Adoption and foster care are represented in some great movies. Below are some of my absolute favorites to watch. That being said, movie watching and the topics/questions that adoption movies raise, definitely make it a personal choice as to what you feel comfortable with for you children. So I would highly recommend that if you're interested in any of these movies that you preview it first and decide what messages you want to draw out for your children ahead of time, or determine that you're not ready to discuss possible questions that the movie might raise. It's entirely up to you. These below happen to be ones that *I* LOVE.
Meet the Robinsons is one of my favorite adoption movies. A little boy deals struggles with living in foster care and not finding a family who will adopt him. He begins to seek out his birth mother and it sends him on an incredible adventure. He ends up discovering his incredible adopted family, and decides that it doesn't matter why his birth mom wanted to give him a different life because he doesn't need that for himself anymore.
Obviously, if you watch the movie, you need to be ready for lots of adoption questions and it can be an avenue to chat about adoption for little ones who only think about their adoption sporadically.
Personally, I love many of the incredible messages of the movie: family is something real and significant, but also a bit what you make it. It has a message of failure as being purposeful and a way to learn, not a statement of who you are, and it has an incredible redeeming message for the "villain" in the movie. LOVE THAT.
The Odd Life of Timothy Green is a great movie that's fun for the whole family. I think it's sweet for kids to see, but it's a great movie adults as well. A couple deals with infertility and they dream a child, who magically becomes theirs. It's an incredible story that eventually draws them to adoption.
The story hits some topics hard -- like the ridiculous and hurtful comments others can sometimes say when we have an adopted child. Other aspects of their relationship are perfect in the way only Hollywood can create.
It's a magical, and endearing story of a family. I loved it.
October Baby is a great movie for teens and adults. Essentially a young girl goes on path to discovering the story of her birth mother. It's very real-to-life, not romanticizing relationships, but has an incredible redemptive story. It was absolutely engaging and I loved that you walk with the main character as she sorts out in her mind who people are BEYOND good and bad characters. There's a lot of depth to the story; it's fantastic.
If you stay through the end, one of the actors shares her personal story and it makes the movie all the more touching.
The First of May did not have a cover that made me feel eager to watch the movie. I won't lie to you; my interest in movies and books often lies in the cover. BUT this movie is a precious story about foster care, and I love it because there are few movies that really talk about what foster care is like.
I love that the kid in the movie struggles with being in foster care and you get to see what that's like.
It's a bit of an adventure story, has elements that are a bit unrealistic, but has a sweet ending. It's not a blockbuster, but it's worth watching.
The Shunning is a great story of a young woman who discovers as a young adult that she was adopted. It's interesting to watch and she goes through some very natural questions and feelings to finding out something that had been kept a secret from her for her entire life.
I LOVE one simply message in the movie: who she is doesn't change because there's more to her history. She is who God has made her. Love that.
I don't like that the movie ends with some questions left unanswered. I never read the corresponding book, so I'm not sure if it was a director's choice or an author's choice. It's a great movie for anyone pre-teen an up.
A Shine of Rainbows is a movie we found on Netflix. A couple adopts a little boy and the father struggles to identify with the little child who is so different from himself. The mother is incredible and speaking to his little heart and their bond becomes amazingly strong.
However due to various circumstances, the little boy and the father MUST bond, and that process is both heart-breaking, and beautiful. There is much redemption in this movie.
It's very realistic as far as relationships and their complexity. And I love that it tackles the very-real situations when bonding is NOT an immediate or gut feeling. It's absolutely excellent and a must-watch. It does have some hard topics in it, so I wouldn't advise a child under 10 to watch.
The Blind Side is probably not new to anyone's list, which is why I mention it last. It's excellent, and you can't help but love that it's based on the true story of Michael Oher. I love a few things about it: I love that it hits those hard topics, like people's poor choices in their reaction to finding out you're adopting. I love that it explores adoption as a sometimes unclear path to navigate. And I love that it's adoption of a teenager, which many people feel afraid to consider.
