Film

Felicity: An American Girl Adventure

A pre-Revolutionary Virginia girl defies her parents' expectations to befriend an abused horse, discovering her own courage in the process. Shailene Woodley carries this earnest family adventure with genuine warmth, grounding what could be saccharine in real emotion. It's period drama for kids who love horses and stories about choosing what's right over what's expected.

TMDb rating3.3

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National Velvet1945

The ur-text of girl-and-horse stories: Elizabeth Taylor's spirited heroine trains a horse for the Grand National. Lush, beautifully shot, and genuinely thrilling—this is where the template comes from, and it holds up.

But It's seventy-five years old and moves at a different pace. The gender politics, while progressive for 1944, will feel dated to modern eyes.

National Velvet poster

The Black Stallion1979

Shipwrecked boy and wild Arabian horse bond in isolation, then race toward triumph. It captures that exact magic—quiet scenes of trust-building that make the climax earn its rush.

But The middle sags a bit, and some younger viewers might find it slow before the racing begins in earnest.

The Black Stallion poster

The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking1988

A red-haired orphan with a horse and her own code of justice helping others across a magical realm. It has that same spirit—a girl who won't be managed, who saves things because no one else will.

But It's cheerfully low-budget and deliberately theatrical in a way that can feel hammy. The magic is conceptual rather than visual.

The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking poster

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Something you would not have found on your own.

Fried Green Tomatoes1991

Both centre on girls/women defying their parents' worlds to do what's right. Both ask: what does it cost to stay small, and what does it cost to choose courage? Both suggest the cost of the first is far higher.

A friendship between two women separated by age and circumstance, told through stories of past courage. Like Felicity, it's fundamentally about choosing loyalty and justice over social expectation, and finding your power in that choice. Marcia Gay Harden is electrifying, and the film burns with quiet rage and tenderness.

But It's an adult drama, not a family film, and some violence is implicit rather than shown. The structure takes patience, and the ending won't resolve everything.

Fried Green Tomatoes poster
More like this (6)

My Friend Flicka1943

A shy Wyoming boy bonds with a colt and learns confidence through responsibility. Technicolor pastoral gorgeousness and a genuinely moving portrait of quiet courage.

But It's a boy's story from the 1940s, so it moves through very traditional gender roles. The pacing is deliberate to the point of stillness.

My Friend Flicka poster

King of the Wind1990

A mute Arab stable boy and a prized Arabian stallion journey across continents, proving that greatness isn't always recognised. Unusual, poetic, and genuinely strange in the best way.

But It's European and quiet and doesn't follow familiar narrative beats. The tone is fablelike rather than realistic, which can feel distant.

King of the Wind poster

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron2002

A wild mustang's spirit tested and unbroken by capture. It's animated but shot through with real respect for animal autonomy. Matt Damon's narration adds melancholy depth.

But It's a DreamWorks film, so expect a certain slickness. The environmental message is heavy-handed, and the animation has aged.

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron poster

The Horse Whisperer1998

Robert Redford plays a man who heals traumatised horses through patience and intuition. Slow, beautiful, and genuinely meditative about the work of restoration.

But It's also a romance, and that subplot overwhelms the horse story in ways that feel false. The pacing will test your patience.

The Horse Whisperer poster

Newsies1992

Like Felicity, it's a period piece driven by a young hero's refusal to accept injustice. Both say: your parents' world isn't the only world possible. Both have the energy of awakening—discovery that you are braver than you knew.

Street kids lead a newspaper strike in 1899 New York through song and dance. It sounds ridiculous and it is, but it's joyfully so—scrappy underdogs fighting a rigged system through sheer charisma and solidarity.

But It's a musical with tap-dancing newspaper boys. If that sounds silly to you, it is silly. Some will love that; others will not.

Newsies poster

The Tale2018

Both examine how children narrate their own agency in situations where they have less than they think. Felicity is the fairy tale version—a girl who saves the horse, saves herself. The Tale is the archaeological dig beneath that myth, asking what stories we tell to survive situations beyond our control.

An adult woman reconstructs the summer she was groomed as a child through a story she told herself. Haunting, formally strange, and devastatingly smart about how we survive by rewriting.

But It's disturbing and serious about a dark subject. It's not a story about overcoming; it's about recognising what happened and what it cost. It will upset you.

The Tale poster

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