Movies like The Sun Comes Up (1949)
The best movies like The Sun Comes Up (1949) are Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog (1995), Lassie (2005) and Dog Gone (2023). If The Sun Comes Up hooked you with its action and family, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Wrong Trousers (1993)7.8/10 from 1,225 votes
- NewestDog Gone (2023)Released 2023
Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog (1995)
Teenager Angus adopts a stray dog and names him Yellow. Several days later, while travelling along the coast of British Columbia with Angus's father, John, the boy and dog become stranded when turbulent waters capsize their boat. Angus's parents relentlessly badger rescue teams. Angus, schooled by his father in wilderness survival skills, and assisted by the intelligent Yellow Dog, tries to attract rescuers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLassie (2005)
A family in financial crisis is forced to sell Lassie, their beloved dog. Hundreds of miles away from her true family, Lassie escapes and sets out on a journey home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDog Gone (2023)
When his beloved dog goes missing, a young man embarks on an incredible search with his parents to find him and give him life-saving medication.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Dog's Purpose (2017)
A dog goes on quest to discover his purpose in life over the course of several lifetimes with multiple owners.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBenji (2018)
Two school kids strike up a friendship with an orphaned puppy named Benji. When danger befalls them and they end up kidnapped by robbers who are in over their heads, Benji and his scruffy sidekick come to the rescue.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
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 adventure & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLassie Come Home (1943)
Hard times come for the Carraclough family and they are forced to sell their dog, Lassie, to the rich Duke of Rudling. Lassie, however, is unwilling to remain apart from young Carraclough son Joe and sets out on a long and dangerous journey to rejoin him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPride (2004)
The story of Suki, a lioness cub, who rebels against her mother and her Pride to mate with an unsuitable lion from the other side of the river.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Secret Life of Bees (2008)
Set in South Carolina in 1964, this is the tale of Lily Owens a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother. To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father, Lily flees with Rosaleen, her caregiver and only friend, to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother's past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon (1997)
Jack London's classic story from 1903 about Buck, a dog kidnapped from his home in California and taken to the Yukon where he is mistreated until a prospector discovers him and relates to his situation. Although the two are bonded, Buck yearns to run free with the wild dogs in the wilderness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIron Will (1994)
When Will Stoneman's father dies, he is left alone to take care of his mother and their land. Needing money to maintain it, he decides to join a cross country dogsled race. This race will require days of racing for long hours, through harsh weather and terrain. This young man will need a lot of courage and a strong will to complete this race.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMarvel Rising: Playing with Fire (2019)
Inferno’s powers are stolen by a young and powerful villain and it’s up to the Secret Warriors to defeat their new foe and help their friend. But does Inferno even WANT his powers back? Meanwhile, America Chavez learns a lesson about friendship and family from teammate Ms. Marvel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPAW Patrol: Mighty Pups (2018)
When their latest scheme goes awry, Mayor Humdinger and his nephew Harold accidentally divert a meteor towards Adventure Bay. The meteor's golden energy grants the PAW Patrol superpowers. The heroic Mighty Pups are on a roll to super-save the day.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLassie (1994)
On their way to start a new life at a sheep farm in rural Virginia, the Turner family are halted by a wreck on the highway that has claimed the life of a truck driver. Spotting the trucker's now-abandoned collie on the side of the road, they take pity on the dog and adopt her. As the city family copes with the change to rural life, including a feud with a neighboring farm family who resent the city interlopers, the ever-loyal Lassie helps them adjust to their new surroundings.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhere the Red Fern Grows (1974)
Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for two years to achieve his dream of buying two red-bone coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in life as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with his dogs, Old Dan and Little Ann.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnne 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 · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOnce Upon a Forest (1993)
A young mouse, mole and hedgehog risk their lives to find a cure for their badger friend, who's been poisoned by men.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhere the Red Fern Grows (2003)
Set in the Ozark Mountains during the Great Depression, Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for 2 years to achieve his dream of buying two coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in God as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with "Old Dan" and "Little Ann."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 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 · both family & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pagemaster (1994)
Rich knows a lot about accidents. So much so, he is scared to do anything that might endanger him, like riding his bike, or climbing into his treehouse. While in an old library, he is mystically transported into the unknown world of books, and he has to try and get home again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBuddy (1997)
In the 1930s, eccentric animal lover Trudy adopts a sickly baby gorilla named Buddy and raises him alongside chimpanzees as if they were her human children. As Buddy grows into an 800-pound adult, his immense strength and unpredictable behavior lead to trouble, culminating in a chaotic incident at an exhibition.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & family
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Grand Day Out (1990)
Wallace and Gromit have run out of cheese, and this provides an excellent excuse for the duo to take their holiday to the moon, where, as everyone knows, there is ample cheese.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
Cheese-loving eccentric Wallace and his cunning canine pal Gromit run a business ridding the town of garden pests. Using only humane methods, which turns their home into a halfway house for evicted vermin, the pair stumble upon a mystery involving a voracious vegetarian monster that threatens to ruin the annual veggie-growing contest.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHulk (2003)
Bruce Banner, a genetics researcher with a tragic past, suffers massive radiation exposure in his laboratory that causes him to transform into a raging green monster when he gets angry.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisHow to Steal a Dog (2014)
Ji-so is a young girl who doesn't have a house because of her bankrupted dad. In order to get money to buy a house she plans to steal a wealthy person's dogs to earn reward money when she returns them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family & drama
Johnny (2003)
A martial arts coach struggles to earn money through fights in order to save his wife suffering from blood cancer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & action
The Jungle Book 2 (2003)
Mowgli has been living in the man-village with his little stepbrother Ranjan and his best friend Shanti. But the man-cub still has that jungle rhythm in his heart, and he misses his old buddies Baloo and Bagheera. When Mowgli wanders back to the wild for some swingin' fun, he soon finds the man-eating tiger Shere Khan is lurking in the shadows and planning his revenge.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family & adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisBentley's Will (2019)
A mother and son are forced to confront a strained relationship and begin the slow journey of healing while searching for their missing dog.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Brute (1997)
Shipped off to a Romanian orphanage to finish his sentence, a British criminal finds romance but also discovers corruption inside the facility.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Wrong Trousers (1993)
Wallace rents out Gromit's former bedroom to a penguin, who takes up an interest in the techno trousers created by Wallace. However, Gromit later learns that the penguin is a wanted criminal.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Sun Comes Up?
The closest matches to The Sun Comes Up are Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog (1995), Lassie (2005) and Dog Gone (2023). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Sun Comes Up?
Start with Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog (1995), the closest match to The Sun Comes Up.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Sun Comes Up?
The Wrong Trousers (1993), rated 7.8/10 by 1,225 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Sun Comes Up?
Dog Gone (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Sun Comes Up?
Yes: Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog (1995), Lassie (2005) and Dog Gone (2023).
How are movies similar to The Sun Comes Up chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Sun Comes Up, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.