Everyone loves a feelgood story, and movies like Freedom Writers are guaranteed to get those endorphins flowing thanks to an uplifting narrative all about overcoming adversity.
Richard LaGravenese’s drama stars Hilary Swank as a schoolteacher who makes it her mission to inspire her students to aim as high as they can to ensure that their potential is reached.
A lot of similar titles all hit very familiar plot beats, but you can’t help but be swept up in seeing a force for good burst onto the scene and transform the lives of those around them.
10 Uplifting Movies Like Freedom Writers
1. Dangerous Minds (1995)
Not all movies like Freedom Writers have to be about inspiring teachers, but John N. Smith’s Dangerous Minds is one of many that relies on the concept to drive the plot.
Michelle Pfeiffer’s character uses her military background to whip a class of underachieving troublemakers into shape, and will do anything to improve her students lives no matter the cost.
There’s a lot to like about a movie that doesn’t spoon-feed the audience with sentimentality, and while you can see the resolution coming from a mile off it doesn’t make it any less enjoyable.
2. Coach Carter (2005)
Samuel L. Jackson brings every ounce of his natural charisma and star power to the role of the title character in Thomas Carter’s true life sports drama.
A determined high school basketball coach instills his team with a strict set of rules, and he shuts down a potential championship season when their grades start to suffer.
The boys need to knuckle down and prove that they can handle the classroom as well as the court, and Coach Carter proves that the formula for movies like Freedom Writers applies to any genre.
3. Dead Poets Society (1989)
Many elements of Peter Weir’s classic have become widely quoted and often imitated, but Dead Poets Society hasn’t lost any of its power as a heartwarming and uplifting redemption story.
Robin Williams’ unorthodox teacher bursts into a stuffy prep school like a tornado, and he connects deeply with his students on a personal level as he looks to bring out the best in them.
Movies like Freedom Writers always need a strong central performance to anchor the story, and Dead Poets Society sees Williams deliver one of the best of a legendary career.
4. Pay It Forward (2000)
Mimi Leder’s literary adaptation follows a teacher who tasks his students to reach out and change the world for the better, but one kid in particular inadvertently starts a huge phenomenon.
Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and Haley Joel Osment all do great work, with the latter in particular following up The Sixth Sense with another remarkable turn from such a young actor.
The best movies like Freedom Writers have a big heart, and Pay It Forward’s tale of spiraling kindness will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy on the inside.
5. Remember the Titans (2000)
Jerry Bruckheimer is best known for producing some of the greatest action movies ever made, but he turns his hand to drama in Boaz Yakin’s accomplished biographical sports movie.
High school integration leads to rising tensions in the local football team after the first black coach is appointed, and he has to deal with social and racial tensions while acclimatizing to his new role.
Remember the Titans is definitely a message movie, as are most movies like Freedom Writers, but the old-fashioned underdog story is one that’s always worth telling.
6. Lean on Me (1989)
A former teacher is coaxed out of retirement to try and save a failing school’s alarming decline in Rocky director John G. Avildsen’s biographical drama.
With Morgan Freeman in the lead, gravitas is a foregone conclusion, and Lean on Me sees the actor in fantastic form as he tries to solve drug and gang problems as well as academic ones.
Movies like Freedom Writers often embrace cliches but put their own twists on them, and Lean on Me features some surprising twists and turns before reaching a familiar conclusion.
7. Stand and Deliver (1988)
Director Ramon Menendez tackles the true story of high school math teacher Jaime Escalante, and in the sub-genre inhabited by movies like Freedom Writers, Stand and Deliver is one of the best.
Edward James Olmos landed an Oscar nomination for his lead performance as the mild-mannered teacher being hassled by students and faculty alike due to their unruly nature.
After surprising everyone when they ace a difficult calculus test, the results are called into question amidst allegations of cheating, and you’ll be left wondering if there’s been any foul play.
8. Finding Forrester (2000)
Good Will Hunting director Gus Van Sant is no stranger to an uplifting drama, and Sean Connery’s veteran presence is both the main selling point and driving force behind Finding Forrester.
A reclusive author strikes up an unlikely friendship with a high school athlete, where he discovers that the young man is also an accomplished and very talented writer.
Smaller in scale than the majority of movies like Freedom Writers by reducing the focus to just two characters, the chemistry between the two leads results in a light and breezy uplifting tale.
9. Spare Parts (2015)
Four Hispanic students form a high school robotics club thanks to their new teacher, and they aim to build something worthy of winning a national contest despite their lack of experience.
Sean McNamara directs the loose adaptation of a true story, with comedian George Lopez playing against type as the inspirational figure that inspires the central quartet.
In keeping with the traditions of movies like Freedom Writers, Spare Parts puts adversity and interpersonal dynamics at the forefront, before building towards a fist-pumping ending to send the audience home happy.
10. The Basketball Diaries (1995)
A young Leonardo DiCaprio gave another hint that he would become one of the best actors of his generation with his incredible performance as a high school basketball star.
Driven by a demanding coach and a worried mother, DiCaprio’s Jim Carroll finds himself battling heroin addiction, and needs to find a way to claw back from the brink before he loses everything.
A kindly neighbor steps in to try and lend a hand, but that might not be enough to save the youngster in a frequently harrowing cautionary tale about the pressures of high school stardom.