Movies like Lionel (2026)
The best movies like Lionel (2026) are Where the Red Fern Grows (2003), Where the Red Fern Grows (1974) and I Believe (2019). If Lionel hooked you with its drama and family, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedImpossible Things (2021)8.5/10 from 453 votes
- NewestThe Mushroom Trip (2022)Released 2022
- In SpanishImpossible Things (2021)Also in Spanish
Where the Red Fern Grows (2003)
Set in the Ozark Mountains during the Great Depression, Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for 2 years to achieve his dream of buying two coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in God as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with "Old Dan" and "Little Ann."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhere the Red Fern Grows (1974)
Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for two years to achieve his dream of buying two red-bone coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in life as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with his dogs, Old Dan and Little Ann.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Believe (2019)
A 9 year old boy experiences God's power in a supernatural way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisImpossible Things (2021)
After the death of her abusive husband, Matilde finds her new best friend in Miguel, her young, insecure, and disoriented neighbor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAngels in the Snow (2015)
The affluent, yet troubled Montgomery family hits the road for a special Christmas in the mountains.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLittle Lord Fauntleroy (1980)
Young Cedric Errol and his widowed mother live in genteel poverty in 1880s Brooklyn after the death of his father. Cedric's grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt, has long ago disowned his son for marrying an American. But after the death of the Earl's remaining son, he decides to accept Cedric as his heir.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThree Wishes (1995)
While Jane Holman is driving with her two sons, she accidentally runs into a drifter, Jack McCloud, who breaks his leg. Being responsible, Jane invites Jack, and his dog, to stay at her home until his leg has healed. Jack struggles to adapt their lifestyle, and finds himself loved by the family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeidi (2005)
Swiss girl Adelheid 'Heidi' is orphaned young. Aunt Detie brings her to grandpa Alp and his wife, who live isolated in the Alps since his murder charge. Heidi soon takes to the wild country, especially accompanying young goatherd Peter. Grandpa refuses to send her to school in the city, but aunt Detie returns and forces him to give in. She's sent to a posh lady in Frankfurt, where she'll be a companion for crippled daughter Clara after school hours.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFlicka (2006)
Katy McLaughlin desires to work on her family's mountainside horse ranch, although her father insists she finish boarding school. Katy finds a mustang in the hills near her ranch. The headstrong 16 year old then sets her mind to tame a mustang and prove to her father she can run the ranch. But when tragedy happens, it will take all the love and strength the family can muster to restore hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHead Full of Honey (2018)
A young girl tries to help her grandfather, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, navigate his increasing forgetfulness, and ends up going on a remarkable adventure with him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScarecrow (1973)
Two drifters bum around, visit earthy women and discuss opening a car wash in Pittsburgh.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDon't Make Me Go (2022)
A terminally ill man and his teenage daughter embark on a road trip from California to New Orleans for his 20th college reunion. While there, he secretly hopes she can reunite with the mother who left them long ago.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEnd of Sentence (2019)
Newly widowed Frank Fogle embarks on a journey to Ireland to scatter his late wife’s ashes. His estranged son, Sean, recently released from prison, agrees to join only when his father promises that they’ll never see each other again following the trip. After revelations surface about an old flame of Frank’s wife and a charming hitchhiker with plans of her own intervenes, father and son find themselves drawn together in unexpected ways.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRoad to Paloma (2014)
While Native American Wolf is being pursued by the FBI for having taken the law into his own hands, when his mother was raped and killed on their reservation he crosses paths with Cash, a down and out musician who is coping with the end of his marriage. An unlikely friendship develops, as they ride together towards the Teton mountain range, where Wolf will spread his mothers ashes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisParis, Texas (1984)
A man wanders out of the desert not knowing who he is. His brother finds him, and helps to pull his memory back of the life he led before he walked out on his family and disappeared four years earlier.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Glass House (2001)
