As a child, having a healthy bond with your parents is crucial; it promotes mental, emotional, and linguistic development and is ultimately one of the most powerful connections two people can share. Many remark that a daughter's first love is her father. While this isn't always the case, it actually happens a lot. It's always heartwarming to witness these strong relationships translated into film, especially when a movie highlights how safe and secure a child feels with her caregiver.

Throughout the years, many touching features have successfully depicted beautiful father-daughter relationships, showing how inspiring, unconditional, and encouraging a father's love can be. To celebrate this unique bond, we look back at some of the best movies about fathers and daughters, ranking them by how accurately they depict this strong connection as well as their entertainment value.

15 'Hearts Beat Loud' (2018)

Director: Brett Haley

In Hearts Beat Loud, a single dad and record store owner (Nick Offerman) and daughter (Kiersey Clemons) form an unlikely songwriting dynamic duo in the summer right before she leaves for college.

Out of all the father-daughter movies here listed, this is probably one of the lesser known. Brett Haley's often overlooked film (which deserves all the audiences' love) is still very much worth watching, as it delivers two great performances — especially from The Last of Us' Offerman — and provides audiences with a meaningful narrative that is both fulfilling and touching with an incredible duo at its center.

Watch on Peacock

14 'King Richard' (2021)

Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green

Will Smith steps into the shoes of Richard Williams, the father and coach of famed tennis players Venus and Serena Williams (played by Demi Singleton and Saniyya Sidney), in this critically acclaimed film that landed Smith his Best Actor Academy Award in 2021, after getting his first Oscar nomination in 15 years. The biopic follows Williams as he brings willpower and determination to another level, carving his daughters' names into history.

There is no doubt that the highly praised film features heartwarming daughter-father bonds. As it navigates through the Williams' lives, King Richard sheds an important light on the close relationship the family shares, especially the sisters' relationship with their father. It highlights how big of a role Williams played in the girls' lives, both on and off the court.

Watch on Tubi

13 'On the Rocks' (2020)

Director: Sofia Coppola

Sofia Coppola's father-daughter movie and comedy-drama On the Rocks stars Bill Murray and Rashida Jones as the ultimate father-daughter duo as they attempt to find out whether her husband (Marlon Wayans) has been unfaithful on an adventure through New York.

While beautifully executed like many other films from Coppola's filmography, On the Rocks is likely a different film from what audiences usually expect of the filmmaker. Still, what is so interesting about On the Rocks is how it perfectly captures the dynamic between both characters. While it is not necessarily among Coppola's best movies, it shines a beautiful light on the relationship between a more mature daughter and her, of course, much older father.

Watch on Apple TV+

12 'Little Miss Sunshine' (2006)

Director: Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton

Considered one of the best family dramedies of all time, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' Little Miss Sunshine is equal parts hilarious and moving. In this, a family attempts to get their young daughter, Olivia (Abigail Breslin), into the finals of a beauty pageant by taking a cross-country road trip on their bus.

Little Miss Sunshine is a timeless feature with impeccable performances to match. It is the perfect film to watch on a low-spirited day and has aged incredibly well, sending out messages on body positivity, mental health, and family. Furthermore, the Dayton and Faris movie is charming, sweet, and absolutely worth anyone's time, featuring a beautiful relationship between Richard and Olive at its heart.

Watch on Hulu

11 'Captain Fantastic' (2016)

Director: Matt Ross

With a showstopping soundtrack, the thought-provoking Captain Fantastic illustrates a father's (Viggo Mortensen) attempt to raise his six kids with both physical and intellectual education in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. However, when the family is forced to leave their homes and enter the real world, Ben is faced with the tricky question of what it really means to be a responsible parent.

There are several great things about Matt Ross' unforgettable film. Nonetheless, its most distinctive aspect is perhaps how it deals with its delicate themes, namely the difficulties of parenting, loss, and grief. Although Ben cares for all of his children equally, it is clear that he shares a very caring and special bond with his daughters.

