Movies like The Hoosier Schoolmaster (1935)
The best movies like The Hoosier Schoolmaster (1935) are Won't Back Down (2012), The Keys of the Kingdom (1944) and Hurry Sundown (1967). If The Hoosier Schoolmaster hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMonster (2023)7.9/10 from 1,002 votes
- NewestOmaha (2025)Released 2025
Won'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 thisThe Keys of the Kingdom (1944)
A young priest, Father Chisholm is sent to China to establish a Catholic parish among the non-Christian Chinese. While his boyhood friend, also a priest, flourishes in his calling as a priest in a more Christian area of the world, Father Chisholm struggles. He encounters hostility, isolation, disease, poverty and a variety of set backs which humble him, but make him more determined than ever to succeed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHurry Sundown (1967)
A ruthless Southern opportunist tries to buy his cousin's land, and when thwarted, brings several tragedies to the lives of his loved ones.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWonderstruck (2017)
The story of a young boy in the Midwest is told simultaneously with a tale about a young girl in New York from fifty years ago as they both seek the same mysterious connection.
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 Browning Version (1994)
Andrew Crocker-Harris is an embittered and disliked teacher of Greek and Latin at a British prep school. After nearly 20 years of service, he is being forced to retire for 'health reasons', and perhaps may not even be given a pension. The boys regard him as a Hitler, with some justification. His unfaithful wife Laura tries to hurt him in any way she can. Andrew must come to terms with his failed life and at least regain his own self-esteem.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlicka (2006)
Katy McLaughlin desires to work on her family's mountainside horse ranch, although her father insists she finish boarding school. Katy finds a mustang in the hills near her ranch. The headstrong 16 year old then sets her mind to tame a mustang and prove to her father she can run the ranch. But when tragedy happens, it will take all the love and strength the family can muster to restore hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisWoodlawn (2015)
Love and unity in a school torn by racism and hate in the 1970s. A gifted high school football player must learn to embrace his talent and his faith as he battles racial tensions on and off the field.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Finds You in Charm (2015)
A young Amish woman, who isn't satisfied with her path at home, visits a cousin for the summer. Over the summer, she is exposed to another world, finds friendship and more. Soon she must choose and come to terms with the life she wants.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Together Now (2020)
An optimistic, talented teen clings to a huge secret: she's homeless and living on a school bus. When tragedy strikes, can she learn to accept a helping hand?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFatima (2020)
In 1917, outside the parish of Fátima, Portugal, a 10-year-old girl and her two younger cousins witness multiple visitations of the Virgin Mary, who tells them that only prayer and suffering will bring an end to World War I. As secularist government officials and Church leaders try to force the children to recant their story, word of the sighting spreads across the country, inspiring religious pilgrims to flock to the site in hopes of witnessing a miracle..
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Bookshop (2017)
Set in a small English town in 1959, a woman decides, against polite but ruthless local opposition, to open a bookshop, a decision which becomes a political minefield.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlue Chips (1994)
Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future are secretly being paid by boosters. This practice is forbidden in the college game, but Pete is desperate and has pressures from all around.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisConrack (1974)
A young, white school teacher is assigned to Yamacraw Island, an isolated fishing community off the coast of South Carolina, populated mostly by poor black families. He finds that the basically illiterate, neglected children there know so little of the world outside their island.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoosiers (1986)
Failed college coach Norman Dale gets a chance at redemption when he is hired to coach a high school basketball team in a tiny Indiana town. After a teacher persuades star player Jimmy Chitwood to quit and focus on his long-neglected studies, Dale struggles to develop a winning team in the face of community criticism for his temper and his unconventional choice of assistant coach: Shooter, a notorious alcoholic.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVanya on 42nd Street (1994)
An uninterrupted rehearsal of Chekhov's 'Uncle Vanya' plays out by a company of actors. The setting: their run-down theater with an unusable stage and crumbling ceiling. The play is shown act by act with the briefest of breaks to move props or for refreshments. The lack of costumes, real props and scenery is soon forgotten.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOutside In (2018)
An ex-con struggling to readjust to life in his small town forms an intense bond with his former high-school teacher.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAngels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Childhood chums Rocky Sullivan and Jerry Connelly grow up on opposite sides of the fence: Rocky matures into a prominent gangster, while Jerry becomes a priest, tending to the needs of his old tenement neighborhood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Christmas Shoes (2002)
Two separate stories mesh - in the first, a young music teacher, Maggie Andrews, begins dying of a heart condition and her son Nathan tries to get a pair of Christmas shoes for her before she dies. In the second, lawyer Robert Layton and his wife Kate are slowly drifting apart and the matter comes to a head during Christmas when Kate takes over for Maggie for the school choir.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMilea (2020)
Years after his teen romance with Milea, a now-adult Dilan tells his version of their love story when a high school reunion brings them back together.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bridge to Terabithia (2007)
Jesse Aarons trained all summer to become the fastest runner in school. So he's very upset when newcomer Leslie Burke outruns him and everyone else. Despite this and other differences including that she's rich, he's poor, she's a city girl, and he's a country boy the two become fast friends. Together they create Terabithia, a land of monsters, trolls, ogres, and giants where they rule as king and queen.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this2:37 (2006)
A contemporary, ensemble drama that tells the complex tale of six high school students whose lives are interwoven with situations that so many of today's youth are faced with. The story takes place during a normal school day. At precisely 2:37, a tragedy will occur affecting the lives of a group of students and their teachers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIce Princess (2005)
With the help of her coach, her mom, and the boy who drives the Zamboni, nothing can stop Casey Carlyle from realizing her dream to be a champion figure skater.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKolumittayi (2016)
Unni and his friends move to the 6th grade after the new academic year begins. He loves his school life mainly because of his crush Riya and feels threatened by the newcomer in his class - Roney. Soon they lock horns and are in competition.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Kidulthood (2006)
A day in the life of a group of troubled 15-year-olds growing up in west London.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMonster (2023)
After an outburst at school involving her son, a concerned single mother demands answers, triggering a sequence of deepening suspicion and turmoil.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisJust Don't Think I'll Cry (1965)
High-school senior Peter considers the adults around him to be hypocritical, self-congratulatory, and immersed in the past. He gets suspended for writing an essay that his teachers consider to be a challenge to the state. Just Don't Think I'll Cry became one of twelve films and film projects-almost an entire year's production-that were banned in 1965-1966 due to their alleged anti-socialist aspects. Although scenes and dialogs were altered and the end was reshot twice, officials condemned this title as "particularly harmful." In 1989, cinematographer Ost restored the original version, and this and most of the other banned films were finally screened in January 1990. Belatedly, they were acclaimed as masterpieces of critical realism.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Elephant (2003)
Several ordinary high school students go through their daily routine as two others prepare for something more malevolent.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSmall Change (1976)
The lives of a motherless young man, who's just starting to find interest in women, and his physically abused, poverty stricken friend, are mixed with more or less innocent childhood experiences and challenges most their age experience.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Hoosier Schoolmaster?
The closest matches to The Hoosier Schoolmaster are Won't Back Down (2012), The Keys of the Kingdom (1944) and Hurry Sundown (1967). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Hoosier Schoolmaster?
Start with Won't Back Down (2012), the closest match to The Hoosier Schoolmaster.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Hoosier Schoolmaster?
Monster (2023), rated 7.9/10 by 1,002 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Hoosier Schoolmaster?
Omaha (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Hoosier Schoolmaster?
Yes: Won't Back Down (2012), The Keys of the Kingdom (1944) and Hurry Sundown (1967).
How are movies similar to The Hoosier Schoolmaster chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Hoosier Schoolmaster, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.