Transformational Movies
Great movies with transformational, thought-provoking themes of love, belonging, fulfillment and the nature of being human. Characters that reflect the infinite variety in all our parts. (In order of my preference.)
List activity
9.1K views
• 25 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
73 titles
- DirectorDarren AronofskyStarsHugh JackmanRachel WeiszSean Patrick ThomasAs a modern-day scientist, Tommy is struggling with mortality, desperately searching for the medical breakthrough that will save the life of his cancer-stricken wife, Izzi.The Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine meet in 3 parallel time zones – past, present and future – and face the dysfunction in their relationship on a deep spiritual level. What is more important, doing or being? What happens when the power to create overshadows the power of presence, belonging and surrender? Is death a disease? Aronofsky at his best.
- DirectorKay PollakStarsMichael NyqvistFrida HallgrenHelen SjöholmA famous international conductor returns to his small childhood town in Sweden for early retirement. He's asked to help with the church choir. He affects the lives of all in the choir.Finding your voice as part of the whole. The whole honoring every voice. How harmony (aka "Deep Democracy") works. In Swedish, with English subtitles. (Take care *not* to rent the American film of the same name.)
Available on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BA8IBhYlRI&t=667s - DirectorYôjirô TakitaStarsMasahiro MotokiRyôko HirosueTsutomu YamazakiSoon after buying an expensive cello, Daigo learns that his orchestra is disbanding. He moves back to his hometown with his wife, where he answers an ad for what Daigo thinks is a travel agency but is, in actuality, a mortuary.Creating beauty of our lives is a choice.
- DirectorIndar DzhendubaevStarsMatvey LykovMariya PoezzhaevaStanislav LyubshinIn the midst of the wedding princess Miroslava is kidnapped by a dragon and carried away into his castle on the remote island.A re-imagining of ancient archetypes and how we deal with our demons.
- DirectorBertie EllwoodAmber TemplemoreStarsMckenna GraceViola DavisJim GaffiganIn rural 1977 Georgia, a misfit girl dreams of life in outer space. When a competition offers her a chance to be recorded on NASA's Golden Record, she recruits a makeshift troop of Birdie Scouts, forging friendships that last a lifetime.The path to wholeness lies in fully accepting and unconditionally loving our authentic selves, in all our glorious diversity, gifts and flaws, and "doing your best with what God gave you."
- DirectorMona AchacheStarsJosiane BalaskoGarance Le GuillermicTogo IgawaThe life of a determined young girl is changed when she befriends her building's concierge, a solitary woman who is more than what she seems.The Feminine Wound. Can we learn to let life in, even when it seems existentially pointless and overhwleming?
- DirectorSpike JonzeStarsJoaquin PhoenixAmy AdamsScarlett JohanssonIn a near future, a lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with an operating system designed to meet his every need.What capacities enable (romantic) intimacy? Can we learn them? Why do human beings have such a hard time maintaining intimate relationships? Could computers do a better job, with a few, simple rules, such as: stay positive, always show you care, be vulnerable, pay attention to how as well as what your partner is saying, ...?
- DirectorDaniel BarnzStarsElle FanningPatricia ClarksonFelicity HuffmanConfounded by her clashes with the seemingly rule-obsessed world, a troubled young girl seeks enlightenment from her unconventional drama teacher.An unusual girl gets help from her shamanic drama teacher empowering that unique inner voice we are all born with, amidst all the forces of fear and conditioning which try to stamp it out.
- DirectorAdam ElliotStarsToni CollettePhilip Seymour HoffmanEric BanaIn 1976 Melbourne, a lonely 8-year-old girl strikes up a correspondence with an unlikely pen pal: a severely obese 44-year-old New Yorker with Asperger's syndrome.A poignant, and sometimes hard-hitting, exploration of the unlikely love between two pen pals -- an 8 yr. old Australian Girl and a middle-aged New York Jew with Asperger's Syndrome. Told in charming claymation.
- DirectorJamin WinansStarsChristopher Soren KellyQuinn HuncharJessica DuffyA mysterious creature, known as Ink, steals a child's soul in hopes of using it as a bargaining chip to join the Incubi - the group of supernatural beings responsible for creating nightmares."They're all reactions! One thing begets the next. ... Something's gotta stop the flow." The battle for a man's soul. Not for the faint of heart.
