Movies like The Twelve Thousand (2020)
The best movies like The Twelve Thousand (2020) are Jolene (2010), Sound of Freedom (2023) and The Babysitters (2008). If The Twelve Thousand hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSound of Freedom (2023)7.9/10 from 2,897 votes
- NewestAmber Alert (2024)Released 2024
Jolene (2010)
A teenage orphan spends ten years traveling to experience life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSound of Freedom (2023)
The story of Tim Ballard, a former US government agent, who quits his job in order to devote his life to rescuing children from global sex traffickers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Babysitters (2008)
Seventeen-year-old Shirley is a good student who works as a babysitter in order to make money for college. One night Michael, a father Shirley works for, confesses he's unhappy with married life. Shirley has a crush on Michael, and seizes this moment to kiss him. Michael is so happy he presents Shirley with a big tip, which gives her an idea. Shirley plans to make extra money by setting up her teenage friends with other unhappy fathers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSkin Trade (2014)
After his family is killed by a Serbian gangster with international interests. NYC detective Nick goes to S.E. Asia and teams up with a Thai detective to get revenge and destroy the syndicates human trafficking network.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJet Boy (2001)
A coming-of-age story of a reluctant 13-year-old hustler named Nathan who will do whatever it takes to feel loved.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Naked Kiss (1964)
A former prostitute works to create a new life for herself in a small town, but a shocking discovery could threaten everything.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmber Alert (2024)
A ride-share turns into a high-stakes game of cat and mouse after it follows a car fitting the description of an AMBER Alert.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGardens of the Night (2008)
After being abducted as children, and suffering years of abuse, a teenage boy and girl find themselves living on the street.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Boys of St. Vincent (1994)
The true story of boys being sexually abused at their orphanage, run by a religious community in Newfoundland.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSleepwalking (2008)
When her boyfriend is arrested for marijuana possession, Joleen Reedy and her 11-year-old daughter, Tara, take refuge with Joleen's aimless brother, James. Joleen soon runs off with a truck driver, and James is unable to meet his responsibilities. After Child Protective Services takes possession of Tara, James abducts her from a foster home, and the two travel from California to Utah, where his abusive father lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004)
Young Jeremiah lives in a stable environment with loving foster parents until the day his troubled mother, Sarah, returns to claim him. Jeremiah becomes swept up in his mother's dangerous world of drugs, seedy hotels, strip joints and revolving lovers. Salvation comes in the form of the boy's ultrareligious grandparents, but soon Jeremiah's mother returns. Maternal love binds the pair together on the road until Sarah's desperate and depraved lifestyle finally consumes her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Whistleblower (2010)
Nebraska cop Kathryn Bolkovac discovers a deadly sex trafficking ring while serving as a U.N. peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia. Risking her own life to save the lives of others, she uncovers an international conspiracy that is determined to stop her, no matter the cost.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUna (2017)
When a young woman unexpectedly arrives at an older man's workplace, looking for answers, the secrets of the past threaten to unravel his new life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisL.I.E. (2001)
With his mother dead and his father busy at work, Howie feels adrift in his New York suburb. He and his friend Gary spend their time burglarizing their neighbors' homes — until they make the mistake of robbing the house of Big John, a macho former Marine who is also an unrepentant pedophile. He propositions Howie, who declines, but the two eventually develop an unlikely and dangerous friendship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOliver Twist (2005)
An orphan endures a harsh life in a workhouse before fleeing to London, where he falls in with a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the criminal Fagin, and eventually finds a better life, exposing the cruelties of poverty and child labor in Victorian England.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIrina Palm (2007)
Maggie, a quiet retiring grandmother, finds herself helpless as her grandson’s health deteriorates. When one last chance appears, but money is desperately short, Maggie acts to raise the cash in a fashion that surprises everyone but her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnne of Green Gables (2016)
Anne Shirley, an orphan, is fostered by farmer Matthew Cuthbert and his sister Marilla, who were expecting a boy to be sent them to help with their farm work. They accept Anne, who quickly endears herself to them and to the local villagers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPhilomena (2013)
A woman searches for her adult son, who was taken away from her decades ago when she was forced to live in a convent.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGirl Lost: A Hollywood Story (2020)
