Movies like Strong Son (2026)

Wish I Was Here (2014)

Aidan Bloom, a struggling actor, father and husband, is 35 years old and still trying to find a purpose for his life. He and his wife are barely getting by financially and Aidan passes his time by fantasizing about being the great futuristic Space-Knight he'd always dreamed he'd be as a little kid. When his ailing father can no longer afford to pay for private school for his two kids and the only available public school is on its last legs, Aidan reluctantly agrees to attempt to home-school them. Through teaching them about life his way, Aidan gradually discovers some of the parts of himself he couldn't find.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy

Ghostlight (2024)

When melancholic construction worker Dan finds himself drifting from his wife and daughter, he discovers community and purpose in a local theater's production of Romeo and Juliet. As the drama onstage starts to mirror his own life, he and his family are forced to confront a personal loss.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama

The World According to Garp (1982)

A struggling young writer finds his life and work dominated by his unfaithful wife and his radical feminist mother, whose best-selling manifesto turns her into a cultural icon.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy

The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (2017)

An estranged family gathers together in New York for an event celebrating the artistic work of their father.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama

Big Time Adolescence (2020)

A seemingly bright and mostly innocent 16-year-old named Mo attempts to navigate high school under the guidance of his best friend Zeke, an unmotivated-yet-charismatic college dropout. Although Zeke genuinely cares about Mo, things start to go awry as he teaches Mo nontraditional life lessons in drug dealing, partying, and dating. Meanwhile, Mo’s well-meaning dad tries to step in and take back the reins of his son’s upbringing.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama

The Confirmation (2016)

A divorced father reconnects with his son when they track down a stolen toolbox over the course of a weekend.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy

A Hole in the Head (1959)

An impractical widower tries to hang onto his Miami hotel and his 12-year-old son.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama

Fatherhood (2021)

A widowed new dad copes with doubts, fears, heartache and dirty diapers as he sets out to raise his daughter on his own. Inspired by a true story.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy

Embattled (2020)

The eldest son of a ruthlessly tough MMA champion must fight his way out of the abusive cycle his father has continued.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Legendary (2010)

A book-smart teenager joins his school's wrestling team as a way to reunite his surviving family members, who split apart after the death of his father, a college wrestling legend, 10 years ago.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Foxcatcher (2014)

The greatest Olympic Wrestling Champion brother team joins Team Foxcatcher led by multimillionaire sponsor John E. du Pont as they train for the 1988 games in Seoul - a union that leads to unlikely circumstances.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Grudge Match (2013)

A pair of aging boxing rivals are coaxed out of retirement to fight one final bout -- 30 years after their last match.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy

Over the Top (1987)

Lincoln Hawk a hard-luck big-rig trucker takes us under the glaring Las Vegas lights for all the boisterous action of the World Armwrestling Championship. Relying on wits and willpower, Hawk tries to rebuild his life by capturing the first-place prize money, and the love of the son he abandoned years earlier into the keeping of his rich, ruthless father-in-law.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

The Rookie (2002)

Jim Morris never made it out of the minor leagues before a shoulder injury ended his pitching career twelve years ago. Now a married-with-children high-school chemistry teacher and baseball coach in Texas, Jim's team makes a deal with him: if they win the district championship, Jim will try out with a major-league organization. The bet proves incentive enough for the team, and they go from worst to first, making it to state for the first time in the history of the school. Jim, forced to live up to his end of the deal, is nearly laughed off the try-out field--until he gets onto the mound, where he confounds the scouts (and himself) by clocking successive 98 mph fastballs, good enough for a minor-league contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Jim's still got a lot of pitches to throw before he makes it to The Show, but with his big-league dreams revived, there's no telling where he could go.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

The Son (2022)

A successful lawyer, with a new wife and infant, agrees to care for his teenage son from a previous marriage after his ex-wife becomes concerned about the boy's wayward behavior.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

The Champ (1931)

A broken-down alcoholic prizefighter struggles to keep custody of his adoring son.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

First Match (2018)

Hardened by years in foster care, a teenage girl from Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood decides that wrestling boys is the only way back to her estranged father.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

The Champ (1979)

Billy used to be a great boxer, but he's settled into a hardscrabble life that revolves around drinking, training horses, and the one bright spot in his existence — his young son, T.J. Although Billy has had custody of T.J. since his wife, Annie, left the family years ago, her return prompts a new struggle for the former fighter. Determined to hold on to his son, Billy gets back into the ring to try and recapture his past success.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Life as a House (2001)

When a man is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he takes custody of his misanthropic teenage son, for whom quality time means getting high, engaging in small-time prostitution, and avoiding his father.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

The Fighter (2010)

Boxer "Irish" Micky Ward's unlikely road to the world light welterweight title. His Rocky-like rise was shepherded by half-brother Dicky, a boxer-turned-trainer who rebounded in life after nearly being KO'd by drugs and crime.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

TJPW club eX: Chapter Pause (2026)

TJPW club eX: Chapter Pause was a professional wrestling event promoted by Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling (TJPW). It was held on February 15, 2026 at Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX in Tokyo, Japan.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy

Slap Shot (1977)

To build up attendance at their games, the management of a struggling minor-league hockey team signs up the Hanson Brothers, three hard-charging players whose job is to demolish the opposition.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama

My Little Sweet Pea (2013)

It isn't easy to find a dream to chase when you're young, but Mugiko has one: she can't wait to become an anime voice actress. Saving up for classes while she works part time in a manga store, she lives with her older, gambler brother after her father's death. When the mother she never knew turns up out of nowhere and moves in, it only causes irritation for the aspiring otaku. But when her mother just as quickly disappears, it leaves Mugiko (or "Sweet Pea") searching for answers, bringing her back to her mother's hometown to discover what happened to her mother's own dream.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama

Touching the Void (2003)

The true story of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates' disastrous and nearly-fatal mountain climb of 6,344m Siula Grande in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

House of Sand and Fog (2003)

Behrani, an Iranian immigrant buys a California bungalow, thinking he can fix it up, sell it again, and make enough money to send his son to college. However, the house is the legal property of former drug addict Kathy. After losing the house in an unfair legal dispute with the county, she is left with nowhere to go. Wanting her house back, she hires a lawyer and befriends a police officer. Neither Kathy nor Behrani have broken the law, so they find themselves involved in a difficult moral dilemma.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

Eddie (1996)

Eddie is a New York limo driver and a fanatical follower of the New York Knicks professional basketball team. The team is struggling with a mediocre record when, in mid-season, "Wild Bill" Burgess, the new owner, as a public relations gimmick, stages an 'honorary coach' contest, which Eddie wins. The fans love it, so "Wild Bill" fires the coach and hires her. She takes the bunch of overpaid prima

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy

El Peor Mejor Día (2025)

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

The Next Karate Kid (1994)

Mr. Miyagi decides to take Julie, a troubled teenager, under his wing after he learns that she blames herself for her parents' demise and struggles to adjust with her grandmother and fellow pupils.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

Isolated (2013)

Five world class surfers travel to New Guinea in search of undiscovered waves, but end up discovering so much more.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

The Vengeance of Ursus (1961)

The evil King Zagro has designs on the beautiful Princess Sira. He wants to marry her so he can take over her kingdom and add it to his own. When Sira is kidnapped, Ursus leaves his farm to rescue her and to eventually lead a revolt against King Zagro.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama