Movies like The Heroes and the Bear (1988)
The best movies like The Heroes and the Bear (1988) are Problem Child (1990), The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941) and Abducted in Plain Sight (2017). If The Heroes and the Bear hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Kid (1921)8.1/10 from 2,488 votes
- NewestGood Boy (2026)Released 2026
Problem Child (1990)
Ben Healy and his social climbing wife Flo adopt fun-loving seven year old Junior. But they soon discover he's a little monster as he turns a camping trip, a birthday party and even a baseball game into comic nightmares.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bride Came C.O.D. (1941)
A financially-strapped charter pilot hires himself to an oil tycoon to kidnap his madcap daughter and prevent her from marrying a vapid band leader.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAbducted in Plain Sight (2017)
A family falls prey to the manipulative charms of a neighbor, who abducts their adolescent daughter. Twice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Kid (1921)
A tramp cares for a boy after he's abandoned as a newborn by his mother. Later the mother has a change of heart and aches to be reunited with her son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisGood Boy (2026)
Tommy, a volatile 19-year-old, revels in drugs, parties and violence. After getting separated from his friends on a drunken bender, he is abducted by a shadowy figure. He wakes to find himself imprisoned in the basement of a remote Yorkshire house, inhabited by a very strange family. But what unfolds is not what he could possibly expect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOrphan (2009)
After losing their baby, a married couple adopt 9-year old Esther, who may not be as innocent as she seems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMommie Dearest (1981)
Renowned film star Joan Crawford's abuse towards Christina, her adopted daughter, intensifies as her professional and romantic relationships turn sour.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKidnap (2017)
A mother (in her Minivan) stops at nothing to recover her kidnapped son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Place Beyond the Pines (2013)
A motorcycle stunt rider considers committing a crime in order to provide for his wife and child, an act that puts him on a collision course with a cop-turned-politician.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAddams Family Values (1993)
Siblings Wednesday and Pugsley Addams will stop at nothing to get rid of Pubert, the new baby boy adored by parents Gomez and Morticia. Things go from bad to worse when the new "black widow" nanny, Debbie Jellinsky, launches her plan to add Fester to her collection of dead husbands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Burning Plain (2008)
A trailer is burning in the middle of a plain. The bodies of two adulterous lovers are found. Scenes from both families, before and after the dramatic events, suggest an unusual connection between them. But what is their secret?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussard (2023)
Based on a true story of best friends Magen and Heidi who have known each other for a decade. Pretending to be pregnant at the same time as her friend, Magen makes the journey from Houston to Austin to be by Heidi’s side once she learns she is ready to give birth. However, when Heidi goes missing with her newborn daughter just a few weeks after giving birth, suspicions about Magen’s loyalty and her true intentions are questioned. Authorities begin to suspect that she is hiding a huge secret as they begin to uncover her twisted and elaborate plan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSleepwalking (2008)
When her boyfriend is arrested for marijuana possession, Joleen Reedy and her 11-year-old daughter, Tara, take refuge with Joleen's aimless brother, James. Joleen soon runs off with a truck driver, and James is unable to meet his responsibilities. After Child Protective Services takes possession of Tara, James abducts her from a foster home, and the two travel from California to Utah, where his abusive father lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWuthering Heights (1992)
Young orphan Heathcliff is adopted by the wealthy Earnshaw family and moves into their estate, Wuthering Heights. Soon, the new resident falls for his compassionate foster sister, Cathy. The two share a remarkable bond that seems unbreakable until Cathy, feeling the pressure of social convention, suppresses her feelings and marries Edgar Linton, a man of means who befits her stature. Heathcliff vows to win her back.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGifted (2017)
Frank, a single man raising his child prodigy niece Mary, is drawn into a custody battle with his mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisA Thousand and One (2023)
Struggling but unapologetically living on her own terms, Inez is moving from shelter to shelter in mid-1990s New York City. With her 6-year-old son Terry in foster care and unable to leave him again, she kidnaps him so they can build their life together. As the years go by, their family grows and Terry becomes a smart yet quiet teenager, but the secret that has defined their lives threatens to destroy the home they have so improbably built.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisXiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998)
Young teen girl Xiu Xiu is sent away to a remote corner of the Sichuan steppes for manual labor in 1975 (sending young people to there was a part of Cultural Revolution in China). A year later, she agrees to go to even more remote spot with a Tibetan saddle tramp Lao Jin to learn horse herding.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRoom (2015)
Held captive for 7 years in an enclosed space, a woman and her young son finally gain their freedom, allowing the boy to experience the outside world for the first time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Marine 6: Close Quarters (2018)
Jake Carter and another former Marine, Luke Trapper, join forces to rescue a young kidnapped girl from a gang of international criminals.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Disappearance of Alice Creed (2009)
A rich man's daughter is held captive in an abandoned apartment by two former convicts who abducted her and hold her ransom in exchange for her father's money.
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 Heroes and the Bear?
The closest matches to The Heroes and the Bear are Problem Child (1990), The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941) and Abducted in Plain Sight (2017). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Heroes and the Bear?
Start with Problem Child (1990), the closest match to The Heroes and the Bear.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Heroes and the Bear?
The Kid (1921), rated 8.1/10 by 2,488 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Heroes and the Bear?
Good Boy (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Heroes and the Bear?
Yes: Problem Child (1990), The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941) and Abducted in Plain Sight (2017).
How are movies similar to The Heroes and the Bear chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Heroes and the Bear, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.