Movies like Prodigal Sons
The best movies like Prodigal Sons are Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan (2019), Casualties of War (1989) and Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight (2013). If Prodigal Sons hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPlatoon (1986)7.7/10 from 5,388 votes
- NewestMexicali (2026)Released 2026
Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan (2019)
Vietnam War, 1966. Australia and New Zealand send troops to support the United States and South Vietnamese in their fight against the communist North. Soldiers are very young men, recruits and volunteers who have never been involved in a combat. On August 18th, members of Delta Company will face the true horror of a ruthless battle among the trees of a rubber plantation called Long Tân. They are barely a hundred. The enemy is a human wave ready to destroy them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCasualties of War (1989)
During the Vietnam War, a soldier finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMuhammad Ali's Greatest Fight (2013)
Muhammad Ali’s historic Supreme Court battle from behind closed doors. When Ali was drafted into the Vietnam War at the height of his boxing career, his claim to conscientious objector status led to a controversial legal battle that rattled the U.S. judicial system right up to the highest court in the land.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFarming (2018)
Based on the writer/director's childhood, FARMING tells the story of a young Nigerian boy, 'farmed out' by his parents to a white British family in the hope of a better future. Instead, he becomes the feared leader of a white skinhead gang.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Full Measure (2020)
The incredible true story of Vietnam War hero William H. Pitsenbarger, a U.S. Air Force Pararescuemen medic who personally saved over sixty men. Thirty-two years later, Pentagon staffer Scott Huffman investigates a Congressional Medal of Honor request for Pitsenbarger and uncovers a high-level conspiracy behind the decades-long denial of the medal, prompting Huffman to put his own career on the line to seek justice for the fallen airman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Beautiful Country (2004)
After reuniting with his mother in Ho Chi Minh City, a family tragedy causes Binh to flee from Viet Nam to America. Landing in New York, Binh begins a road trip to Texas, where his American father is said to live.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJacknife (1989)
A conflict develops between a troubled Vietnam veteran and the sister he lives with when she becomes involved romantically with the army buddy who reminds him of the tragic battle they both survived.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBat★21 (1988)
Lt. Col. Iceal "Ham" Hambleton is a weapons countermeasures expert and when his aircraft is shot over enemy territory the Air Force very much wants to get him back. Hambleton knows the area he's in is going to be carpet-bombed but a temporary shortage of helicopters causes a delay. Working with an Air Force reconnaissance pilot, Capt. Bartholomew Clark, he maps out an escape route.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBorn on the Fourth of July (1989)
Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, Ron Kovic becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMexicali (2026)
A former special forces contractor is forced out of retirement as an avocado farmer in Mexico when local gangsters try to force him and his family off their farm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCardboard Boxer (2016)
Gentle and broken, a homeless man fights others on video for money but soon finds comfort in an unlikely friend and the lost diary of a young girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeaven & Earth (1993)
In a small Vietnamese village torn apart by war, a young woman faces unimaginable horrors before deciding to escape to the city. There, she encounters a compassionate Marine who offers her hope and a chance at a new life, igniting the possibility of a future together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican Pastoral (2016)
Set in postwar America, a man watches his seemingly perfect life fall apart as his daughter's new political affiliation threatens to destroy their family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlatoon (1986)
As a young and naive recruit in Vietnam, Chris Taylor faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Indian Runner (1991)
Two brothers cannot overcome their opposite perceptions of life. One brother sees and feels bad in everyone and everything, subsequently he is violent, antisocial and unable to appreciate or enjoy the good things which his brother desperately tries to point out to him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUncommon Valor (1983)
A group of Vietnam War veterans re-unite to rescue one of their own left behind and taken prisoner by the Vietnamese.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe War (1994)
The son of a Vietnam War Veteran must deal with neighborhood bullies as well as his dad's post-traumatic stress disorder while growing up in the deep south in the 1970's.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFences (2016)
In 1950s Pittsburgh, a frustrated African-American father struggles with the constraints of poverty, racism, and his own inner demons as he tries to raise a family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWalking Tall (2004)
A former U.S. soldier returns to his hometown to find it overrun by crime and corruption, which prompts him to clean house.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBirdy (1984)
Two young men are seriously affected by the Vietnam War. One of them has always been obsessed with birds - but now believes he really is a bird, and has been sent to a mental hospital. Can his friend help him pull through?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOrfeo (2022)
After the death of his wife, Gabriel Barragán stays at the house of his in-laws. The decision of what to do with the ashes of the deceased generates conflict between Barragán and his father-in-law.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
True (2004)
While he's receiving an enigmatic phone call from his girlfriend Francine, Thomas remembers the milestones of their relationship, from the very moment they met in a really strange way. A segment of “Paris, je t'aime” (2006).
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEden (2021)
Eden is the queer re-tale of Adam and Eve’s story in modern times. A visually striking story about first love situated in Berlin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Devil's Instrument (1965)
A jazz bassist who surveys a beautiful girl at a gig decides to try to get her home. But the devil is getting into the game too.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Barely in Love (2013)
When a new troupe leader joins the 'Bnai Akiva' boy scouts movement, Yotam's world trembles. He is forced to cope with his sexual orientation and the difficulties he faces with family and religion, and is torn between his love of religion that forbids homosexuality and his mother who tries to 'cure' him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Bathtub (2021)
Ramon Riera is taking a well-deserved bath when his cell phone suddenly rings. On the other side of the line is Clara, a girl who insistently tries to sell him a life insurance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Your Mother and I (2016)
Johnna's dad changed the world. Or so he says. Whilst Johnna and her dad are talking, they can't seem to connect, each growing more and more frustrated with one another, revolving around one another in their own orbits.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
W-A-L-K (2015)
During a lazy Montreal summer day, preteen Clara decides to master the art of walking in high-heel shoes. It would probably be an easier undertaking if she didn't have to take the dog, Eddie, along for the ride.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Zodiac (2005)
An elusive serial killer known as the Zodiac terrorizes the San Francisco Bay in the late 1960s, while detectives aim to stop him before he claims more victims. Based on a true story.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSurface Tension (1986)
Intercutting live action footage with animation, a depiction of the possible memories, repressions and fears of the leading character. The animated sections are monologues by a male figure drawn to highlight the tension between rigid and fluid body structures, skeleton and flesh.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Prodigal Sons?
The closest matches to Prodigal Sons are Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan (2019), Casualties of War (1989) and Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Prodigal Sons?
Start with Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan (2019), the closest match to Prodigal Sons.
What is the highest-rated movie like Prodigal Sons?
Platoon (1986), rated 7.7/10 by 5,388 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Prodigal Sons?
Mexicali (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Prodigal Sons?
Yes: Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan (2019), Casualties of War (1989) and Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight (2013).
How are movies similar to Prodigal Sons chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Prodigal Sons, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.