Movies like Sister Stella L. (1984)
The best movies like Sister Stella L. (1984) are Woman of Straw (1964), Kid Galahad (1962) and Bubble (2006). If Sister Stella L. hooked you with its drama and crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBlack Narcissus (1947)7.5/10 from 591 votes
- NewestHere (2024)Released 2024
Woman of Straw (1964)
Anthony Richmond schemes to get the fortune of his tyrannical, wheelchair-using tycoon uncle Charles Richmond by persuading Maria, a nurse he employs, to marry him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKid Galahad (1962)
After completing military service, Walter Gulick takes a job as a sparring partner at a gym, the owner of which sees potential in Walter as a professional fighter—and takes him under his wing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBubble (2006)
Set against the backdrop of a decaying Midwestern town, a murder becomes the focal point of three people who work in a doll factory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
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 thisWaiting for Anya (2020)
During the harrows of WWII, Jo, a young shepherd along with the help of the widow Horcada, helps to smuggle Jewish children across the border from southern France into Spain.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019)
Nancy Drew, a smart high schooler with a penchant for keen observation and deduction, stumbles upon the haunting of a local home. A bit of an outsider struggling to fit into her new surroundings, Nancy and her pals set out to solve the mystery, make new friends, and establish their place in the community
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Rifleman (2023)
A WWII veteran escapes his care home in Northern Ireland and embarks on an arduous but inspirational journey to France to attend the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, finding the courage to face the ghosts of his past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIf These Walls Could Talk (1996)
A powerful, intimate portrait of three women living in the same house during different eras who all face unplanned pregnancies. The vignettes follow a recently widowed nurse struggling to take control of her life in the early 50s, a mother of four balancing raising a family and maintaining a career in the 70s, and a student making a difficult decision with the help of one woman that will change the course of both their lives in the 90s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack Narcissus (1947)
A group of Anglican nuns, led by Sister Clodagh, are sent to a mountain in the Himalayas. The climate in the region is hostile and the nuns are housed in an odd old palace. They work to establish a school and a hospital, but slowly their focus shifts. Sister Ruth falls for a government worker, Mr. Dean, and begins to question her vow of celibacy. As Sister Ruth obsesses over Mr. Dean, Sister Clodagh becomes immersed in her own memories of love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHeaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)
A Roman Catholic nun and a hard-bitten US Marine are stranded together on a Japanese-occupied island in the South Pacific during World War II. Under constant threat of discovery by a ruthless enemy, they hide in a cave and forage for food together. Their forced companionship and the struggle for survival forge a powerful emotional bond between them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Song of Bernadette (1943)
In 1858 Lourdes, France, adolescent peasant Bernadette has a vision of "a beautiful lady" in the Massabielle grotto - the townspeople assume this lady to be the Virgin Mary. Pompous government officials think the girl is insane, doing their best to suppress her and her followers, while the church wants nothing to do with the matter. But as Bernadette attracts wider and wider attention, the phenomenon overtakes everyone in the town, ultimately transforming their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023)
Barney Greenwald, a skeptical lawyer, reluctantly defends an officer of the navy who took control of the Caine from its captain, Lt. Philip Francis Queeg, while caught in a violent sea storm. As the court-martial proceeds, however, Greenwald increasingly questions if it was truly a mutiny or rather the courageous acts of a group of sailors who could not trust their unstable leader.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPoor Cow (1967)
Joy lives a life filled with bad choices. At a young age, she marries and has a child–with an abusive thief who quickly ends up incarcerated. Left alone, she takes up with the guy's mate, another thief, who seems to give her some happiness but who also ends up locked up. She then takes up with a series of seedy types who offer nothing but momentary pleasure–if that.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisErin Brockovich (2000)
A twice-divorced mother of three who sees an injustice, takes on the bad guy and wins -- with a little help from her push-up bra. Erin goes to work for an attorney and comes across medical records describing illnesses clustered in one nearby town. She starts investigating and soon exposes a monumental cover-up.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGood Day, Ramon (2013)
After five failed attempts to go to the United States, 18-year-old Ramón decides to look for a friend’s aunt in Germany, but never finds her. With no papers or money, and without knowing the language, he barely survives living on the street until he meets Ruth, an old retired nurse who doesn’t speak Spanish. Beyond language barriers and prejudices, they discover that solidarity and humanity make life bearable.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHeidi (2005)