Interweaving stories of four different women involved in the sex industry offers a glimpse into the dark underbelly of Los Angeles and the taboo lifestyle of a sex worker. A teen runaway, single mother and two career escorts interconnect through their own personal journeys filled with loss, betrayal and the struggle to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisEden (2013)
After a night out with friends, Hyun Jae accepts a late night ride home from a young fire fighter. What begins as a night of promise quickly turns into a nightmare when she is abducted and imprisoned outside Las Vegas as a sex slave.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSamaritan Girl (2004)
Jae-Young is an amateur prostitute who sleeps with men while her best friend Yeo-Jin "manages" her, fixing dates, taking care of the money, and making sure the coast is clear. When Jae-Young falls in love with one of those men, she suppresses her feelings towards him in respect of her friend who's jealous.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTouch of Evil (1958)
A border-town bombing draws Mexican investigator Miguel Vargas into a corruption-ridden police investigation led by crooked captain Hank Quinlan, setting off a deadly struggle over power, justice, and truth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPrecious Little Hearts (2007)
In hopes of getting her family out of poverty, 17-year-old Mai follows a neighbour's offer and leaves her small fishing village in Central Vietnam to work as a seamstress in Saigon, not knowing her neighbour had sold her into prostitution, and a grisly fate awaits her upon arrival.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Heaven's Gate (1980)
Harvard graduate James Averill serves as the sheriff of prosperous Jackson County, Wyoming, standing at the center of a conflict between impoverished immigrants and affluent cattle farmers. Politically connected ranchers enlist mercenary Nathan Champion—who is also vying for the affections of local madam Ella Watson—to combat the immigrant uprising. As tensions escalate, both Averill and Champion start to question their decisions.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYouth Without Youth (2007)
Professor of language and philosophy Dominic Matei is struck by lightning and ages backwards from 70 to 40 in a week, attracting the world and the Nazis. While on the run, the professor meets a young woman who has her own experience with a lightning storm. Not only does Dominic find love again, but her new abilities hold the key to his research.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Dance for Bethany (2007)
Investigator reporter Abbey Fisher always thought she wanted the traditional American Dream: a husband and children of her own. When life and fertility stand in her way, Fisher (played by Robyn Lively) leverages her journalism know-how and uncovers the rapidly growing American sex trade preying on children and youth. Fisher and her husband come to know Bethany (Lori Beth (Edgeman) Sikes), a twelve year old victim of pernicious trafficking. As Bethany learns and grows, so do the Fishers as they take the battle against circumstances and government to protect others from Bethany's experiences.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bald-Headed Betty (1975)
Poor Betty gets drugged and kidnapped at a teen beach party and finds herself in clutches of a sleazy prostitution ring. After trying to escape, her head is shaved as punishment. Soon enough, she's the star of the stable for all the local bald freaks.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
High Road to China (1983)
A biplane pilot is saddled with a spoiled industrialist's daughter on a search for her missing father through Asia that eventually involves them in a struggle against a Chinese warlord.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWho Am I? (2019)
Pastor Joe, is a young family man who leads a church in an active city where he reaches out to the poor and destitute in any way he can. One day, a woman named Tasha comes to his church seeking for help. Pastor Joe sits down with her and she shares an intense life story. She shares how she was born, how she was set free from a world of drugs, racism, theft, and human trafficking. Her story becomes increasingly complex as people from her past come in contact with Pastor Joe with their own life struggles of suicide, teen pregnancy, and abortion. As their stories tie together it brings hope, redemption, and salvation to the forefront and gives us a picture of what it means to experience the transformation of God, going from darkness to light, and to continue on the narrow path each and every day.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Belleville Story (2010)
Freddie is starting as a thug for Jazdec the Polish, a pimp and concealer of illicit goods. Freddy's love for Larna, whom he dreams to snatch from prostitution, drive them into jeopardy under the clutches of a Chinese Godfather. To see Larna alive, Freddie must kill the so-called Mr. Zhu, a strange Chinese Zorro who just arrived in Paris to retrieve a young runaway fellow countrywoman.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Twelve Thousand?
The closest matches to The Twelve Thousand are Jolene (2010), Sound of Freedom (2023) and The Babysitters (2008). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Twelve Thousand?
Start with Jolene (2010), the closest match to The Twelve Thousand.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Twelve Thousand?
Sound of Freedom (2023), rated 7.9/10 by 2,897 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Twelve Thousand?
Amber Alert (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Twelve Thousand chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Twelve Thousand, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.