Movies like California Scenario (2026)
The best movies like California Scenario (2026) are El Chicano (2019), The Pumpkin Eater (1964) and The Visit (1964). If California Scenario hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedWhat Maisie Knew (2013)7.1/10 from 466 votes
- NewestFalcons (2026)Released 2026
El Chicano (2019)
A pair of twin brothers from East L.A. choose to live their lives differently and end up on opposite sides of the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pumpkin Eater (1964)
Jo, the mother of seven children, divorces her second husband in order to marry Jake, a successful but promiscuous screenwriter. Though they are physically and emotionally compatible, they are slowly torn apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Visit (1964)
Carla Zachanassian had a child by Serge Miller as a teenager. When Serge refused to marry her, she was driven out of town. By her own wit and cunning, she has returned as a multi-millionaire for a visit. The town lays out the red carpet expecting big things from Carla, only to learn that her sole purpose is to see Serge Miller killed...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 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 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 thisOmaha (2025)
A young girl and her brother are awoken by their father and loaded into the car on an early morning in 2008. As they road trip across the American West, she discovers the truth about their seemingly spontaneous journey.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Kindness of Strangers (2019)
Clara and her two sons escape from her abusive husband with little more than their car and plan to start over in New York. After the car towed away, the family meets Alice, who gets them into an emergency shelter. While stealing food at a Russian restaurant called ‘Winter Palace’, Clara meets Marc, who has been given the chance to help the old eatery regain its former glory. The ‘Winter Palace’ soon becomes a place of unexpected encounters between people who are all undergoing some sort of crisis and whom fate has now brought together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMagpie (2024)
A couple's lives are thrown into disarray when their daughter is cast opposite a controversial major star.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTalhotBlond (2012)
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRosie (2019)
A mother strives to shield her young family from their new reality when their landlord sells the property and renders them homeless.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat Maisie Knew (2013)
In New York City, six-year-old Maisie is caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle between her self-absorbed parents—an aging rock singer mother and a distracted art dealer father. As both quickly marry new partners to strengthen their legal standing, Maisie is shuttled back and forth in an endless game of emotional point-scoring. Yet amid the chaos and upheaval, Maisie begins to find true comfort and affection in her new step-parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Question of Faith (2017)
When Tragedy Strikes three Families, their Destiny forces them on a coverging path and mercy as the challenges of their fate could also resurrect their beliefs
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisLocke & Key (2011)
Three children become the caretakers of a New England mansion that is home to a bevy of secrets and magic.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hummingbird Project (2019)
A pair of high-frequency traders go up against their old boss in an effort to make millions in a fiber-optic cable deal.
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 thisWon't Back Down (2012)
Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHands of Stone (2016)
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Operative (2019)
A young Western woman is recruited by the Mossad to go undercover in Tehran where she becomes entangled in a complex triangle with her handler and her subject.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Long Run (2025)
When two oddball strangers leave their lives behind to chase their Hollywood dreams, they discover that what they lack in talent, they make up for with determination and a shared delusion, leading to an unexpected friendship that will make them question the realities of chasing a dream.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
High Conquest (1947)
Love and adventure on the Matterhorn mountain.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Imagination (2007)
Dr. Reineger, a famous neuro-psychologist, has become convinced that a twin girl named Anna has a rare form of Autism called Asperger's Syndrome, rendering her unable to cope with reality. As for her blind sister, Sarah, the doctor cannot say for sure why her imaginary visions map so close to Anna's. At home, unable to face reality, their father leaves the family. To escape the pain, the girls sink deeper and deeper into their imagination. When a major earthquake takes their mother's life, Reineger gets more involved with helping the now-orphaned twins, while struggling with his realization that the girls seem to be capable of prophetic visions. The girls escape the doctor's institution and a subsequent search finds no trace of them. Have they transcended the physical realm? A mixture of live action, stop motion animation and other techniques makes this film a fantastic journey into the realm of imagination.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Angel (TBA)
Musician Merrilee Rush reminisces on her life in search of meaning and legacy in Adin Bayer's directorial feature length debut.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Mother's Day (2021)
Jordon (Michael Charles Wagner) reconnects with mother Wendy (Lisa Ludwig), in the midst of a mental health crisis, over the course of an afternoon in Travis Carlson’s innovative, award-winning Western New York-lensed feature.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Willa (2012)
David goes to find his fiancée, Willa. She has left him at a train station with a group of stranded passengers. He finds her at a local honky-tonk club and in his attempt to bring her back he learns the horrifying truth about why they cannot stay at the station.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
cataclysm.begins: The Catalyst (2025)
Queer twins of a deceased political figure become the unwanted face/scapegoat for a rebellion against a government that threatens to take their basic human rights to build their false utopia.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Il richiamo dell'Alpe splendente (1946)
To honor the memory of the famous guide Luigi Comici, two climbers climb a sixth grade wall of one of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo. The adventure of the two climbers, forced to stay overnight on the rocks, sometimes takes on dramatic aspects. During the break, one of the two mountaineers tells the other an episode of the First World War, which took place in those mountains. Two Italian Alpines, attacked by two Alpenjäger armed with hand grenades, repulsed them with stones. The film, originally titled 'Il richiamo dell'Alpe splendente' was distributed in 1949 by the Metro Goldwyn Mayer under the title of 'Cavalieri della montagna'.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Falcons (2026)
Andy is trained by his ex-hitman father to infiltrate Hell's Cartel, but when his sister is kidnapped and betrayal hits, the plan unravels, sparking the H-Game, turning child violence into global control.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Voorbijgangers (2011)
A film about the dark side of existence as an individual in everyday society. A portrait of a number of people in confrontational situations. People who struggle with themselves and with life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like California Scenario?
The closest matches to California Scenario are El Chicano (2019), The Pumpkin Eater (1964) and The Visit (1964). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after California Scenario?
Start with El Chicano (2019), the closest match to California Scenario.
What is the highest-rated movie like California Scenario?
What Maisie Knew (2013), rated 7.1/10 by 466 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like California Scenario?
Falcons (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like California Scenario?
Yes: El Chicano (2019), The Pumpkin Eater (1964) and The Visit (1964).
How are movies similar to California Scenario chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside California Scenario, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.