand. She could have thought: This is far beyond what I can do and what I am capable of. Instead, she summoned all her courage and fought. And we draw inspiration from her story: Even if others belittle you: don't let them get you down!

This movie is for you if:

• you want to watch a movie classic again that tells a typical David-against-Goliath story without being cliché
• you want to be reminded through Erin's story that you can fight for something bigger while also mastering everyday life
  
• you want to bring some of the main character's funny and fighting energy into your own life

3. Happy-go-Lucky

In this British comedy, which first made the visitors of the Berlinale laugh and feel happy in their seats in 2008, we meet probably the most positive person ever: For Poppy (Sally Hawkins), the glass is always half full. Some of her fellow human beings therefore consider her a little crazy, others over the top. But Poppy also knows setbacks and the darker sides of life. Nevertheless, she remains refreshing and encouraging. And the best part: Poppy's positive attitude towards life is truly infectious :-)

This movie is for you if:

• you want to be inspired by an absolute insider tip to more optimism
• you want to see how you can love life despite setbacks
• you want to meet a radical optimist who still won't get on your nerves 

4. Little Miss Sunshine

A loser is someone who is so afraid of losing that they don't even try. – Grandpa

This mixture of a road movie and comedy from 2006 does not necessarily show the prime example of the typical American success story. But nowhere is it told so empathetically and at the same time so humorously how a seemingly completely messed-up family finds each other again. The Hoovers travel to a beauty pageant where little Olive absolutely wants to win. Although this turns out to be the wrong goal, it leaves room for many amusing complications on the journey there. And we are inspired by the idea: Winning doesn't matter at all.

This movie is for you if:

• you want to travel through the USA in a van with a family like something out of a curiosity cabinet and laugh heartily 
• you want to be reminded how important family is – even if they are sometimes weird or difficult
• you need one more proof that it doesn't matter what you do, but how you do it

5. Beautiful

Admittedly, the beauty ideal is gradually moving away from the idea that women have to be as thin and flawless as possible. Even so, advertising and social media still far too often cling to this unhealthy worldview that creates needless pressure. So that women can finally like themselves as they are, actress and director Karoline Herfurth has created the perfect movie for feeling good in your own skin. It highlights very different problems with the body, but they all convey a message: We should let go of beauty ideals of any kind. We are inspired and find: Everyone is beautiful in their own way.

• you struggle with your own body and would like to feel more comfortable with yourself
  
• you want to see a movie that shows the self-optimisation craze of our time neither too seriously nor too ridiculously
• you want to experience how women of completely different ages struggle with the same beauty ideals and emancipate themselves from them

6. Once

Once is one of the films that blew the film world away and still remained an insider tip. The independent production from Ireland was shot with a handheld camera and only €130,000 in production costs (for comparison: The Hobbit cost €234 million) and then won the Oscar for Best Original Song on the spot. In Oncea street musician and a single immigrant mother meet, both heartbroken and without money. It is about the love for another person, the love for music, and above all about one thing: that there is more than one right way. Onceshows what life really is: sometimes confusing, but always inspiring and at its core incredibly touching.

This movie is for you if:

• you feel like watching a very special music movie, which is rumoured to be one of the best of all time
• you want to sink into a love story again that is not cliché
• you want to be reminded that life holds its wonders in the little things

7. Boyhood

I want to be able to do everything I want, because then I feel alive. Instead of just pretending to be normal. – Mason

This movie is rightly considered unique: Director Richard Linklater accompanied the actors for twelve years and wove one of the most unusual stories about growing up from it. In doing so, he opens a curtain that we can never see in the cinema and that feels like real life. The beauty of it is: The movie triggers a cascade of your own memories of childhood and youth: of all the little and big hurdles that, viewed with some distance, are all surmountable.

This movie is for you if:

• you want to let yourself be captivated by this globally unique film project
• you want to see beautiful examples that problems also mean growth
• you want to see how helpful it is to look at life from a bird's-eye view sometimes

8. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly 

At only 43 years old, Jean-Dominique Bauby suffers a stroke that leaves him in the locked-in syndrome from one day to the next – a condition in which the mind is awake, but the body is almost completely paralysed. Instead of giving in to this experience, Bauby began to write a book about his condition and his life, with someone reading the alphabet to him and him blinking with his eyes at the right letter. This book was made into a movie, and this very movie leaves us in awe: Instead of seeing us give in to a cruel fate, we see that there is a universe within ourselves – if we only allow it.

