Heidi

Heidi (2005) is a British family drama adapted from Johanna Spyri's beloved novel, and you can watch it online on iFILM. An orphaned girl is left with her gruff, reclusive grandfather high in the Swiss Alps, a man who has kept to the mountains for years under a dark shadow.

At first he wants nothing to do with her, but the peaks, the goats and a friendship with young goatherd Peter slowly thaw him out. Max von Sydow plays the grandfather, trading his stern silence for something gentler scene by scene. Geraldine Chaplin and Diana Rigg round out the cast, while little Emma Bolger carries the film. The idyll breaks when Heidi is sent off to stiff, grey Frankfurt to keep company with Clara, a wealthy girl confined to a wheelchair.

The adaptation holds on to the heart of the classic: homesickness, plain kindness and the healing pull of the mountains. It's calm, warm storytelling the whole family can share. Stream Heidi (2005) online on iFILM.