Movies like trying (2018)
The best movies like trying (2018) are Hands of Stone (2016), Hounddog (2008) and The Girl in the Book (2015). If trying hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Most Precious of Cargoes (2024)7.7/10 from 208 votes
- NewestUphill (2026)Released 2026
Hands 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 thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
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 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 thisThe Young One (1960)
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Trials of Cate McCall (2013)
In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.
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 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 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 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 thisSkin (2009)
Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.
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 thisKiller's Kiss (1955)
Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHome (2021)
An ex-felon returns home from prison and must confront the demons of his past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHome Run (2013)
A pro ball player with a substance abuse problem is forced into rehab in his hometown, finding new hope when he gets honest about his checkered past, and takes on coaching duties for a misfit Little League team
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRogue Agent (2022)
Conman Robert Freegard poses as an undercover MI5 agent and kidnaps countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt, until the woman who fell for him brings him to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCall Me Crazy: A Five Film (2013)
A psychotherapist helps a law student cope with schizophrenia in one of five interconnected tales dealing with mental illness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGoodbye June (2025)
Four siblings' lives change drastically when their ailing mother takes a turn for the worse over the holiday season.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlue Chips (1994)
Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future are secretly being paid by boosters. This practice is forbidden in the college game, but Pete is desperate and has pressures from all around.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Truth About Emanuel (2013)
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBreak Every Chain (2021)
Drowning in the depths of depression and sadness, burning with anger, and chained down by alcoholism, Jonathan couldn’t do it anymore. After the loss of his father as a young boy, facing countless horrific death scenes in the line of duty, and the death of his son, Jonathan turned to the world for answers — finding only darkness. Faced with the threat of losing all that is left to him, Jonathan turns to faith and finds hope and redemption.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Color of Rain (2014)
After cancer claims Matt Kell's life on Christmas Day 2005, his widow, Gina and two young boys are left to cope with the pain of his loss while their close church community gathers around them for support.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Mom's Letter from Heaven (2019)
A single father has a fractious relationship with his rebellious teenage daughter. When a lost letter written to the daughter from her dying mother is miraculously found, everything starts to turn around.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Most Precious of Cargoes (2024)
Once upon a time, a poor woodcutter and his wife lived in a great forest. Cold, hunger, poverty, and a war raging all around them meant their lives were very hard. One day, the woodcutter's wife rescues a baby. A baby girl thrown from one of the many trains that constantly pass through the forest. This baby, this "most precious of cargoes", will transform the lives of the poor woodcutter's wife and her husband, as well as those whose paths the child will cross—including the man who threw her from the train. And some will try to protect her, whatever the cost. Their story will reveal the worst and the best in the hearts of men.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWe Are Bleach (TBA)
A multi-awarded 23 minute short film about pansexual punk rockers in a toxic relationship in London’s underground music scene
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Topper (2025)
Struggling to survive in the cutthroat Los Angeles comedy scene after a devastating fall from grace, a washed-up comedian is forced to return to his Detroit hometown and confront the childhood trauma holding him back before he loses his career and himself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Uphill (2026)
Ambitious Madleen and carefree creative spirit Hugo embark on a symbolic journey up the mountain of success, exposing the tension between societal pressure and self-fulfillment. While Madleen strives to meet society’s expectations and achieve a high-status career, Hugo chooses to move through life at his own pace, guided by creativity rather than external expectations. The film invites the audience to reflect on the choices young adults face in a success-driven society and to question the decisions we make and the values we prioritize in life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Quiet (2025)
In a small town located somewhere between waking and a dream, "Quiet" briefly peeks into the lives of its inhabitants. As we learn more about the choices that they make, we slowly discover the shock waves they send through everyone else.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Love Liza (2002)
Following the unexplained suicide of his wife Liza, website designer Wilson Joel turns to huffing gasoline fumes and remote control gaming while avoiding an inevitable conflict with his mother-in-law.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like trying?
The closest matches to trying are Hands of Stone (2016), Hounddog (2008) and The Girl in the Book (2015). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after trying?
Start with Hands of Stone (2016), the closest match to trying.
What is the highest-rated movie like trying?
The Most Precious of Cargoes (2024), rated 7.7/10 by 208 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like trying?
Uphill (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like trying?
Yes: Hands of Stone (2016), Hounddog (2008) and The Girl in the Book (2015).
How are movies similar to trying chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside trying, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.