Movies like Ruthful (2023)
The best movies like Ruthful (2023) are Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980), I Remember Mama (1948) and Where the Red Fern Grows (2003). If Ruthful hooked you with its drama and family, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMulan (1998)7.9/10 from 10,800 votes
- NewestBlue Heron (2026)Released 2026
Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980)
Young Cedric Errol and his widowed mother live in genteel poverty in 1880s Brooklyn after the death of his father. Cedric's grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt, has long ago disowned his son for marrying an American. But after the death of the Earl's remaining son, he decides to accept Cedric as his heir.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Remember Mama (1948)
Norwegian immigrant Marta Hanson keeps a firm but loving hand on her household of four children, a devoted husband and a highly-educated lodger who reads great literature to the family every evening. Through financial crises, illnesses and the small triumphs of everyday life, Marta maintains her optimism and sense of humor, traits she passes on to her aspiring-author daughter, Katrin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhere the Red Fern Grows (2003)
Set in the Ozark Mountains during the Great Depression, Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for 2 years to achieve his dream of buying two coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in God as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with "Old Dan" and "Little Ann."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Little Prince(ss) (2021)
When Gabriel, a 7-year-old Chinese kid who loves ballet, becomes friends with Rob, another Chinese kid from school, Rob’s dad gets suspicious about Gabriel's feminine behavior and decides to intervene.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSkater Girl (2021)
Prerna, a teenager growing up in rural India, comes of age when she’s introduced to the sport of skateboarding. As a result, she has to fight the odds to follow her dreams and compete in the national championship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlue Heron (2026)
A family of six's fresh start on 1990s Vancouver Island unravels as their youngest child, Sasha, witnesses the increasingly dangerous behavior of her older brother, Jeremy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRiceboy Sleeps (2023)
In the 1990s, an immigrant single mother raises her teenage son in the Canadian suburbs, determined to provide a better life for him than the one she left behind in South Korea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLilting (2014)
A young man of Chinese-Cambodian descent dies, leaving behind his isolated mother and his lover of four years. Though the two don't share a language, they grow close through their grief.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAftersun (2022)
Sophie reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father twenty years earlier. Memories fill the gaps between camcorder footages as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the troubled man she didn't.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFearless (1993)
After surviving a plane crash that kills many others, Max Klein develops a sense of invulnerability, leading to radical, compulsive actions. Can a psychologist and a fellow guilt-ridden survivor bring him down to earth?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack or White (2015)
A grieving widower is drawn into a custody battle over his granddaughter, whom he helped raise her entire life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Question of Faith (2017)
When Tragedy Strikes three Families, their Destiny forces them on a coverging path and mercy as the challenges of their fate could also resurrect their beliefs
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDoctor Who: Dark Water / Death in Heaven (2014)
In this epic two-part finale, the Doctor comes face to face with the mysterious Missy, and an impossible choice is looming. With Cybermen on the streets of London, old friends unite against old enemies, and the Doctor takes to the air in a startling new role.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMulan (1998)
When Imperial China calls one man from every family to defend the empire from invading Huns, a young woman disguises herself as a soldier to take her ailing father’s place. Facing ruthless invaders, brutal training, and the risk of execution if discovered, she must decide who she truly is—and what she’s willing to fight for.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisFather Mother Sister Brother (2025)
Estranged siblings reunite after years apart, forced to confront unresolved tensions and reevaluate their strained relationships with their emotionally distant parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMinari (2020)
A Korean American family moves to an Arkansas farm in search of its own American dream. Amidst the challenges of this new life in the strange and rugged Ozarks, they discover the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Believe in Unicorns (2015)
Feeling awkward and isolated, an imaginative and strong-willed teenage girl runs away from home with an older punk rock drifter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHere (2024)
An odyssey through time and memory, centered on a place in New Jersey where—from wilderness, and then, later, from a home—love, loss, struggle, hope and legacy play out between couples and families over generations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisColumbus (2017)
When a renowned architecture scholar falls suddenly ill during a speaking tour, his son Jin finds himself stranded in Columbus, Indiana - a small Midwestern city celebrated for its many significant modernist buildings. Jin strikes up a friendship with Casey, a young architecture enthusiast who works at the local library.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019)
Nancy Drew, a smart high schooler with a penchant for keen observation and deduction, stumbles upon the haunting of a local home. A bit of an outsider struggling to fit into her new surroundings, Nancy and her pals set out to solve the mystery, make new friends, and establish their place in the community
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeidi (2005)
Heidi is a happy, outgoing orphan who lives with her grandfather in the idyllic scenery of the Swiss Alps. Heidi makes friends quickly and people know they can always rely on her for help. She loves the freedom of life in the mountains, but she also learns how to take on responsibility. Her cheerful nature helps to show others how to handle the challenges of everyday life and still be happy. Heidi’s honesty and natural charm inspires both courage and a joy of life in everyone she meets.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family & drama
Endorphin (2026)
Stuck in a routine where everything seems to go wrong, a young man is on the verge of giving up. One day, a coworker offers him a pill, claiming it can change his life. Taking it as a last hope, he starts to see unexpected improvements. But as his confidence grows and opportunities appear, the question remains: was it the pill... or something else entirely?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & family
Don't Worry, I'm Fine (2006)
A 19-year-old searches for her twin brother after he runs away from home, following a fight with their father.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Host (2006)
A teenage girl is captured by a giant mutated squid-like creature that appears from Seoul's Han River after toxic waste was dumped in it, prompting her family into a frantic search for her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMeet the Robinsons (2007)
Lewis, a brilliant young inventor, is keen on creating a time machine to find his mother, who abandoned him in an orphanage. Things take a turn when he meets Wilbur Robinson and his family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family
Worth the HypeMovies like this2 or 3 Things I Know About Him (2005)
What would your family reminiscences about dad sound like if he had been an early supporter of Hitler’s, a leader of the notorious SA and the Third Reich’s minister in charge of Slovakia, including its Final Solution? Executed as a war criminal in 1947, Hanns Ludin left behind a grieving widow and six young children, the youngest of whom became a filmmaker. It's a fascinating, maddening, sometimes even humorous look at what the director calls "a typical German story." (Film Forum)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Tkaronto (2007)
Far from home and struggling to reconcile their Native identities with non-Native culture, Ray and Jolene negotiate a growing attraction as they're drawn together, in this reflective exploration of urban Aboriginal identity.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Oomakkuyil Padumbol (2012)
The story is about Reema (Malavika Nair), a young Muslim schoolgirl in Malabar, who loved Malayalam and poetry. The film is about her mental trauma once she was moved to an English medium school by her parents, for their social status.[
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family
The Card Counter (2021)
William Tell just wants to play cards. His spartan existence on the casino trail is shattered when he is approached by Cirk, a vulnerable and angry young man seeking help to execute his plan for revenge on a military colonel. Tell sees a chance at redemption through his relationship with Cirk.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRunning Out of Time (1999)
Police inspector and excellent hostage negotiator Ho Sheung-Sang finds himself in over his head when he is pulled into a 72 hour game by a cancer suffering criminal out for vengeance on Hong Kong's organized crime syndicates.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Ruthful?
The closest matches to Ruthful are Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980), I Remember Mama (1948) and Where the Red Fern Grows (2003). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Ruthful?
Start with Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980), the closest match to Ruthful.
What is the highest-rated movie like Ruthful?
Mulan (1998), rated 7.9/10 by 10,800 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Ruthful?
Blue Heron (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Ruthful?
Yes: Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980), I Remember Mama (1948) and Where the Red Fern Grows (2003).
How are movies similar to Ruthful chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Ruthful, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.