Movies like JOY (2024)
The best movies like JOY (2024) are Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (2009), On the Basis of Sex (2018) and The Children Act (2018). If JOY hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedHidden Figures (2016)8.1/10 from 10,811 votes
- NewestAudrey's Children (2025)Released 2025
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (2009)
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story is a movie based on the life story of world-renowned neurosurgeon Ben Carson from 1961 to 1987.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisOn the Basis of Sex (2018)
Young lawyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg teams with her husband Marty to bring a groundbreaking case before the U.S. Court of Appeals and overturn a century of sex discrimination.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Children Act (2018)
In the midst of a marital crisis, a High Court judge must decide if she should order a life-saving blood transfusion for a teen with cancer despite his family's refusal to accept medical treatment for religious reasons.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLiving (2022)
London, 1953. Mr. Williams, a veteran civil servant, is an important cog within the city's bureaucracy as it struggles to rebuild in the aftermath of World War II. Buried under paperwork at the office and lonely at home, his life has long felt empty and meaningless. Then a devastating medical diagnosis forces him to take stock, and to try and grasp some fulfilment before it passes permanently beyond reach.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisExtraordinary Measures (2010)
Working-class father John Crowley is finally on the fast track to corporate success when his two young children are diagnosed with Pompe disease—a condition that prevents the body from breaking down sugar. With the support of his wife, John ditches his career and teams with unconventional specialist, Dr. Robert Stonehill to found a bio-tech company and develop a cure in time to save the lives of his children. As Dr. Stonehill works tirelessly to prove the theories that made him the black sheep of the medical community, a powerful bond is forged between the two unlikely allies.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Theory of Everything (2014)
Once a healthy, active young man, Hawking received an earth-shattering diagnosis at 21 years of age. With Jane fighting tirelessly by his side, Stephen embarks on his most ambitious scientific work, studying the very thing he now has precious little of – time.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCreation (2009)
A psychological, heart-wrenching love story that provides a unique and inside look at Charles Darwin. Torn between faith and science, he struggles to finish his legendary book "On the Origin of Species," which goes on to become the foundation for evolutionary biology.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLorenzo's Oil (1992)
Lorenzo Odone, a Virginia 5-year-old, develops a degenerative nerve disease so rare that nobody is working on a cure, so his parents decide to immerse themselves in research and tackle the problem themselves.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Music of Silence (2017)
Born with a serious eye condition that eventually leads to his blindness, Bocelli nevertheless rises above the challenges, driven by great ambitions towards his passion. The silent pursuit of his daily mission continues.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTemple Grandin (2010)
A biopic of Temple Grandin, an autistic American who has become one of the leading scientists in humane livestock handling.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSomething the Lord Made (2004)
A dramatization of the relationship between heart surgery pioneers Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHidden Figures (2016)
The untold story of Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson – brilliant African-American women working at NASA and serving as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history – the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like this...First Do No Harm (1997)
When Lori Reimuller learns that her young son Robbie has epilepsy, she first trusts the judgment of the hospital staff in how best to bring it under control. As Robbie's health slides radically downhill, however, she becomes frustrated and desperate, and so does her own research into the existing literature on treatments. When she decides to try an alternative treatment called the Ketogenic Diet, devised long ago by a doctor from Johns Hopkins, she is met with narrow-minded resistance from Robbie's doctor, who is prepared to take legal action to prevent Lori from removing him from the hospital.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRun & Jump (2014)
After a stroke leaves her husband disabled and fundamentally changed, a spirited Irish wife struggles to keep her family members together. All the while they are under the microscope of an American researcher documenting their recovery process.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Audrey's Children (2025)
Philadelphia. 1969. British physician, Dr. Audrey Evans, is newly recruited to a world-renowned children’s hospital and battles sexism, medical conventions, and the subterfuge of her peers to develop revolutionary treatments, purchase the first Ronald McDonald House for families of patients and, ultimately, impact the lives of millions of children around the world. Based on a true story.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Nowhere Special (2020)
John, a 35-year-old window cleaner, has dedicated his life to bringing up his 4-year-old son, Michael, after the child's mother left them soon after giving birth. When John is given only a few months left to live, he attempts to find a new, perfect family for Michael, determined to shield him from the terrible reality of the situation.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSuffragette (2015)
