October Sky poster

October Sky (1999)

Film · 1h 47m · Rated PG

Drama, Family

An earnest, uplifting story about a coal miner's son reaching for the stars against all odds.

Feel-good. A family watch at a measured pace. Emotionally it carries some weight. Based on a book.

Streaming on YouTube (free).

October Sky parents guide

Nothing past what a PG promises: mild language and nothing scary.

Our estimate: fine from about 7. Rated PG.

Scare
Not scary
Jump scares
None noted
Gore
No gore
Violence
No real violence
Sex and nudity
None noted
Language
Mild
Mild words like damn, hell or crap.

How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.

What is October Sky about?

The true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes.

Does it have a happy ending? (spoiler-safe)

Yes. It lands on a happy note.

Cast and crew

Directed byJoe Johnston
StarringJake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Chris Owen, Laura Dern, William Lee Scott, Chad Lindberg

More like October Sky

October Sky is on our Cozy fall list.

More like this feeling

Prompts we typed into CouchRot, and the lists that share its tags.

Lists with the same feel: Feel-good and Cozy.

Five more like October Sky

Say the mood. Five picks with where they stream, right here.

Uses the TMDB API; not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Intensity, content, tone and pace tags are CouchRot's own.