Movies like Nian (2022)
The best movies like Nian (2022) are A Monster Calls (2016), Sight (2023) and Heathers (1989). If Nian hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedA Little Princess (1995)7.6/10 from 1,080 votes
- NewestThe Legend of Ochi (2025)Released 2025
A Monster Calls (2016)
12-year-old Conor encounters an ancient tree monster who proceeds to help him cope with his mother's terminal illness and being bullied in school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSight (2023)
Ming Wang is an impoverished Chinese prodigy who flees Communist China to become a pioneering eye surgeon in America. When tasked with restoring the sight of an orphan in India, who was blinded by her stepmother, Wang must confront the trauma of living through the violent uprising in his youth, the Cultural Revolution.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeathers (1989)
A girl who halfheartedly tries to be part of the "in crowd" of her school meets a rebel who teaches her a more devious way to play social politics: by killing the popular kids.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Kill Giants (2017)
Sophia, a new high school student, tries to make friends with Barbara, who tells her that “she kills giants,” protecting this way her hometown and its inhabitants, who do not understand her strange behavior.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKoati (2021)
Three unlikely heroes - Nachi, a free-spirited coati; Xochi, a fearless monarch butterfly and Pako, a hyperactive glass frog - embark on an adventure to stop wicked coral snake Zaina from destroying their rain forest homeland.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCinderfella (1960)
When his father dies, poor Fella is left at the mercy of his snobbish stepmother and her two no-good sons Maximilian and Rupert. As he slaves away for his nasty step-family, Maximilian and Rupert attempt to find a treasure Fella's father has supposedly hidden on the estate. Hoping to restore her dwindling fortunes, the stepmother plans a fancy ball in honor of the visiting Princess Charmein whom she hopes will marry Rupert. Eventually, Fella's Fairy Godfather shows up to convince him that he has a shot at winning the Princess himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Babysitter (2017)
When Cole stays up past his bedtime, he discovers that his hot babysitter is part of a Satanic cult that will stop at nothing to keep him quiet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSabrina the Teenage Witch (1996)
A girl, sent by her parents to live with her two eccentric aunts, finds out on her sixteenth birthday that she is a witch.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWillard (1971)
A social misfit, Willard is made fun of by his co-workers, and squeezed out of the company started by his deceased father by his boss. His only friends are a couple of rats he raised at home, Ben and Socrates. However, when one of them is killed at work, he goes on a rampage using his rats to attack those who have been tormenting him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMatilda (1996)
Matilda Wormwood is an brilliant and intelligent little girl. Unfortunately, her parents, Harry and Zinnia, fail to see that fact. As time passes, she finally starts school and has a kind teacher, loyal friends, and a terrifying, sadistic headmistress. As she becomes fed up with the constant cruelty, she discovers she has a special gift that she just might be able to use to outwit the unruly adults around her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Legend of Ochi (2025)
In a remote village on the island of Carpathia, a shy farm girl named Yuri is raised to fear an elusive animal species known as ochi. But when Yuri discovers a wounded baby ochi has been left behind, she escapes on a quest to bring him home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBridge to Terabithia (2007)
Jesse Aarons trained all summer to become the fastest runner in school. So he's very upset when newcomer Leslie Burke outruns him and everyone else. Despite this and other differences including that she's rich, he's poor, she's a city girl, and he's a country boy the two become fast friends. Together they create Terabithia, a land of monsters, trolls, ogres, and giants where they rule as king and queen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMax Keeble's Big Move (2001)
Max Keeble, the victim of his 7th grade class, plots revenge when he learns he's moving; it backfires when he doesn't move after all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Beautician and the Beast (1997)
A New York City beautician is mistakenly hired as the school teacher for the children of the president of a small Eastern European country.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Swan (2023)
Two large, ignorant bullies ruthlessly pursue a small, brilliant boy in this young adult Roald Dahl short story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeastly (2011)
A modern-day take on the "Beauty and the Beast" tale where a New York teen is transformed into a hideous monster in order to find true love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Little Princess (1995)
When her father enlists to fight for the British in WWI, young Sara Crewe goes to New York to attend the same boarding school her late mother attended. She soon clashes with the severe headmistress, Miss Minchin, who attempts to stifle Sara's creativity and sense of self-worth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Joy Luck Club (1993)
Through a series of flashbacks, four Chinese women born in America and their respective mothers born in feudal China explore their pasts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMiddle School: The Worst Years of My Life (2016)
A quiet teenage artist Rafe Katchadorian has a wild imagination and is sick of middle school and the rules that have been put before him. Rafe and his best friend Leo have come up with a plan: break every rule in the school hand book and as you expect trouble follows.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCarrie (2013)
An awkward, telekinetic teenage girl is the object of relentless bullying at school and an oppressively religious mother at home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Nian?
The closest matches to Nian are A Monster Calls (2016), Sight (2023) and Heathers (1989). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Nian?
Start with A Monster Calls (2016), the closest match to Nian.
What is the highest-rated movie like Nian?
A Little Princess (1995), rated 7.6/10 by 1,080 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Nian?
The Legend of Ochi (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Nian?
Yes: A Monster Calls (2016), Sight (2023) and Heathers (1989).
How are movies similar to Nian chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Nian, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.