Movies like The Cowboy (2024)
The best movies like The Cowboy (2024) are Frontera (2014), Don't Come Knocking (2005) and Man in the Shadow (1957). If The Cowboy hooked you with its drama and western, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedHud (1963)7.3/10 from 379 votes
- NewestBroke (2025)Released 2025
Frontera (2014)
After crossing the border illegally for work, Miguel, a hard-working father and devoted husband, finds himself wrongfully accused of murdering a former sheriff’s wife. After learning of his imprisonment, Miguel’s pregnant wife tries to come to his aid and lands in the hands of corrupt coyotes who hold her for ransom. Dissatisfied with the police department’s investigation, the former sheriff tries to uncover the truth about his wife’s death and discovers disturbing evidence that will destroy one family’s future, or tear another’s apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDon't Come Knocking (2005)
Howard Spence has seen better days. Once a big Western movie star, he now drowns his disgust for his selfish and failed life with alcohol, drugs and young women. If he were to die now, nobody would shed a tear over him, that's the sad truth. Until one day Howard learns that he might have a child somewhere out there...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMan in the Shadow (1957)
In a modern cow town, the powerful ranch owner’s henchmen kill a ranch hand, prompting the sheriff to investigate despite facing strong opposition. He finds an unlikely ally in the rancher's overprotected daughter, but their quest for justice puts them both in danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJane Got a Gun (2015)
After her outlaw husband returns home shot with eight bullets and barely alive, Jane reluctantly reaches out to an ex-lover who she hasn't seen in over ten years to help her defend her farm when the time comes that her husband's gang eventually tracks him down to finish the job.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAppaloosa (2008)
Two friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnion Pacific (1939)
One of the last bills signed by President Lincoln authorizes pushing the Union Pacific Railroad across the wilderness to California. But financial opportunist Asa Barrows hopes to profit from obstructing it. Chief troubleshooter Jeff Butler has his hands full fighting Barrows' agent, gambler Sid Campeau; Campeau's partner Dick Allen is Jeff's war buddy and rival suitor for engineer's daughter Molly Monahan. Who will survive the effort to push the railroad through at any cost?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLast Shoot Out (2021)
Soon after a newlywed learns that her husband had her father shot down, she flees from the Callahan ranch in fear. She's rescued by a gunman who safeguards her at a remote outpost as he staves off her husband's attempts to reclaim his bride.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBroke (2025)
A bronc rider in denial about his fading rodeo career battles against brain injury and a sudden blizzard while reflecting on how it became so difficult to achieve his dreams.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisForty Guns (1957)
An authoritarian rancher rules an Arizona county with her private posse of hired guns. When a new Marshal arrives to set things straight, the cattle queen finds herself falling for the avowedly non-violent lawman. Both have itchy-fingered brothers, a female gunman enters the picture, and things go desperately wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHud (1963)
Hud Bannon is a ruthless young man who tarnishes everything and everyone he touches. Hud represents the perfect embodiment of alienated youth, out for kicks with no regard for the consequences. There is bitter conflict between the callous Hud and his stern and highly principled father, Homer. Hud's nephew Lon admires Hud's cheating ways, though he soon becomes too aware of Hud's reckless amorality to bear him anymore. In the world of the takers and the taken, Hud is a winner. He's a cheat, but, he explains, "I always say the law was meant to be interpreted in a lenient manner."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Last Sunset (1961)
At a Mexican ranch, fugitive O'Malley and pursuing Sheriff Stribling agree to help rancher Breckenridge drive his herd into Texas where Stribling could legally arrest O'Malley, but Breckenridge's wife complicates things.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this3:10 to Yuma (1957)
Dan Evans, a small time farmer, is hired to escort Ben Wade, a dangerous outlaw, to Yuma. As Evans and Wade wait for the 3:10 train to Yuma, Wade's gang is racing to free him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNews of the World (2020)
A Texan traveling across the wild West bringing the news of the world to local townspeople, agrees to help rescue a young girl who was kidnapped.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJubal (1956)
Jubal Troop is a cowboy who is found in a weakened condition, without a horse. He is given shelter at Shep Horgan's large ranch, where he quickly makes an enemy in foreman Pinky, a cattleman who accuses Jubal of carrying the smell of sheep.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSilverado (1985)
Four unwitting heroes cross paths on their journey to the sleepy town of Silverado. Little do they know the town where their family and friends reside has been taken over by a corrupt sheriff and a murderous posse. It's up to the sharp-shooting foursome to save the day, but first they have to break each other out of jail, and learn who their real friends are.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Quick and the Dead (1987)
In 1876 Wyoming, the gun is the only law. And for Duncan and Suzanna McKaskel, newly arrived settlers beset by outlaws, rugged frontiersman Con Vallian is the only hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEchoes of War (2015)
A Civil War veteran returns home to the quiet countryside, only to find himself embroiled in a conflict between his family and the brutish cattle rancher harassing them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisApache Junction (2021)
Apache Junction is an outpost of lawlessness, a haven for thieves and cold-blooded killers. After big-city reporter Annabelle Angel arrives to write an article on the town, she becomes a target when notorious gunslinger Jericho Ford comes to her aid. Now Annabelle must entrust her future to a man with a deadly past, as Jericho heads toward a tense showdown.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Revengers (1972)
The life of peaceful rancher John Benedict is torn apart when his family is massacred by a gang of marauding outlaws and his farm is destroyed. He assembles a team of mean, lawless convicts to act as his posse as he pursues the gang responsible for the deaths of his loved ones.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
SnoozefestMovies like thisRamrod (1947)
A cattle-vs.-sheepman feud loses Connie Dickason her fiance, but gains her his ranch, which she determines to run alone in opposition to Frank Ivey, "boss" of the valley, whom her father Ben wanted her to marry. She hires recovering alcoholic Dave Nash as foreman and a crew of Ivey's enemies. Ivey fights back with violence and destruction, but Dave is determined to counter him legally... a feeling not shared by his associates. Connie's boast that, as a woman, she doesn't need guns proves justified, but plenty of gunplay results.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Cowboy?
The closest matches to The Cowboy are Frontera (2014), Don't Come Knocking (2005) and Man in the Shadow (1957). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Cowboy?
Start with Frontera (2014), the closest match to The Cowboy.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Cowboy?
Hud (1963), rated 7.3/10 by 379 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Cowboy?
Broke (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like The Cowboy?
The closest matches are in other languages.
How are movies similar to The Cowboy chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Cowboy, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.