Movies like A Smile For The Pain
The best movies like A Smile For The Pain are Marvellous (2014), Front of the Class (2008) and Radio (2003). If A Smile For The Pain hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
A Smile For The Pain
Quick picks
- Highest ratedClouds (2020)8.2/10 from 1,072 votes
- NewestThe Last Sunrise (2026)Released 2026
- In SpanishAs If It Were the First Time (2019)Also in Spanish
Marvellous (2014)
Dramatisation of the true story of the life of Neil "Nello" Baldwin. Born with a mild learning disability but without the burden of social embarrassment & how his inexhaustible ability to see the good in any situation overcame any stigma society tried to label him with.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFront of the Class (2008)
A boy with Tourette's syndrome overcomes criticism and discrimination to achieve his dream of becoming a teacher.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRadio (2003)
In the racially divided town of Anderson, South Carolina in 1976, football coach Harold Jones spots a mentally disabled African-American young man nicknamed Radio near his practice field and is inspired to befriend him. Soon, Radio is Jones' loyal assistant, and he becomes a student at T.L. Hanna High School. But things start to sour when Coach Jones begins taking guff from parents and fans who feel that his devotion to Radio is getting in the way of the team's quest for a championship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSidelined: The QB and Me (2025)
Dallas, a burdened but headstrong dancer, is determined to get into the best dance school in the country—her late mother’s alma mater. However, that dream is suddenly derailed when the cheeky yet secretly grieving football star, Drayton, crashes into her life with a unique story of his own. Will the two of them be able to grow into their dreams together, or will their dreams be sidelined?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAs If It Were the First Time (2019)
A man falls in love with a girl who has short-term memory loss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClouds (2020)
Young musician Zach Sobiech discovers his cancer has spread, leaving him just a few months to live. With limited time, he follows his dream and makes an album, unaware that it will soon be a viral music phenomenon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisWish I Was Here (2014)
Aidan Bloom, a struggling actor, father and husband, is 35 years old and still trying to find a purpose for his life. He and his wife are barely getting by financially and Aidan passes his time by fantasizing about being the great futuristic Space-Knight he'd always dreamed he'd be as a little kid. When his ailing father can no longer afford to pay for private school for his two kids and the only available public school is on its last legs, Aidan reluctantly agrees to attempt to home-school them. Through teaching them about life his way, Aidan gradually discovers some of the parts of himself he couldn't find.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMexicali (2026)
A former special forces contractor is forced out of retirement as an avocado farmer in Mexico when local gangsters try to force him and his family off their farm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Hill (2023)
The story of Rickey Hill, who overcomes his physical disability and repairs his relationship with his father in a quest to become a major league baseball (MLB) player.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWoodlawn (2015)
Love and unity in a school torn by racism and hate in the 1970s. A gifted high school football player must learn to embrace his talent and his faith as he battles racial tensions on and off the field.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Sunrise (2026)
Ry, a college student with a chronic illness, escapes to Mallorca for the summer with her mother, where she unexpectedly falls for a local and begins to embrace living in the moment. But as her condition worsens and long-hidden family secrets come to light, everything she has found before summer's end is threatened.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Father's Miracle (2025)
After being falsely accused of a terrible crime, Hector, a man with a neurological disability, goes to a secret prison. His goodness conquers the prisoners, who plan to prove their innocence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisTriumph (2021)
A bright and determined teen who has mild cerebral palsy strives to be a wrestler on his high school's team and to win over the heart of a classmate, the girl of his dreams.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Rainmaker (1997)
Fresh out of law school and desperate for work, idealistic rookie Rudy Baylor takes on a powerful insurance company accused of denying a dying boy’s claim. Teaming up with a scrappy, unlicensed paralegal, he finds himself in a David-versus-Goliath courtroom battle that tests his ethics, courage, and belief in justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhere 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 this7 Boxes (2012)
It’s Friday night in Asunción and the temperature is 40ºC. Víctor, a 17-year-old wheelbarrow-boy, dreams of becoming famous and covets a cell phone in Mercado 4. He is offered the chance to deliver seven boxes with unknown contents in exchange for $100. This sounds like an easy job but it soon gets complicated. Something in the boxes is highly coveted. Víctor and his persecutors find themselves caught up in a crime they know nothing about.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWords on Bathroom Walls (2020)
Diagnosed with a mental illness halfway through his senior year of high school, a witty, introspective teen struggles to keep it a secret while falling in love with a brilliant classmate who inspires him to open his heart and not be defined by his condition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAn Unexpected Love (2018)
It tells the story of Marcos and Ana, who have been married for more than 25 years, but enter into an existential crisis that leads them to separate. The life of singles seems fascinating and exciting at first, but soon it also becomes monotonous for her and nightmarish for him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSTILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie (2023)
A short kid from a Canadian army base becomes the international pop culture darling of the 1980s—only to find the course of his life altered by a stunning diagnosis. What happens when an incurable optimist confronts an incurable disease?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHardball (2001)
An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like A Smile For The Pain?
The closest matches to A Smile For The Pain are Marvellous (2014), Front of the Class (2008) and Radio (2003). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after A Smile For The Pain?
Start with Marvellous (2014), the closest match to A Smile For The Pain.
What is the highest-rated movie like A Smile For The Pain?
Clouds (2020), rated 8.2/10 by 1,072 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like A Smile For The Pain?
The Last Sunrise (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like A Smile For The Pain?
Yes: As If It Were the First Time (2019), A Father's Miracle (2025) and 7 Boxes (2012).
How are movies similar to A Smile For The Pain chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside A Smile For The Pain, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.