Movies like Lenka (1982)
The best movies like Lenka (1982) are What Maisie Knew (2013), Skin (2009) and A Home of Our Own (1993). If Lenka hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Lenka
Quick picks
- Highest ratedRed River (1948)7.3/10 from 626 votes
- NewestEleanor the Great (2025)Released 2025
What Maisie Knew (2013)
In New York City, six-year-old Maisie is caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle between her self-absorbed parents—an aging rock singer mother and a distracted art dealer father. As both quickly marry new partners to strengthen their legal standing, Maisie is shuttled back and forth in an endless game of emotional point-scoring. Yet amid the chaos and upheaval, Maisie begins to find true comfort and affection in her new step-parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSkin (2009)
Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Home of Our Own (1993)
In 1960s Los Angeles an energetic widow and her six children try to make a dream of theirs come true: to have a home of their own. They leave L.A. and head for the countryside, all the while facing numerous difficulties and obstacles during their journey.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFast Girls (2012)
A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pumpkin Eater (1964)
Jo, the mother of seven children, divorces her second husband in order to marry Jake, a successful but promiscuous screenwriter. Though they are physically and emotionally compatible, they are slowly torn apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Visit (1964)
Carla Zachanassian had a child by Serge Miller as a teenager. When Serge refused to marry her, she was driven out of town. By her own wit and cunning, she has returned as a multi-millionaire for a visit. The town lays out the red carpet expecting big things from Carla, only to learn that her sole purpose is to see Serge Miller killed...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisuwantme2killhim? (2013)
Based on the Vanity Fair article of the same title, a story about a young boy drawn into a web of lies through an online chatroom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAlex of Venice (2015)
After her stay-at-home husband leaves her, a workaholic lawyer finds that she is not completely up to the tasks of caring for her young son, ailing father and household all by herself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe River (1984)
Tom and Mae Garvey are a Tennessee farming couple battling violent floods to save their land. In addition to natural disasters, the Garveys fight to stop a selfish land developer and a local corporation from foreclosing on their farm. While Mae stays at home to care for their children and tend to the crops, Tom finds work as a scab at a steel mill to preserve his family's property.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (2004)
The story of golf icon and legend, Bobby Jones, who retired from competition at the tender age of 28.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Young One (1960)
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisRogue Agent (2022)
Conman Robert Freegard poses as an undercover MI5 agent and kidnaps countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt, until the woman who fell for him brings him to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBastard Out of Carolina (1996)
A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHands of Stone (2016)
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Color of Friendship (2000)
Mahree Bok lives on a farm in South Africa. Her father is a policeman who cannot hide his joy when activist Steve Biko is caught by the South African authorities. Piper Dellums is the daughter of a US congressman from California and who lives in a nice home in Washington DC. When Mahree is chosen to spend a semester at the Dellums' house, she doesn't expect that her host family would be black. Nor do her hosts suspect that she is not a black South African.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSergio (2020)
A sweeping drama set in the chaotic aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq, where the life of top UN diplomat Brazilian Sérgio Vieira de Mello hangs in the balance during the most treacherous mission of his career.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEleanor the Great (2025)
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Neighbor (2022)
A nightmarish evening unfolds for neighbors David and Robert when they accidentally hit a woman on her bike and flee the scene. While David is increasingly plagued by feelings of guilt, Robert shows no remorse and becomes overbearing and possessive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTraces of Sandalwood (2014)
Despite her fame and fortune, Mina, a successful Indian actress in Mumbai, can't forget her little sister Sita, from whom she was forced to separate after their mother's death in a village. Thirty years later she will finally find out that Sita is alive and well in Barcelona. However, Sita's adoptive parents have erased all traces of her past. She is now called Paula, works as a researcher in Biology and has no recollection of her Indian background, let alone of Mina. Faced with the shocking truths of her past, Paula begins a long journey of self-discovery, aided along the way by her budding romance with the handsome Indian immigrant Prakash. A story of hope and love across Mumbai and Barcelona; from India to the Mediterranean and all the way back.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Born Forbidden (2005)
Story of a girl who was thrown on garbage after being born as a result of prostitution, picked up by the servant of a rich man and was adopted by his maid Zainab. BBC later on made a documentary about the child and a lady from England went and adopted that baby. When she grew up and watched the documentary somewhere, she came to know who she was and what happened with her. She went to meet that lady, Zainab, who adopted her first, and was still living in the same area. When she arrived to pass time with that family, people started pointing fingers on her, remembering her childhood. Zainab, once again could not accept the disrespect for her daughter (Meharun Nisa) and Mehar had to leave again to go back to Alina 's House, where she had been a respectable citizen always.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Shattered (2017)
Shattered is a story based on true events about family betrayal, love lost, and a dark destructive secret that swirls around a high powered political family in the Deep South. Kate Stenson dreams of an enviable life as the quintessential Southern Belle. She marries Ken Burnett, the son of the town's powerful Mayor - a controlling father who will do anything to protect his position. Kate has two children with Ken - a biological daughter, and an adopted son, named Logan (Tate Birchmore). But Kate's seemingly perfect lifestyle begins to fray at the edges as she discovers that Logan suffers from severe mental health issues. Kate's journey to uncover the true story of Logan's past reveals a dark secret that can destroy the entire Burnett legacy. As Kate investigates - with the aid of a new friend - to unmask the history behind Logan's illness, these unimaginable family secrets surface, putting her in unforeseen danger.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Kids on the Slope (2018)
Two different students—a successful but aloof academic and a rebellious but kindhearted delinquent—form a friendship through their love of jazz music.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Red River (1948)
Following the Civil War, headstrong rancher Thomas Dunson decides to lead a perilous cattle drive from Texas to Missouri. During the exhausting journey, his persistence becomes tyrannical in the eyes of Matthew Garth, his adopted son and protégé.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWho's Done it ? (1944)
Before his death, Mansour Pasha writes over his wealth to his two sons Omar and Othman; as the latter drowns, his wife gets a boy and claims he is Othman's son to ensure her share in the inheritance. When the boy grows older, he befriends Rashad, Omar's son, and gates of hell and vengeance open.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Sluníčko na houpačce (1981)
Editor Julie and artist Vojta go to a children's home in Sumava to pick up a nine-year-old boy, Matěj Stibor, and bring him to Prague to receive the main prize in a children's drawing competition. Matěj drew a family of three by a swing with the sun shining over them. His real parents, however, are far from ideal. His mother disowned him after giving birth, his father struggles with alcohol addiction. Will the boy find a new family?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Penny Serenade (1941)
Julie and Roger are a love-struck married couple who desperately want to have a child. Tragedy after tragedy gets in their way, as the two attempt to rise above their troubles and fulfill their dreams of parenthood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAurora (2014)
After reading in the newspaper that a newborn baby was found in a dumpster, a teacher becomes obsessed with giving it a proper burial.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Lovely & Amazing (2002)
An intimate family portrait of four hapless but resilient women and the bittersweet lessons they learn in keeping up with the hectic demands of their individual neuroses. Each of the women seeks redemption in her own haphazard way, but whatever salvation they find is illusory and short-lived.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Lenka?
The closest matches to Lenka are What Maisie Knew (2013), Skin (2009) and A Home of Our Own (1993). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Lenka?
Start with What Maisie Knew (2013), the closest match to Lenka.
What is the highest-rated movie like Lenka?
Red River (1948), rated 7.3/10 by 626 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Lenka?
Eleanor the Great (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Lenka chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Lenka, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.