Watch on Amazon Prime

10 'Interstellar' (2014)

Director: Christopher Nolan

Set in a dystopian future where humanity is striving to survive, Christopher Nolan's remarkable space movie revolves around Cooper (Matthew McConaughey in one of his finest performances), an ex-NASA pilot, as he undergoes an intense journey through a wormhole near Saturn in search of a new habitable home for mankind before the human race to goes extinct.

While this epic science fiction film doesn't solely focus on Cooper and Murph's (played by three different generations of actors: Mackenzie Foy, Jessica Chastain, and Ellen Burstyn) strong bond, it surely plays a huge part in the plot and its development (that will have audiences sobbing). With their family connection at the film's heart, Interstellar invites viewers on a deeply emotional ride.

Watch on Amazon Prime

9 'To Kill a Mockingbird' (1968)

Director: Robert Mulligan

Based on the Pulitzer Prize Winner classic novel of the same name by Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird is a powerful tale of justice and prejudice starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch and Mary Badham as his daughter Scout. Peck plays a widowed lawyer and father of two who is currently defending Tom Robinson (Brock Peters), a Black man wrongly accused of raping a white woman.

There is nothing but good things to say about Robert Mulligan's thought-provoking, incredible courtroom drama movie. A social classic, it deals with many relevant subjects in a graceful way all while exploring Finch's relationship with his children. Scout and Atticus share a very strong father-daughter connection — he is always there to help her understand the world better and values her opinion as if both were equals, just as he does with Jem (Phillip Alford).

Rent on Apple TV

8 'Eighth Grade' (2018)

Director: Bo Burnham

Bo Burnham's film feature directorial debut Eighth Grade is a very Gen-Z type of coming-of-age film that depicts an anxious teen girl, Kayla (Elsie Fisher), as she faces the last week of a terrible year of middle school and resorts to YouTube to express herself, making advice blogs in which she pretends to be confident and unbothered.

Apart from shining a positive light on the kids who feel left out, Eight Grade also depicts a strong father-daughter bond between Kayla and her father Mark (Josh Hamilton). Although the two aren't very talkative around each other and rather quiet instead, viewers can tell that Mark actively makes an effort to be present and involved in his daughter's life. This heartwarming film pinpoints the unconventional ways some dads out there have of showing how much they care about their children.

Watch on Kanopy

7 'Leave No Trace' (2018)

Director: Debra Granik

In Leave No Trace, a military veteran father (Ben Foster) with post-traumatic stress disorder lives in almost total isolation in a vast urban park in Portland, Oregon, with his teenage daughter (Thomasin McKenzie). The lives of both characters take a wild turn when they are picked up by social services after living in total isolation for years.

Dealing with themes of individualism, mental health, and parental relationships, Debra Granik's heartfelt movie depicts a story of survival in the wild, escapism, and disconnection, while also showcasing a strong bond between a daughter and her father. In the meantime, the film also makes a statement on America's support systems for veterans and their families.

Watch on Kanopy

6 'Gifted' (2017)

Director: Marc Webb

With a super smart kid at the film's center, 2017's Gifted is set in Florida and focuses on Frank Adler (Chris Evans), a single man who is responsible for raising his highly intelligent child niece Mary (Mckenna Grace, who has been cast in tons of exciting projects). When the mathematical abilities of prodigy 7-year-old Mary catch the attention of Frank's mother, Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan), a wild turn of events takes place.

Deeply moving and entertaining, this Marc Webb film touches on very sensitive topics, including suicide and parental abandonment, even if it mostly revolves around a second-grader. Nevertheless, Gifted showcases the importance of standing up for others all while translating a beautifully written and complex daughter-father relationship to the screen.

Rent on Apple TV

5 'Train to Busan' (2016)

Director: Yeon Sang-ho

Train to Busan is perhaps one of the most well-known South Korean zombie movies, and it absolutely excels in the horror category. Among the best zombie films out there, it follows passengers who struggle to survive on the train from Seoul to Busan after a virus breaks out in South Korea. This Sang-ho Yeon flick is a highly innovative and captivating film, so much so that an American remake is reportedly in the works.

