10 Inspiring Films Showcasing Human Excellence in 2026

Each year, the Greater Good team honors films with Greater Goodies awards for their portrayal of human strengths and virtues. This year's selection features movies from diverse corners of the globe, with several emphasizing themes of love, courage, and human connection. Is this mere coincidence? It might not be. Filmmakers worldwide could be channeling these qualities amid what sociologist Edgar Morin termed the polycrisis—a convergence of intertwined political, social, and environmental challenges. Alternatively, these films might simply aim to entertain and uplift us amid everyday routines. Regardless, we trust you'll discover at least one title here that inspires you to unlock your highest potential.

The Purpose Award: The Alabama Solution

This poignant documentary, helmed by directors Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman, delves deeply into Alabama's prison system, viewed largely through the perspectives of those incarcerated. Smuggled phone videos capture appalling living conditions and brutal mistreatment by guards. As inmates and their loved ones push for state accountability and push for equitable reforms, they confront entrenched discriminatory prejudices head-on.

In Charles Dickens' novel Little Dorrit, he describes prisons as akin to wells, vaults, or tombs, oblivious to the outer world's light. Such enforced obscurity evokes profound distress. Yet, The Alabama Solution reveals how these men ignite their own illumination through mutual solidarity, shared knowledge, and a resolute commitment to advocating for civil and human rights. Witnessing their perseverance—despite suffering and isolation—instills a profound sense of humility as they nurture hope and motivation among themselves.

Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist, posited in Man’s Search for Meaning that our core motivation lies in discovering purpose, even under the harshest conditions—a notion validated by later studies linking purpose to enhanced survival odds.

Purpose often manifests through personal growth and learning. Notably, the most effective rehabilitation strategy for prisoners is attaining a college degree while behind bars. Beyond that, many channel their drive into efforts to overhaul the prison system itself. Society has viable alternatives to our current approaches for handling those accused of crimes, but embracing them demands integrating their welfare into our collective mission. — Ravi Chandra

The Art of Surrender Award: Come See Me in the Good Light

Picture this: two poets connecting deeply on an Oakland, California dance floor long ago.

Andrea Gibson embodied the rebellious allure of spoken-word poetry's James Dean, while Megan Falley captivated as the scene's sharp-minded, red-lipped icon. Eventually, Andrea invited Meg to join her in Colorado. Like many partnerships, theirs encountered turbulence, culminating in a near-breakup just as Andrea received an ovarian cancer diagnosis.

Come See Me in the Good Light chronicles the highs and lows of navigating life amid Andrea's illness. In an era where major studios rarely invest heavily in documentaries about queer poets facing cancer, this film emerged through the dedication of Andrea and Meg's friends, who stepped up as executive producers to secure funding and connections.

Collectively, they crafted a nuanced tutorial on embracing surrender. The film illustrates how cultivating creativity prepares us to embrace existence as it unfolds—to fully experience emotions, invite others into our journeys, and persist. Andrea and Meg reveal poetry's role in overcoming suicidal thoughts and societal fatphobia. Viewers observe their artistic prowess enabling presence amid dire diagnoses, celebratory dances, and even absurdly malfunctioning mailboxes.

This profound partnership among Andrea, Meg, and their circle demonstrates how creative endeavors arm us to confront mortality while truly living until the final moments. — Kelly Rafferty

The Extraordinary Courage Award: Homebound

Homebound narrates the saga of two lifelong friends confronting life's brutal truths in a remote North Indian village, armed with extraordinary bravery and steadfast camaraderie. Shoaib, a Muslim, and Chandan, a Dalit from one of India's most marginalized castes historically deemed untouchable, endure relentless caste and religious bigotry in their routines. Aspiring to police service, they view it as their sole route to long-denied respect.

Fate intervenes differently: a flawed testing process and the abrupt COVID-19 lockdown shatter their ambitions.

Drawing from a 2020 New York Times piece by Basharat Peer, the film mirrors the plight of countless Indian migrant laborers upended by the national lockdown. Jobs evaporated instantly; urban survival became untenable without transport home. Desperate, millions trekked back to villages under scorching sun, echoing Shoaib (Ishaan Khatter) and Chandan (Vishal Jethwa)'s odyssey. The narrative intimately captures the anguish of navigating homeward amid a worldwide health crisis.

Homebound's potency stems from unveiling courage's multifaceted nature: aspiring boldly against insurmountable barriers; unwavering loyalty transcending societal rifts; venturing from familiar villages to alien cities; hazarding all for a fragile chance at refuge; withstanding unimaginable treks; and boldly owning one's identity while discarding unearned shame. Despite the ordeal's devastation, they press forward, step by resolute step. — Aakash A. Chowkase

The Embrace-Your-Demons Award: KPop Demon Hunters

By day, a superstar vocal ensemble; by night, demon slayers—this defines the dual existence of KPop trio HUNTR/X. For generations, women have wielded song against soul-devouring demons. Now, Rumi, Mira, and Zoey inherit this mantle.

Enter the Saja Boys, a fresh boy band whose arrival alerts HUNTR/X: these aren't mere rivals but demons ensnaring their fans' souls!

A clash of righteousness versus malevolence ensues, both in performances and shadows. Yet another internal strife brews. Rumi harbors a concealed truth that could upend everything, fraying bonds with bandmates, admirers, and worst, her own reflection.

As HUNTR/X pursues the Saja Boys' downfall, Rumi's turmoil peaks. Anxiety and self-reproach silence her voice; she withdraws, alarming her companions.

