Best Motivational Movies for Students

Students have more than one way to get motivated as they go through their often elaborate chase for university success – like exploring other countries, taking a trip to the spa, reading a good book, or simply watching a good movie. 

Movies offer a whole new level of entertainment and have become a refreshing form of literature. Nowadays, movies are no longer just a visual experience, but also provides a gripping and thought-provoking story through well-rounded characters and sophisticated alternate universes. Whether or not you are fond of watching movies, you can’t deny that you have thoroughly enjoyed at least one or two movies in your life. Great movies give viewers a sense of catharsis as it separates them from reality to journey from a different vantage point. 

Movies have a way of influencing a person’s mind; they are at times instrumental in helping people things into perspective. If you want to regain enthusiasm to get back to writing your term paper - or simply just want to watch a good movie, then take time to sit through motivational movies.

Here is a list of the best motivational movies for students:

The Breakfast Club

Set in a high school in the 1980s, The Breakfast Club is about students who are sent to weekend detention after partaking in discouraged activities. After spending a full day in the school library, they begin to unravel and break down their walls to reveal their true selves to one another - beyond the stereotype or their designated role in the high school hierarchy. The Breakfast Club offers a refreshing take on the teenage drama in a decade where the trope is somewhat overused. It is a good motivational movie for students who relentlessly feel the need to fit a specific role but want to break out from it. The Breakfast Club encourages viewers to be more than who they are and to disengage from conforming to a stereotype. 

Interstellar

Many will not consider Interstellar as Christopher Nolan’s most refined film because it competes with the likes of The Dark Knight Trilogy, Memento, and Inception. However, Interstellar goes beyond the sci-fi genre and engages with theories of space and time. The film focuses on a team of NASA researchers and pilots, including Cooper and Amelia Brand, aboard the Endurance as they go through a wormhole in hopes of finding an inhabitable planet to replace Earth. Their voyage becomes more and more difficult as light years pass. Meanwhile, Cooper’s daughter, Murph, remains on Earth to work for NASA and develop a plan B in case the Endurance team doesn’t come back. Interstellar is a motivational movie will encourage you to resort to critical thinking and cultivate your own opinions.

Whiplash

What happens when your quest for greatness drives you to the brink of madness? Whiplash gives an intense depiction of an ambitious jazz band drummer’s pursuit of prominence in his field. It stars Miles Teller and JK Simmons, and both actors can be credited for the film's success along with its rich and fulfilling screenplay. Whiplash is often viewed as an allusion to the movie Black Swan because of the striking similarities between the two films’ protagonists. The movie’s realistic depiction of a relatively obscure setup makes it one of the best motivational movies for students to reflect on their aspirations for greatness in their own field, but are quite unaware of the risks when taken too far. 

La La Land

Despite the criticism it received for being a Hollywood film that aims to glorify Hollywood, it cannot be denied that La La Land is a film that takes the girl-meets-boy trope to another level. The film takes place in modern Los Angeles and centers on the story of Mia and Sebastian. Mia and Sebastian fall deeply in love with each other but are continuously haunted by their dreams and aspirations. Further into the film, they begin to struggle with their relationship as their careers take on separate strides. If you are looking for a love story, La La Land is not it. It is a motivational movie for those with dreams bigger than a relationship with a significant other and do not want to feel guilty about it. La La Land explores the common idea that sometimes you have to pay the price for your dreams to be fully realized. 

Lady Bird

In the opening scene of the film, we are immediately given a quick glimpse about what it is going to be about – teenage angst. Lady Bird is about a teenage girl with the titular name wrapping up her final days in high school before she goes to college. Lady Bird has a complicated relationship with her mom and a growing urge to get out of her hometown and attend college in the East Coast. However, her attention to every minute detail about her town, friends, and family shows how much love she has for all of it. Lady Bird is the best motivational movie for younger viewers who are struggling with their identity and have developed a difficult relationship with people around them because of it.  

