Movies like Backbone (2021)
The best movies like Backbone (2021) are Empire Waist (2024), Out of My Mind (2024) and Mask (1985). If Backbone hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Backbone
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFerris Bueller's Day Off (1986)7.6/10 from 5,666 votes
- NewestDon't Move (2024)Released 2024
Empire Waist (2024)
Lenore Miller’s size has always earned her teases and jeers in her school’s hallways, but this clothes-loving teenager is about to set the world on fire with her own line of inclusive fashion designs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOut of My Mind (2024)
Melody Brooks, a sixth grader with cerebral palsy, has a quick wit and a sharp mind, but because she is non-verbal and uses a wheelchair, she is not given the same opportunities as her classmates. When a young educator notices her student's untapped potential and Melody starts to participate in mainstream education, Melody shows that what she has to say is more important than how she says it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMask (1985)
A significantly deformed but highly intelligent teenage boy and his biker gang mother attempt to live as normal a life as possible under the circumstances.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSixteen Candles (1984)
With the occasion all but overshadowed by her sister's upcoming wedding, angst-ridden Samantha faces her 16th birthday with typical adolescent dread. Samantha pines for studly older boy Jake, but worries that her chastity will be a turnoff for the popular senior. Meanwhile, she must constantly rebuff the affections of nerdy Ted, who is unfortunately the only boy in school who seems to take an interest in her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Invisible (2007)
After an attack leaves him in limbo -- invisible to the living and also near death -- a teenager discovers the only person who might be able help him is his attacker.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIf I Had Wings (2013)
Alex, blind since the age of two, dreams of running for his school's cross-country team. His father, a probation officer, finds a running partner who spends his time 'running' from the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
SnoozefestMovies like thisThirteen (2003)
When 13-year-old Tracy befriends Evie, the most popular girl in school, her life is turned upside down as Evie introduces her to a world of sex, drugs, and money. But it isn’t long before Tracy’s new lifestyle begins to take a heavy toll on her and her family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Final (2010)
A group of high school outcasts get revenge on the students that torment them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Girl Like Her (2015)
Sophomore year has been a nightmare for Jessica Burns. Relentlessly harassed by her former friend Avery Keller, Jessica doesn't know what she did to deserve the abuse from one of South Brookdale High's most popular and beautiful students. But when a shocking event changes both of their lives, a documentary film crew, a hidden digital camera, and the attention of a reeling community begin to reveal the powerful truth about A Girl Like Her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSee No Evil (1971)
In the English countryside, Sarah Rexton, recently blinded in a horse riding accident, moves in with her uncle's family and gallantly adjusts to her new condition, unaware that a killer stalks them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDon't Move (2024)
A grieving woman in a secluded forest encounters a killer who injects her with a paralytic drug. As her body shuts down, her fight for survival begins.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJust One of the Guys (1985)
When Terry Griffith loses her high school's writing competition, she's convinced that it's because she's a girl. So Terry decides to change high schools and pose as a boy to prove her point. Her brother, Buddy, helps her pass as a guy so well that she is soon making friends with the boys at school, including the attractive Rick, who becomes her new best friend. But her gender-swapping makes things difficult when she falls in love with him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHe Was a Quiet Man (2007)
An unhinged office worker who planned to go on a shooting spree at his workplace struggles with his newfound status as a hero after he ends up stopping a shooting spree instead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight School (2018)
Teddy Walker is a successful salesman whose life takes an unexpected turn when he accidentally blows up his place of employment. Forced to attend night school to get his GED, Teddy soon finds himself dealing with a group of misfit students, his former high school nemesis and a feisty teacher who doesn't think he's too bright.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRun (2020)
Chloe, a teenager who is confined to a wheelchair, is homeschooled by her mother, Diane. Chloe soon becomes suspicious of her mother and begins to suspect that she may be harboring a dark secret.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPeeping Tom (1960)
Loner Mark Lewis works at a film studio during the day and, at night, takes racy photographs of women. Also he's making a documentary on fear, which involves recording the reactions of victims as he murders them. He befriends Helen, the daughter of the family living in the apartment below his, and he tells her vaguely about the movie he is making.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFerris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
After high school slacker Ferris Bueller successfully fakes an illness in order to skip school for the day, he goes on a series of adventures throughout Chicago with his girlfriend Sloane and best friend Cameron, all the while trying to outwit his wily school principal and fed-up sister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTeen Spirit (2019)
A shy teenager living on the Isle of Wight dreams of pop stardom. With the help of an unlikely mentor, she enters a singing competition that will test her integrity, talent, and ambition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKristy (2014)
When a college girl who is alone on campus over the Thanksgiving break is targeted by a group of outcasts, she must conquer her deepest fears to outwit them and fight back.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like Backbone and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Backbone?
The closest matches to Backbone are Empire Waist (2024), Out of My Mind (2024) and Mask (1985). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Backbone?
Start with Empire Waist (2024), the closest match to Backbone.
What is the highest-rated movie like Backbone?
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), rated 7.6/10 by 5,666 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Backbone?
Don't Move (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Backbone?
Yes: Empire Waist (2024), Out of My Mind (2024) and Mask (1985).
How are movies similar to Backbone chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Backbone, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.