Movies like The Law That Failed (1917)
The best movies like The Law That Failed (1917) are The Visit (1964), The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972) and Tigertail (2020). If The Law That Failed hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedHands of Stone (2016)6.6/10 from 470 votes
- NewestOmaha (2025)Released 2025
The Visit (1964)
Carla Zachanassian had a child by Serge Miller as a teenager. When Serge refused to marry her, she was driven out of town. By her own wit and cunning, she has returned as a multi-millionaire for a visit. The town lays out the red carpet expecting big things from Carla, only to learn that her sole purpose is to see Serge Miller killed...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972)
Middle-aged widow Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her daughters Ruth and Matilda are struggling to survive in a society they barely understand. Beatrice dreams of opening an elegant tea room but does not have the wherewithal to achieve her lofty goal. Epileptic Ruth is a rebellious adolescent, while shy but highly intelligent and idealistic Matilda seeks solace in her pets and school projects, including one designed to show how small amounts of radium affect marigolds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTigertail (2020)
A man reflects on the lost love of his youth and his long-ago journey from Taiwan to America as he begins to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMan with No Past (2025)
Waking up in an unfamiliar city, a man with no memory must confront the mysteries of his own identity. However, his desperate search to uncover the past pits him against a powerful enemy, leading to a showdown that ultimately reveals the truth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHands of Stone (2016)
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOmaha (2025)
A young girl and her brother are awoken by their father and loaded into the car on an early morning in 2008. As they road trip across the American West, she discovers the truth about their seemingly spontaneous journey.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGigi & Nate (2022)
A young man with a bright future suffers a near-fatal accident and recreates his new life with the help of an unlikely animal friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Caveman's Valentine (2001)
Romulus, a misunderstood musician turned recluse hiding from personal demons in a New York City cave, finds the frozen body of a young drifter in a tree. The authorities, including his police officer daughter, claim the death is accidental. Romulus is convinced the man was murdered by a prominent art photographer but how can he prove he's right when everyone thinks he's insane?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisCome Sunday (2018)
Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLorelei (2020)
A man is released from prison after 15 years. He reunites with his high school girlfriend, now a single mother of three. What follows is a lyrical take on love, regret and second chances.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Day and a Night (2020)
While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWon't Back Down (2012)
Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGirl in the Box (2016)
The true story of 20-year-old Colleen Stan, a hitchhiking woman abducted by a young couple and held captive for seven years, during which time she's tortured and forced to live as a slave to her captors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977)
A disturbed and institutionalized 16-year-old girl struggles between fantasy and reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisStrange Weather (2016)
Years after her son's suicide, a woman longs to confront both the past and a friend of his who took his business idea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisEl Chicano (2019)
A pair of twin brothers from East L.A. choose to live their lives differently and end up on opposite sides of the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSalomé (2013)
After the lewd and frenetic Dance of the Seven Veils, and with the solemn pledge from the very lips of Herod himself that she could have whatever her heart desires up to half his kingdom, wanton and proud young Salomé comes before her king with an unreasonable demand. Beguiled by John the Baptist, and then scorned for the sake of his god, lascivious Salomé—encouraged by her mother, the vindictive, Herodias—commands that John be executed and his head delivered on a silver platter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Safety of Objects (2002)
In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Girl in the Book (2015)
The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBastard Out of Carolina (1996)
A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Square Root (1969)
Photographer Peter Christiansen, University of Miami student, does a picture story at an LSD party on the beach.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Carmen (1915)
A Spanish soldier falls under the spell of a fiery gypsy girl named Carmen. His obsession with her leads to his ruin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Dungeon (1922)
Myrtle Downing, an African-American woman, is coerced into marrying a corrupt would-be politician named Gyp Lassiter, even though she is really in love with Stephen Cameron, a young lawyer. When she discovers that her husband has conspired to support segregationist policies in exchange for support by white political power brokers, she objects to his crooked dealings and gets herself imprisoned in a secret dungeon where her husband had murdered his previous wives. Presumed to be a lost film.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Uncle Jasper's Will (1922)
A drama about the contents of a last will and testament left behind by an African-American sharecropper who was lynched after being falsely accused of the murder of a white plantation owner.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Birthright (1924)
A young black Harvard graduate fights against a variety of obstacles, including racist opposition, in order to build a school for black children. Considered a lost film.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Heavy Villains (1915)
Retired businessman F.G. Lawrence favors Philip Preston for a son-in-law; Mrs. Lawrence prefers Reggie, the Dainty Dude. There's trouble, right there. Mrs. L. becomes suspicious of a stout stranger prowling about the place and tells Mary, the husky cook, to point him out to Serena Slim, the slender sleuth. The mysterious fat man happens to be Mary's beau, so she sics Serena onto John Bouncer, Philip's fat uncle. Serena is some "shadow" and the police must be called in to stop the comedy of errors which follows. After explanations all around, Lucy nestles her pretty head on Philip's shoulder while her parents soothe Bouncer's ruffled feelings.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Hired Man (1918)
Ezry is a hardworking hired man who saves his money carefully in the hopes one day of going to college. But when his girlfriend's brother gets in trouble for bank robbery, Ezry tries to help out by offering his savings in exchange for the stolen funds.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Third Generation (1920)
When Alden Van Dusen, a third-generation member of a prestigious old New York family, is faced with the alternatives of allowing his firm to go bankrupt or becoming involved in fraud, he decides on suicide. As he is about to drown himself, Alden is attacked by a thug and, in the ensuing struggle, his assailant is killed. Seizing upon the opportunity, Alden changes identities with the dead man and drifts West, where he becomes an employee in his firm's mine.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Infidelity (1917)
Frank Mayne, a well-known artist, who had served a twenty-year sentence for a murder he did not commit, returns unexpectedly to his studio, where an amazing scene confronts him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Larceny (1996)
A man breaks into a flat, startling the occupant. They argue about the new girlfriend of the 'burglar', who's come to get her stuff. Then a third man bursts out of the cupboard...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Law That Failed?
The closest matches to The Law That Failed are The Visit (1964), The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972) and Tigertail (2020). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Law That Failed?
Start with The Visit (1964), the closest match to The Law That Failed.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Law That Failed?
Hands of Stone (2016), rated 6.6/10 by 470 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Law That Failed?
Omaha (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Law That Failed?
Yes: The Visit (1964), The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972) and Tigertail (2020).
How are movies similar to The Law That Failed chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Law That Failed, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.