Perfect Days and 4 Other Movies With High RT Scores That Heal Like Therapy

Sometimes what happens in life can make any of us feel hurt, scared, and anxious. Strong emotions bind us and throw us out of our usual lives.

You can deal with them in many ways, including watching movies where the main character overcomes difficult situations and finds reasons to go on.

1. The Holdovers, 2023

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%

The action takes place in a private school on the eve of Christmas 1970. Many students go home, but five stay for the holidays under the supervision of grumpy teacher Paul and cook Mary. Then the company is reduced to three.

The Holdovers by Alexander Payne is a traditional movie about very different people learning to find a common language. If the unsociable student and the eternally dissatisfied teacher literally despise each other at the beginning, they find support in each other at the end. After all, these people are not really evil – just lonely and unhappy in some way.

2. Perfect Days, 2023

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

Elderly and lonely, Hirayama lives in Tokyo and works as a public toilet cleaner. All his days are the same: he buys coffee from the same vending machine, looks at the sky, sits on a bench at lunchtime.

But Hirayama finds a kind of beauty in his usual actions and enjoys them. The man even gets annoyed when someone tries to pull him out of the cycle of everyday life.

Wim Wenders has made an incredibly calming movie that teaches you to see the beauty in routine. And if a janitor is able to enjoy his daily routine, then perhaps every viewer will not be so sad on Mondays after watching this movie.

3. Past Lives, 2023

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 95%

Nora and Hae Sung were childhood sweethearts. But the girl's family emigrated to Canada, and she herself, after growing up, moved to the US and became a writer. After 12 years, the old acquaintances find each other on the Internet, but communication is interrupted. Another 10 years pass and the former lovers meet again.

Director Celine Song's debut could have been a typical melodrama about the return of first love and an unhappy marriage. But instead, the movie pokes fun at stereotypes and shows how to properly preserve the past and let it go at the same time.

4. Eddie the Eagle, 2015

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 82%

Since childhood, Eddie has dreamed of becoming an athlete and competing in the Olympics, but all his attempts at any sport have failed. And now he has a chance to compete in ski jumping – simply because Great Britain has not had any athletes in this discipline for decades. A former ski jumper who gave up his career takes on the task of training the young man.

Based on true events, the movie is a humorous reminder that sometimes even defeat can be a great victory. Eddie is not destined to become an Olympic champion. But even the worst result is a great success for him, because the young man has achieved what he dreamed of.

5. The Worst Person in the World, 2021

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

Julie dropped out of college to become a photographer. She is also dating a comic book writer who is older than her. The woman is almost 30, but she still doesn't know what she wants to do with her life. And the relationship is going nowhere, and she has a new boyfriend in mind.

Joachim Trier shows a heroine who seems to have no problems. Her parents support her, she doesn't need money, but she still can't find herself. Julie really thinks she's the worst person in the world – because she hasn't done anything wrong.

But Trier treats her with such love that you immediately want to forgive her. And yourself at the same time.