Films That Comfort the Heart. | Vol. 1

A movie list. 📺

Jun 16, 2025

The world is an overwhelming and tiring place to the gentle hearts and sensitive souls.

As a person with high sensitivity, I know that all too well. But there are pockets of beauty and rest if you know where to look for them, and it seems like you’ve found one.

Welcome to Dear Gentle Heart, a publication written to be your refuge from the busyness of this world.

There is something about watching a movie with sweet themes and cosy cinematography that is just so comforting. Often it will be a movie I’ve seen a few times before, but it’s those timeless films that add to the enjoyment. 📺

Seeing as I recently posted a book list (—> Books That Nurture the Soul | Vol. 1), I thought a movie list would be a good idea too! And as I said in my book list post, I’m sure it too will be the first of many. 🤍

I tried to have a good mix of genres, but I’m afraid I tend to stick to period pieces and vintage classics. 🙈 Clearly, I need to expand my horizons a bit!

Note: I do not share content concerns in these recommendations, and while I endeavour to share edifying films, please do your own research into them.

Charlotte’s Web

The movie is a bittersweet and poignant ode to friendship and learning to see beauty in the ordinary. It single-handedly fueled my desire to raise a piglet in my early childhood years. 😂

Based on the beloved children’s novel by E.B. White, a young girl named Fern rescues a runty piglet, naming him Wilbur and raising him as her own. After Wilbur grows into a pig, she has to sell him to her Uncle Homer Zuckerman down the street. Wilbur discovers he will be slaughtered for food in winter, but Charlotte, a gentle and wise spider, vows to save his life.

The Magic of Ordinary Days

The film explores themes of love, family, and the beauty of everyday life. It’s just about the sweetest romance I’ve ever watched. I mean, just look at the love in this man’s eyes. 😍

Set during World War II, an educated young woman named Livy is pressured into an arranged marriage with a lonely farmer after becoming pregnant out of wedlock. Over the months in rural Colorado, Livy learns she might have found home quite accidentally.

Cinderella (1950)

I’ll never tire of watching this timeless classic. 🥺 A charming retelling of the fairytale, it features the beloved ‘rags-to-riches’ trope and encourages every girl’s whimsical princess dreams. ✨

The somewhat recent live-action is a beautiful adaptation, but I will always recommend the original. 😜

A beautiful young girl is forced into virtual slavery by her cruel, exploitative stepmother and jealous stepsisters. With the aid of animal friends and the enchantments of a fairy godmother, Cinderella is able to attend a royal ball, where she has until the final stroke of midnight to win the heart of Prince Charming. When she is forced to run from his arms as the clock strikes midnight, she leaves behind a glass slipper, which the prince uses to find her.

Love Comes Softly

While far from perfect (or very historically accurate. 😅), this movie is a sweet story about broken souls finding new purpose in each other and building a new life. 🤍

There are multiple films in this series, all based on the book series by Janette Oke, but I have only watched the first one.

The Love Comes Softly Saga | Hallmark Movies and Mysteries

A young woman on her way to a new life in the late 1800s suddenly finds herself a widow. Destitute and unprotected, she accepts a marriage of convenience with widower Clark Davis to help raise his young daughter, Missie, all winter, if he will pay for her return home in the spring. But love comes softly…

Aristocats

The perfect balance of comedy and poignancy, I have never found myself cheering for a couple more, even though they are cats. 😂 I love watching films like this one and digging out the deeper themes often dealt with. 💕

With the help of a smooth-talking tomcat named O’Malley, a family of Parisian felines—Mother Duchess and her three kittens, Berlioz, Toulous, and Marie—set to inherit a fortune from their owner, try to make it back home after a jealous butler kidnaps them and leaves them in the country.

Pride and Prejudice

I can’t make a movie recommendation list and not include this classic! Look no further for the most perfect enemies-to-lovers story ever. 😍 The costume design and gorgeous cinematography only add to the swoonworthiness of the film. 💕

When Elizabeth Bennet meets the handsome Mr. Darcy, she believes he is the last man she could ever marry, but as their lives become intertwined, she finds herself captivated by the man she has sworn to hate forever.

Little Women (2019)

The pinnacle of sweet cosiness. 🥰 The cinematography in this film is absolutely amazing, and I feel like it truly does the book justice!

The hard parts of life aren’t ignored, but the beauty that exists in the everyday is brought to the forefront. 🤎 (Just a little note, you might need tissues for this one. 😅)

In 19th century Massachusetts, the March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—on the threshold of womanhood, go through many ups and downs in life and endeavor to make important decisions about their futures.

Ah, how desperately I want to rewatch all of these now. 🥺 Thank you for reading today’s post, dear gentle hearts. 🤍

~ Jessica

Have you watched any of the films on this list? What movies do you turn to when your heart needs comforting?