Movies like Murphy's Stroke (1980)
The best movies like Murphy's Stroke (1980) are The Christmas Shoes (2002), Hello Sister, Goodbye Life (2006) and Mansfield Park (2007). If Murphy's Stroke hooked you with its drama and tv movie, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDownton Abbey: The Grand Finale (2025)7.1/10 from 312 votes
- NewestDownton Abbey: The Grand Finale (2025)Released 2025
The 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 thisHello Sister, Goodbye Life (2006)
A college student must take care of her 7-year-old half sister after the death of their parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMansfield Park (2007)
Fanny Price is sent to live with her wealthy relatives, the Bertrams, where she is treated poorly by most except her cousin Edmund. Her life is complicated by the arrival of the worldly Mary and Henry Crawford
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Finds You In Sugarcreek (2014)
Will a mysterious stranger's past wreak havoc on a quiet Amish community after they've opened their doors -- and hearts -- to him and his son?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors (2015)
"Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors" is based on the inspiring true story of living legend Dolly Parton's remarkable upbringing. This once-in-a-lifetime movie special takes place inside the tight-knit Parton family as they struggle to overcome devastating tragedy and discover the healing power of love, faith and a raggedy patchwork coat that helped make Parton who she is today. The film is set in the Tennessee Great Smoky Mountains in 1955. It is neither a biopic nor a musical about Dolly's whole life and performing career, but rather a family-oriented faith-based story about the incidents in her and her family's life around the time she was nine years old.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGirl Fight (2011)
Inspired by a true story, Girl Fight recounts the harrowing story of a 16-year-old, stellar high school student whose life spirals downward when her former friends conspire to upload onto the Internet a shocking video of them beating her up.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJack Irish: Black Tide (2012)
Jack Irish has no shortage of friends, but family members are few and far between. His wife was murdered by an ex-client and his father is a fading photo on the pubs football wall of fame. So when Des Connors, the last link to his dad, calls to ask for help in the matter of a missing son, Jack is more than happy to lend a hand. But sometimes prodigal sons go missing for a reason... As Jack begins to dig, he discovers that Gary Connors was a man with something to hide, and his friends are people with yet darker and even more deadly secrets.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHow Sarah Got Her Wings (2015)
Good Samaritan Sarah Fitzpatrick has a fatal accident just before Christmas, and finds herself in the lobby before the gates of Heaven. Certain that she will be let in, she is shocked to find that her name is not on the reservation list. However, she is granted the chance to return to Earth as an "angel in training" with the requirement to help a soul in need. Sarah has the 12 days before Christmas to secure her place on the list leaving her in the race for her after-life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisFast Girls (2012)
A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Set-Up (1949)
Expecting the usual loss, a boxing manager takes bribes from a betting gangster without telling his fighter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKid Galahad (1962)
After completing military service, Walter Gulick takes a job as a sparring partner at a gym, the owner of which sees potential in Walter as a professional fighter—and takes him under his wing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJohnny O'Clock (1947)
When an employee at an illegal gambling den dies suspiciously, her sister, Nancy, looks into the situation and falls for Johnny O'Clock, a suave partner in the underground casino. Selfish and non-committal by nature, Johnny slowly begins to return Nancy's affection and decides to run away with her, but conflict within his business threatens their plans. As Johnny tries to distance himself from the casino, his shady past comes back to haunt him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Locket (1946)
A dark personal secret drives a young woman to use every man she encounters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInto the West (1992)
Accused of a crime they didn't commit, two city kids and a magical horse are about to become the coolest outlaws ever to ride Into The West.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnuja (2024)
When a brilliant nine-year-old working in a sweatshop gets a chance to attend school, she must make a difficult choice for her and her sister's future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cincinnati Kid (1965)
An up-and-coming poker player tries to prove himself in a high-stakes match against a long-time master of the game.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisZog (2018)