Gong Yoo's Seok-woo is a divorced parent who fully transforms post his amazing character development. He goes from a self-absorbed dad who doesn't give his daughter Soo-an (Su-an Kim) half of the attention she deserves, to one of the most selfless and caring fictional fathers out there. He often puts his life at risk to guarantee his daughter's safety in Train to Busan's beautiful redemption arc.

Watch on Amazon Prime

4 'Miracle in Cell No. 7' (2013)

Director: Lee Hwan-kyung​​​​​​

Serving as an inspiration to the Turkish film of the same name released in 2019, Miracle in Cell No. 7 (South-Korean: 7-beon-bang-ui seon-mul) is a K-drama that follows a father living with intellectual disability, Yong-Goo (Seung-ryong Ryu), and his sweet daughter Ye-Seung (Kal So-won). Yong-Goo is wrongly accused of murder and locked up. He then slowly builds everlasting friendships with the criminals in the meantime, and in return, they smuggle his daughter into prison and help him see her again.

Frankly, there are very few on-screen relationships as touching as the one these two characters share. Radiating comfort amidst troubling and dark times, Yong-Goo and Ye-Seung's bond is incredibly touching and guaranteed to make any viewer's heart melt.

Watch on Tubi

3 'Paper Moon' (1973)

Director: Peter Bogdanovich

Featuring Ryan O'Neal and the youngest person ever to win an Academy Award (his real-life child Tatum, who earned the Oscar at age 10 for her performance in this film), Paper Moon is a Peter Bogdanovich 1973 American road comedy-drama set during the Great Depression that focuses on an unlikely father-daughter relationship between a con-man and a child whose mother has just passed.

There are so many great things about Moses and Addie's relationship in the 1973 film, and part of what plays into the magic and makes it so genuine and authentic is the fact that the incredible duo are actually father and daughter in real life. The most acclaimed father-daughter film out there, Paper Moon is an amazing watch and features one of the most ambiguous movie endings ever.

Rent on Apple TV

2 'Logan' (2017)

Director: James Mangold

In one of the best Marvel movies to date, the mutant community has shrunk thanks to genetically modified plants designed with the intent to reduce mutant powers. Logan follows the significantly older titular character (Hugh Jackman in one of his best performances) who does his best to lead a quiet life away from trouble as he takes care of Professor X (Patrick Stewart), who has also aged significantly and is struggling with Alzheimer's disease. When a mutant child named Laura (Dafne Keen) comes to Logan for help, his once-peaceful life takes a big turn.

Logan makes it hard for the viewer to stay indifferent to the themes it tackles, as its protagonist goes from unbothered and distrusting to a caring caretaker in this engaging modern Western. His relationship with Laura grows all throughout, and a beautiful father-daughter, highly protective relationship flourishes.

Watch on Disney+

1 'Aftersun' (2022)

Director: Charlotte Wells

A wonderfully crafted film, the bittersweet Aftersun explores Sophie's (mostly played by Frankie Corio, although Celia Rowlson-Hall also plays her adult version for a bit) relationship with her father, Calum, who was wonderfully played by Paul Mescal. Throughout the film, Sophie looks back fondly on a beautiful Turkish holiday she took with her father twenty years earlier, reflecting on whether she really knew her father, including what he was going through at the time.

With beautiful visuals and stunning cinematography to match (as well as an incredible score), Wells' indie film beams with meaning as it reflects on melancholic moments that can never be replayed — only in camera footage or in the back of our heads as nostalgic memories. A wonderful story about a dad's bond with his pre-teen, the achingly beautiful Aftersun explores Calum's relationship with Sophie as he tries really hard to be there for his daughter and make the most of his time with her.

Watch on Fubo

NEXT: The Best Mother-Daughter Movies