Movies like The Children's Story (1982)
The best movies like The Children's Story (1982) are Jojo Rabbit (2019), Steve (2025) and Waterland (1992). If The Children's Story hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedJojo Rabbit (2019)8.0/10 from 10,857 votes
- NewestBad Apples (2026)Released 2026
Jojo Rabbit (2019)
Jojo, a lonely German boy during World War II has his world shaken when he learns that his single mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their home. Influenced by a buffoonish imaginary version of Adolf Hitler, he begins to question his beliefs and confront the conflict between propaganda and his own humanity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSteve (2025)
Over one intense day, the devoted head teacher of a last-chance reform school strives to keep his students in line while facing pressures of his own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWaterland (1992)
The story of a mentally anguished high school history teacher going through a complete reassessment of his life. His method for reassessing his life is to narrate it to his class and interweave in it three generations of his family's history.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDetachment (2011)
A chronicle of three weeks in the lives of several high school teachers, administrators and students through the eyes of substitute teacher Henry Barthes. Henry roams from school to school, imparting modes of knowledge, but never staying long enough to form any semblance of sentient attachment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisClass of 1984 (1982)
Andy is a new teacher at an inner city high school that is unlike any he has seen before. There are metal detectors at the front door and the place is basically run by a tough kid named Peter Stegman. Soon, Andy and Stegman become enemies and Stegman will stop at nothing to protect his turf and drug dealing business.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Beautician and the Beast (1997)
A New York City beautician is mistakenly hired as the school teacher for the children of the president of a small Eastern European country.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad Apples (2026)
A struggling primary school teacher is forced to take drastic action because of a foul-mouthed, violent student, and uncovers how her community will turn a blind eye to the most outrageous events to preserve harmony and their sense of safety.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008)
When his family moves from their home in Berlin to a strange new house in Poland, young Bruno befriends Shmuel, a boy who lives on the other side of the fence where everyone seems to be wearing striped pajamas. Unaware of Shmuel's fate as a Jewish prisoner or the role his own Nazi father plays in his imprisonment, Bruno embarks on a dangerous journey inside the camp's walls.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChild's Play (1972)
At an exclusive boys' school, a new gym teacher is drawn into a feud between two older instructors, and he discovers that everything at the school is not quite as staid, tranquil and harmless as it seems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisF.I.S.T. (1978)
Johnny Kovak joins the Teamsters trade-union in a local chapter in the 1930s and works his way up in the organization. As he climbs higher and higher his methods become more ruthless and finally senator Madison starts a campaign to find the truth about the alleged connections with the Mob.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEquilibrium (2002)
In a dystopian future, a totalitarian regime maintains peace by subduing the populace with a drug, and displays of emotion are punishable by death. A man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overthrow the system.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisApt Pupil (1998)
One day in 1984, Todd Bowden, a brilliant high school boy fascinated by the history of Nazism, stumbles across an old man whose appearance resembles that of Kurt Dussander, a wanted Nazi war criminal. A month later, Todd decides to knock on his door.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMusic of the Heart (1999)
After Roberta Guaspari separates from her husband, she receives encouragement from her mother to take up a job of a music teacher at the Central Park East School in East Harlem.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Penguin Lessons (2025)
In 1976, as Argentina descends into violence and chaos, a world-weary English teacher regains his compassion for others thanks to an unlikely friendship with a penguin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Book Thief (2013)
While subjected to the horrors of WWII Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. Under the stairs in her home, a Jewish refugee is being sheltered by her adoptive parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBrave the Dark (2025)
When Mr. Deen discovers one of his students has been living out of his car and thrown into jail, he decides to bail him out. Determined to curb Nate’s self-destructive behavior, Deen quickly discovers a host of dark secrets slowly tearing Nate apart. What began as a good deed becomes a desperate fight to save Nate from his own demons. As Nate spirals deeper into despair, Deen must decide how far he’s willing to go to save a kid on the brink of losing everything—even himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe November Man (2014)
An ex-CIA operative is brought back in on a very personal mission and finds himself pitted against his former pupil in a deadly game involving high level CIA officials and the Russian president-elect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFist Fight (2017)
When one school teacher gets the other fired, he is challenged to an after-school fight.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wave (1981)
A teacher conducts an experiment in an American high school where students learn how easy it is to be seduced by the same social forces which led to the horrors of Nazi Germany.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Children's Story?
The closest matches to The Children's Story are Jojo Rabbit (2019), Steve (2025) and Waterland (1992). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Children's Story?
Start with Jojo Rabbit (2019), the closest match to The Children's Story.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Children's Story?
Jojo Rabbit (2019), rated 8.0/10 by 10,857 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Children's Story?
Bad Apples (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Children's Story?
Yes: Jojo Rabbit (2019), Steve (2025) and Waterland (1992).
How are movies similar to The Children's Story chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Children's Story, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.