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David is a Senior Editor at Collider focused primarily on Lists. His professional journey began in the mid-2010s as a Marketing specialist before embarking on his writing career in the 2020s. At Collider, David started as a Senior Writer in late 2022 and has been a Senior Editor since mid-2023. He is in charge of ideating compelling and engaging List articles by working closely with writers, both Senior and Junior, as well as other editors. Occasionally, David also reviews movies and TV shows and writes episode recaps. Currently, David is also writing his second novel, a psychological horror satire that will, hopefully, be picked up for publication sometime next year.
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2026 is here, and as it happens with every new year, people are full of resolutions, hopes, and purposes. Alas, come December, many of those don't actually come to happen, but the start of the year makes everything seem possible. After all, with twelve months ahead, there's no reason to believe that all your plans for the next 365 days won't be accomplished, at least in some form, and you know what? There isn't a reason to believe it.
In case you need some additional, cinema has you covered. Indeed, there's no shortage of movies about people defying the odds and achieving something that once seemed unlikely or even impossible. From sports dramas to ambitious fantasy epics, the movies on this list will fill you with excitement about how much you can accomplish if you only set your mind to it. Sure, some resolutions are more achievable than others, but these movies might just give you enough inspiration to take the world by storm.
'Rocky' (1976)
Image via United ArtistsWhen it comes to sports dramas, Rocky reigns supreme. Sylvester Stallone's seminal 1976 movie follows Rocky Balboa, a poor and struggling club fighter and loanshark collector, whose life changes when he gets a shot at the world heavyweight championship against reigning champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). Alongside Rocky is his love interest, Adrianna "Adrian" Penino (Talia Shire).
Too many of Rocky's most famous scenes have become synonymous with the seventh art itself, and it's not hard to see why. The film is an ode to the underdogs, a love letter to those who make the most out of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, putting it everything on the line for a shot at making their dreams come true. Yet, there's real hardship in Rocky's journey, combined with a prevalent sense of melancholy at the life he's so close to leaving behind, yet remains his reality for most of the story. Rocky has one of the most cathartic movie endings ever, which features him — spoiler alert for a nearly fifty-year-old movie — losing the match against Creed but embracing a future with Adrian. In Rocky, the reward comes from putting in the work, the effort itself leading to real change, more so than any potential victory.
'Gattaca' (1997)
Image via Columbia Pictures"Consider God's handiwork: who can straighten what He hath made crooked?" With that quote from Ecclesiastes, thus begins Gattaca, one of the best yet most misunderstood and underappreciated sci-fis of the '90s. The story is set in one of cinema's bleakest dystopian worlds, where eugenics is widely accepted. "Valids" are engineered using biometrics and meant to hold high-profile positions, while those conceived naturally are considered "in-valids" and relegated to menial jobs. Vincent (Ethan Hawke) is an "in-valid" who dreams of space traveling, using the genetic material of a valid to achieve his ambitions.
Vincent's efforts ultimately lead him to defy the odds and prove that, despite not being engineered to achieve perfection, he can still match those who are. For all its sci-fi trappings, Gattaca is a tale of the power of the human spirit in an age of adversity and uncertainty. Especially now, when the threat of AI becomes more latent, and people are seemingly obsessed with achieving unnatural perfection, movies like Gattaca remind us of the power of singularity. Vincent's intelligence and ruthlessness allow him to fool the system, but it's his spirit and drive that truly separate him from both "valids" and "in-valids," eventually helping him reach the stars themselves.
'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' (2013)
Few movies have been as misunderstood or unfairly judged as Ben Stiller's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Pulling triple duty as producer, director, and star, Stiller leads this remake of the 1947 movie, itself based on James Thurber's 1939 story, about Walter Mitty, a shy man working for Life magazine in the days leading to its transition into a digital format. To save the magazine's final print issue, Walter embarks on a powerful journey to locate a photojournalist and a missing negative print.
Initially dismissed as style over substance and condemned for its (admittedly) egregious product placement, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty has nonetheless aged quite well, earning status as a cult classic. The film is a study of the mental illness of the millennial generation — delusion — done with remarkably wit and empathy for its leading character, more a daydreamer than a hopeless drifter. Yet, it's so hopeful, so full of tenderness for its average character that one can't help but succumb to its idealized outlook. In the movie's eyes, life is magical, and merely existing is already a miracle. Sure, that message sounds more than a bit sentimental, and the movie itself succumbs to emotional manipulation once in a while. Still, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty remains a powerful epic movie about realizing that real life is far more interesting than any dream could ever be.
Image via 20th Century Studios2016 was a great year for movies, and one of the best was Theodore Melfi's Hidden Figures. Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson, Oscar winner Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monée star as Black mathematicians — Katherine Goble Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson — who worked at NASA during the space race and played pivotal roles in aiding with the 1962 launch of John Glenn.
A heartwarming tale of endurance and overcoming adversities, Hidden Figures is a truly rousing movie, a throwback to the classic crowd-pleasers of the '90s. The film has genuine reverence for its three protagonists, painting them not as all-powerful heroes but as hard-working women who, through merit, intelligence, and passion, achieve the unthinkable at a time when everyone disregarded them. Seeing these three women defy the odds time and again and prove themselves gives the most satisfying feeling to anyone watching the movie. Indeed, it wouldn't be surprising if viewers felt the need to enroll back in school or pursue that elusive opportunity that seems too good to be true. So many remain hidden figures for too long, but movies like this one show how there's great potential in everyone, especially those who are constantly taken for granted.
'Poor Things' (2023)
Image via Searchlight PicturesEmma Stone rightfully won a second Oscar for her tour de force performance in Yorgos Lanthimos' zany sci-fi comedy Poor Things. Based on the eponymous novel by Alasdair Gray, which itself is based on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the film follows Bella Baxter (Stone), a Victorian woman brought back to life with the brain of a baby by scientist Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). Experiencing everything for the first time, Bella embarks on a journey of self-discovery in a steampunk-inspired world.
Few modern movies are as life-affirming as Poor Things. Bella is a unique character, irreverent and naive yet intelligent enough to challenge the established order and seek her own experiences. Through her liberation — physical, emotional, and sexual — Poor Things becomes an exploration of the self and a tale about reinvention and rebirth — literally. Bella matures, sees everyday injustices for herself, challenges the hypocrisies of Victorian society, and forms a view of the world that's all her own. Watching Poor Things feels like seeing someone grow into the world, not as another cog in the machine but rather as a bright spark willing to cause a fire if needed. If Bella can do all that with a literal baby's brain, surely viewers at home could apply those same philosophies to their daily lives.
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