Parenthood is one of the most difficult journeys in life. It takes a lot of love and a lot of trust to help guide a young child through their early lives. And it's doubly difficult for single parents. While there are many different circumstances that can lead to single parenthood, many times that means the parent is alone on this journey of guidance.
A lot of movies have given the viewer a closer look at the journey of single parents. They make mistakes and often fail at simple tasks. But, in the end, they are still guided by love for their child and can serve as inspiration for single parents going through this difficult journey alone.
10 Gifted
Chris Evans plays Frank, a single man who is raising his niece, Mary, who happens to be a child prodigy. Frank is hoping to give Mary a normal life, but once his ambitious mother learns about her granddaughter's skills in math, she has plans that could separate Frank and Mary.
Frank demonstrates the love of a father despite actually being an uncle. He is the perfect father figure for Mary as he works to make her life better despite all the struggles they are both facing.
9 Fatherhood
After welcoming a daughter with his childhood sweetheart, Matt, played by Kevin Hart, becomes a single father when his wife, Liz, suddenly dies. As Matt tries to work full time, be a single parent and grieve his lost love; he learns how to be successful in work and to always be there for his daughter.
This film demonstrates many of the ups and downs of parenthood, especially those for single parents. Matt has to be everything to his daughter until she needs a female role model which is something he can't be. Eventually, Matt is able to weigh his choices and find his version of success in both business and life.
8 Taken
This action film features the lengths a single father with a particular set of skills will go to protect his child. When his daughter is abducted and set up to be trafficked, Bryan Mills, played by Liam Neeson, has just four days to find her before she is sold.
While this is quite the departure from the other films on this list, it still demonstrates what one man will do to protect his daughter. While he's better equipped than most for this journey, it's still a father's love, coupled with his skills as a former government operative, that allows him to save his daughter.
7 The Babadook
This Australian supernatural horror film demonstrates how a mother can turn into a literal monster while raising a wild child. When her son Sam stops sleeping and tries to battle imaginary monsters and gets in trouble at school, Amelia tries to discover what is troubling him. But she ends up being possessed by the not-so-imaginary Babadook who is trying to kill her son.
Eventually, Sam is able to save Amelia, allowing Amelia to be an excellent mother to Sam. She also has to become a caretaker to the Babadook, because, as Sam says, you can't get rid of the Babadook.
6 Mrs. Doubtfire
After getting divorced, Daniel and Miranda Hillard go about different ways of raising their children. Sally Field plays Miranda, a driven career woman who feels like she has been painted as the bad guy with her kids. She loves them and wants the best for them, but she believes she's the only one who disciplines them.
Robin Williams plays Daniel, a man who loves his kids and wants to spend as much time with them as he can. After the divorce, he dresses up as an older woman, the titular Mrs. Doubtfire, so he can be their nanny. Both parents demonstrate tremendous love for their children. And after Daniel is discovered for his duplicity, it leads to them finally being able to properly co-parent.
5 My Girl
Anna Chlumsky plays Vada, a young girl with a morbid sense of humor and style in My Girl. Dan Aykroyd plays her father, the local funeral director who is doing his best to raise Vada as she matures from a girl to a teenager. Every loss Vada experiences presents a new challenge to both of them.
Both grow from every experience that includes Vada's first crush on her English teacher and the loss of her best friend who was trying to recover her lost mood ring for her. But her father is there, struggling and learning, but showing her love every step of the way.
4 Asia
What does a free-spirited single mother do when everything she stands for is put to the test? That's the question asked in the 2020 Israeli drama Asia. In the film, Asia has to learn to be a mother to her daughter, Vika, despite the fact they barely interact.
But Vika has become ravaged by illness and now needs her mother to take care of her. Asia now must guide her daughter through adolescence and teenage angst and drama while Vika is differently abled. It is a powerful tale about how one person can grow to become the mother she should've been all along.
3 The Pursuit of Happyness
Will Smith plays Chris Gardner, a struggling single father in The Pursuit of Happyness, a film based on a true story. Gardner and his son are evicted from their apartment with no place to go. Gardner lands a job as an unpaid intern while living in shelters with his son until he is able to become a success.
The film does a great job of demonstrating a father's love and never giving in to despair when everyone is at their lowest. Through hardship after hardship, Gardner and his son keep fighting until their lives are better.
2 The Parent Trap
Two twin sisters are separated when their parents divorce and each parent takes one to live with them in The Parent Trap. The twins meet at a summer camp and cook up a plan to get their parents back together by going back to the wrong house, forcing the parents to reunite, if only for a short while.
There are multiple versions of this film that have stood out. Disney released one in 1961 starring Hayley Mills and a remake in 1998 starring Lindsay Lohan. Both capture the heart of parents who love their children despite no longer being together.
1 Finding Nemo
Marlon is a helicopter parent who is overly cautious with his only surviving son after a barracuda killed his wife and almost all of their children in the hit Pixar film Finding Nemo. His cautiousness leads to Nemo rebelling and getting captured forcing Marlon on a journey to save his son.
This film has an amazing message about how parents can go overboard in protecting their children. While parents must keep their kids safe, they can't stop them from being themselves. It's an important lesson Marlon learns that strengthens his relationship with Nemo.