Movies like Drifting (2025)
The best movies like Drifting (2025) are Scarecrow (1973), All or Nothing (2002) and The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete (2013). If Drifting 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 Pursuit of Happyness (2006)7.9/10 from 11,008 votes
- NewestDaydream (2026)Released 2026
- In GermanThe Girl and the Spider (2021)Also in German
Scarecrow (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 thisAll or Nothing (2002)
Penny works at a supermarket and Phil is a gentle taxi-driver. Penny’s love for Phil has run dry and they lead joyless lives with their two children, Rachel, a cleaner, and Rory, who is unemployed and aggressive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete (2013)
Coming of age story about two inner city youths, who are left to fend for themselves over the summer after their mothers are taken away by the authorities.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFive Easy Pieces (1970)
Robert Dupea spends his days doing various odd jobs, drinking and womanizing until an encounter with his sister makes him revisit his past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Starling Girl (2023)
17-year-old Jem Starling struggles with her place within her Christian fundamentalist community. But everything changes when her magnetic youth pastor Owen returns to their church.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSongs My Brothers Taught Me (2015)
This complex portrait of modern-day life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation explores the bond between a brother and his younger sister, who find themselves on separate paths to rediscovering the meaning of home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMagnolia (1999)
On one random day in the San Fernando Valley, a dying father, a young wife, a male caretaker, a famous lost son, a police officer in love, a boy genius, an ex-boy genius, a game show host and an estranged daughter will each become part of a dazzling multiplicity of plots, but one story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPalo Alto (2014)
A lack of parental guidance encourages teens in an affluent California town to rebel with substance abuse and casual sex.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Short History of the Long Road (2019)
Nola grew up living in a van with her father, Clint—two nomads against the world. When tragedy strikes, Nola must confront the reality of life on the road alone, learning to own her grief, her past, and her new destination.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHoly Lands (2019)
When lapsed Jew and former cardiologist Harry suddenly decides to spend his retirement as a pig farmer in Nazareth, Israel, the move deeply shocks his family and his new neighbours. Back in New York, Harry’s ex-wife Monica is trying to manage the lives of their adult children, Annabelle and David, as well as her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 thisThe Girl and the Spider (2021)
Lisa is moving. Upheaval all around: Her mother flirts with a handyman. An eccentric woman seems to be preparing for a glamorous event, a family next door returns from vacation, and a girl documents the adventurous day. As boxes are transported, walls painted white, and furniture is assembled, underlying problems in need of fixing are revealed, a to-do list expands, and desires and needs flair up.
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 thisSorry We Missed You (2019)
Hoping that self-employment through gig economy can solve their financial woes, a hard-up delivery driver and his wife struggling to raise a family end up trapped in the vicious circle of modern-day labour exploitation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmerican Underdog (2021)
The true story of Kurt Warner, who went from a stockboy at a grocery store to a two-time NFL MVP, Super Bowl champion, and Hall of Fame quarterback.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDaddio (2024)
A woman taking a cab ride from JFK airport engages in a conversation with the driver about the important relationships in their lives.
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 thisDriving Miss Daisy (1989)
The story of an old Jewish widow named Daisy Werthan and her relationship with her black chauffeur, Hoke. From an initial mere work relationship grew in 25 years a strong friendship between the two very different characters, in a time when those types of relationships were shunned.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMystic Pizza (1988)
Three teenage girls come of age while working at a pizza parlor in Mystic, Connecticut.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this2-Way Street (2023)
In this short film made of a single sequence shot, a man drives through the city streets, talking on the phone while trying to find a way to move forward, but the past is a restless passenger.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Final Day (2024)
Yadira, a creative young Cuban girl, struggles packing on her final day home. Embarking on an immigration journey alone, her suitcase feels too small to carry everything her heart holds.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bad Girl (1963)
Wakae is a 15 year old girl who lived under the same roof with her alcoholic father and stepmom. Her mother had died years ago. She spends her nights at a rundown bar, sharing drinks and cigarettes with the lowlife drunks. She has nowhere to turn and no one to talk to, until she is reunited with her childhood friend, Saburo, who brings warmth to her heart.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Monster (2023)
After an outburst at school involving her son, a concerned single mother demands answers, triggering a sequence of deepening suspicion and turmoil.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHigh School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008)
As seniors in high school, Troy and Gabriella struggle with the idea of being separated from one another as college approaches. Along with the rest of the Wildcats, they stage a spring musical to address their experiences, hopes and fears about their future.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDaydream (2026)
A young adult recounts childhood memories involving his 6th grade teacher and the lessons she taught, particularly her unconventional assignment: to daydream.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bully (2013)
When a video of Toby being brutally humiliated at school appears on the Internet, Toby's high school and parents take action. However, with an overbearing father and a willfully unaware mother, Toby soon learns that his demons are not just in the classroom.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Deltopia (2023)
Every spring break, tens of thousands of college kids descend upon Isla Vista, California, for Deltopia - the ultimate street party with no rules and no boundaries. A group of recent high school grads join the party, looking to celebrate their newfound freedom. But nothing can prepare these friends for Deltopia's volatile mix of sex, drugs, and rebellion, as they unite for a life-changing adventure that brings exhilaration, heartbreak, and, ultimately, hope.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Show Me Love (1998)
Two teenage girls in small-town Sweden. Elin is beautiful, popular, and bored with life. Agnes is friendless, sad, and secretly in love with Elin.
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 Drifting?
The closest matches to Drifting are Scarecrow (1973), All or Nothing (2002) and The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Drifting?
Start with Scarecrow (1973), the closest match to Drifting.
What is the highest-rated movie like Drifting?
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), rated 7.9/10 by 11,008 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Drifting?
Daydream (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there German movies like Drifting?
Yes: The Girl and the Spider (2021).
How are movies similar to Drifting chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Drifting, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.