- DirectorJonathan DaytonValerie FarisStarsPaul DanoZoe KazanAnnette BeningA novelist struggling with writer's block finds romance in a most unusual way: by creating a female character he thinks will love him, then willing her into existence.The power and limitation of our ability to create through imagination.
- DirectorSusanne BierStarsMads MikkelsenSidse Babett KnudsenRolf LassgårdA manager of an orphanage in India is sent to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he discovers a life-altering family secret.A stunning exploration of priorities in love and work.
- DirectorMax MayerStarsHugh DancyRose ByrnePeter GallagherAdam, a lonely man with Asperger's Syndrome, develops a relationship with his upstairs neighbor, Beth.What are the limits of love? How important is the ability to empathize? When do we adapt to accommodate our partner, and how do we make that difficult decision of whether to stay or go? Asperger's Syndrome used as a beautiful foil for emotional literacy.
- DirectorJames McTeigueStarsHugo WeavingNatalie PortmanRupert GravesIn a future British dystopian society, a shadowy freedom fighter, known only by the alias of "V", plots to overthrow the tyrannical government - with the help of a young woman.The corrupting power of dominance. The healing power of vulnerability.
- DirectorCraig GillespieStarsRyan GoslingEmily MortimerPaul SchneiderA delusional young man strikes up an unconventional relationship with a doll he finds on the Internet.The healing power of imagination, acceptance, love and community.
- DirectorLana WachowskiLilly WachowskiStarsKeanu ReevesLaurence FishburneCarrie-Anne MossWhen a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.To take the blue pill or the red ... no one can choose for us.
- DirectorMarc ForsterStarsJohnny DeppKate WinsletJulie ChristieThe story of Sir J.M. Barrie's friendship with a family who inspired him to create Peter Pan.How does creation empower relationship, and relationship empower creation?
- DirectorTarsem SinghStarsLee PaceCatinca UntaruJustine WaddellIn 1920s Los Angeles, a bedridden patient in a hospital captivates a young girl with a fantastic tale of heroes, myths, and villains on a desert island.The power of storytelling. The world of imagination, seen through the eyes of a little girl. There is a part of you that always chooses life. Where is she?
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsRichard BurtonPeter FirthColin BlakelyA psychiatrist attempts to uncover a troubled stable boy's disturbing obsession with horses.Who is the crazy one ... and why? Who is more alive? Is there a way out of the traps that individuals, and cultures, set for ourselves? Is the concept of "sanity" just an excuse for indoctrination into sometimes-impotent societal norms? Who heals the healer?
- DirectorTom ShadyacStarsTom ShadyacDesmond TutuNoam ChomskyDirector Tom Shadyac speaks with intellectual and spiritual leaders about what's wrong with our world and how we can improve both it and the way we live in it.We are all connected -- seriously! "We are far grander than we've been told."
- DirectorOlivier NakacheÉric ToledanoStarsFrançois CluzetOmar SyAnne Le NyAfter he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires a young man from the projects to be his caregiver.Two men find wholeness -- each providing the piece the other was missing. (French, with English subtitles)
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsJeff BridgesRobin WilliamsAdam BryantA former radio DJ, suicidally despondent because of a terrible mistake he made, finds redemption in helping a deranged homeless man who was an unwitting victim of that mistake.The Masculine Wound. Narcissism on a collision course with itself. Finding the holy grail of life.
- DirectorHarold RamisStarsBill MurrayAndie MacDowellChris ElliottA narcissistic, self-centered weatherman finds himself in a time loop on Groundhog Day.The universe will patiently serve up the same lessons over and over, as long as it takes -- until we get it.
- DirectorMichel Orion ScottStarsRupert IsaacsonKristin NeffRowan IsaacsonA writer documents the journey his family takes to Mongolia to consult with nomadic shamans on the healing of their autistic son.Love, faith, healing.
- DirectorAlexander PayneStarsGeorge ClooneyShailene WoodleyAmara MillerA land baron tries to reconnect with his two daughters after his wife is seriously injured in a boating accident.Turning back to love, at all the right places. Life brings us to the brink, our hearts bring us back.