Zog is a keen young dragon who wants to learn to fly, roar, and breathe fire, so he studies at the Dragon School. He is desperate to impress his teacher and win a golden star, but he is prone to accidents and he has to be helped by a kind young girl who patches up his bumps and bruises.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLet It Shine (2012)
A teenage rapper must use his musical talent to help a friend and win the girl of his dreams while overcoming self-doubt and the expectations of his strict religious parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBokurano Winning Run (1993)
A good-natured, but a useless man who loves horse racing and spends all of his family's precious money on it, and a young man who is his lover, who always forgives and accepts him. The love story of these two people is depicted in a gentle and emotional way, filmed on location in the Kansai region.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
You Can't Buy Luck (1937)
When a gambler is accused of murder, the pretty orphanage employee he loves sets out to prove him innocent of the crime.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Killer McCoy (1947)
Tommy McCoy grew up poor and scrappy. As a young man he discovers that he can fight with his powerful right arm. He becomes successful at boxing, however he has an alcoholic father.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (2025)
When Mary finds herself at the center of a public scandal and the family faces financial strife, the entire household grapples with the threat of social disgrace. The Crawleys must embrace change as the staff prepares for a new chapter with the next generation leading Downton Abbey into the future.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSporting Blood (1940)
Myles Vanders feuds with hardnosed stable owner Davis Lockwood. Myles takes revenge by romancing and marrying Lockwood's daughter Linda. But as the big race looms nearer, Myles is distracted to discover that he really loves Linda.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Puppets of Fate (1921)
Gabriel Palombra, a Venetian Punchinello Street show operator decides to move to America leaving his wife, Sorrentina, behind, with a promise to send for her. In the United States, disillusioned, he takes a job as porter in a barbershop, but when he is rewarded for returning a lost pocketbook, manicurist "Babe" Reynolds persuades him to bet on a winning horse. Under her influence he rises to wealth. Meanwhile, Sorrentina arrives in New York and takes work as a flower girl.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
All Square (2018)
A down-on-his-luck bookie befriends an ex-girlfriend’s son and gets the bright idea to take bets on his youth league baseball games; only to realize he’s killed what’s pure about the sport as the games turn ugly when money is on the line.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Cup (2011)
At the heart of this true story is Damien Oliver, a young jockey who loses his only brother in a tragic racing accident, hauntingly reflecting of the way their father died 27 years earlier. After suffering through a series of discouraging defeats, Damien teams with Irish trainer Dermot Weld, and triumphs at the 2002 Melbourne Cup in one of the most thrilling finales in sporting history.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Saratoga (1937)
A horse breeder's granddaughter falls in love with a scheming bookie in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
County Fair (1950)
"Ma" Ryan, who runs a burger stand at the county fair, asks daughter Loretta to put a bet on a horse that Loretta's boyfriend Tommy is riding. Unfortunately, Loretta mistakenly places the bet on the wrong horse. When she discovers her error she tries to get the cashier to exchange the ticket for the horse she wanted, but the cashier refuses. Peter Brennan, standing in back of her in line, buys the ticket for the horse Loretta wants and then exchanges it with her. It turns out that Peter is from a wealthy family that owns racehorses, and Peter is a horse trainer himself. He soon begins to fall for Loretta, and Tommy doesn't like it one bit. Complications ensue.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Murphy's Stroke?
The closest matches to Murphy's Stroke are The Christmas Shoes (2002), Hello Sister, Goodbye Life (2006) and Mansfield Park (2007). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Murphy's Stroke?
Start with The Christmas Shoes (2002), the closest match to Murphy's Stroke.
What is the highest-rated movie like Murphy's Stroke?
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (2025), rated 7.1/10 by 312 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Murphy's Stroke?
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Murphy's Stroke?
Yes: The Christmas Shoes (2002), Hello Sister, Goodbye Life (2006) and Mansfield Park (2007).
How are movies similar to Murphy's Stroke chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Murphy's Stroke, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.