Movies like The Friendly (2024)
The best movies like The Friendly (2024) are Megan Leavey (2017), Stop-Loss (2008) and Max (2015). If The Friendly hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedForrest Gump (1994)8.5/10 from 30,857 votes
- NewestDie My Love (2025)Released 2025
Megan Leavey (2017)
The true story of Marine Corporal Megan Leavey, who forms a powerful bond with an aggressive combat dog, Rex. While deployed in Iraq, the two complete more than 100 missions and save countless lives, until an IED explosion puts their faithfulness to the test.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStop-Loss (2008)
A veteran soldier returns from his completed tour of duty in Iraq, only to find his life turned upside down when he is arbitrarily ordered to return to field duty by the Army.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMax (2015)
A dog that helped soldiers in Afghanistan returns to the U.S. and is adopted by his handler's family after suffering a traumatic experience.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRescued by Ruby (2022)
Chasing his dream to join an elite K-9 unit, a state trooper partners with a fellow underdog: clever but naughty shelter pup Ruby. Based on a true story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCherry (2021)
Cherry drifts from college dropout to army medic in Iraq—anchored only by his one true love, Emily. But after returning from the war with PTSD, his life spirals into drugs and crime as he struggles to find his place in the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDie My Love (2025)
After inheriting a remote Montana house, Jackson moves there from New York with his partner Grace, and the couple soon welcome a child. As Jackson becomes increasingly absent and rural isolation sets in, Grace struggles with loneliness, creative frustration, and unresolved emotional wounds. What begins as an attempt at renewal gradually turns into an intense psychological descent, placing strain on their relationship and exposing the fragile balance between love, identity, and motherhood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThank You for Your Service (2017)
A group of U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq struggle to integrate back into family and civilian life, while living with the memory of a war that threatens to destroy them long after they've left the battlefield.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Gift (2015)
Simon and Robyn are a young married couple whose life is going as planned until a chance run-in with Simon's high school acquaintance sends their world into a tailspin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCauseway (2022)
A US soldier suffers a traumatic brain injury while fighting in Afghanistan and struggles to adjust to life back home in New Orleans. When she meets local mechanic James, the pair begin to forge an unexpected bond.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnforgettable (2017)
Barely coping with the end of her marriage, Tessa Connover learns that her ex-husband, David, is now happily engaged to Julia. Trying to settle into her new life after moving in with David, Julia believes she has finally met the man of her dreams, the man who can help her forget her troubled past. Soon, Tessa's jealousy starts to consume her, and she will stop at nothing to turn Julia's paradise into the ultimate nightmare.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisUnbroken: Path to Redemption (2018)
Zamperini returns to California where he wound up marrying Cynthia Applewhite while wrestling with untreated PTSD, suffering constant nightmares, angry, bitter and deeply depressed, his wife convinces Zamperini to attend the 1949 Billy Graham Crusade.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Woman on the Beach (1947)
A sailor suffering from post-traumatic stress becomes involved with a beautiful and enigmatic seductress married to a blind painter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMickey and the Bear (2019)
In Anaconda, Montana, a strong-willed teenage girl navigates a loving but volatile relationship with her veteran father. In a desperate search for independence and her own identity, she risks family, heartbreak, and her standing in the only place she can call home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Men (1950)
Ken, a WWII GI, returns home after he's paralyzed in battle. Residing in the paraplegic ward of a veteran's hospital and embittered by his condition, he refuses to see his fiancée and sinks into a solitary world of hatred and hostility. Head physician, Dr. Brock cajoles the withdrawn Ken into the life of the ward, where fellow patients Norm, Leo and Angel begin to pull him out of his spiritual dilemma.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMiracle Run (2004)
Corinne is a single mother of twin 5-year-old boys, Steven and Phillip, who are diagnosed with autism. Public school officials threaten to remove them from school due to their behavior, but through therapy, the boys are able to make major strides in their capabilities. A decade later, teens Steven and Phillip seek to prove they can handle high school while still struggling with their disorder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Plague Dogs (1982)
Two dogs, Rowf and Snitter, struggle to survive in the countryside after escaping from an animal research laboratory. They're pursued by search parties and then the military after rumours spread that they could be carrying the bubonic plague.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRed (2008)
Avery, a reclusive older man, has a best friend in his dog, Red. When three teens kill Red without reason, Avery sets out for justice and redemption, attempting to follow the letter of the law. But when the law fails him, and the boys' father clearly defines right and wrong in his own way, Avery must avenge himself by any means possible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFluke (1995)
Workaholic Thomas Johnson dies in an auto accident and reincarnates as a dog. Remembering some of his previous being, he returns to his wife and son to protect them from the man who caused his accident. But, as time goes by, his memories return, and Thomas realizes he wasn't such a good husband and father.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWelcome to Marwen (2018)
When a devastating attack shatters Mark Hogancamp and wipes away all memories, no one expected recovery. Putting together pieces from his old and new life, Mark meticulously creates a wondrous town named Marwen where he can heal and be heroic. As he builds an astonishing art installation — a testament to the most powerful women he knows — through his fantasy world, he draws strength to triumph in the real one.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisBad Education (2004)
When an old friend brings filmmaker Enrique Goded a semi-autobiographical script chronicling their adolescence, Enrique is forced to relive his youth spent at a Catholic boarding school. Weaving through past and present, the script follows a transvestite performer who reconnects with a grade school sweetheart. Spurred on by this chance encounter, the character reflects on her childhood sexual victimization and the trauma of closeting her sexual orientation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGirl Upstairs (2022)
A successful but isolated artist, struggling with agoraphobia, has her life turned upside down when one of her works of art comes to life. At first, she joyfully accepts this reprieve from her self-imposed exile, but her new friends are not all they seem, and her small world starts to come apart as her fear of the outside comes into conflict with her new creations and their need for freedom.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Forrest Gump (1994)
A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisA Girl at My Door (2014)
Sent from Seoul to serve in a remote coastal village, a policewoman gets involved in the life of a mysterious teenage girl who is abused by both her father and her grandmother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUndercurrent (TBA)
A young man recently released from prison attempts to rebuild his life after the death of his mother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Time (2027)
This fictional story follows the life of Jackson Bird as he overcomes the obstacles of life. He has always felt abandoned and not loved by the other people around him until he met the girl of his dreams as a teenager. However, after he goes through a life changing experience he realizes that nothing lasts forever.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Coming SoonMovies like thisAlan & Naomi (1992)
When Naomi, a young refugee from Nazi-occupied Paris, moves into Alan Silverman’s building in New York, he does his best to avoid her. But despite Naomi's strange behavior and the language barrier, they slowly develop a deep and touching friendship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Paranoia (1967)
A man is under the illusion he is a wanted war criminal.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Tigerland (2000)
A group of recruits go through Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Polk, Louisiana's infamous Tigerland, last stop before Vietnam for tens of thousands of young men in 1971.
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 The Friendly?
The closest matches to The Friendly are Megan Leavey (2017), Stop-Loss (2008) and Max (2015). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Friendly?
Start with Megan Leavey (2017), the closest match to The Friendly.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Friendly?
Forrest Gump (1994), rated 8.5/10 by 30,857 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Friendly?
Die My Love (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Friendly?
Yes: Megan Leavey (2017), Stop-Loss (2008) and Max (2015).
How are movies similar to The Friendly chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Friendly, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.