Movies like Is Anybody There? (2009)
The best movies like Is Anybody There? (2009) are Digging to China (1997), Paperhouse (1988) and Mr. Church (2016). If Is Anybody There? hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Father (2020)8.1/10 from 3,847 votes
- NewestThe Unbreakable Boy (2025)Released 2025
Digging to China (1997)
Precocious young Harriet and her older sister Gwen live at their mother's motel in small-town New Hampshire. Harriet dreams of a life beyond her inattentive family and the stultifying town. A mentally disabled man named Ricky comes to stay at the motel, and Harriet finds him kinder and more interesting than anyone she has ever met. After tragedy strikes, Harriet and Ricky cling to each other ever more tightly.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPaperhouse (1988)
A young girl lost in the loneliness and boredom of reality finds solace in an ill boy, whom she can visit in a surreal dream world that she drew in her school composition book.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMr. Church (2016)
A unique friendship develops when a little girl and her dying mother inherit a cook - Mr. Church. What begins as an arrangement that should only last six months, instead spans fifteen years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisArmageddon Time (2022)
In 1980, Queens, New York, a young Jewish boy befriends a rebellious African-American classmate to the disapproval of his privileged family and begins to reckon with growing up in a world of inequality and prejudice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPhoebe in Wonderland (2008)
The fantastical tale of a little girl who won't - or can't - follow the rules. Confounded by her clashes with the rule-obsessed world around her, Phoebe seeks enlightenment from her unconventional drama teacher, even as her brilliant but anguished mother looks to Phoebe herself for inspiration.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMr. Turner (2014)
Eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner lives his last 25 years with gusto and secretly becomes involved with a seaside landlady, while his faithful housekeeper bears an unrequited love for him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Great Escaper (2023)
In the summer of 2014, a World War II veteran sneaks out of his care home to attend the 70th anniversary commemoration of the D-Day landings in Normandy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSeptember (1987)
After a suicide attempt, Lane has moved into her country house to recuperate. Her best friend, Stephanie, has come to join her for the summer. Lane's mother, Diane, has recently arrived with her husband Lloyd, Lane's stepfather. Lane is close to two neighbors: Peter, and Howard. Howard is in love with Lane, Lane is in love with Peter, and Peter is in love with Stephanie.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWWE Royal Rumble 2025 (2025)
Royal Rumble (2025) was the 38th annual Royal Rumble presented by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). The event took place on February 1, 2025 at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFathers and Daughters (2015)
A Pulitzer-winning writer grapples with being a widower and father after a mental breakdown, while, 27 years later, his grown daughter struggles to forge connections of her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIn the Bedroom (2001)
Summertime on the coast of Maine, "In the Bedroom" centers on the inner dynamics of a family in transition. Matt Fowler is a doctor practicing in his native Maine and is married to New York born Ruth Fowler, a music teacher. His son is involved in a love affair with a local single mother. As the beauty of Maine's brief and fleeting summer comes to an end, these characters find themselves in the midst of unimaginable tragedy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGigi & Nate (2022)
A young man with a bright future suffers a near-fatal accident and recreates his new life with the help of an unlikely animal friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMarjorie Prime (2017)
A service which creates holographic projections of late family members allows an elderly woman to spend time with a younger version of her deceased husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYou're Not You (2014)
When an accomplished pianist is diagnosed with the devastating and incurable disease ALS, she hires a directionless young woman who becomes her full-time caregiver. Complete opposites, the strangers form a life-changing bond inspiring each other to live life to fullest, while being brought together by the most challenging of circumstances.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Father (2020)
A man refuses all assistance from his daughter as he ages and, as he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and even the fabric of his reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisA Perfect World (1993)
A kidnapped boy strikes up a friendship with his captor: an escaped convict on the run from the law, headed by an honorable U.S. Marshal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisParadise (1991)
A 10-year-old boy spends a summer in the country with a childless couple and a precocious girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMore Beautiful for Having Been Broken (2020)
Three women’s lives intersect at a lakeside resort and are forever changed by the love of a special needs boy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Sound of Silence (2019)
A successful "house tuner" in New York City, who calibrates the sound in people's homes in order to adjust their moods, meets a client with a problem he can't solve.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Unbreakable Boy (2025)
When Scott and Teresa LeRette learn that their son Austin is both autistic and has brittle bone disease, they initially worry for their son’s future. But with Scott’s growing faith and Austin’s incredible spirit, they become 'unbreakable', finding joy, gratitude, and courage even in the most trying times.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisShane (1953)
A weary gunfighter attempts to settle down with a homestead family, but a smouldering settler and rancher conflict forces him to act.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPirates of Silicon Valley (1999)
The story about the men who made the world of technology what it is today, their struggles during college, the founding of their companies, and the ingenious actions they took to build up the global corporate empires of Apple Computer Inc. and Microsoft Corporation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Kid (1921)
A tramp cares for a boy after he's abandoned as a newborn by his mother. Later the mother has a change of heart and aches to be reunited with her son.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThis Is England (2007)
A story about a troubled boy growing up in England, set in 1983. He comes across a few skinheads on his way home from school, after a fight. They become his new best friends, even like family. Based on experiences of director Shane Meadows.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Vortex (2025)
In 1980 Las Vegas, a Native Paiute cleaning lady enters a slots room at the MGM Grand Casino, setting off a chain of strange and unexplained events. Meanwhile, in-house comic Pete plays shrink to a host of colorful misfits while dodging mobsters and collectors. Struggling with a gambling addiction, he faces a life-altering decision that may determine his fate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Elizabeth Is Missing (2019)
Maud's best friend Elizabeth has disappeared, but as she tries to solve the mystery, dementia threatens to erase all the clues, giving the search a poignant urgency.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisColors of Wind (2018)
Yuri leaves Ryo with mysterious words. Ryo goes to Hokkaido knowing that his doppelganger magician is missing. Ryo realizes Yuri was also the magician’s lover and he learns magic. The story that crosses over two identities, illusion and magic.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Straight Outta Compton (2015)
In 1987, five young men, using brutally honest rhymes and hardcore beats, put their frustration and anger about life in the most dangerous place in America into the most powerful weapon they had: their music. Taking us back to where it all began, Straight Outta Compton tells the true story of how these cultural rebels—armed only with their lyrics, swagger, bravado and raw talent—stood up to the authorities that meant to keep them down and formed the world’s most dangerous group, N.W.A. And as they spoke the truth that no one had before and exposed life in the hood, their voice ignited a social revolution that is still reverberating today.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUnder a Piaya Moon (2024)
In 1980s Bacolod City, a young man aspires to continue the family legacy by winning an inter-city pastry competition with the help of his feuding grandfather and grandmother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Night City (2015)
The disturbed young loner Paul is looking for his place in life in the urban 80s metropolis Night City. When the sleazy city pushes him to the edge, he decides to strike back against the scum. David, a ruthless cop, is on Paul's trail. In the streets of Night City, where the line between morals and mania begin to blur, both antagonists enter collision course.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Is Anybody There? and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Is Anybody There??
The closest matches to Is Anybody There? are Digging to China (1997), Paperhouse (1988) and Mr. Church (2016). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Is Anybody There??
Start with Digging to China (1997), the closest match to Is Anybody There?.
What is the highest-rated movie like Is Anybody There??
The Father (2020), rated 8.1/10 by 3,847 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Is Anybody There??
The Unbreakable Boy (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Is Anybody There??
Yes: Digging to China (1997), Paperhouse (1988) and Mr. Church (2016).
How are movies similar to Is Anybody There? chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Is Anybody There?, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.