Movies like The Sparrow (1972)
The best movies like The Sparrow (1972) are The Color of Friendship (2000), Hardball (2001) and Skin (2009). If The Sparrow hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCharm City Kings (2020)7.8/10 from 508 votes
- NewestEagles of the Republic (2025)Released 2025
The 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 thisHardball (2001)
An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisThe Nest (2020)
Rory is an ambitious entrepreneur who brings his American wife and kids to his native country, England, to explore new business opportunities. After abandoning the sanctuary of their safe American suburban surroundings, the family is plunged into the despair of an archaic '80s Britain and their unaffordable new life in an English manor house threatens to destroy the family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisThe Padre (2018)
American retired Judge Randall Nemes and his hired gun, Gaspar, track down a con man posing as a priest in a small Colombian town only to be thrown off-course by a scrappy 16-year-old girl intent on reuniting with her sister in the United States.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLady Driver (2020)
When a rebellious teen embarks on a solo summer journey to connect with her roots, she finds herself in a new world, geared up for the ride of her life, and discovers she had the drive in her all along.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this40 Acres (2025)
Hailey Freeman and her family are the last descendants of African American farmers who settled in rural Canada after the Civil War. In a famine-decimated near future, they now struggle to safeguard their farm, as they make one last stand against a vicious militia hell-bent on taking their 40 Acres.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCharm City Kings (2020)
Mouse desperately wants to join The Midnight Clique, the infamous Baltimore dirt bike riders who rule the summertime streets. When Midnight’s leader, Blax, takes 14-year-old Mouse under his wing, Mouse soon finds himself torn between the straight-and-narrow and a road filled with fast money and violence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 Organization (1971)
After a group of young revolutionaries break into a company's corporate headquarters and steal $5,000,000 worth of heroin to keep it off the street, they call on San Francisco Police Lieutenant Virgil Tibbs for assistance.
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 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 thisSAS: Red Notice (2021)
An off-duty SAS soldier, Tom Buckingham, must thwart a terror attack on a train running through the Channel Tunnel. As the action escalates on the train, events transpire in the corridors of power that may make the difference as to whether Buckingham and the civilian passengers make it out of the tunnel alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972)
Middle-aged widow Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her daughters Ruth and Matilda are struggling to survive in a society they barely understand. Beatrice dreams of opening an elegant tea room but does not have the wherewithal to achieve her lofty goal. Epileptic Ruth is a rebellious adolescent, while shy but highly intelligent and idealistic Matilda seeks solace in her pets and school projects, including one designed to show how small amounts of radium affect marigolds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGirl in the Box (2016)
The true story of 20-year-old Colleen Stan, a hitchhiking woman abducted by a young couple and held captive for seven years, during which time she's tortured and forced to live as a slave to her captors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat 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 thisA Dry White Season (1989)
During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFast Charlie (2023)
When his aging mob boss is whacked, Charlie Swift, a loyal friend and hired gun, will stop at nothing to destroy the upcoming crew that took him out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEagles of the Republic (2025)
George Fahmy, Egypt's most adored actor, is pressured to star in a film commissioned by the highest authorities. He reluctantly accepts and finds himself thrown into the inner circle of power. Like moth drawn to flame, he begins an affair with the mysterious wife of the general overseeing the project.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBetween Heaven and Earth (1959)
In the blasting heat of a Friday afternoon in Cairo, a group of people – among them a movie star, a thief, a madman, a cook and a pregnant woman – find themselves trapped in an elevator for 12 hours.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
A Man in Our House (1961)
Rebel Ibrahim Hamdy assassinates a pro-colonial Prime Minister but is arrested and hides with a fellow university student, who initially refuses but eventually accepts him. Abdul Hamid Khatib meets Samia and her cousin, and Ibrahim uses the situation to hasten Samia’s marriage, which she rejects. Nawal, the youngest daughter, becomes the liaison between Ibrahim and his colleagues, helping him escape. Abdul Hamid tries to inform the political police of Ibrahim’s location, but Samia stops him. The head of the political police suspects them and punishes them to find Ibrahim. Ibrahim refuses to leave the country, returning to fight colonialism and participating in an operation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Tale of Three Girls (1968)
Three women each have their own ambitions and aspirations. The first dreams of fame and fortune and meets a rich, married man she attempts to court. The second is a secretary with designs on her boss, even though he too is married. Having learned from her friends' experiences, the third takes an altogether different path.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Rebels (1968)
A sick doctor is admitted to an isolated sanatorium located in the middle of a desolate desert. As a patient, he becomes aware of the discrepancy that exists between the conditions of the privileged patients, who are well-treated, and the poor ones, who particularly suffer from a lack of water. With the help of the doctor, the poor patients rebel and undertake to restore justice and order in the hospital.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Desert Cat (1995)
Youssef joins a United Nations disaster-fighting group dubbed the Desert Cat. When he discovers an alternative for petrol, an international gang tries to steal his discovery and recruits a girl to seduce him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Spider (2022)
A dangerous drug dealer, who manages to manufacture new drugs, sells them, and falls into many problems and chases by the police.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Cairo 30 (1966)
Mahgoub is a villager who moves to Cairo in search of a better life. When he enlists friend Salem's help to find him a job, Salem not only gets him a job at the ministry where he works but he finds him a bride as well. But the bride is the mistress of Qasem Bek, who will be visiting her once a week.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Beginning and the End (1960)
Set in the suburbs of Cairo in the late 1930s, the story follows a middle-class Egyptian family grappling with the hardships of life after the death of their father, their sole breadwinner. The mother and her four children—three brothers and their sister, Nefisah—struggle to avoid slipping into poverty. They all go in different directions which aren't exactly good.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Ali's Wedding (2017)
After a "white lie" which spirals out of control, a neurotic, naive and musically gifted Muslim cleric's eldest son must follow through with an arranged marriage, except he is madly in love with an Australian born-Lebanese girl.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Boss Is the Doorman (1985)
Abu al-Ma'ati disguies himself as a janitor of a building to escape justice, he meets a dancer and work together in prostitution and drug trade, but events turn when he decides to run for election.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like The Sparrow and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Sparrow?
The closest matches to The Sparrow are The Color of Friendship (2000), Hardball (2001) and Skin (2009). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Sparrow?
Start with The Color of Friendship (2000), the closest match to The Sparrow.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Sparrow?
Charm City Kings (2020), rated 7.8/10 by 508 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Sparrow?
Eagles of the Republic (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Sparrow chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Sparrow, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.