20 iconic films about unlikely friendships

Before directing the Oscar-nominated Memoir of a Snail, Australian filmmaker Adam Elliot touched audiences with 2009’s stop-motion animated feature, Mary and Max . Mary is a lonely eight-year-old girl living in Melbourne, while Max is a depressed forty-year-old man living in New York. Thanks to a phone book, the pair become long-distance penpals and help each other through their respective pain. It features the voice talents of Toni Collette and Philip Seymour Hoffman. 

Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation is a meditation on how two people can connect on a truly deep and spiritual level. Washed-up actor Bob is filming an ad in Tokyo, where he meets Charlotte, a young woman who is there to support her photographer husband. Both feeling the weight of loneliness in this foreign city, they find solace in each other’s company. While their relationship can be viewed as romantic, it can also be viewed simply as two individuals who deeply understand each other.

Life of Pi is an example of the ultimate unlikely friendship between a human boy and a tiger. Lost at sea and adrift in a lifeboat, young Pi finds that he is not alone. He is accompanied by a tiger named Richard Parker, who was being transported on the ship they were both initially on. While Pi is terrified at first, it becomes clear that the tiger is not going to eat him. They become an unlikely team in their fight for survival, and Richard Parker becomes a dear companion to Pi during his isolation.

Up has become one of Disney and Pixar’s most beloved films of all time and is guaranteed to make anyone who watches it cry. Carl Fredricksen, an elderly widower, travels to South America in his floating house to visit Paradise Falls and fulfill the wishes of his late wife, Ellie. He accidentally brings a young stowaway, and that is boy scout Russell. The overly enthusiastic Russell initially irritates the grumpy Carl, but their adventure unites them for life.

One of the most famous unlikely friendships in movie history is between Lilo, a little girl, and Stitch, an alien, in Lilo & Stitch. Lilo is a parentless child who adopts a "dog" from the pound. This "dog" turns out to be Stitch, a scientific experiment who is supposedly dangerous and on the run from his home planet. As Stitch seeks refuge with Lilo, she finally gets the friend she’s always wished for. In the end, they become more than friends because “ohana" means family, and family means nobody gets left behind. 

One of the most critically acclaimed movies of 2023 was The Holdovers, a film about three individuals who form a very unlikely bond. A grumpy instructor at a New England school is forced to remain on campus during Christmas to take care of students who don’t have a home to go to. Eventually, it is just himself, a smart but rebellious student, and the school’s head cook who just lost her son in Vietnam. The three become each other’s family over this lonely and difficult holiday period.

The Way Way Back  is an indie coming-of-age film starring Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, and Maya Rudolph. It follows Duncan, a shy teenager forced to spend his summer vacation at his mother’s overbearing boyfriend’s beach house. Duncan doesn’t have any luck fitting in until he meets Owen, the manager of a local water park. Owen helps Duncan come out of his shell and open up to those around him, making for a touching dramedy. 

France’s The Intouchables is one of the most heartwarming films to have been released in the 21st century, largely thanks to the dynamic between its two main characters. The story follows Philippe, an aristocrat who loses his wife and develops quadriplegia. He hires Driss, a young man from the projects with a criminal record, to be his caretaker. Despite the pair coming from completely different worlds and social classes, they form a bond that is unbreakable. 

The Breakfast Club is one of the most iconic movies to come out of the ‘80s and remains a favorite when it comes to high school movies. Five high school students — a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal — from extremely different backgrounds are forced to spend Saturday detention together. Throughout the film, the group gets to know each other and discovers they have much more in common than they initially thought.

Clint Eastwood is a legendary filmmaker and actor, and Gran Torino is considered one of his best modern films. Eastwood plays Walt Kowalski, a disgruntled and prejudiced Korean War veteran. When a Hmong teenager is pressured into trying to steal his 1972 Gran Torino, Walt decides to help the boy reform and forms a relationship with him and his family. Gran Torino demonstrates how prejudice can be overcome and that we share the same struggles.