This movie is for you if:

• you want to experience that hope can remain in all life situations
• you are looking for a film biography about someone in a truly hopeless situation who does not wallow in self-pity 
• you want to see a visual artwork about the rich inner world of a person

9. The Martian

At some point, everything goes wrong. And you can say, that's it. This is my end now. You can accept that or get to work. – Mark Watney

How would you feel if you were all alone, around 60 million kilometers away from Earth on a planet that is minus 60 degrees cold? Admittedly, that is very hypothetical :-) But even situations here on Earth sometimes feel similarly difficult. In this movie, exactly this happens to the astronaut Mark Watney: His team forgets him on Mars. Instead of burying his head in the Martian sand, Mark thinks about how he can improve his hopeless situation and keep his sense of humour. The movie shows very entertainingly that it is better to actively tackle problems than to fall into resignation.

This movie is for you if:

• you want to be inspired by the astronaut's ingenuity
• you want to see a movie based on scientific findings from NASA and one of the favourite movies of former US President Barack Obama
• you want to see how humour and professionalism help in difficult life situations 

10. Rising Phoenix

This movie shows that even the seemingly impossible is possible. The documentary follows various athletes who achieve athletic excellence despite their physical impairments. This is coupled with the history of the Paralympics. Personalities like Beatrice Vio, a fencing world champion without forearms and legs , are quite impressive extreme examples and are not meant to explain away the difficult everyday life of people with disabilities. They show that our innermost desires can overcome many hurdles and that people are capable of truly extraordinary efforts.

• you want to experience people who otherwise rarely stand in the spotlight
• you want to be inspired by the incredible motivation of the athletes
• you like documentaries about history or sports

11. The Shawshank Redemption

Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of all. And good things never die. – Andy Dufresne

This film was a flop when it was first released, but for many years it has stubbornly held first place on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) list of the greatest movies of all time. The story centres on the life sentence of wrongfully convicted bank manager Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins). It shows us in a powerful way how a person manages to hold on to hope for years and find a way out – even when there seems to be no hope.

This film is for you if:

• you want to see a compelling and intelligent film with great actors (such as Morgan Freeman)
• you don't believe how much strength, hope and optimism can exist in a harsh environment like a prison
• you want to find courage during a difficult time, even if you (hopefully) are not in prison

12. Seven Years in Tibet

This epic film starring Brad Pitt tells the story of the journey of the self-centred mountaineer Heinrich Harrer – outwardly to Tibet and inwardly to himself. Closely interwoven with the real history of the country, it particularly highlights how tranquility, walking and the Tibetan teachings can bring about a 180-degree transformation for the better in a person. Of course, 129 minutes of film cannot replace seven years in Tibet. 😊 But it does encourage you to reflect on your own life.

This film is for you if:

• you want to enjoy impressively captured nature footage
• you want to inspire yourself to embark on a journey – whether it's a short walk or your own personal development
• you want to watch young Brad Pitt find enlightenment

13. Inside Out

What if someone could simply look inside our heads and easily explain all the complicated feelings? It's a good thing Pixar films exist, because what is not actually possible (yet) is creatively and humorously depicted here. After eleven-year-old Riley moves to another city with her parents, the five basic emotions – Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger and Disgust – go crazy in her head. The animated film takes us on a journey into the everyday life of our feelings and shows through this timeless story that every emotion within us has a right to exist – whether positive or negative. 

This film is for you if:

• you want to see a psychologically sound and child-friendly film with a lot of humour and wisdom
• you want to learn to better understand your own emotions
• you want to realise that feelings also just want to be heard

14. Gandhi

What could be more inspiring than the story of a small man who confronts a brutal military power with wisdom, composure and nonviolence? In the end, Mahatma Gandhi was able to achieve India's independence from the British colonial power with his movement. This three-hour epic film of true events still inspires pacifism and peaceful, civil disobedience today and won eight Oscars in 1983 – including Best Actor for Ben Kingsley.

This film is for you if:

• you believe that nothing can be achieved in the world with words alone – and you want to be convinced of the opposite
• you want to see a historical epic with up to 300,000 extras
  
• you are looking for a historical film with a deeply humanist message
  

15. Frances Ha

Sometimes it's good to do things when you should do them. – Frances

Frances (Greta Gerwig) is in her late twenties and tries to make it as a dancer in New York in this highly acclaimed independent film. But somehow, nothing seems to work out. And while everyone around her seems to be growing up, Frances struggles with her own life. Yet she never loses her sense of humour and shows us that sometimes things might not go as planned – but that your own happiness should not depend on it.

• you like coming-of-age films – even if Frances is no longer going through puberty, but rather a quarter-life crisis
• you want to leave with the good feeling that life is beautiful, even if it doesn't always go as planned
• you want to see a film with an interesting, independent female character

Which of these films brought you back on track? Or is there another film that changed your view of life and should not be missing from this list? We look forward to your comment here below the post!

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This post is by Frauke Harlis. She loves writing just as much as psychology and has studied both. When she is not typing or entertaining her two children, she lies on the deck of her houseboat and looks for cloud shapes.