When Ruby and Rhett's parents are killed in a car accident, their carefree teenage lives are suddenly shattered. Moving to an incredible house in Malibu with the Glasses', old friends of the family, seems to be the beginning of a new life for them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThey Drive by Night (1940)
Joe and Paul Fabrini are Wildcat, or independent, truck drivers who have their own small one-truck business. The Fabrini boys constantly battle distributors, rivals and loan collectors, while trying to make a success of their transport company.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHello Sister, Goodbye Life (2006)
A college student must take care of her 7-year-old half sister after the death of their parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight of the Twisters (1996)
A teenager boy bonds with his stepfather while battling a series of killer twisters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInterstate 60 (2002)
An aspiring painter meets various characters and learns valuable lessons while traveling across America.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDawn Wind in My Poncho (2017)
Three friends who will soon graduate from high school decide to take one last trip together.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
Nothing is as it seems when a woman experiencing misgivings about her new boyfriend joins him on a road trip to meet his parents at their remote farm.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Living End (1992)
Two HIV-positive young men — a semi-employed film critic and a hot hustler — tear off on a cross-country crime spree.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLa cárcel de Cananea (1960)
Law officer tracks and recaptures escaped convict.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Viva Diva (2017)
Viva Diva is a road trip movie, centering on Rozene and Diva, as they make their way down to Guadalajara for gender reassignment surgery. Rozene stops in on her father to try to get answers about their fractured relationship, but drama stands in the way of her getting the closure that she seeks.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Would you rather...? (TBA)
‘Would You Rather...?’ follows Emma and Milan, a couple driving to the South of France for a summer holiday. Confined to the car, they pass the time with jokes, hypothetical questions, and contrasting perspectives. As the miles roll by, this romantic road trip gradually unfolds into an intimate portrait of a relationship, set against the backdrop of a long summer drive.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Dog Trick (2002)
Simon dreams of finding his one true love. Until then, he spends most of his time watching sloppy tearjerkers on video. He also shies away from the shallow young women that he and his friends Micke and Mario meet at bars. But Micke suggests one thing that is a guaranteed babe-magnet: taking a dog out for walks. It's an instant success for Simon, he meets the delightful Mia who immediately takes a liking to him. But things are not always what they may look like.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
My Blueberry Nights (2007)
Elizabeth has just been through a particularly nasty breakup, and now she's ready to leave her friends and memories behind as she chases her dreams across the country. In order to support herself on her journey, Elizabeth picks up a series of waitress jobs along the way. As Elizabeth crosses paths with a series of lost souls whose yearnings are even greater than her own, their emotional turmoil ultimately helps her gain a greater understanding of her own problems...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Mushroom Trip (2022)
PJ, a struggling screenwriter and his best friend Jami, a successful car dealer, are fed up with how painfully stuck their heads are in their ways. They decide to do something about it and rent a cabin on the Finnish archipelago for the weekend to get their minds blown - with magic mushrooms. A little getaway between the men gets out of hand when a series of coincidences turn their plans upside down.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Breakdown (1997)
On their cross-country drive, a married couple, Jeff and Amy Taylor, experience car trouble after their SUV breaks down. Stranded in the New Mexico desert, the two catch a break when a passing truck driver offers Amy a ride to a nearby café to call for help. Meanwhile, Jeff is able to fix the car and make his way to the café, but Amy isn't there. He tracks down the trucker ― who tells the police he's never seen Jeff or his wife before. Jeff then begins a desperate, frenzied search for Amy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Lionel?
The closest matches to Lionel are Where the Red Fern Grows (2003), Where the Red Fern Grows (1974) and I Believe (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Lionel?
Start with Where the Red Fern Grows (2003), the closest match to Lionel.
What is the highest-rated movie like Lionel?
Impossible Things (2021), rated 8.5/10 by 453 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Lionel?
The Mushroom Trip (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like Lionel?
Yes: Impossible Things (2021) and La cárcel de Cananea (1960).
How are movies similar to Lionel chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Lionel, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.