Good Will Hunting is the film that put Matt Damon and Ben Affleck on the scene, winning them an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Damon plays Will Hunting, a janitor at MIT who is also a mathematical genius. However, he is troubled and seeks help from a psychologist named Sean Maguire, played by Robin Williams. Will and Sean become more than simply patient and therapist, as Sean shows Will compassion and sensitivity that he has never received before. 

Wicked is the musical that follows the origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West and the Good Witch from The Wizard of Oz. At Shiz University, Elphaba is an outsider who is ridiculed for her green skin. There, she meets Glinda, a popular girl who wants to be loved by everybody. The pair start as enemies but eventually become close friends when they finally understand each other. They may have completely different personalities, but as Glinda says, pink goes good with green. 

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2019, Green Book is a heartwarming true story about overcoming prejudice. In the 1960s, Don Shirley, an African-American pianist, hires Tony Lip, an Italian-American bouncer, to be his driver as he tours the Deep South. In a time where racism is running rampant, their relationship starts out shaky due to their differences. However, their journey brings them closer together as they confront racism head-on.

How to Train Your Dragon has become one of DreamWorks’ most loved films, largely due to the central relationship that emotionally drives the film. Hiccup lives on the Viking island of Berk, where dragons are feared and hunted. When he is ordered to kill a Night Fury, he is unable to carry out the task. Instead, he befriends the dragon, who names him Toothless. Hiccup realizes that his people have been wrong about dragons this entire time, and the duo sets out to change their minds. 

The workplace comedy drama The Intern is an example of how age and generational gaps aren’t things that always separate us. Robert De Niro plays Ben, who isn’t enjoying retirement. As a result, he decides to work as a senior intern for an online fashion store. The company is founded and run by Jules (Anne Hathaway), who is a modern-day workaholic and doesn’t see Ben’s value at first. As they continue to work together, an unlikely bond forms, and the pair make each other better. 

One of the most popular unlikely friendship pairings comes in the form of Shrek and Donkey. When we first meet Shrek, he is a grumpy and solitary individual who just wants to live peacefully in his swamp. In order to get his land back, Shrek goes on a quest to save Princess Fiona, with Donkey by his side. Donkey is highly talkative, friendly, and energetic, and Shrek finds him incredibly annoying. However, they become a dynamic duo and the most unexpected of pals.

Guardians of the Galaxy tells the story of not just Marvel’s most unlikely superheroes but also most unlikely friends. Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot are a group of criminal misfits who find themselves having to work together to save their galaxy from the evil Ronin. At first, the group cannot get through one conversation without arguing or physically trying to harm each other. By the film's end, however, the Guardians become each other’s found family.

Woody and Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story have become one of cinema’s most prominent duos, but their partnership didn’t get off to a friendly start. In the original film, Woody is Andy’s favorite toy to play with until Buzz comes along. Worried that he is being replaced, Woody tries to eliminate Buzz. While Woody and Buzz start off as bitter rivals vying for Andy’s love and affection, they realize that they are equally important to Andy and work better together.

Victoria & Abdul tells the true story of the very unlikely friendship between Queen Victoria, ruler of England, and Abdul Karim, a young clerk from India. While participating in the Queen’s golden jubilee, he finds that Her Majesty quite enjoys his company. The pair begin to spend more time together and form a human connection, much to the dismay of the Queen’s inner circle. The relationship proves that friendship is much more powerful than class divisions. 

One of the most touching and devastating unlikely friendships to ever hit the screen can be found in Disney’s The Fox and the Hound. The story follows Tod, a fox, and Copper, a hound dog, who become best friends during their childhood. However, as they become adults, the pair are forced to distance themselves from each other due to societal pressures. Tod is now wild, and Copper is a hunting dog, so they should naturally be enemies, but nothing can break this friendship.