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Movies like Orphan (1952)

The best movies like Orphan (1952) are Anne of Green Gables (2016), Chestnut: Hero of Central Park (2004) and Shanghaied (1915). If Orphan hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. Anne 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

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  2. Chestnut: Hero of Central Park (2004)

    Ray and Sal, two orphaned sisters, adopt and hide a Great Dane puppy from their two adopted parents living in a luxury downtown New York apartment that expressely forbids dogs.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  3. Shanghaied (1915)

    A shipowner intends to scuttle his ship on its last voyage to get the insurance money. Charlie, a tramp in love with the owner's daughter, is grabbed by the captain and promises to help him shanghai some seamen. The daughter stows away to follow Charlie. Charlie assists in the galley and attempts to serve food during a gale.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  4. Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980)

    Young Cedric Errol and his widowed mother live in genteel poverty in 1880s Brooklyn after the death of his father. Cedric's grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt, has long ago disowned his son for marrying an American. But after the death of the Earl's remaining son, he decides to accept Cedric as his heir.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  5. The Secret Garden (2020)

    Mary Lennox is born in India to wealthy British parents who never wanted her. When her parents suddenly die, she is sent back to England to live with her uncle. She meets her sickly cousin, and the two children find a wondrous secret garden lost in the grounds of Misselthwaite Manor.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  6. The Glass House (2001)

    When Ruby and Rhett's parents are killed in a car accident, their carefree teenage lives are suddenly shattered. Moving to an incredible house in Malibu with the Glasses', old friends of the family, seems to be the beginning of a new life for them.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  7. Poison (2023)

    When a poisonous snake slithers onto an Englishman's stomach in India, his associate and a doctor race to save him.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  8. Six Pack (1982)

    Stopping briefly in a small Texas town, an itinerant race car driver finds that his stock car, on a trailer behind his motor home, has just been quickly and expertly stripped. He chases down the miscreants, who turn out to be six orphan children. He has no recourse to the law, for the corrupt local sheriff takes most of the proceeds of their thievery in exchange for not putting them in an orphanage. They are charming rogues who are in turn charmed by him. Disliking their arrangement with the sheriff, they stow away with him, and he finds himself becoming a reluctant stepfather. Thanks to their enthusiasm and incredible mechanical know-how, he begins to make a name for himself on the racing circuit. But the sheriff doesn't take kindly to losing his extra income...

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  9. Mickey's Steam Roller (1934)

    While streetworker Mickey romances Minnie, Mickey's nephews Morty and Ferdie take control of his steamroller and it's full speed ahead on a very destructive ride.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  10. The Jungle Book (1967)

    The boy Mowgli makes his way to the man-village with Bagheera, the wise panther. Along the way he meets jazzy King Louie, the hypnotic snake Kaa and the lovable, happy-go-lucky bear Baloo, who teaches Mowgli "The Bare Necessities" of life and the true meaning of friendship.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  11. Madeline (1998)

    Horrified at the prospect of her beloved school being sold, a young French girl named Madeline uses her wit and craftiness to attempt to save it, making an unlikely new friend in the process.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  12. The Fugitive Kind (1960)

    Val Xavier, a drifter of obscure origins, arrives at a small town and gets a job in a store run by Lady Torrence. Her husband, Jabe M. Torrance, is dying of cancer. Val is pursued by Carol Cutere, the enigmatic local tramp-of-good-family.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  13. Oliver 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

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  14. Mater and the Ghostlight (2006)

    Mater, the rusty but trusty tow truck from Cars, spends a day in Radiator Springs playing scary pranks on his fellow townsfolk. That night at Flo's V8 Café, the Sheriff tells the story of the legend of the Ghostlight, and as everyone races home Mater is left alone primed for a good old-fashioned scare.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  15. Time Travel Mater (2012)

    When a clock lands on Mater's engine, he travels back in time to 1909 where he meets Stanley, an ambitious young car on his way to California. With the help of Lightning McQueen, Mater alters history by convincing Stanley to stay and build Radiator Springs. Stanley meets Lizzie and they commemorate the opening of the new courthouse with their wedding.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  16. Where Hope Grows (2014)

    Calvin Campbell is a former professional baseball player sent to an early retirement due to his panic attacks at the plate. Even though he had all the talent for the big leagues, he struggles with the curveballs life has thrown him. Today, he mindlessly sleepwalks through his days and the challenge of raising his teenager daughter. His life is in a slow downward spiral when it is suddenly awakened and invigorated by the most unlikely person – Produce, a young-man with Down syndrome who works at the local grocery store.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  17. The Prince & Me 4: The Elephant Adventure (2010)

    One year after their royal wedding, King Edvard and Queen Paige of Denmark receive an invitation to attend the wedding of Princess Myra of Sangyoon. Upon their arrival, Paige finds Myra is unhappy with her arranged marriage to the brooding and sinister Kah and is secretly in love with a young elephant handler named Alu.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  18. Pete's Dragon (2016)

    For years, old wood carver Mr. Meacham has delighted local children with his tales of the fierce dragon that resides deep in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. To his daughter, Grace, who works as a forest ranger, these stories are little more than tall tales... until she meets Pete, a mysterious 10-year-old with no family and no home who claims to live in the woods with a giant, green dragon named Elliott. And from Pete's descriptions, Elliott seems remarkably similar to the dragon from Mr. Meacham's stories. With the help of Natalie, an 11-year-old girl whose father Jack owns the local lumber mill, Grace sets out to determine where Pete came from, where he belongs, and the truth about this dragon.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  19. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016)

    A teenager finds himself transported to an island where he must help protect a group of orphans with special powers from creatures intent on destroying them.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  20. The Little Drummer Boy (1968)

    After being kidnapped and escaping, young drummer boy Aaron searches for his camel and finds him in the Nativity of the Baby Jesus. Aaron gives Baby Jesus the only gift he has, a song on his drum.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this

Like Orphan and something else?

Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies like Orphan?

The closest matches to Orphan are Anne of Green Gables (2016), Chestnut: Hero of Central Park (2004) and Shanghaied (1915). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after Orphan?

Start with Anne of Green Gables (2016), the closest match to Orphan.

What is the highest-rated movie like Orphan?

Where Hope Grows (2014), rated 7.9/10 by 232 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like Orphan?

Poison (2023) is the most recent release on this list.

How are movies similar to Orphan chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Orphan, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.

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