Movies like Cherche famille désespérément (1994)
The best movies like Cherche famille désespérément (1994) are Evelyn (2002), Anne of Green Gables (2016) and Oliver Twist (1948). If Cherche famille désespérément hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Cherche famille désespérément
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCentral Station (1998)8.1/10 from 1,093 votes
- NewestStreet Flow 3 (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchShepherds (2024)Also in French
Evelyn (2002)
Desmond Doyle is devastated when his wife abandons their family on the day after Christmas. His unemployment, and the fact that there is no woman in the house to care for the children—Evelyn, Dermot and Maurice—make it clear to the authorities this is an untenable situation. The Catholic Church and the Irish courts decide to put the Doyle children into Church-run orphanages.
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 thisOliver Twist (1948)
When 9-year-old orphan Oliver Twist dares to ask his cruel taskmaster, Mr. Bumble, for a second serving of gruel, he's hired out as an apprentice. Escaping that dismal fate, young Oliver falls in with the street urchin known as the Artful Dodger and his criminal mentor, Fagin. When kindly Mr. Brownlow takes Oliver in, Fagin's evil henchman Bill Sikes plots to kidnap the boy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHome Run (2013)
A pro ball player with a substance abuse problem is forced into rehab in his hometown, finding new hope when he gets honest about his checkered past, and takes on coaching duties for a misfit Little League team
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShepherds (2024)
A young Montreal advertising executive, converted to a Provençal shepherd, has various misadventures with a civil servant who has cavalierly quit her job.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMammal (2016)
After Margaret, a divorcée living in Dublin, loses her teenage son, she develops an unorthodox relationship with Joe, a homeless youth. Their tentative trust is threatened by his involvement with a violent gang and the escalation of her ex-husband's grieving rage.
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 thisHomeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story (2003)
Based on a true story. Liz Murray is a young girl who is taken care of by her loving, but drug-addicted parents. Liz becomes homeless at 15 and after a tragedy comes upon her, she begins her work to finish high school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Little Princess (1939)
A little girl goes in search of her father who is reported missing by the military during the Second Boer War.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Brothers and I (2022)
Nour, a 14-year-old boy, is enjoying the summer holidays in the South of France. He is the youngest of four brothers. They live together in a council estate, caring for their mother who is in a coma. Nour dreams of escaping to a faraway place. When he crosses paths with Sarah, an Opera singer teaching summer classes, he finds the opportunity to come out of his shell and explore new horizons.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCardboard Boxer (2016)
Gentle and broken, a homeless man fights others on video for money but soon finds comfort in an unlikely friend and the lost diary of a young girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGigi & Nate (2022)
A young man with a bright future suffers a near-fatal accident and recreates his new life with the help of an unlikely animal friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOmaha (2025)
A young girl and her brother are awoken by their father and loaded into the car on an early morning in 2008. As they road trip across the American West, she discovers the truth about their seemingly spontaneous journey.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOliver Twist (1997)
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 thisJungleland (2020)
Stanley manages his boxer brother Lion but when a devastating loss in the ring leaves the pair in debt, an opportunity to recoup the cash leads to a series of misadventures that threaten to break the bond between them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCome Sunday (2018)
Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBrand Upon the Brain! (2007)
After returning home to his long-estranged mother upon a request from her deathbed, a man raised by his parents in an orphanage has to confront the childhood memories that have long haunted him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisStreet Flow 3 (2026)
Grieving and facing the consequences of their crimes, the Traoré brothers get one last chance to forge a new path.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEmbattled (2020)
The eldest son of a ruthlessly tough MMA champion must fight his way out of the abusive cycle his father has continued.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBetrayal of Silence (1988)
A new lawyer investigates the abuse case of a young orphan girl and begins to believe that the orphanage priests have something to hide.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Nowhere Boy (TBA)
On the way to Europe, teenage refugee Ahmed's father dies. As an orphan alone in Brussels, his dream of reaching England fades. Instead, he finds himself hiding in a house where, upstairs, an American family — including a 13-year-old boy named Max — lives. Max finds Ahmed, and the two become friends, giving the latter new direction.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Central Station (1998)
An emotional journey of a former school teacher, who writes letters for illiterate people, and a young boy, whose mother has just died, as they search for the father he never knew.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
Isolated in the bell tower of Notre Dame, Quasimodo longs to experience the world beyond the cathedral walls, despite the wishes of his stern guardian, the Judge of Paris Claude Frollo. His first venture into the city leads him to Esmeralda, a fearless Romani woman whose defiance of Frollo's tyranny draws her—and Quasimodo—into his dangerous obsession.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSlumdog Millionaire (2008)
A teenager reflects on his life after being accused of cheating on the Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?".
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Children Nobody Wanted (1981)
True story of Tom Butterfield and his crusade to provide family life for homeless children, becoming not only the first bachelor caretaker, but the youngest single adult to become a legal foster parent in the state of Missouri.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Circus Kid (1928)
In 'The Circus Kid', Buddy, an orphan who runs away from a a harsh orphanage, joins Cadwallader's Circus.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii (2007)
An orphan boy with dreams of finding a family and fame as a cricketer, finds a bat with magical powers and lands a spot in the Indian cricket team.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Peacock (2005)
Brings viewers into a small Chinese city and inspires familiarity with the rhythms of everyday existence, with people's dreams, shortcomings and illusions in a way that is universal.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
My Life Partner (2014)
My Life Partner deals with the deep and intricate emotional relationship between two men. The movie narrates the story of two friends-turned-lovers, Richard and Kiran, who were both born and brought up in different cultural backgrounds. Issues crop up when they plan to add a baby to their lives, reinforcing their mutual bond as the Indian law does not allow a man to adopt a child on his own. To find a way around this, Richard, who is a bisexual, marries an orphan, Pavithra. Their life goes topsy-turvy, when Pavithra discovers Richard and Kiran's relationship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Cherche famille désespérément?
The closest matches to Cherche famille désespérément are Evelyn (2002), Anne of Green Gables (2016) and Oliver Twist (1948). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Cherche famille désespérément?
Start with Evelyn (2002), the closest match to Cherche famille désespérément.
What is the highest-rated movie like Cherche famille désespérément?
Central Station (1998), rated 8.1/10 by 1,093 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Cherche famille désespérément?
Street Flow 3 (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like Cherche famille désespérément?
Yes: Shepherds (2024), My Brothers and I (2022) and Street Flow 3 (2026).
How are movies similar to Cherche famille désespérément chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Cherche famille désespérément, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.