The Cider House Rules

The Cider House Rules (1999) is Lasse Hallstrom's drama, and you can watch online on iFILM. Homer Wells grew up in the St. Cloud's orphanage and never got adopted; instead he became Dr. Larch's apprentice, learning to deliver babies and assist women without ever earning a license.

Set in 1940s Maine while a war rumbles somewhere offscreen, the story follows Larch, played by Michael Caine, as he grooms Homer to inherit the orphanage. But Homer, played by Tobey Maguire, wants to see the wider world. He leaves with a visiting couple, takes a job picking apples, and moves into a cider-house bunk where a list of rules is tacked to the wall that none of the workers can even read. Out there he runs into choices the orphanage never prepared him for.

The film comes from John Irving's novel, and Irving wrote the screenplay himself, which is what landed him the Oscar; Michael Caine took the second one for his supporting turn as Larch. It is quiet, unhurried filmmaking about belonging and the weight of doing the right thing. Stream The Cider House Rules (1999) online on iFILM.