Throughout the years, the American South has been a place of both hardship and happiness. Despite the darker aspects of its historic past, this region of the United States has been known for its distinct subculture, culinary palette, vernacular, and natural landscapes. An article from Deep South Magazine on the subgenre of Southern film stated, “The South, more so than other regions, must often return to its past to examine our stories, some beautiful and some haunting, in a quest to discover our identity.” This sense of selfhood is largely illuminated through the lives and times of the people who call this place home, the ones who make it such a unique section of America.
Whether or not you live here, you’ve visited a state or two, or you’ve only seen the South through a TV screen, the atmosphere that it emanates is unforgettable. Even after the credits roll, the warm and sticky feeling of the humidity and hospitality in the air will stick close to you. These are the best feel-good movies set in the South, ranked.
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7 Because of Winn-Dixie (2005)
Twentieth Century Fox
While many would argue that Florida is a part of the South in name only (thanks to its individualistic character), geography would wager that it too deserves to be mentioned on this list. Because of Winn-Dixie is a heartwarming “tail” that revolves around the simple setup: the misadventures of a girl and her dog, plus the friends they make along the way. India Opal Buloni, a tenacious ten-year-old, reluctantly moves to a small town called Naomi where her father plants a church and the two start over. In a Winn-Dixie grocery store, Opal crosses paths with a trouble-making mongrel who she promptly decides is her new best buddy.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
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6 Big Fish (2003)
Columbia Pictures
Big Fish expands on a son and father’s complicated relationship, deepened by external circumstances and the power of telling our own stories. In the midst of his cancer diagnosis, Edward Bloom comes back into contact with his son William, played by Ewan McGregor. Now a journalist who seeks the truth instead of his dad’s trademark tall tales, William and his wife Josephine leave France to go back to Ashton, Alabama, and spend time with Edward. As a Tim Burton tale, this story really comes roaring to life. Visually breathtaking scenes of endless daffodil fields, the allure of Auburn University, and a sense of thematic enclosure within the world of the film’s happenings seal the deal.
5 The Princess and the Frog (2009)
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
One of the greatest Disney princess movies, The Princess and the Frog is also one of the best adaptations of the Grimm brothers’ fairy tales. In New Orleans, Louisiana, the story comes to life against a beautiful backdrop of Southern charm along with an incredible cast of voice actors. Before she becomes a princess, or even a frog, Tiana is a waitress with multiple jobs with the enduring childhood hope of opening her own eatery in memory of her father. But of course, she’s transformed into an amphibian after kissing the transmogrified Prince Naveen. Their journey through the bayou, a familiar Southern setting, is filled with magic and mayhem as they fight to get their human bodies back.
4 Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)
Universal Pictures
Adapted from Fannie Flag’s book Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, the film version of Fried Green Tomatoes translates that down-home feeling of familiarity. Set in Alabama and ending up in Georgia, the story zooms in on the blooming friendship between the shy Evelyn Couch and the elderly Ninny Threadgoode, who spins amazing stories of her own experiences that encourage Evelyn to take the metaphorical bull by the horns within her life. A Guardian review cites its tearjerker nature and its underscores of the queer experience through Idgie and Ruth, calling the movie “so unapologetically sentimental that even the soft-focus women’s-mag artwork brings a tear to my eye.”
3 Steel Magnolias (1989)
Rastar
Featuring a star-studded cast, Steel Magnolias follows the close-knit relationships of a group of female friends throughout the highs and lows of being human. In Chinquapin Parish, Louisiana, Annelle Dupuy Desoto starts her career at a beauty salon there, where she meets a larger-than-life group of other ladies who commune with one another to swap secrets and advice. These six women learn how to truly rely on one another, even through tremendous tragedies that unfortunately strike within their own friend group. Just like life itself, this film is punctuated by happy moments and milestones alongside disappointments and death. And what Southerner doesn’t appreciate a movie that features the incredible Dolly Parton?
2 Hidden Figures (2016)
Hidden Figures illuminates an incredible real-life story, bringing the truth behind one of America’s most ambitious initiatives onto the big screen. In Hampton, Virginia, the Langley Research Center is staffed and populated by many bright brains, but especially those of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson. As three Black women in the early 1960s, they face both racial segregation and sexism in the workplace and their efforts are severely unvalued. As the race to space continues, NASA is forced to reckon with the real minds behind some of the most important contributions to their efforts.
1 Forrest Gump (1994)
Paramount Pictures
Finally, Forrest Gump may be the most well-known feel-good film that takes place in the South. The epic saga of one man’s appearance at a handful of historical events culminates as a commentary on transcending assumptions and the enduring power of love through difficulties. Forrest’s disabilities are a source of struggle throughout the story of his life, especially during his youth, but he defies expectations in more ways than one. This is true whether it’s on that dirt road in Greenbow, Alabama, where he first learned to “run, Forrest, run,” deep in the jungles of Vietnam during his deployment, or on the football field at the University of Alabama.