Based on true events about the foot soldiers of the early feminist movement, women who were forced underground to pursue a dangerous game of cat and mouse with an increasingly brutal State.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHousewife, 49 (2006)
Downtrodden wife and mother Nella's life takes an unexpected turn for the better after she joins the Women's Voluntary Service office in Barrow-in-Furness during the Second World War. However, her new-found happiness is shattered when her son Cliff leaves to join the troops - provoking a painful confrontation with her husband Will.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
What They Had (2018)
A woman must fly back to her hometown when her Alzheimer's-stricken mother wanders into a blizzard. The return home forces her to confront her past.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGod's Compass (2016)
Suzanne Waters (Karen Abercrombie) has just passed the baton as the principal of the local high school. Having spent a lifetime teaching life lessons, the journey into retirement is about to bring her one of her greatest lessons. Her lesson plan will come from a troubled young man, Eli, as she invests in his life. Suzanne also becomes a first-time grandmother, and the new life of the baby brings renewed hope to the family as each member discovers their core value in God's path for their lives. As Suzanne reflects back on her life of faithfulness, we are reminded that there are no accidents in God's Kingdom, no chance meetings, no purposeless steps taken.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Tapestry (2019)
As things start to unravel in Ryan's life, he is left feeling vulnerable, insignificant and wondering why. With his priorities on everything but God, he begins to isolate himself from those around him as his hardships multiply. In the midst of the big-picture perspective his struggles give him, God places people around him to help him more clearly understand the profound plan He has for our lives. He relearns how to truly rely on God through the suffering life brings and how to be confident in the intricate plan that threads together perfectly like a tapestry.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Tyson's Run (2022)
When fifteen-year-old Tyson attends public school for the first time, his life is changed forever. While helping his father clean up after the football team, Tyson befriends champion marathon runner Aklilu. Never letting his autism hold him back, Tyson becomes determined to run his first marathon in hopes of winning his father's approval. With the help of an unlikely friend and his parents, Tyson learns that with faith in yourself and the courage to take the first step, anything is possible.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Sister's Keeper (2009)
Sara and Brian live an idyllic life with their young son and daughter. But their family is rocked by sudden, heartbreaking news that forces them to make a difficult and unorthodox choice in order to save their baby girl's life. The parents' desperate decision raises both ethical and moral questions and rips away at the foundation of their relationship. Their actions ultimately set off a court case that threatens to tear the family apart, while revealing surprising truths that challenge everyone's perceptions of love and loyalty and give new meaning to the definition of healing.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Music Never Stopped (2011)
Henry struggles to bond with his estranged son, Gabriel, who suffers from a brain tumor that prevents him from forming new memories. With Gabriel unable to shed the beliefs and interests that caused their physical and emotional distance, Henry must learn to embrace his son's choices and try to connect with him through music.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Brooke Ellison Story (2004)
Rendered a quadriplegic since a child from a near-fatal neck injury, a young girl fights against all odds to succeed in life from grade school to her acceptance into college under the assistance of her loyal and dedicated mother.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
All We Had (2016)
A mother struggles to make a better life for her daughter.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Russell Girl (2008)
Sarah Russell, a 23-year-old aspiring medical school student, visits her loving family to share some important news, but instead finds herself attempting to finally confront a difficult period from her past.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
55 Steps (2018)
The inspiring true story of Eleanor Riese, a mental illness patient herself, who brings a class action suit to give competent mental patients the right to have a say in their medication while they're in a hospital, and Colette Hughes, the lawyer appointed to her case.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHelp (2021)
Sarah seems to have found her calling working in a Liverpool care home where she has a special talent for connecting with the residents. Then, in March 2020, the Coronavirus pandemic hits.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMiddle of Nowhere (2012)
When her husband is sentenced to eight years in prison, Ruby drops out of medical school in order to focus on her husband's well-being while he's incarcerated - leading her on a journey of self-discovery in the process.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like JOY?
The closest matches to JOY are Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (2009), On the Basis of Sex (2018) and The Children Act (2018). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after JOY?
People who watched JOY most often go on to Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (2009), On the Basis of Sex (2018) and The Children Act (2018).
What is the highest-rated movie like JOY?
Hidden Figures (2016), rated 8.1/10 by 10,811 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like JOY?
Audrey's Children (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like JOY?
Yes: Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (2009), On the Basis of Sex (2018) and The Children Act (2018).
How are movies similar to JOY chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside JOY, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.