Movies like The Esterbrook Case (1915)
The best movies like The Esterbrook Case (1915) are Hounddog (2008), The Girl in the Book (2015) and The Trials of Cate McCall (2013). If The Esterbrook Case hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
The Esterbrook Case
Quick picks
- Highest ratedHands of Stone (2016)6.6/10 from 470 votes
- NewestMan with No Past (2025)Released 2025
Hounddog (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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 thisLucky Them (2013)
More interested in partying and flirting with young musicians than work, veteran rock journalist Ellie Klug has one last chance to prove her value to her magazine’s editor: a no-stone-unturned search to discover what really happened to long lost rock god, Matt Smith, who also happens to be her ex-boyfriend. Teaming up with an eccentric amateur documentary filmmaker, Ellie hits the road in search of answers.
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 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 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 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 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 thisTalhotBlond (2012)
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.
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 thisThe 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 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 thisThe Brute (1920)
The brute is a gambler, boxing manager and underworld boss who mistreats a young woman. She is forced into marriage with him for money after her original fiance is thought dead. When that man returns, he attempts to rescue her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The House Behind the Cedars (1927)
Rena is a young woman of mixed race. Although she is romantically pursued by an upwardly mobile African American named Frank, Rena does not decide in his favor. Her appearance allows her to pass for white, as she is of majority European ancestry, although she has grown up in the black community. She meets and falls in love with George Tryon, a young white aristocrat. But as their relationship deepens, Rena believes she has to acknowledge her African ancestry. Considered a lost film.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
In Honor's Web (1919)
Wealthy businessman Frank Powell falls in love late in life with Olive Meade, the sister of Governor Carroll Carson's wife Irene. One day Frank sees Olive embracing his younger brother Bert. As he leaves dejectedly, Frank discovers Irene, whose busy elderly husband neglects her, with society idler Rodney Foster.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Fifth Avenue (1926)
When her cotton crop is burned, Barbara Pelham, a beautiful southern girl, comes to New York to find work as a fashion designer, staying with Mrs. Kemp, a woman she meets on the northbound train. In Mrs. Kemp's house, Barbara encounters Peter Heffner, a wealthy stockbroker, and discovers from him that she has taken up residence in a whorehouse. There is a police raid, but Barbara escapes arrest and returns home. Heffner's son, Neil, goes south to inspect some family property and there meets Barbara, with whom he falls in love. They decide to be married, and she accompanies him to New York, where she meets the elder Heffner for a second time. He denounces her as a whore, but Barbara goes to Mrs. Kemp, who explains the misunderstanding to everyone's satisfaction.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Der 10. Pavillon der Zitadelle (1917)
German silent film
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Women They Talk About (1928)
Women They Talk About is a part-talkie Vitaphone film, with talking, music and sound effects sequences, starring Irene Rich, directed by Lloyd Bacon and produced and distributed by Warner Bros. It is considered to be a lost film.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Rags and the Girl (1915)
Wealthy young broker Tom Raine is set upon in a lonely wood by a tramp, knocked out, and stripped of his clothes. Dressed in the tramp's rags, he reaches a hut in time to save veritable wood-nymph June from a beating at the hands of her cruel foster parents. They drive him from the place, but June saves him from being torn to pieces by their huge watchdog, and Tom falls deeply in love with June. They're seen talking by her foster parents, and the father goes after Tom with a club. A fearful fight results, but the timely arrival of Tom's family, who saw the affair from their auto, stops a tragedy. Tom explains matters, his family taking a liking to June, she returns home with them, and Tom and June marry.
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 Surprises of an Empty Hotel (1916)
Regular guest Francis Marchmont visiting the seaside Hotel Continental, now mostly deserted due to a diphtheria epidemic, meets and befriends a mysterious woman, "Mrs. Lucie Fairbanks," only to discover she and another woman are rivals, both common-law claimants to the fortune of his hated enemy, the late copper magnate Thomas Cadwallader Bennet, leading to a night of intrigue and mistaken identities in the empty hotel.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Benjamin Bunter: Book Agent (1915)
Retired sea captain Jonah Grundell is in charge of his niece Polly's fortune until she comes of age, or marries with his consent; if she marries without his consent before she is 21, the fortune goes to Jonah. He has handled the money so long he hates to give it up, so when Polly reaches 21, he manages to keep her in ignorance of the fact, and enters into an agreement with family lawyer Daniel White that he shall marry her and divide the money with him. White is a solemn old hypocrite, much admired by Jonah's spinster sister Myra; his one weakness is his love of the bottle. Fresh book agent Benjamin Bunter arrives in town with a flourish, meets and falls in love with Polly, and she falls in love with him. Bunter puts White out of the running, then digs up a birth certificate that proves that Polly is over 21. He forces Jonah to consent to their marriage, while White is left to the consolation of Myra.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Esterbrook Case?
The closest matches to The Esterbrook Case are Hounddog (2008), The Girl in the Book (2015) and The Trials of Cate McCall (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Esterbrook Case?
Start with Hounddog (2008), the closest match to The Esterbrook Case.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Esterbrook Case?
Hands of Stone (2016), rated 6.6/10 by 470 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Esterbrook Case?
Man with No Past (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Esterbrook Case?
Yes: Hounddog (2008), The Girl in the Book (2015) and The Trials of Cate McCall (2013).
How are movies similar to The Esterbrook Case chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Esterbrook Case, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.