It's well done, we'll acted and well-directed. If you haven't seen it, then hop on the band-wagon and watch it asap!
These are my favorites. There are other movies that mention adoption or have adoption aspects to it. I'll tell you I don't think all movies should be watched just because it talks about adoption. The movie, Stuart Little, for instance, has a scene where the biological parents come back and take away Stuart from his adopted family. Unfortunately, because the movie had been gifted to my kids, they saw this without me previewing it first. It caused a panic and a flood of questions: could someone come and take them away? What would happen if . . .?
It turns out the "biological parents" in the movie were con-artists and not his biological parents at all, but at the point when you don't know the scam, they are saying things like, "we're his REAL parents." You might feel differently, but I just am not a fan.
I'm certain that I haven't seen all the great movies out there. What are your favorite adoption and foster care movies? I'd love to know what I'm missing. As a movie fan, I don't have a large line in the budget for movie watching, so I'm sure I've missed a ton. I'd love to know what you've seen and liked -- or what you've seen and hated! Share away!
Meet the Robinsons is one of my favorite adoption movies. A little boy deals struggles with living in foster care and not finding a family who will adopt him. He begins to seek out his birth mother and it sends him on an incredible adventure. He ends up discovering his incredible adopted family, and decides that it doesn't matter why his birth mom wanted to give him a different life because he doesn't need that for himself anymore. Obviously, if you watch the movie, you need to be ready for lots of adoption questions and it can be an avenue to chat about adoption for little ones who only think about their adoption sporadically.
Personally, I love many of the incredible messages of the movie: family is something real and significant, but also a bit what you make it. It has a message of failure as being purposeful and a way to learn, not a statement of who you are, and it has an incredible redeeming message for the "villain" in the movie. LOVE THAT.
The story hits some topics hard -- like the ridiculous and hurtful comments others can sometimes say when we have an adopted child. Other aspects of their relationship are perfect in the way only Hollywood can create.
It's a magical, and endearing story of a family. I loved it.
If you stay through the end, one of the actors shares her personal story and it makes the movie all the more touching.
I love that the kid in the movie struggles with being in foster care and you get to see what that's like.
It's a bit of an adventure story, has elements that are a bit unrealistic, but has a sweet ending. It's not a blockbuster, but it's worth watching.
I LOVE one simply message in the movie: who she is doesn't change because there's more to her history. She is who God has made her. Love that.
I don't like that the movie ends with some questions left unanswered. I never read the corresponding book, so I'm not sure if it was a director's choice or an author's choice. It's a great movie for anyone pre-teen an up.
However due to various circumstances, the little boy and the father MUST bond, and that process is both heart-breaking, and beautiful. There is much redemption in this movie.
It's very realistic as far as relationships and their complexity. And I love that it tackles the very-real situations when bonding is NOT an immediate or gut feeling. It's absolutely excellent and a must-watch. It does have some hard topics in it, so I wouldn't advise a child under 10 to watch.
It's well done, we'll acted and well-directed. If you haven't seen it, then hop on the band-wagon and watch it asap!
These are my favorites. There are other movies that mention adoption or have adoption aspects to it. I'll tell you I don't think all movies should be watched just because it talks about adoption. The movie, Stuart Little, for instance, has a scene where the biological parents come back and take away Stuart from his adopted family. Unfortunately, because the movie had been gifted to my kids, they saw this without me previewing it first. It caused a panic and a flood of questions: could someone come and take them away? What would happen if . . .?
It turns out the "biological parents" in the movie were con-artists and not his biological parents at all, but at the point when you don't know the scam, they are saying things like, "we're his REAL parents." You might feel differently, but I just am not a fan.
I'm certain that I haven't seen all the great movies out there. What are your favorite adoption and foster care movies? I'd love to know what I'm missing. As a movie fan, I don't have a large line in the budget for movie watching, so I'm sure I've missed a ton. I'd love to know what you've seen and liked -- or what you've seen and hated! Share away!
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