Movies like The Year My Parents Went on Vacation (2006)
The best movies like The Year My Parents Went on Vacation (2006) are Marighella (2021), The Fugitive (1947) and The Deep End of the Ocean (1999). If The Year My Parents Went on Vacation hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedI'm Still Here (2024)7.9/10 from 1,214 votes
- NewestEleanor the Great (2025)Released 2025
Marighella (2021)
Afro-Brazilian poet and politician, the legendary Carlos Marighella. Driven to fight against the erosion of civil and human rights following the CIA-backed military coup of 1964 and the brutal, racist right-wing dictatorship that followed, the revolutionary leaves behind his wife and son to take up arms, becoming a notorious enemy to the power structure.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Fugitive (1947)
Anti-Catholic and anti-cleric policies in the Mexican state of Tabasco lead the revolutionary government to persecute the state's last remaining priest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Deep End of the Ocean (1999)
A three-year-old boy disappears during his mother's high school reunion. Nine years later, by chance, he turns up in the town in which the family has just relocated.
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 thisI Am David (2003)
A 12-year-old boy manages to flee a Communist concentration camp on his own, through sheer will and determination. All he has in his possession is a loaf of bread, a letter to deliver to someone in Denmark, and a compass to help get him there.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisApril Captains (2000)
Story of the 1974 coup that overthrew the right-wing Portuguese dictatorship--which continued the fascist policies of long-time dictator Antonio Salazar--and of two young army captains who were involved in it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMr. Turner (2014)
Eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner lives his last 25 years with gusto and secretly becomes involved with a seaside landlady, while his faithful housekeeper bears an unrequited love for him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat Maisie Knew (2013)
In New York City, six-year-old Maisie is caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle between her self-absorbed parents—an aging rock singer mother and a distracted art dealer father. As both quickly marry new partners to strengthen their legal standing, Maisie is shuttled back and forth in an endless game of emotional point-scoring. Yet amid the chaos and upheaval, Maisie begins to find true comfort and affection in her new step-parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this2073 (2024)
Inspired by Chris Marker's iconic 1962 featurette La Jetée; the year is 2073—a not-so-distant dystopian future—and the setting is New San Francisco, the scorched-earth tech-dominant police state where democracy and personal freedom have been well and truly obliterated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEleanor the Great (2025)
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisResurrecting the Champ (2007)
Up-and-coming sports reporter rescues a homeless man ("Champ") only to discover that he is, in fact, a boxing legend believed to have passed away. What begins as an opportunity to resurrect Champ's story and escape the shadow of his father's success becomes a personal journey as the ambitious reporter reexamines his own life and his relationship with his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Dinner with Hervé (2018)
An unlikely friendship evolves over one wild night in LA between a struggling journalist and actor Hervé Villechaize, the world's most famous gun-toting dwarf, resulting in life-changing consequences for both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI'm Still Here (2024)
A woman married to a former politician during the 1971 military dictatorship in Brazil is forced to reinvent herself and chart a new course for her family after a violent and arbitrary act.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSão Paulo, Incorporated (1965)
Carlos is a young man from the São Paulo middle class who works for a big company during a time when foreign automobile industries were settling in Brazil. Shortly after, he accepts a job at a factory that makes automobile parts, where he becomes manager. To a certain extent, he is a family man who works hard, earns well and lives unsatisfied. Without any prospects in his life to change the condition he rejects, his last resort is escaping.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 thisAniki-Bóbó (1942)
Two schoolboys, Carlitos and Eduardo, fight for the affection of a girl, Teresinha.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHorse Money (2014)
While the young captains lead the revolution in the streets, the people of Fontainhas search for Ventura, lost in the woods.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMissing (1982)
Based on the real-life experiences of Ed Horman. A conservative American businessman travels to Chile to investigate the sudden disappearance of his son after a military takeover. Accompanied by his son's wife he uncovers a trail of cover-ups that implicate the US State department which supports the dictatorship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAdopt a Highway (2019)
Russ Millings has just been released from prison after serving 21 years for a 3rd strike conviction for possessing an ounce of marijuana. As he tries to adapt to a world he doesn’t recognize – including trying to learn how to use the internet – he finds an abandoned baby in a dumpster behind the fast food restaurant where he works as a dishwasher. Unsure of what to do, and caught between impulses of kindness and panic, Russ soon realizes this could be his chance at redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSouth (1959)
A made-for-television play about an exiled Polish Army lieutenant faced with his darkest secret.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Lily + Mara (2017)
The beach is probably the worst place to take a wheelchair-bound patient with a compromised immune system, but Mara will do anything to make her little sister, Lily, happy. As they share their favorite memories, Mara realizes this beach outing will become a treasured memory as well.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
My Uncle's Wife (2017)
A man stays with his father's friend Min-cheol in Seoul as he attends law school. The man has an interest in Min-cheol's young wife, Soo-kyeong, and in her best friend, Yoo-ra.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Without a Mom (2011)
Two gay dads fumble to provide their straight son with meaningful support after the loss of his first real love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Homens com Cheiro de Flor (2011)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Christmas in August (1998)
It's a sweltering summer, but Jung-won, a terminally ill, thirty-something photographer, is already in the winter of his life when he begins a tentative romance with a young traffic cop who doesn't know about his condition. Is their relationship doomed before it even begins?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Castle (1997)
When land surveyor K arrives at a small village that houses a castle, local authorities refuse to allow him to enter. As he tries to convince the officials that they sent for him, they clamp down with increasingly complicated bureaucratic obstacles.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPeacetime (2009)
Rio de Janeiro, April 18, 1945. Brazil's foreign policy aligns closely with that of the United States and opens a brief period of democratic rule after the end of World War 2. For years, hundreds of people were arrested and tortured by the Vargas regime. But with the external pressure, several political prisoners gain freedom.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
A Siren in the Dark (2009)
Cameron, a Police Officer with psychic abilities, is called upon to interview an accused teen in hopes of finding the whereabouts of the teen's missing gay lover. His investigation immediately spirals into sordid tales of drug abuse, sexual obsessions, and a mysterious man living on a deserted mountain road.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Wonderful World (2009)
Ben Singer is a failed children's folk singer, a career proofreader, a less-than-extraordinary weekend dad, and perhaps the most negative man alive. Floundering in all aspects of his life, Ben's only comfort comes from regular chess games and friendly debates on game theory with his Senegalese roommate Ibou. When Ibou is suddenly struck ill, Ben's pessimistic worldview seems unequivocally confirmed. It takes an extended visit from Ibou's sister Khadi for Ben to realize that cynicism may be all a matter of perspective.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Year My Parents Went on Vacation?
The closest matches to The Year My Parents Went on Vacation are Marighella (2021), The Fugitive (1947) and The Deep End of the Ocean (1999). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Year My Parents Went on Vacation?
Start with Marighella (2021), the closest match to The Year My Parents Went on Vacation.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Year My Parents Went on Vacation?
I'm Still Here (2024), rated 7.9/10 by 1,214 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Year My Parents Went on Vacation?
Eleanor the Great (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Year My Parents Went on Vacation chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Year My Parents Went on Vacation, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.