Movies like Roots (2023)
The best movies like Roots (2023) are Hounddog (2008), Blue Chips (1994) and The Girl in the Book (2015). If Roots hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedReturn (2011)6.4/10 from 3,930 votes
- NewestCAST (2026)Released 2026
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 thisBlue Chips (1994)
Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future are secretly being paid by boosters. This practice is forbidden in the college game, but Pete is desperate and has pressures from all around.
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 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 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 thisFast Girls (2012)
A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.
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 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 thisGoal II: Living the Dream (2007)
Tempted away from Newcastle United to join Real Madrid, rising star Santiago Munez finds this latest change of fortune the greatest challenge yet - personally as well as professionally. He is reunited with Gavin Harris, though they must compete to be on the team, and estranged from fiancee Roz, whose nursing career keeps her back home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSky (2016)
A woman embarks on a journey alone across the United States after fleeing from her violent husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIron Jawed Angels (2004)
Defiant young activists take the women's suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisTigertail (2020)
A man reflects on the lost love of his youth and his long-ago journey from Taiwan to America as he begins to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
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 thisReturn (2011)
Back from a tour of duty, Kelli struggles to find her place in her family and the rust-belt town she no longer recognizes.
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 thisBelieve (2013)
A young, gifted soccer player who gets into trouble for a petty crime is brought to the attention of former Manchester United coach Matt Busby, who comes out of retirement to help the boy and his teammates.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (2004)
The story of golf icon and legend, Bobby Jones, who retired from competition at the tender age of 28.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAmateur (2018)
14-year-old basketball phenom Terron Forte has to navigate the under-the-table world of amateur athletics when he is recruited to an elite NCAA prep school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe River (1984)
Tom and Mae Garvey are a Tennessee farming couple battling violent floods to save their land. In addition to natural disasters, the Garveys fight to stop a selfish land developer and a local corporation from foreclosing on their farm. While Mae stays at home to care for their children and tend to the crops, Tom finds work as a scab at a steel mill to preserve his family's property.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhere do I go from Here? (2026)
Where do I go from here is a performance arthouse-style film exploring the nostalgia of the concept of home in terms of home as a feeling rather than the architectural structure. Inspired by multiple factors resonating the concept of home, including diaspora, belonging and longing, the artist questions the idea of home through and through, along with the constant search for the idea of "home".
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Am I Funny Yet? (2026)
A comedian confronts his own thoughts of suicide on stage, turning his personal crisis into an uncomfortable comedy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Fishy (2026)
Hazel Monroe, a trans pageant queen finds herself back in the spotlight to reclaim the space she once fled. But as the pressure mounts, her surreal visions blur her reality, forcing her to confront the self-doubt that shadows her womanhood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
RMB City Opera (2010)
RMB City Opera is an experimental theatrical play inspired by the ‘Eight Model Works’, a propaganda opera from the Chinese Cultural Revolution. On the borderline between past and future, between classic and contemporary realities, the performance explores the connections between real and virtual identities, using both physical and virtual spaces as a stage for interaction between actors and avatars.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Really Happy Someday (2026)
A rising musical theatre star struggles with his changing voice during his gender transition. With the help of a singing coach, he learns to trust himself, reclaim his career, and reconnect with the people he loves.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Shape of Those Days (TBA)
The Shape of Those Days is an experimental short film about impermanence, youth, and fluid identity. Shot across London, Tokyo, and Singapore, the film draws directly from a personal history of navigating different languages, relationships and geographies. Anchored by a contemporary Butoh performance by Yu Lou and a highly authored visual and sartorial language, the project relies on fragmented memory and movement to reflect on the transient relationships that shape us.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Eternal Tears (2011)
A haunting sand animation tribute to the victims of the Chernobyl disaster. Through shifting images of innocence, suffering, and loss, Kseniya Simonova evokes the lives shattered by the nuclear catastrophe of 1986 and the lasting consequences of radiation, which continued to claim lives and affect children long after the explosion. A deeply moving meditation on grief, remembrance, and the human cost of tragedy, reminding us that some wounds never truly heal—and that we must never forget.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Until You Stop Breathing (2026)
Surrounded by reflections of color, an ephemeral being explores the ethereal, sweet, and dangerous nature of sexual affection for another. It yearns to desire, but also to be desired.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
You Are Always Nearby (2009)
You Are Always Nearby is the defining work and the cornerstone of Simonova's entire career. The story follows a young couple during World War II: the man goes off to war, and the woman stays behind. The piece was performed at the 4th semi-final of Ukraine's Got Talent and it was this performance that made a huge impact on the internet and turned Simonova into an international celebrity.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Roots?
The closest matches to Roots are Hounddog (2008), Blue Chips (1994) and The Girl in the Book (2015). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Roots?
Start with Hounddog (2008), the closest match to Roots.
What is the highest-rated movie like Roots?
Return (2011), rated 6.4/10 by 3,930 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Roots?
CAST (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Roots chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Roots, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.