Swiss girl Adelheid 'Heidi' is orphaned young. Aunt Detie brings her to grandpa Alp and his wife, who live isolated in the Alps since his murder charge. Heidi soon takes to the wild country, especially accompanying young goatherd Peter. Grandpa refuses to send her to school in the city, but aunt Detie returns and forces him to give in. She's sent to a posh lady in Frankfurt, where she'll be a companion for crippled daughter Clara after school hours.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSunshine State (2002)
A woman and her new husband returns to her hometown roots in coastal northern Florida, and must deal with family, business, and encroaching real estate development.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wings of Eagles (1957)
The story of Frank W. "Spig" Wead - a Navy-flyer turned screenwriter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Bus (2021)
Widower Tom, on the recent passing of his wife Mary, uses his free bus pass to travel the length of Britain from John O'Groats in Caithness to Land's End in Cornwall, their shared birthplace, using only local buses. It's an incident-fuelled nostalgia trip and his encounters with local people make him a media phenomenon. Tom is totally unaware and to his surprise on arrival at Land’s End he’s greeted as a celebrity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHere (2024)
An odyssey through time and memory, centered on a place in New Jersey where—from wilderness, and then, later, from a home—love, loss, struggle, hope and legacy play out between couples and families over generations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad Lieutenant (1992)
While investigating a young nun's rape, a corrupt New York City police detective, with a serious drug and gambling addiction, tries to change his ways and find forgiveness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCorbo (2015)
Montreal, spring 1966. Jean Corbo, 16 years old, born to a Quebec mother and an Italian father, is torn between his two affiliations. After befriending two young far-left activists, he joined the Front de Libération du Québec, an underground radical group. Jean, from then on, marches inexorably towards his destiny.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
The Patriarch (2013)
Andres is a well-liked and respected fisherman who rents out commercial spaces to people in the town market. He seems to have a perfect life, but everything changes when he finds a drug stash floating on the tide.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Lady Caliph (1970)
La Califfa's husband was killed during the strikes so she takes the side of the strikers. Her conflict with the plant owner Doverdo gradually turns into a love relationship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Paul and Michelle (1974)
Taking place approximately three years after the events in Friends, Paul and Michelle follows the family of Paul Harrison and Michelle Latour-Harrison after they have been reunited. Paul has to cope with the difficulties he faces balancing work, college, and trying to maintain their family as well as a new love interest for Michelle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Tiya's Dream (2008)
In Ethiopia, in a small country school, children have a lesson on the Millennium Development Goals. But one of the pupils, Tiya, is distracted, she doesn’t listen. She is staring at the window. Outside, some children are playing rugby... Abderrahmane Sissako's contribution to 8 (2008).
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Diary ng Panget (2014)
A young woman takes a job as a personal maid for a rich young man. The pair do not get along, but soon due to their classmates' games of love, their relationship grows more complicated than before.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisPlus. Minus. (2019)
Told in reverse chronological order, an aspiring drag queen creates a world out of desolated motel rooms with the guy he met online.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Paraiso: Three Stories of Hope (2007)
Three uplifting stories of faith, compassion and courage provide the framework for this inspirational film. First, Jocelyn, a victim of the mudslides in Leyte, finds strength in the face of tragedy; next, a family's adoption of a neglected young boy brings healing; and in the final chapter, widower Rudy Abad decides to build a village in the Philippines in memory of his wife, who died in the Sept. 11 attacks.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Stepmother (1996)
The loving and nurturing Mariel marries Edward after his first wife abandons him and their three children. Mariel strives to win the acceptance and affection of her new stepchildren, even as she tries to define her role in the family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Sister Stella L.?
The closest matches to Sister Stella L. are Woman of Straw (1964), Kid Galahad (1962) and Bubble (2006). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Sister Stella L.?
Start with Woman of Straw (1964), the closest match to Sister Stella L..
What is the highest-rated movie like Sister Stella L.?
Black Narcissus (1947), rated 7.5/10 by 591 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Sister Stella L.?
Here (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Sister Stella L. chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Sister Stella L., then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.