Movies like Joy of the Countryside (1974)
The best movies like Joy of the Countryside (1974) are Secondhand Lions (2003), Swimming for Gold (2020) and Yours, Mine & Ours (2005). If Joy of the Countryside hooked you with its family, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe King of Kings (2025)8.3/10 from 220 votes
- NewestThe King of Kings (2025)Released 2025
Secondhand Lions (2003)
The comedic adventures of an introverted boy left on the doorstep of a pair of reluctant, eccentric great-uncles, whose exotic remembrances stir the boy's spirit and re-ignite the men's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSwimming for Gold (2020)
Young elite swimmer Claire is sent to Australia to coach a boys swimming team, where she must overcome an old rival and a secret fear to save the swimming camp from closing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYours, Mine & Ours (2005)
Admiral Frank Beardsley returns to New London to run the Coast Guard Academy, his last stop before a probable promotion to head the Guard. A widower with eight children, he runs a loving but tight ship, with charts and salutes. The kids long for a permanent home. Helen North is a free spirit, a designer whose ten children live in loving chaos, with occasional group hugs. Helen and Frank, high school sweethearts, reconnect at a reunion, and it's love at first re-sighting. They marry on the spot. Then the problems start as two sets of kids, the free spirits and the disciplined preppies, must live together. The warring factions agree to work together to end the marriage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCadet Kelly (2002)
Hyperactive teenager Kelly is enrolled into a military school when her new stepfather becomes the Commandant. At first she has problems fitting in and taking orders until she tries out for the drill team.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlicka (2006)
Katy McLaughlin desires to work on her family's mountainside horse ranch, although her father insists she finish boarding school. Katy finds a mustang in the hills near her ranch. The headstrong 16 year old then sets her mind to tame a mustang and prove to her father she can run the ranch. But when tragedy happens, it will take all the love and strength the family can muster to restore hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Happiest Millionaire (1967)
A happy and unbelievably lucky young Irish immigrant, John Lawless, lands a job as the butler of an unconventional millionaire, Biddle. His daughter, Cordelia Drexel Biddle, tires of the unusual antics of her father--especially since the nice young men around town all fear him. Wouldn't you fear a father-in-law that keeps alligators for pets and teaches boxing at his daily Bible classes?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Don't Co$t a Thing (2003)
A high school outcast pays a cheerleader to pose as his girlfriend so he can be considered cool.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAdventures of Dally and Spanky (2019)
A girl inherits a miniature horse that develops an unlikely friendship with her half-sister's Jack Russell Terrier, who takes to riding on the horse's back.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLet It Shine (2012)
A teenage rapper must use his musical talent to help a friend and win the girl of his dreams while overcoming self-doubt and the expectations of his strict religious parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPloey: You Never Fly Alone (2018)
A plover chick has not learned to fly when his family migrates in the fall. He must survive the arctic winter, vicious enemies and himself in order to be reunited with his beloved one next spring.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHats Off to Christmas! (2013)
Mia, the loyal and hard-working manager of a quaint neighborhood Christmas hat shop, is blindsided when her boss asks her to train his son Nick for a vacant upper-management position that Mia had her eyes set on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
SnoozefestMovies like thisLittle 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 · both family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPAW Patrol: Jet to the Rescue (2020)
A royal relative steals a gem with the power to make things fly, the Paw Patrol takes to the skies to stop him and save Barkingburg.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe King of Kings (2025)
Charles Dickens tells his young son Walter the greatest story ever told, and what begins as a bedtime tale becomes a life-changing journey. Through vivid imagination, the boy walks alongside Jesus, witnessing His miracles, facing His trials, and understanding His ultimate sacrifice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisChang Can Dunk (2023)
Chang, a 16-year-old, Asian American, bets the high school basketball star that he can dunk by Homecoming. The bet leads 5' 8" Chang on a quest to learn to dunk—not only to impress his crush, Kristy, but to gain the respect of his high school peers too. But before he can rise up and truly throw one down, he'll have to reexamine everything he knows about himself, his friendships and his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Boy in the Dress (2014)
Dennis feels different - an ordinary boy in an ordinary house in an ordinary street, playing football with his mates and living with his dad and brother, but frustrated by the boring grey world he inhabits. Life has never really been the same since his mum left. However, transformation can happen in the most unexpected places. Aided by Lisa, the coolest girl in school, Dennis creates a whole new persona and puts it to the ultimate test - but can a boy wear a dress, and what will the headmaster, his dad and his friends on the football team think if they find out?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHow to Eat Fried Worms (2006)
During the first day of his new school year, a fifth grade boy squares off against a bully and winds up accepting a dare that could change the balance of power within the class.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhite Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf (1994)
A boy and his dog, White Fang, must try to save the noble Haida tribe from evil white men in turn-of-the-century Alaska.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Believe (2019)
A 9 year old boy experiences God's power in a supernatural way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAngel of Christmas (2015)
Susan is a newspaper staffer who decides to generate some Christmas spirit by writing an article about her family’s storied 100-year-old, hand-carved, heirloom Christmas angel. This leads her to accidentally meet Brady, a cute, upbeat artist who insists that he and Susan become fast friends (at least). It turns out that this angel also has the spiritual power to bring people together – as it seems to be doing with Susan and Brady. What’s behind this enchanted ornament? As time moves on, more about this captivating artifact is revealed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Joy of the Countryside?
The closest matches to Joy of the Countryside are Secondhand Lions (2003), Swimming for Gold (2020) and Yours, Mine & Ours (2005). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Joy of the Countryside?
Start with Secondhand Lions (2003), the closest match to Joy of the Countryside.
What is the highest-rated movie like Joy of the Countryside?
The King of Kings (2025), rated 8.3/10 by 220 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Joy of the Countryside?
The King of Kings (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Joy of the Countryside chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Joy of the Countryside, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.