Movies like A Fortress (2026)
The best movies like A Fortress (2026) are Bastard Out of Carolina (1996), What Maisie Knew (2013) and Eleanor the Great (2025). If A Fortress hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedUnder the Same Moon (2007)8.0/10 from 378 votes
- NewestYou, Fireworks, and Our Promise (2026)Released 2026
- In SpanishThe King of Havana (2015)Also in Spanish
Bastard 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 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 thisEleanor the Great (2025)
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe King of Havana (2015)
Recently escaped from reformatory, Reinaldo struggles to get by in the streets of Havana in the late 90s, one of the worst decades for Cuban society. Hopes, disillusionment, rum, good humor and above all hunger, accompany him in his wanderings, until he meets Magda and Yunisleidy, survivors like himself. In one or the other's arms, he will try to escape the material and moral misery surrounding him, living love, passion, tenderness and uninhibited sex to the limit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHounddog (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 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 thisSkin (2009)
Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this1 Chance 2 Dance (2014)
When a 17-year old aspiring dancer is uprooted in her high school senior year, she finds herself divided between two boys, and she will have one last shot at making her dream a reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInside I'm Dancing (2004)
Michael is a 24-year-old who has cerebral palsy and long-term resident of the Carrigmore Residential Home for the Disabled, run by the formidable Eileen. His life is transformed when the maverick Rory O'Shea moves in.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLady Driver (2020)
When a rebellious teen embarks on a solo summer journey to connect with her roots, she finds herself in a new world, geared up for the ride of her life, and discovers she had the drive in her all along.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Congress (2013)
An aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job, though the consequences of her decision affect her in ways she didn't consider.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChinas (2023)
In Madrid, Spain, Lucía and Xiang, two nine-year-old Chinese girls, meet at the beginning of the school year.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Mouthful of Air (2021)
Julie is a new mom and children's book author, who escapes into the bright Crayola-colored world of her creation in order to leave behind the darkness caused by her post-partum depression.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoly Lands (2019)
When lapsed Jew and former cardiologist Harry suddenly decides to spend his retirement as a pig farmer in Nazareth, Israel, the move deeply shocks his family and his new neighbours. Back in New York, Harry’s ex-wife Monica is trying to manage the lives of their adult children, Annabelle and David, as well as her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
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 · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisUnder the Same Moon (2007)
Tells the parallel stories of nine-year-old Carlitos and his mother, Rosario. In the hopes of providing a better life for her son, Rosario works illegally in the U.S. while her mother cares for Carlitos back in Mexico.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisTyson's Run (2022)
When fifteen-year-old Tyson attends public school for the first time, his life is changed forever. While helping his father clean up after the football team, Tyson befriends champion marathon runner Aklilu. Never letting his autism hold him back, Tyson becomes determined to run his first marathon in hopes of winning his father's approval. With the help of an unlikely friend and his parents, Tyson learns that with faith in yourself and the courage to take the first step, anything is possible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisPrayers for the Stolen (2021)
Ana and her two best friends, Maria and Paula, navigate life in their oppressive countryside village. Whilst their families struggle in the poppy fields harvesting opium, the girls try to grow alongside the creeping terror of their cartel oppressors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCome Sunday (2018)
Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisYou, Fireworks, and Our Promise (2026)
The coming-of-age romance is set during the Nagaoka Festival Grand Fireworks Show, one of Japan's three major fireworks shows that draws several hundred thousand visitors to Niigata Prefecture every year. What connects Makoto (a Tokyo high school boy without social skills or self-confidence) and Aki (a popular high school girl and class president with beauty and talent) is a drawing of a fireworks display. At the mercy of the drawing's mystery and fate itself, the two have to make a choice in a limited amount of time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bambi (1942)
Bambi's tale unfolds from season to season as the young prince of the forest learns about life, love, and friends.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOff the Road (2013)
Paul, fourteen, neglects his studies to spend all his time on his moped, to the consternation of his parents.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
DRAWN OUT (2025)
On the eve of leaving for college, Randy discovers that the childhood drawings she's long forgotten are not quite ready to let her go. When her imaginary friends come to life, they pull her into a surreal final adventure through her own home, one that forces her to confront buried memories, unresolved guilt, and the fear she's been avoiding. As fantasy and reality collide, Randy must decide whether to run from her past or face it head-on, learning that growing up doesn't mean leaving every part of yourself behind.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Crescendo (TBA)
As the end-of-year concert approaches, Théa, a young student pianist at a conservatory, finds herself losing all her nerve due to her fascination with one of her elders, Cécile.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Homebreaker (2015)
Eelis is skipping classes, mom and dad are on the verge of divorce, sister has yet another boyfriend. The life of a little boy is in its turning point.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
A Green Lighter (TBA)
After a brief but intense relationship with a rootless young man, a quiet woman must confront the unsettling realization that she has lost her sense of self.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Dense on the Sea (2000)
Constant Wegman (Benja Bruijning), a 14 year old boy, raised by his grandmother (Carry Tefsen) in Zeedijk, Amsterdam. She is the owner of a cafe-hotel “De Rode Laars” (“The Red Boots”). The dreaming Constant runs away from this world of drunkards, gamblers, fighters by writing poems. His grandmother wants him to take control of the cafe. Then Constant secretly subscribes to a national poem writing competition: a new Vondel is born!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
One Summer (2025)
„Ein Sommer“ tells the story of a young girl who is afraid to live the life she wishes for. As she gets to know the new girl in town, she reflects on all the things she would have loved to have done and is forced to face her fears.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like A Fortress?
The closest matches to A Fortress are Bastard Out of Carolina (1996), What Maisie Knew (2013) and Eleanor the Great (2025). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after A Fortress?
Start with Bastard Out of Carolina (1996), the closest match to A Fortress.
What is the highest-rated movie like A Fortress?
Under the Same Moon (2007), rated 8.0/10 by 378 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like A Fortress?
You, Fireworks, and Our Promise (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like A Fortress?
Yes: The King of Havana (2015), Chinas (2023) and Under the Same Moon (2007).
How are movies similar to A Fortress chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside A Fortress, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.