Movies like Papa Bear
The best movies like Papa Bear are Unsung Hero (2024), Not Quite Hollywood (2008) and Red Dog: True Blue (2016). If Papa Bear hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLion (2016)8.0/10 from 7,127 votes
- NewestBlue Heron (2026)Released 2026
Unsung Hero (2024)
When David Smallbone's successful music company collapses, he moves his family from Australia to the United States in search of a brighter future. With nothing more than their six children, their suitcases, and their love of music, David and his pregnant wife Helen set out to rebuild their lives from the ground up. Based on a remarkable true story, a mum's faith stands against all odds; and inspires her husband and children to hold onto theirs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNot Quite Hollywood (2008)
As Australian cinema broke through to international audiences in the 1970s through respected art house films like Peter Weir's "Picnic At Hanging Rock," a new underground of low-budget exploitation filmmakers were turning out considerably less highbrow fare. Documentary filmmaker Mark Hartley explores this unbridled era of sex and violence, complete with clips from some of the scene's most outrageous flicks and interviews with the renegade filmmakers themselves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRed Dog: True Blue (2016)
When eleven-year-old Mick is shipped off to his grandfather's cattle station in Western Australia, he befriends a scrappy, one-of-a-kind dog that will change his life forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Souvenir: Part II (2021)
In the aftermath of her tumultuous relationship with a charismatic and manipulative older man, Julie begins to untangle her fraught love for him in making her graduation film, sorting fact from his elaborately constructed fiction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Souvenir (2019)
A shy but ambitious film student falls into an intense, emotionally fraught relationship with a charismatic but untrustworthy older man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHard Truths (2024)
Pansy is a woman so full of rage that every interaction she has devolves into lashing out, whether at her utterly cowed husband and son, or random strangers who have the temerity to address her. In contrast, her younger sister Chantelle lives with her two vivacious daughters and plies a successful trade as a hairdresser, putting clients at their ease all day long. Yet beneath Pansy’s abrasive exterior are hints of a more fragile psyche, one motivated by fear and damaged by repressed pain.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlinded by the Light (2019)
In 1987, during the austere days of Thatcher’s Britain, a teenager learns to live life, understand his family, and find his own voice through the music of Bruce Springsteen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCargo (2017)
After being infected in the wake of a violent pandemic and with only 48 hours to live, a father struggles to find a new home for his baby daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReal Life (1979)
A pushy, narcissistic filmmaker persuades a Phoenix family to let him and his crew film their everyday lives, in the manner of the ground-breaking PBS series "An American Family".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Nightingale (2018)
In 1825, Clare, a 21-year-old Irish convict, chases a British soldier through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness, bent on revenge for a terrible act of violence he committed against her family. She enlists the services of an Aboriginal tracker who is also marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMaXXXine (2024)
In 1980s Hollywood, adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx finally gets her big break. But as a mysterious killer stalks the starlets of Hollywood, a trail of blood threatens to reveal her sinister past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlue Heron (2026)
A family of six's fresh start on 1990s Vancouver Island unravels as their youngest child, Sasha, witnesses the increasingly dangerous behavior of her older brother, Jeremy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAfter We Fell (2021)
Just as Tessa's life begins to become unglued, nothing is what she thought it would be. Not her friends nor her family. The only person that she should be able to rely on is Hardin, who is furious when he discovers the massive secret that she's been keeping. Before Tessa makes the biggest decision of her life, everything changes because of revelations about her family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWake in Fright (1971)
A young schoolteacher descends into personal moral degradation after finding himself stranded in a brutal, menacing town in outback Australia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBoy (2010)
Boy, an 11-year-old child and devout Michael Jackson fan who lives on the east coast of New Zealand in 1984, gets a chance to know his absentee criminal father, who has returned to find a bag of money he buried years ago.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLion (2016)
A five-year-old Indian boy gets lost on the streets of Calcutta, thousands of kilometers from home. He survives many challenges before being adopted by a couple in Australia; 25 years later, he sets out to find his lost family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Horseman (2008)
