Movies like Cactus River (2012)
The best movies like Cactus River (2012) are About Schmidt (2002), Anna and the King of Siam (1946) and Mother of the Bride (2024). If Cactus River hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBig Fish (2003)7.7/10 from 8,040 votes
- NewestA Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025)Released 2025
About Schmidt (2002)
A recently retired man embarks on a journey to his estranged daughter's wedding, only to discover more about himself and life than he ever expected.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnna and the King of Siam (1946)
In 1862, a young Englishwoman becomes royal tutor in Siam and befriends the King.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMother of the Bride (2024)
Lana's daughter Emma returns from abroad and drops a bombshell: she's getting married. In Thailand. In a month! Things only get worse when Lana learns that the man who captured Emma's heart is the son of the man who broke hers years ago.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisTicket to Paradise (2022)
Divorced couple Georgia and David find themselves on a shared mission: they team up and travel to Bali to stop their daughter Lily from making the same mistake they once made 25 years ago.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeast (2022)
A recently widowed man and his two teenage daughters travel to a game reserve in South Africa. However, their journey of healing soon turns into a fight for survival when a bloodthirsty lion starts to stalk them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Mother's Wedding (2025)
Three sisters return to their home for the third wedding of their twice-widowed mother. But the mother and daughters are forced to revisit the past and confront the future, with help from a colorful group of unexpected wedding guests.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAna (2020)
Ana meets Rafa in a chance encounter and they embark on a road trip to try and save him from bankruptcy, or worse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFather of the Bride (2022)
A father comes to grips with his daughter’s upcoming wedding through the prism of multiple relationships within a big, sprawling Cuban-American family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025)
Sarah and David are single strangers who meet at a mutual friend’s wedding and soon, through a surprising twist of fate, find themselves on a funny, fantastical, sweeping adventure together where they get to re-live important moments from their respective pasts, illuminating how they got to where they are in the present... and possibly getting a chance to alter their futures.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Yabba-Dabba Do! (1993)
A grown-up Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm decide to get married.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe King and I (1956)
Widowed Welsh mother Anna Leonowens becomes a governess and English tutor to the wives and many children of the stubborn King Mongkut of Siam. Anna and the King have a clash of personalities as she works to teach the royal family about the English language, customs and etiquette, and rushes to prepare a party for a group of European diplomats who must change their opinions about the King.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPuppy Love (2023)
After a disastrous first date, wild-child Nicole and socially-anxious Max vow to lose each other’s numbers until they learn that their dogs found a love match, and now puppies are on the way! The hilariously mismatched Nicole and Max are forced to become responsible co-parents, but may end up finding love themselves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDrinking Buddies (2013)
Weekend trips, office parties, late night conversations, drinking on the job, marriage pressure, biological clocks, holding eye contact a second too long… you know what makes the line between “friends” and “more than friends” really blurry? Beer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJane Eyre (2011)
After a bleak childhood, Jane Eyre goes out into the world to become a governess. As she lives happily in her new position at Thornfield Hall, she meets the dark, cold, and abrupt master of the house, Edward Rochester. Jane and her employer grow close in friendship and she soon finds herself falling in love with him. Happiness seems to have found Jane at last, but could Rochester's terrible secret be about to destroy it forever?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBig Fish (2003)
Throughout his life Edward Bloom has always been a man of big appetites, enormous passions and tall tales. In his later years, he remains a huge mystery to his son, William. Now, to get to know the real man, Will begins piecing together a true picture of his father from flashbacks of his amazing adventures.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFriend Zone (2019)
A woman decides to try moving her best guy friend out of the friend zone. Will the result be happiness – or a disappointing end to their friendship?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCoyote Ugly (2000)
Graced with a velvet voice, 21-year-old Violet Sanford heads to New York to pursue her dream of becoming a songwriter only to find her aspirations sidelined by the accolades and notoriety she receives at her "day" job as a barmaid at Coyote Ugly. The "Coyotes" as they are affectionately called tantalize customers and the media alike with their outrageous antics, making Coyote Ugly the watering hole for guys on the prowl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTwo for the Road (1967)
Architect Mark Wallace and his wife, Joanna, travel to France to meet with an affluent client. While there, they reflect on their first decade of marriage -- memories of when they first met, of courtship, and of road trips through the French countryside. As flirtation and playful quarreling turn to boredom with the banality of married life, the Wallaces struggle to rekindle their passion, while mutual infidelity threatens to tear them apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Station Agent (2003)
When his only friend dies, a man born with dwarfism moves to rural New Jersey to live a life of solitude, only to meet a chatty hot dog vendor and a woman dealing with her own personal loss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain (1995)
When an English cartographer arrives in Wales to tell the residents of the Welsh village of Ffynnon Garw that their 'mountain' is only a hill, the offended community sets out to remedy the situation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like Cactus River and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Cactus River?
The closest matches to Cactus River are About Schmidt (2002), Anna and the King of Siam (1946) and Mother of the Bride (2024). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Cactus River?
Start with About Schmidt (2002), the closest match to Cactus River.
What is the highest-rated movie like Cactus River?
Big Fish (2003), rated 7.7/10 by 8,040 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Cactus River?
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Cactus River chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Cactus River, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.