Dear Edward follows a 12-year-old boy, Edward, who is the lone survivor of a plane crash that kills his whole family. Edward now needs to overcome the loss and learn to live without his family.
Dear Edward tells the story of a young boy, Edward, whose life changes completely when he loses everyone he holds dear in a plane crash and is left to pick up the pieces of his life. He then moves in with his aunt and her husband, who are struggling with issues of their own.
While the show mainly focuses on Edward’s story, it explores the recovery process of other characters who also lost someone close to them in that crash. Jason Katims’s Dear Edward is a tale of grief and recovery.
Keep a box of tissues by your side because here are 7 emotional shows like Dear Edward that deal with tragedy, sorrow, and healing:
1. Maid
Available on: Netflix
Cast: Margaret Qualley, Nick Robinson, Tracy Vilar
Inspired by Stephanie Land’s Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive, Maid follows the life of a young mother, Alex, who struggles to provide for her daughter after leaving an abusive relationship.
Alex moves into a shelter with her child and starts working as a cleaning maid. Alex will have to find a way to leave her past behind, overcome it, and survive to create the life of her dreams for herself and her daughter.
2. The Wind Blows
Available on: Netflix
Cast: Kam Woo Sung, Kim Ha-neul
The Wind Blows is a story about losing someone you love. Despite being in love, a couple gets divorced; the husband, Kwon Do-hoon, divorces his wife, Lee Soo-jin, for the sake of her happiness when he finds out that he is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
The two meet once again six years later and realize that they still love each other. The road to recovery is long; there are too many emotions and too much history along the way, but the two are willing to start a new life together.
3. Dead to Me
Available on: Netflix
Cast: Christina Applegate, Linda Cardellini, James Marsden
When Jen loses her husband in an accident, she tries to overcome her sadness in various ways, including therapy and exercise. Nothing really helps, and she uses anger to channel her sadness.
Jen then meets Judy, an optimistic woman with a secret of her own, in a support group. The two women soon become close friends. They provide each other with the support that they need to face their own struggles in life.
Dead to Me is a dark comedy that explores the difficulty of dealing with emotions like grief and anger and overcoming these emotions, with a little help from a friend, to heal and move on.
4. This is Us
Available on: Prime Video, Hulu
Cast: Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, Chrissy Metz, Justin Hartley
This is Us is based on the lives of three siblings, Kevin, Kate, and Randall, and their parents, Jack and Rebecca. A tragedy befalls the family that leaves a huge impact on all of them.
The show documents the history of the Pearson family by switching between their past, their present, and their future. It depicts the heartfelt story of familial love that would leave the viewers in tears of happiness as well as sadness.
5. The Fosters
Available on: Hulu
Cast: Teri Polo, Sherri Saum, Maia Mitchell, Noah Centineo, Cierra Ramirez, Hayden Byerly
Stef Foster, a police officer, and Lena Adams, a school vice principal, decide to open their home to two foster children, Callie and Jude. The couple already has three children of their own — one biological son from Stef’s ex-husband and a pair of adopted twins.
Callie and Jude have faced abuse in foster homes, but they get a chance to finally live a happy life when they become a part of this unconventional family. The two children feel accepted and loved for the first time, giving them a much-needed fresh start.
6. The Healing Powers of Dude
Available on: Netflix
Cast: Jace Chapman, Steve Zahn, Larisa Oleynik, Tom Everett Scott, Mauricio Lara, Sophie Kim
Similar to Dear Edward, The Healing Powers of Dude follows a young boy, Noah Ferris. Noah suffers from social anxiety disorder, and he needs all the help he can get before starting middle school.
Noah turns to a dog named Dude for emotional support. It turns out that the dog might need him just as much as he needs the dog. This is the story of a boy who tries to overcome his crippling anxiety and make friends who would make his school life fun and adventurous.
7. A Million Little Things
Available on: Hulu
Cast: David Giuntoli, Romany Malco, Allison Miller, Christina Moses, Grace Park
A Million Little Things revolves around a group of friends living in Boston. The sudden death of a member of the group devastates the friends. As they learn to cope with their loss, they realize that they need to live their lives to the fullest.
It is not a story of an individual but a group of people. Some of them are successful, while others are still struggling in their lives, but when life gets too much to handle, they all turn to each other for support and comfort.
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