A tender drama unfolds between a grieving father and a troubled teenage girl as they drive northbound along the quiet outback roads of Australia. What she doesn't know is that between stops, he is leaving behind a bloody trail of bodies in a revenge motivated killing spree.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBones and All (2022)
Abandoned by her father, a young woman embarks on a thousand-mile odyssey through the backroads of America where she meets a disenfranchised drifter. But despite their best efforts, all roads lead back to their terrifying pasts and to a final stand that will determine whether their love can survive their otherness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Dressmaker (2015)
In 1950s Australia, beautiful, talented dressmaker Tilly returns to her tiny hometown to right wrongs from her past. As she tries to reconcile with her mother, she starts to fall in love while transforming the fashion of the town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Glass Castle (2017)
A young girl is raised in a dysfunctional family constantly on the run from the FBI. Living in poverty, she comes of age guided by her drunkard, ingenious father who distracts her with magical stories to keep her mind off the family's dire state, and her selfish, nonconformist mother who has no intention of raising a family, along with her younger brother and sister, and her other older sister. Together, they fend for each other as they mature in an unorthodox journey that is their family life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmong Wolves (1985)
An American general with highly confidential defence information has been kidnapped by terrorists and is being held in a cliff-top fortress in the Mediterranean.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Executor (2026)
A reclusive heiress, bound by blood and burden, invites seven distant relatives to her decaying manor with whispers of inheritance. Beneath the promise lies a quiet cruelty- a gauntlet of secrets, temptation, and ruin. As family bonds unravel, she watches, choosing not just a successor, but a soul willing to bear the curse she can no longer carry. One will inherit the family estate, but only the heiress knows the hefty price they'll pay.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
How To Strip For Your Man by GiO (1987)
This sizzling video is guaranteed to add spice to your love life. In the privacy of your boudoir do something delightfully naughty but nice for yourself and your man by following the easy step-by-step moves of GiO. According to the San Diego Times Union "We learned to walk like sex goddesses, pose like sex goddesses, dress like sex goddesses…(and) how to take off (our) clothes with panache…" GiO will put it all together for you and teach you everything you always wanted to know about striptease.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Go-Betweens: Right Here (2017)
A chronological history of one of the most influential bands to come out of Australia, the Go-Betweens.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
I'm the Most Racist Person I Know (2025)
When a romantic gesture towards a bartender backfires, Lali unexpectedly finds herself offered a pity date by another bartender, Ana. What starts as an awkward encounter turns into a genuine connection as they bond over shared experiences as women of color. As they grow closer, Lali finds herself falling for Ana. But when the conversation takes an unexpected turn, Lali must confront her prejudices towards Ana and... herself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
TRON: Legacy (2010)
Sam Flynn, the tech-savvy and daring son of Kevin Flynn, investigates his father's disappearance and is pulled into The Grid. With the help of a mysterious program named Quorra, Sam quests to stop evil dictator Clu from crossing into the real world.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSunday Girls (2025)
On October 25 1984, an afternoon for three girls takes a thrilling and rather mystical turn after following a peculiar boy into the surrounding forest of their college town.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Caracas Vice Vol. 1 (2017)
Caracas, Venezuela. 1982. Ryan of the DEA and Carlos the PTJ join forces to stop the most dangerous drug lord of the country, Disco Herrera.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
We Are Bleach (TBA)
A multi-awarded 23 minute short film about pansexual punk rockers in a toxic relationship in London’s underground music scene
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Pandora (2025)
When Dory’s bowl of cereal becomes mysteriously empty, she is forced down a path of unexplainable punishment, anxiety, and overbearing manipulation from her mother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Like Papa Bear and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Papa Bear?
The closest matches to Papa Bear are Unsung Hero (2024), Not Quite Hollywood (2008) and Red Dog: True Blue (2016). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Papa Bear?
Start with Unsung Hero (2024), the closest match to Papa Bear.
What is the highest-rated movie like Papa Bear?
Lion (2016), rated 8.0/10 by 7,127 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Papa Bear?
Blue Heron (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Papa Bear?
Yes: Unsung Hero (2024), Not Quite Hollywood (2008) and Red Dog: True Blue (2016).
How are movies similar to Papa Bear chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Papa Bear, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.