Movies like African Cowboy (2013)
The best movies like African Cowboy (2013) are Bastard Out of Carolina (1996), Jane Got a Gun (2015) and The Padre (2018). If African Cowboy hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
African Cowboy
Quick picks
- Highest ratedHardball (2001)6.5/10 from 586 votes
- NewestOmaha (2025)Released 2025
Bastard Out of Carolina (1996)
A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJane Got a Gun (2015)
After her outlaw husband returns home shot with eight bullets and barely alive, Jane reluctantly reaches out to an ex-lover who she hasn't seen in over ten years to help her defend her farm when the time comes that her husband's gang eventually tracks him down to finish the job.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Padre (2018)
American retired Judge Randall Nemes and his hired gun, Gaspar, track down a con man posing as a priest in a small Colombian town only to be thrown off-course by a scrappy 16-year-old girl intent on reuniting with her sister in the United States.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe River (1984)
Tom and Mae Garvey are a Tennessee farming couple battling violent floods to save their land. In addition to natural disasters, the Garveys fight to stop a selfish land developer and a local corporation from foreclosing on their farm. While Mae stays at home to care for their children and tend to the crops, Tom finds work as a scab at a steel mill to preserve his family's property.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCardboard Boxer (2016)
Gentle and broken, a homeless man fights others on video for money but soon finds comfort in an unlikely friend and the lost diary of a young girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJungleland (2020)
Stanley manages his boxer brother Lion but when a devastating loss in the ring leaves the pair in debt, an opportunity to recoup the cash leads to a series of misadventures that threaten to break the bond between them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cut (2025)
A retired boxer intends to return to the ring for one last shot at the title, but first he must make the weight. Holed up in a room in Las Vegas with an unscrupulous trainer, he embarks on an intensive and illegal weight-cutting program.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Nest (2020)
Rory is an ambitious entrepreneur who brings his American wife and kids to his native country, England, to explore new business opportunities. After abandoning the sanctuary of their safe American suburban surroundings, the family is plunged into the despair of an archaic '80s Britain and their unaffordable new life in an English manor house threatens to destroy the family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Young One (1960)
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisImperial Dreams (2014)
A 21-year-old reformed gangster's devotion to his family and his future is put to the test when he is released from prison and returns to his old stomping grounds in Watts, Los Angeles.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHardball (2001)
An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.
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 thisI Am Elizabeth Smart (2017)
The story of Elizabeth Smart's kidnapping and captivity, as told from her perspective.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGirl in the Box (2016)
The true story of 20-year-old Colleen Stan, a hitchhiking woman abducted by a young couple and held captive for seven years, during which time she's tortured and forced to live as a slave to her captors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrontera (2014)
After crossing the border illegally for work, Miguel, a hard-working father and devoted husband, finds himself wrongfully accused of murdering a former sheriff’s wife. After learning of his imprisonment, Miguel’s pregnant wife tries to come to his aid and lands in the hands of corrupt coyotes who hold her for ransom. Dissatisfied with the police department’s investigation, the former sheriff tries to uncover the truth about his wife’s death and discovers disturbing evidence that will destroy one family’s future, or tear another’s apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEl Chicano (2019)
A pair of twin brothers from East L.A. choose to live their lives differently and end up on opposite sides of the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEl Gringo (2012)
A man crossing into Mexico with a satchel of $2,000,000—and a bloody past—finds himself under sudden attack in the sleepy town of El Fronteras.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Quick and the Dead (1987)
In 1876 Wyoming, the gun is the only law. And for Duncan and Suzanna McKaskel, newly arrived settlers beset by outlaws, rugged frontiersman Con Vallian is the only hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisResurrecting the Champ (2007)
Up-and-coming sports reporter rescues a homeless man ("Champ") only to discover that he is, in fact, a boxing legend believed to have passed away. What begins as an opportunity to resurrect Champ's story and escape the shadow of his father's success becomes a personal journey as the ambitious reporter reexamines his own life and his relationship with his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAfter-School Special (2011)
A man and a woman have an awkward encounter at an indoor playground.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Paul Pontius (2008)
A "born again" Christian intentionally falls off the wagon in a misguided attempt to reconnect with god.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Waiting (2011)
A story of a determined woman and her journey through life under the backdrop of the various landscapes of Pampanga. She brings with her a wooden casket for her husband, a victim of political killings. The film is a journey in search for truth and personal triumph through the challenges of life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Passenger (2012)
You may look at it like “It is about a woman in a jeepney who keeps on babbling – sharing her ideals and personal issues – as if you are listening to a live commentary and an audio diary at the same time” or “The passenger(s), the driver, the 10 Commandments, the window, the high tech lifestyle and the high tech love life, the rumors, the government, the reality TV shows, Death, the family…”
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Strike (1904)
During a strike, several workers are killed in a confrontation. The wife of one of them kills the factory owner. At her trial, the owner's son asks for mercy, knowing that his father was wrong. Because of that the wife is freed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Down in the Coal Mines (1905)
A father and son are working in a coal mine. An explosion occurs, which kills the son.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
A Father's Honor (1905)
A young woman receives a message, and hurriedly leaves home. But the message was a trick to lure her into a trap, where she is assaulted and killed. When her body is found floating in the river, it is brought to her father. Once he realizes what has been done to his daughter, the father immediately sets out in an effort to extract vengeance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Alone in the Dark (1993)
Tasha Grant, at age 17, goes to a party and gets drunk, not even realizing the potential consequences of her actions. This film introduces the danger of alcohol to youth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Goldfish (2008)
Two couples, in the same room, try to keep it together. The human couple fare differently to the pair of Goldfish in their fish tank. An artful piece exploring choice in life and love. The humour is derived from the wistful musings, in Cantonese, of the male fish and narrator.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Dungeon (1912)
A newly married couple moves into a house. But the bride disappears.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like African Cowboy and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like African Cowboy?
The closest matches to African Cowboy are Bastard Out of Carolina (1996), Jane Got a Gun (2015) and The Padre (2018). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after African Cowboy?
Start with Bastard Out of Carolina (1996), the closest match to African Cowboy.
What is the highest-rated movie like African Cowboy?
Hardball (2001), rated 6.5/10 by 586 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like African Cowboy?
Omaha (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like African Cowboy?
Yes: Bastard Out of Carolina (1996), Jane Got a Gun (2015) and The Padre (2018).
How are movies similar to African Cowboy chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside African Cowboy, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.