Ryan Niemiec, Psy.D., is a licensed psychologist, coach, and Education Director of the VIA Institute on Character. He's an international presenter on character strengths, mindfulness, and positive psychology. Ryan is author of many books including Character Strengths Interventions and Mindfulness and Character Strengths and co-author of The Power of Character Strengths and Positive Psychology at the Movies. Longer bio. Articles by Ryan are here.
Editor’s Note: This year we are proud to present Ryan Niemiec’s winners of the Positive Psychology Movie Awards before rather than after the Academy Awards, which will be presented on February 28. Now during the Academy Awards, you can watch to see how many of Ryan’s winners also win Oscars.
This is the seventh year that Ryan has provided positive psychology movie awards. Check the reference list below for the links to previous articles about movie awards, as well as his book on positive psychology at the movies.
We provide Amazon links for each movie. We know there are many ways to gain access to these movies, but the Amazon reviews may be helpful even so.
Each year, I review a wide range of movies, studying them for their portrayal of core themes in positive psychology. Why? Because professors, counselors, coaches, and consumers regularly report the benefits of using movies as a lens for educating, for gaining insight, for re-conceptualizing problems, for instilling hope, and for self-growth. In fact, a study published this year found that viewing positive psychology movies led to an increase in positive characteristics and positive behaviors.
Now in its 7th year, I’m happy to highlight some terrific films from 2015 that reflect core themes in positive psychology.
Here are the Positive Psychology Movie Awards of 2015!
While this pick might surprise some people, watch this film with a lens of positive psychology. The film directly identifies Charlie Brown’s expression of several character strengths, namely humor, bravery, kindness, and perseverance, all to support the meta-strength of love. True to research in positive psychology, Charlie Brown exhibits character strengths blindness and low self-esteem, and it takes other characters to engage in strengths-spotting before he improves his self-understanding. Themes of achievement, positive relationships, and meaning are readily on display.
A couple, about to celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary, encounters a unique challenge they must overcome. The film displays positive aging, relationship imperfections, and continual relationship growth rather than stagnancy. It would be difficult for any viewer of any age to watch this film and not wonder about one’s own long-term relationship and reflect on it in the context of many years (or decades) down the line.
The long-awaited film (and already the 3rd highest-grossing film in box office history) not only did not disappoint but enthralled most viewers and critics. True to the work of modern mythologist Joseph Campbell, the hero’s journey motif, and the previous Star Wars films, this installment depicts new heroes and old heroes expressing bravery, compassion, integrity, perseverance, and hope as they transform themselves and battle the dark side.
Unquestionably, one of the year’s best films from the perspective of story, acting, and using one’s strengths to make a difference in the world. A pathologist, Bennet Omalu (Will Smith), makes a medical discovery of football-related brain trauma and the long-term negative effects. Omalu displays psychological and moral courage, perseverance, integrity, judgment, and kindness in exemplary ways. It is this constellation of his best qualities that helps him challenge one of the biggest systems in the world – the NFL.
In an unthinkable situation in which no person in history has ever encountered, an astronaut (Matt Damon) becomes trapped on the planet Mars. With no one to turn to for support or problem-solving he is left with nothing but his character strengths and talents to not only survive but to find a way to make contact with Earth. It is hope the fuels him, helps him face constant adversity, and allows him to stay optimistic despite the horrifying reality of his situation.
A young woman stands strong through devastating circumstances of being kidnapped as a teenager, raped daily by her kidnapper, and kept imprisoned in a small room for 7 years, the last 5 with her son who was born in the room. Later, when she is no longer in the room, she must adapt to a new world and new life. She displays enormous coping resources and personal strength, especially in dealing with significant post-trauma psychological effects as she simultaneously tries to pick up the pieces of her shattered life and maintain care for her son.
The film title of the former means “the return.” Left for dead after a brutal bear attack, a frontiersman (Leonardo DiCaprio) fights to survive natural elements and betrayal by one of his men. He is driven forward by advice from his father who once told him “As long as you can grab a breath, you fight, you breathe. You keep breathing.”
