Movies like Vigil (1984)
The best movies like Vigil (1984) are Holy Lands (2019), What Maisie Knew (2013) and The Parts You Lose (2019). If Vigil hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedTrue Grit (1969)7.3/10 from 902 votes
- NewestThe Dead Don't Hurt (2024)Released 2024
Holy Lands (2019)
When lapsed Jew and former cardiologist Harry suddenly decides to spend his retirement as a pig farmer in Nazareth, Israel, the move deeply shocks his family and his new neighbours. Back in New York, Harry’s ex-wife Monica is trying to manage the lives of their adult children, Annabelle and David, as well as her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat Maisie Knew (2013)
In New York City, six-year-old Maisie is caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle between her self-absorbed parents—an aging rock singer mother and a distracted art dealer father. As both quickly marry new partners to strengthen their legal standing, Maisie is shuttled back and forth in an endless game of emotional point-scoring. Yet amid the chaos and upheaval, Maisie begins to find true comfort and affection in her new step-parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Parts You Lose (2019)
An unlikely friendship unfolds between a young deaf boy, Wesley, and a fugitive criminal who takes refuge in an abandoned barn on the family’s rural North Dakota farm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSkin (2009)
Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisTrue Grit (1969)
The murder of her father sends a teenage tomboy on a mission of 'justice', which involves avenging her father's death. She recruits a tough old marshal, 'Rooster' Cogburn because he has 'true grit', and a reputation of getting the job done.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisFaith Like Potatoes (2006)
Frank Rautenbach leads a strong cast as Angus Buchan, a Zambian farmer of Scottish heritage, who leaves his farm in the midst of political unrest and racially charged land reclaims and travels south with his family to start a better life in KwaZulu Natal,South Africa.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 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 thisAmerican Fable (2017)
When 11-year-old Gitty discovers that her father, Abe, a good and beloved farmer, is holding a wealthy man hostage in their abandoned silo in order to save their suffering farm, she befriends the captive in secret. As the truth unfolds about who he is and what will happen if he escapes, Gitty chooses to confront the thin line between reality and fiction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe House on Carroll Street (1988)
A reporter, fired after refusing to give names to a 1951 House Un-American Activities Committee, takes a part-time job as companion to an old lady. While working she overhears a noisy argument in the neighboring house, being conducted largely in German and involving her HUAC prosecutor. She begins to investigate, enlisting the help of the FBI Agent initially detailed to surveil her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018)
A human child raised by wolves, must face off against a menacing tiger named Shere Khan, as well as his own origins.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWinged Creatures (2009)
A psychotic man opens fire in a diner, murdering numerous people before killing himself. The survivors struggle in different ways following this horrendous event: a doctor doubts his own instincts and elects to use an experimental medical procedure on his wife, while a gambler believes he's on a lucky streak. A waitress begins engaging in promiscuous sex, and a young girl whose father is among the dead gains unexpected fame.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe True Adventures of Wolfboy (2019)
Follows a young boy who runs away from home in the search of his estranged mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMan in the Shadow (1957)
In a modern cow town, the powerful ranch owner’s henchmen kill a ranch hand, prompting the sheriff to investigate despite facing strong opposition. He finds an unlikely ally in the rancher's overprotected daughter, but their quest for justice puts them both in danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCome Sunday (2018)
Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisHurry Sundown (1967)
A ruthless Southern opportunist tries to buy his cousin's land, and when thwarted, brings several tragedies to the lives of his loved ones.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWonderstruck (2017)
The story of a young boy in the Midwest is told simultaneously with a tale about a young girl in New York from fifty years ago as they both seek the same mysterious connection.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dead Don't Hurt (2024)
In the 1860s, fiercely independent French-Canadian Vivienne Le Coudy embarks on a journey with Danish immigrant Holger Olsen, attempting to forge a life together in the dusty town of Elk Flats, Nevada. When Holger decides to go fight for the Union in the burgeoning Civil War, Vivienne must fend for herself, which isn't easy in a town controlled by a corrupt mayor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrows (1969)
A flat broke aging boxer, living on the verge of existence, teams up with the equally desperate people in the city's suburbia to steal, cheat, and even kill for the money.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Wooly Boys (2001)
A sheep rancher's visit to the big city triggers a mischevious adventure with his teenage grandson.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Hunt (2022)
The retired soldier, interested in hunting, lives alone after his daughter leaves home and the death of his wife. He goes out every other day for bird hunting with his old dog. We witness the loneliness and the waiting cycle of the man who does not give the game meat to his dog and does not eat it himself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Mrigaya (1989)
Varunni, a hunter, is summoned to help some villagers capture a man-eating leopard. When he accidentally kills a man, he decides to support the deceased's grieving family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
We Are, Our Mountains (1969)
The tranquility of a remote Armenian mountain community is disrupted when a group of shepherds affected by the pangs of an evening hunger, decide to butcher and barbecue the sheep of another's that have strayed into their herd. An official inquiry by the city police complicates matters, and questions of law, morality and community only seem to lead to further entanglements.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Field (1990)
"Bull" McCabe's family has farmed a field for generations, sacrificing much in the name of the land. When the widow who owns the field decides to sell it in a public auction, McCabe knows that he must own it. While no local dare bid against him, a wealthy American decides he requires the field to build a highway. "Bull" and his son decide they must try to convince the American to let go of his ambition and return home, but the consequences of their plot prove sinister.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWalkabout (1971)
Under the pretense of having a picnic, a geologist takes his teenage daughter and 6-year-old son into the Australian outback and attempts to shoot them. When he fails, he turns the gun on himself, and the two city-bred children must contend with harsh wilderness alone. They are saved by a chance encounter with an Aboriginal boy who shows them how to survive, and in the process underscores the disharmony between nature and modern life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYolngu Boy (2001)
After committing a crime for which he is likely to be jailed, a Yolngu teenager convinces two of his childhood friends to join him on a journey from North East Arnhem Land to Darwin to seek help from a tribal leader.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bloodlust! (1961)
Two couples are on a boating trip when they come across an uncharted island. The four investigate and find themselves in the clutches of Dr. Albert Balleau, whose hobby is hunting both animals and humans… The group tries to escape only to be thwarted by Dr. Balleau and his henchmen.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Savage Harvest (1981)
A family in Africa is besieged by a group of lions, driven to desperation by the drought.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Vigil?
The closest matches to Vigil are Holy Lands (2019), What Maisie Knew (2013) and The Parts You Lose (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Vigil?
Start with Holy Lands (2019), the closest match to Vigil.
What is the highest-rated movie like Vigil?
True Grit (1969), rated 7.3/10 by 902 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Vigil?
The Dead Don't Hurt (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Vigil?
Yes: Holy Lands (2019), What Maisie Knew (2013) and The Parts You Lose (2019).
How are movies similar to Vigil chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Vigil, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.