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The new film Book Club follows a quartet of four friends who get together to read 50 Shades of Grey and end up revitalizing their own personal lives as a result. Which means that while Marvel is currently dominating multiplexes with the combination of 500 superheroes in Infinity War and Deadpool 2 is smart-assing his way into whatever other theaters aren’t spoken for, the counterprogramming oasis for anybody looking to escape the empathetic sensibilities of 16-year-old boys is Book Club, which features its own team of superheroes: Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Mary Steenburgen, and Candice Bergen.

Now, I don’t care how many stones Thanos has on that golden glove of his; it doesn’t compare to this quartet of actresses. Three Oscar-winning actress, plus Bergen and her truckload of Murphy Brown Emmys combining to explore the romantic and sexual lives of women 65 and older. Jane Fonda is 80 years old, and she’s playing the horniest of the bunch. God bless America, and god bless this little niche of Hollywood that has found success in making movies about women of a certain age who are getting a second shot at life and love. It sounds cheesy, but all it means is that older woman, long discarded by a Hollywood chasing younger male dollars, are finally getting stories that treat them and their stories as inherently interesting. And it means an entire generation of dynamite actresses have a few more interesting roles to play.

To celebrate the genre that Book Club nestles so comfortably into, here are a handful of movies you can stream right now that are guaranteed to surprise you with their warmth and wisdom. These are feel-good movies in the least-guilty sense of the word.

'Hello, My Name Is Doris'

Actress: Sally Field
Storyline: Eccentric sixtysomething Doris is trying to figure out what to do with her life now that the mother whom she put her own life on hold to take care of has died. At work, she meets and becomes infatuated with her new young boss, and he ends up drawing her into the hipster art world of Williamsburg.
Gentleman Caller: Max Greenfield
Actresses of a Certain Age Who Play Her Friends: Tyne Daly

Michael Showalter (The Big Sick) directed this movie that successfully strikes a tricky balance between Doris being harmlessly quirky yet also believable agreeable enough that these young people would want her around and yet also have the movie not make her the butt of all its jokes. Field’s performance nails it perfectly.

Stream Hello, My Name Is Doris on Amazon Prime

'The Meddler'

Actress: Susan Sarandon
Storyline: Marnie is an aging widow trying to figure out what to do with her life now that her husband is gone and her daughter is off in Los Angeles trying to make it as a screenwriter. So Marnie moves out to L.A. to be closer to her, and when her meddlesome hovering pushes her daughter away, she has to establish her own life.
Gentleman Caller: J.K. Simmons
Ungrateful Child: Rose Byrne
Acquaintance Reflective of New Youthful Outlook: Cecily Strong; Jerod Carmichael

Writer/director Lorene Scafaria (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World) puts so much empathy into this portrait of a woman who seems like a real pain in the ass at first. But the film sees through to how Marnie takes care of other people as a way of taking care of herself. It’s also a dynamite movie about settling into a new and fascinating city and how much time you (or, you know, I) would spend at the Grove if you moved to L.A. and didn’t have anything to do in the daytime.

Stream The Meddler on Amazon Prime with the Starz subscription

'Grandma'

Actress: Lily Tomlin
Storyline: An older lesbian whose acerbic personality tends to push people away — as it did with her Type A daughter — has to help her granddaughter (Julia Garner) deal with an unexpected pregnancy.
Gentleman Caller: Sam Elliott plays Tomlin’s most tempestuous ex, but it’s Judy Greer who plays Tomlin’s present-day girlfriend
Ungrateful Child: Marcia Gay Harden
Actresses of a Certain Age Who Play Her Friends: Elizabeth Peña

Tomlin gives a hugely charismatic and delightful performance here as Elle, a woman who is as wrong as often as she’s right but whose sheer force of personality get people on her side about it anyway. The tone here is slightly different than in a lot of the other Women of a Certain Age Get a Second Chance at Life movies; a little rougher around the edges, a little less content to sit on a patio with a glass of wine. But it’s all perfectly in keeping with Tomlin’s outsider vibe.

Where to stream Grandma

'I'll See You in My Dreams'

Actress: Blythe Danner
Storyline: Carol trying to figure out what to do with her life now that she’s been widowed and her beloved dog has also recently died. She does so with the help of pool boy/karaoke buddy Lloyd and gravel-voiced new lover Bill.
Gentleman Caller: Sam Elliott
Acquaintance Reflective of New Youthful Outlook: Martin Starr
Ungrateful Child: Malin Akerman
Actresses of a Certain Age Who Play Her Friends: Rhea Perlman, Mary Kay Place, June Squibb

This is truly the template film for this genre, and Blythe Danner plays her part so perfectly. Following Carol as she opens herself up to the world in fits and starts is so satisfying, and her relationships — with her daughter, her friends, Lloyd, and Bill — unfold in these very humanistic and sweet ways. It’s a white linen tablecloth of a movie, but in the best possible way.

Stream I'll See You in My Dreams on Amazon Prime with the Starz subscription

'Gloria'

Actress: Pauline Garcia
Storyline: Gloria trying to figure out what to do with her life now that she’s 10 years post-divorce and her adult children have moved away. She starts dating again and ends up meeting a man, only his adult children are awful and incredibly hostile to Gloria.
Gentleman Caller: Sergio Hernandez

Chilean director Sebastian Lelio (the recent Oscar-winning A Fantastic Woman) got some of the best notices of his early career for this film, and rightly so. There’s a comedic frustration to Gloria having to wade through a sea of bratty grown children to find her happiness, but when she finally finds the freedom to dance completely to her own beat, it ends up in the most phenomenally uplifting ending to a movie ever. Lelio is currently remaking the movie in English with Julianne Moore in the lead role, a prospect that is as daunting as it is exciting.

Stream Gloria on Hulu

'Learning to Drive'

Actress: Patricia Clarkson
Storyline: Wendy is a book critic in Manhattan trying to figure out what to do with her life now that her unfaithful husband has flown the coop. She begins taking driving lessons with a Sikh instructor whose own marriage problems end up giving him and Wendy something in common.
Gentleman Caller: Ben Kingsley
Ungrateful Child: Grace Gummer

Spanish director Isabel Coixet (Elegcy) directed this sweet and wise story about a woman learning to assert herself in a world that’s selfish and hostile. The driving metaphors do not slip by unnoticed, but they’re east to take with Clarkson and Kingsley performing such a likeable and empathetic duet.

Stream Learning to Drive on Amazon Prime

'Our Souls at Night'

Actress: Jane Fonda
Storyline: Widowed neighbors Addie and Louis begin sleeping together (literally sleeping together) in order to cope with their lonely nights and end up falling in love.
Gentleman Caller: Robert Redford
Ungrateful Child: Matthias Schoenaerts

The re-teaming of Jane Fonda and Robert Redford for the first time since the 1970s is a real draw. Redford and Fonda share an easy chemistry, which is good considering how quiet and unassuming the film is. No guns, no explosions, no screaming fights. This is a mellow movie about two people who just don’t want to sleep alone anymore.

Stream Our Souls at Night on Netflix