The latter film title refers to the true story of 33 Chilean miners trapped deep in a mountain. The men form not only a team but a brotherhood that helps them outlast all the prognostications in regard to their unlikely survival.
A divorced woman, stuck in the sandwich generation caring for family members older and younger than she is, breaks from the monotony of her life and taps into the creativity she displayed as a child. Based on the real-life story of Joy Mangano and her achievements, her belief in herself and her creations are something for viewers to marvel at and emulate.
There were two films in 2015 that depicted two of the most famous and high impact social psychology experiments in history, Philip Zimbardo’s prison experiment and Stanley Milgram’s obedience experiment. It is the latter film that shows subjects engaging in an agentic state (defying authority and showing compassion for others). It also raises many questions about the nature of humanity, challenges viewers to see both the pros and cons of the experiment, and draws links to everyday life alluding to how everyone is a “puppet” obeying a puppeteer to some degree.
Portrays the “spotlight team” of the Boston Globe that broke the story of the Catholic Church’s systematic cover-up of the sexual abuse of children/adolescents by priests. It is ingenuity and collaborative teamwork that leads to their success. Viewers will see how different character strengths are aligned with different team functions/roles and how each team member uniquely rises to the occasion when needed to take initiative, to lead, to investigate, and to challenge.
In perhaps the most creative film of the year, Anomalisa is a unique animation from the quizzical mind of director/writer Charlie Kaufman, about a man lost in automatic pilot and monotony. He is shaken out (temporarily) by a naïve woman who raises his curiosity and moves him emotionally. She is his mindfulness catalyst. However, as is common for people who engage in mindfulness, he quickly returns to unawareness.
Fascinating independent film in which a random group of people find themselves part of an experiment in which they are standing in a circle they cannot move from and one person is killed off every couple of minutes. They must figure how why this is happening and if it can be stopped. Themes of morality around decision-making, end of life, stereotyping, betrayal, trust, and manipulation are striking. This is a mysterious and stark film (filmed almost entirely in one room), and one thing is certain – the viewer is fully engaged throughout, as is every single character, because their life depends on it!
One of the most popular positive psychology movies across audiences is this animated feature that highlights age-old adages of psychology/clinical psychology – that there is great value in our afflictive emotions (e.g., anger, fear, sadness), that we often feel a mixture/combination of emotions, and that it’s important to express our emotions directly. Unfortunately, the film depicts the standard imbalance found in traditional psychology – the underplaying of the positive, as there is only 1 positive emotion characterized (i.e., Joy), and 4 afflictive/negative emotions characterized.
Honorable Mention Awards
Award for Integrity: Bridge of Spies
Award for Redemption: Southpaw
Award for Friendship: The Good Dinosaur
Award for Hedonic and Eudaimonic Happiness: Danny Collins
Award for Character Strengths Overuse: Pawn Sacrifice
Award for Character Strengths Underuse: The Corpse of Anna Fritz
Award for Character Strengths Misuse: Ex-Machina
Niemiec, R. M., & Wedding, D. (2013). Positive Psychology at the Movies: Using Films to Build Character Strengths and Well-Being Gottingen, Germany: Hogrefe.
Smithikrai, C. (2016). Effectiveness of teaching with movies to promote positive characteristics and behaviors. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 217, 522-530.
Earlier Positive Psychology Movie Awards by Ryan Niemiec:
- Positive Psychology Movie Awards for 2014
- Fifth Annual Positive Movie Awards: Recognizing 2013
- The Positive Psychology Movie Awards of 2012
- The Positive Psychology Movie Awards of 2011: Character Strengths and Best Picture
- The Positive Psychology Movie Awards of 2011: Elements of Flourishing,
- The Positive Psychology Movie Awards of 2010
- The Positive Psychology Movie Awards for 2009: Countdown
- The Positive Psychology Movie Awards for 2009: Honorable Mention
