Movies like The Pugilist's Son (2013)
The best movies like The Pugilist's Son (2013) are Skater Girl (2021), I Believe (2019) and Where the Red Fern Grows (2003). If The Pugilist's Son hooked you with its drama and family, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
The Pugilist's Son
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBeast (2026)7.5/10 from 227 votes
- NewestBeast (2026)Released 2026
Skater Girl (2021)
Prerna, a teenager growing up in rural India, comes of age when she’s introduced to the sport of skateboarding. As a result, she has to fight the odds to follow her dreams and compete in the national championship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Believe (2019)
A 9 year old boy experiences God's power in a supernatural way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhere the Red Fern Grows (2003)
Set in the Ozark Mountains during the Great Depression, Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for 2 years to achieve his dream of buying two coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in God as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with "Old Dan" and "Little Ann."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhere the Red Fern Grows (1974)
Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for two years to achieve his dream of buying two red-bone coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in life as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with his dogs, Old Dan and Little Ann.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMoondance Alexander (2007)
Curiously named teen Moondance Alexander lives with her eccentric mother, and is faced with another uneventful summer until she discovers a lost pinto pony named Checkers. Although Moondance returns the horse to his rightful owner, the gruff and mysterious Dante Longpre, she is convinced that Checkers is a champion jumper in disguise and is determined to help him realize his full potential.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLittle Lord Fauntleroy (1980)
Young Cedric Errol and his widowed mother live in genteel poverty in 1880s Brooklyn after the death of his father. Cedric's grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt, has long ago disowned his son for marrying an American. But after the death of the Earl's remaining son, he decides to accept Cedric as his heir.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Second Chance: Rivals! (2019)
As Maddy takes on coaching a team of young twelve-year-old gymnasts, she faces up to intense city versus country rivalry, racism, cyberbullying and her own self-doubt but eventually takes the challenge head on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGreyfriars Bobby (1961)
In Scotland 1865, An old shepherd and his little Skye terrier go to Edinburgh. But when the shepherd dies of pneumonia, the dog remains faithful to his master, refuses to be adopted by anyone, and takes to sleeping on his master's grave in the Greyfriars kirkyard, despite a caretaker with a "no dogs" rule. And when Bobby is taken up for being unlicensed, it's up to the children of Edinburgh and the Lord Provost to decide what's to be done.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAngels in the Snow (2015)
The affluent, yet troubled Montgomery family hits the road for a special Christmas in the mountains.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Stray (2017)
A young father takes his nine year old son, the family dog, and two of his son's friends backpacking in the mountains of Colorado only for all five of them to be struck by lightning.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAn American Girl: McKenna Shoots for the Stars (2012)
A young girl struggles to maintain her school grades while competing as a gymnast.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Second Chance (2011)
A young girl and her coach overcome adversity to make their way into the National Australian Gymnastics Squad.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlicka: Country Pride (2012)
Flicka and Toby help out a struggling stable owner and her teenage daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEmbattled (2020)
The eldest son of a ruthlessly tough MMA champion must fight his way out of the abusive cycle his father has continued.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Am David (2003)
A 12-year-old boy manages to flee a Communist concentration camp on his own, through sheer will and determination. All he has in his possession is a loaf of bread, a letter to deliver to someone in Denmark, and a compass to help get him there.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTalhotBlond (2012)
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Truth About Emanuel (2013)
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRemember (2015)
With the aid of a fellow Auschwitz survivor and a hand-written letter, an elderly man with dementia goes in search of the person responsible for the death of his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeast (2026)
MMA legend Patton James, now a commercial fisherman, is pulled back into the cage when his brother is in danger. Reuniting with his old coach Sammy, he commits to one final fight in one championship against the brutal champion Xavier Grau.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAssassins... (1992)
Tonight, young Max is learning how to be an assassin...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Deep Down (2014)
Deep Down redraws a descent into hell of a stripper called America, lost in the very depths of the U.S, taken away by a devastating love-story.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Catarina and the others (2011)
Outside, the first sun rays break the dawn. Sixteen years old Catarina can't fall asleep. Inconsequently, in the big city adults are moved by desire... Catarina found she is HIV positive. She wants to drag everyone else along.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisEvermore (2013)
A single mother who buries herself in work and a grandfather who hides in his own little world. The imaginative machinations of an eight year old girl may mean salvation for this family darkened by loss.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Footsy (1996)
Filmed on Super-8, Footsy is César Velasco Broca's first short, in which he explores the fetishistic obsessions of a socially repressed man.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Maquetas (2009)
The testimonies of three forgotten victims whose lives have changed due to a common tragedy. A tragedy of unimaginable dimensions.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Don Pepe Popi (2012)
The Venga Monjas face a terrible creative challenge: to make a video in honor of a woman's deceased daughter. They only have a character the girl had drawn and the name Don Pepe Popi to begin with.
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 Perfect Human (1968)
An elegant and humorous film—in the guise of a serious anthropological treatise—spotlights "The Perfect Human," a model of the modern Dane created by our wishful thinking.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Pugilist's Son?
The closest matches to The Pugilist's Son are Skater Girl (2021), I Believe (2019) and Where the Red Fern Grows (2003). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Pugilist's Son?
Start with Skater Girl (2021), the closest match to The Pugilist's Son.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Pugilist's Son?
Beast (2026), rated 7.5/10 by 227 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Pugilist's Son?
Beast (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Pugilist's Son?
Yes: Skater Girl (2021), I Believe (2019) and Where the Red Fern Grows (2003).
How are movies similar to The Pugilist's Son chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Pugilist's Son, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.