The film underscores that concealing one's flaws functions briefly—until collapse. Like Rumi, one must choose: integrate the fragments or let chaos reign. Core lesson: self-acceptance, flaws included, fuels true flourishing. – Mariah J. Flynn

The Ordinary Courage Award: The Librarians

'I never dreamed this could unfold,' an unnamed librarian remarks at the outset of The Librarians, directed by Kim A. Snyder. 'We never thought we'd be frontline. We're meant to be invisible custodians of spaces and materials.'

This documentary tracks public and school librarians across Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and beyond as they resist, with quiet integrity, politically driven book bans and censorship waves targeting slavery histories, Ku Klux Klan accounts, desegregation narratives, and any works on gender or sexuality.

I viewed The Librarians alongside my partner Michelle, a public librarian herself. For her, bans represent one skirmish in libraries' broader siege, compounded by severe funding slashes precisely when social woes intensify. Daily, they aid those with mental health crises, children and seniors requiring aid, immigrants wrestling bureaucracy, jobless individuals lacking home tech, and countless others.

'Entering librarianship mirrors any bond: unforeseen ferocity awaits,' she reflected post-viewing. 'I admire my peers' dedication immensely, and equally those who've exited toxicity to safeguard well-being.' Echoes resound among educators, healers, and reporters alike.

The Librarians paints a stark depiction of authoritarianism's ascent in America—yet its vital insight spotlights everyday women (and men) propelled into unwelcome battles. Their everyday valor models what many may emulate ahead. — Jeremy Adam Smith

The Connectedness Award: Little Amélie or the Character of Rain

Ever sensed yourself as the universe's pivot? Little Amélie or the Character of Rain probes this via Amélie's arc from babyhood through youth, mapping a child's psyche engulfed by sensory overload.

Directed by Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han from Amélie Nothomb's novel, it authentically evokes childhood—not romanticized, but raw, where one reigns supreme, untaught otherwise.

Screened with my children, it regressed me to accelerated youth phases.

Amélie notes, 'At three, you perceive all, comprehend zilch.' Solitude burdens. White chocolate's inaugural bliss evokes divine oblivion's thrill. Life's primers dazzle: first gaze received, spring's vivid palette, fauna marvels, literature, toys, name mastery, future glimpses.

Much of the runtime, Amélie deems herself divine, self-naming God. Haven't we all, in youth's omnipotence, at existence's core? Awe-inspiring yet daunting, this ties to isolation, unease, melancholy. Traversing splendor, sorrow, affection, absence, Amélie grasps she's not central—interpersonal bonds imbue purpose. — Lauren Lee

The Prosocial Deception Award: Rental Family

Rental Family spotlights a Japanese firm fabricating faux familial bonds for emotional or pragmatic needs. Bizarre? This tale offers insights.

'We vend feelings,' declares head Shinji Tada (Takehiro Hira). 'We enact life roles—parents, kin, lovers, pals—bridging voids.' He elaborates: 'Mental health stigma drives alternatives like ours.'

Shinji courts down-on-luck actor Phillip Vandarpleog (Brendan Fraser) as the squad's 'token white guy.' Post-hire, a mother employs him as prosperous Caucasian father to aid her mixed-race, out-of-wedlock daughter's elite school entry. Their bond deepens, veering toward tragedy, probing ethical quandaries.

Progressing, figures err and veer unethically. Yet compellingly, Rental Family normalizes self- or other-deception for joy, while exposing perils. Unresolved paradox: distinguishing malevolent fibs from benevolent ones? Characters grapple; viewers ponder. — Jeremy Adam Smith

The Melancholy Love Award: The Secret Agent

Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil's premier director, delivers Oscar-nominated The Secret Agent for Best Picture.

Primarily 1977 Brazil amid 'great mischief'—corruption, state terror, tyranny. Armando (Wagner Moura, Best Actor contender), a soulful scientist with boundless warmth, flees killers; motives unfold gradually. His son's fixation on Jaws' poster symbolizes lurking peril.

An early highlight: Armando encounters Dona Sebastiana (Tânia Maria)'s haven, a sagacious 77-year-old sheltering him as Marcelo under alias.

Amid duress, Marcelo cherishes each soul, embodying Brazil's affectionate saudade—poignant yearning fused with resignation.

Via labyrinthine plot, The Secret Agent unveils love as life's true operative: fostering maturity, solace, security, mending. It compels steadfast loving through tempests. — Ravi Chandra

The Greater Goodness Award: Superman

Lately, Superman's arc darkened into grim vigilantism. Man of Steel (2013) saw him raze Metropolis, slaying Zod, claiming thousands.

That's antithetical to heroism: power wielded nobly, modeling real authority's ideal conduct. Skewing Superman Trump-like (à la The Boys' Homelander) veers satirical.

James Gunn's 2025 Superman shuns satire for earnest, whimsical joy.

Proof one: Superman (David Corenswet) rescues a squirrel from doom—retained despite test backlash, distinguishing this iteration. Absurd? Undeniably wholesome; all life sacred.

Proof two: Krypto the Superdog delights universally. Nothing surpasses such canine virtue.

Forgo intellectual depth; embrace visceral benevolence uplifting worldviews.

Superman concludes: 'I'm humanly fallible. I love, fear, rise daily unsure, stepping forward optimally. Errors abound—that's humanity, my supreme power.' — Jeremy Adam Smith

The Braver Love Award: Together

With Gen Z and millennial unions waning, Together—Michael Shanks' Aussie body-horror—probes commitment phobia.

Tim (Dave Franco) and Millie (Alison Brie), longtime pair evading marriage, relocate rurally, encountering a force fusing them literally.

Surface gore shocks via merging flesh, but underlying compassion dissects relational reticence.

Love's enigma fuels endless tales—from Shakespearean doom to rom-coms. Together unconventionally dissects this force, urging escape from relational drift. Commitment terrifies, the film posits, yet cowardice horrifies more. — Zaid Jilani