Meet The Robinsons

If you were given the chance to see what the future looks like, would you do it? Meet The Robinsons is an animated film that takes viewers into a future with quirky inventions, colorful houses, and geometric gardening. The movie explores the life of boy genius Lewis who continuously attempts to impress potential adoptive parents through his inventions but somehow fails miserably. One day, Lewis is visited by a boy who brings him to the future to try and fix his problem. Meet The Robinsons is certainly one of the best motivational movies for students who are uncertain and afraid of what the future holds - let this movie give you a positive perspective on life if you are ever in doubt. 

Dead Poets Society

A motivational movie should have motivational characters. In Dead Poets Society, the most motivational character takes the form of English teacher John Keating, who was played by the late Robin Williams. Keating inspires his students through an unconventional way of teaching literature. It is later revealed that Keating was a former member of the school’s unsanctioned club called the Dead Poets Society, which his students reestablish. Aroused by Keating’s musings during class discussions, the students share poetry and their compositions among one another in their Dead Poet Society meetings. The film even popularized the common Latin aphorism, Carpe Diem, meaning “Seize the Day.” The Dead Poets Society ultimately gives value to studying humanities and having a degree in the arts. If you are a college student pursuing a BA degree, then this film can be a good motivational movie to inspire you to keep going!

Carol

Two-time Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett plays Carol, and Academy Award nominee Rooney Mara plays Therese, and together swoon viewers with their enigmatic portrayal of two people in love in a period wherein their affection is misunderstood and considered abhorrent - the 1950s. However, public opinion does not hinder them from expressing the deep mutual endearment. Although Carol and Therese are cautious and smart with how they go about their affair, Carol is still caught in a dilemma as she fights for custody over her child against her husband, who she is divorcing, making every move difficult under the eye of private investigators and lawyers. The test of their relationship and love makes Carol the kind of motivational movie which may encourage viewers to pursue their romantic affairs in an age where the freedom to choose who to love is more tolerated. 

Sunny

The film is a coming-of-age story told through the recollection of friends who call themselves Sunny. It centers on the quest of the main protagonist, Na-Mi, to reunite Sunny again after discovering one of them, Ha Chun-Hwa, is dying. Throughout the movie, viewers witness the group’s relationship and dynamics, and how it helped Na-Mi break out of her shell when she was just a teenager. Sunny underscores the importance of having friends when you navigate a complex world as a teenager and even as an adult. Often, we find ourselves isolated from friends and family, especially when we’re faced with a tough challenge. Sunny may serve as a motivational movie for viewers to overcome a lonesome spell and inspire them to reach out to friends if need be. 

Hook

Live-action remakes of animated films (with a twist) like Maleficent and Aladdin aren’t new in the film industry. In 1991, Steven Spielberg directed Hook, a film about grown Peter Pan, played by Robin Williams, who returns to Neverland after his children are abducted by his old nemesis, Captain Hook. Peter must rekindle his relationship with the Lost Boys and Tinkerbell, who feels betrayed after Peter leaves them to grow up, to save his children. In our world, growing up is inevitable and we are often left with no choice but to face our responsibilities as growing people. Hook offers a wave of nostalgia for people who matured along with the movie and revisiting the film could offer comfort as a motivational movie for students who are conflicted by the urgent need to grow up. 

Ghostwriting help for students

It is essential to make time for yourself now and then as you face a world that is so complex and filled with so many challenges. The life of a student isn’t just about learning, studying, and taking exams. It’s far more complicated than that, and it can become tiring. As a student, you need to utilize whatever means at your disposal to have the upper hand. Watching motivational movies can help you get back on your game, but if you have neither the time nor energy to do so, then CustomEssayMeister can help you. We have a pool of expert writers more than capable of writing your custom essay, research paper, or other term paper for you. Our team will do the work while you sit back, relax, and enjoy the company of a good film to help you get back on track. Let our helpful Support Team know what you need and we’ll have your academic paper ready in no time.