Film
Heart and Souls
A 1993 fantasy-comedy where four ghosts, bound to a man since his birth, return to help him live more fully—and solve their own unfinished business. Robert Downey Jr. carries the film with warmth and wit, balancing slapstick possession comedy with genuine sentiment. It's a feel-good film for people who like their magic grounded in character and emotion rather than spectacle.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you enjoy light supernatural comedy with a warm, slightly sentimental heart, the kind of film where a grown-up man's buried childhood gets dusted off with affection and a few good laughs.
Skip it if you want a sharp, fast-moving plot; this one lingers on its goofy premise and its gentle emotional beats, and some of the humour leans broad and familiar.
What it asks of you: It runs about an hour and forty-five minutes at an easygoing pace, asking you to settle in for playful sentiment and forgive a few sitcom-ish stretches rather than track complicated plotting.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Ghost1990
The prototype: a sophisticated romance wrapped in supernatural mechanics, mixing grief, humor, and the question of whether love survives death. Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore have real chemistry, and it never talks down to its own sincerity.
But The pottery wheel scene has become a punchline. It's genuinely sentimental in ways that can feel dated, and the plot mechanics sometimes creak.

Defending Your Life1991
Albert Brooks made a comedy about the afterlife that's both hilarious and unexpectedly moving. It asks what we owe ourselves and each other with real tenderness underneath the laughs. Meryl Streep is radiant.
But It's quieter and more philosophical than you might want from a comedy. The second act drags a little before it finds its footing again.

It's a Wonderful Life1946
The gold standard of films about invisible guides and unlived lives. Capra made something genuinely spiritual without ever feeling preachy. It understands that the people around us are often more important than we realize.
But It's relentlessly wholesome and can feel saccharine if you're not in the mood. Some scenes are broad enough to make modern viewers squirm a little.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Heart and Souls
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Bucket List2007
Both films use supernatural or death-adjacent premises to ask whether the living are honoring what matters most. Both have ghosts (literal and metaphorical) pushing the hero toward actual living.
Two men diagnosed with terminal illness embark on a road trip to complete their life's dreams before they die. It's about mortality and friendship with genuine warmth, asking what makes a life worth living in concrete, emotional terms.
But It's emotionally manipulative and treats death as a plot device for inspiration rather than a real ending. The wealthy-men-getting-their-wishes fantasy can feel hollow if you're grieving.

More like this (8)
Always1989
Spielberg's romantic fantasy about a pilot who comes back as a ghost to help his successor. It has real magic—literally and emotionally—and treats grief and love with genuine care underneath the adventure premise.
But It's visually gorgeous but narratively slight. Some viewers find it too earnest, and the plot resolves in ways that feel predetermined rather than earned.

Groundhog Day1993
Bill Murray in a timeloop learns to be a better person through repetition and reflection. Harold Ramis made a comedy that's also a parable about becoming who you're meant to be. It gets better on every rewatch.
But The premise can feel repetitive on first viewing before it clicks into what it's actually about. It's more philosophical than plot-driven, which isn't everyone's speed.

Beetlejuice1988
Tim Burton's ghosts-and-living collision is funny, weird, and visually inventive without overwhelming character. Michael Keaton is electric as the manic ghost, and the film earns its sweetness through genuine strangeness.
But It's deliberately grotesque in places, with cartoonish body horror. If you want ghosts to feel atmospheric rather than comedic, this isn't the film.

The Poseidon Adventure1972
A disaster film with real emotional stakes: strangers trapped in an overturned ship must work together to survive. It's kinetic and genuinely suspenseful, with an ensemble cast that actually feels like people, not types.
But It's long and the pacing uneven. Some sequences feel padded, and the disaster-film genre has been done to death since then.

All That Jazz1979
Fosse's autobiographical musical about a man constructing his own afterlife. It's visually dazzling and morally complex, treating death not as an ending but as a final act. Roy Scheider gives a career-defining performance.
But It's deliberately nightmarish and unflinching about addiction, infidelity, and mortality. If you want comfort, look elsewhere—this film doesn't offer it.

Made of Honor2008
A romantic comedy about friendship and second chances, with Patrick Dempsey caught between duty and desire. It's charming, well-cast, and hits the emotional beats without pretense.
But It follows rom-com formula closely and breaks little new ground. The stakes feel artificially imposed, and the central conflict resolves fairly predictably.

Six Feet Under2001
Like Heart and Souls, it uses supernatural elements sparingly—the dead appear, but the story is always about the living learning to let go. Both understand that ghosts are usually about unfinished business in the hearts of those still breathing.
An HBO series about a funeral home family where death is literally their business and emotionally their constant shadow. It's funny, heartbreaking, and treats mortality with more nuance than almost any drama on television. Each season deepens.
But It can be crushingly bleak in stretches. Some character arcs feel repetitive, and it demands you care about people who often behave selfishly. The final season divides viewers.

Synecdoche, New York2008
Both films obsess over the gap between the life we're living and the life we meant to live. Both use spectral, unsettling logic to ask whether we're actually present in our own stories, or just haunting them.
Charlie Kaufman's baroque tragedy about a theater director constructing an alternate life inside a play inside reality. It's formally daring, philosophically rich, and devastatingly sad. Nothing quite like it exists.
But It's deliberately confusing and depressing, with a narrative that collapses into abstraction. If you want clarity or hope, this film will frustrate you. It requires patience and repeated viewing to parse.

People
Cast
Robert Downey Jr.Thomas Reilly
Charles GrodinHarrison Winslow
Alfre WoodardPenny Washington
Kyra SedgwickJulia
Tom SizemoreMilo Peck
David PaymerHal the Bus Driver
Elisabeth ShueAnne
Bill CalvertFrank Reilly
Lisa LucasEva Reilly
Eric LloydThomas Reilly - Age 7- Shannon OrrockWoman at Audition
- Michael ZebulonSinger at Audition
Directing
- Ron UnderwoodDirector
- Yudi BennettFirst Assistant Director
- Shawn HanleyOther
- Daniel SilverbergSecond Assistant Director
- Shannon WilsonSecond Assistant Director
- Pamela S. KuriSecond Second Assistant Director
- Polly Ann MattsonSecond Second Assistant Director
- Mic RodgersSecond Unit Director
Writing
- Brent MaddockScreenplay
- Erik HansenScreenplay
- Gregory HansenScreenplay
- S.S. WilsonScreenplay
- Brent MaddockScreenstory
- Erik HansenScreenstory
- Gregory HansenScreenstory
- S.S. WilsonScreenstory
Production
- Dixie J. CappAssociate Producer
- Pam DixonCasting
- Erik HansenCo-Producer
- Gregory HansenCo-Producer
- Cari-Esta AlbertExecutive Producer
- James JacksExecutive Producer
- Dirk PetersmannLine Producer
- Nancy RobertsProducer
- Sean DanielProducer
- Dirk PetersmannUnit Production Manager
Recommended by
Always, Ghost Town, Michael, Ghost Dad, Casper: A Spirited Beginning