Movies like Medicine River (1993)
The best movies like Medicine River (1993) are Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas! (2011), The Late Shift (1996) and Three Wise Men and a Baby (2022). If Medicine River hooked you with its comedy and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedWizards of Waverly Place: Wizard School (2008)9.0/10 from 261 votes
- NewestMy Mother's Wedding (2025)Released 2025
Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas! (2011)
Teddy Duncan's middle-class family embarks on a road trip from their home in Denver to visit Mrs. Duncans Parents, the Blankenhoopers, in Palm Springs. When they find themselves stranded between Denver and Utah, they try to hitch a ride to Las Vegas with a seemingly normal older couple in a station wagon from Roswell, New Mexico. It turns out that the couple believes they are the victims of alien abduction. The Duncan's must resort to purchasing a clunker Yugo to get to Utah, have their luggage stolen in Las Vegas, and survive a zany Christmas with Grandpa and Grandma Blankenhooper.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Late Shift (1996)
David Letterman vies with Jay Leno and his manager to succeed Johnny Carson, retiring from "The Tonight Show."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThree Wise Men and a Baby (2022)
Three brothers get the surprise of their lives when they are forced to work together to care for a baby over the holidays. As they slowly get the hang of things, they find themselves on unexpected journeys of self-discovery and begin to rebuild their relationships as brothers, as well as the damaged romantic and professional relationships in their respective lives…all while rediscovering their love of Christmas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Mother's Wedding (2025)
Three sisters return to their home for the third wedding of their twice-widowed mother. But the mother and daughters are forced to revisit the past and confront the future, with help from a colorful group of unexpected wedding guests.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAfterlife of the Party (2021)
A social butterfly who dies during her birthday week is given a second chance to right her wrongs on Earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWelcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008)
When a celebrated TV show host returns to his hometown in the South, his family is there to remind him that going home is no vacation!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Dinner with Hervé (2018)
An unlikely friendship evolves over one wild night in LA between a struggling journalist and actor Hervé Villechaize, the world's most famous gun-toting dwarf, resulting in life-changing consequences for both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCasper Meets Wendy (1998)
When a warlock threatens Wendy the Good Little Witch, she and her aunts hide out at a resort where Casper the Ghost is vacationing with his uncles. Although Casper and Wendy are told ghosts and witches don't get along, the two are kindred spirits! This spooky family-friendly adventure finds Casper and Wendy bridging the ghost-witch divide to battle the warlock who is intent on destroying Wendy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisPsych: The Movie (2017)
The ambitious friends come together during the holidays after a mystery assailant targets one of their own. A comedic thrill-ride follows, as the wild and unpredictable Psych team pursues the bad guys, justice … and, of course, food!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNormal (2003)
A Midwestern husband and father announces his plan to have a sex change operation.
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 thisOn Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024)
On an empty road in the middle of the night, Shula stumbles across the body of her uncle. As funeral proceedings begin around them, she and her cousins bring to light the buried secrets of their middle-class Zambian family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUnder Wraps (2021)
Three friends try to save their mummified friend, Harold, from greedy criminals by returning him to his resting place before midnight on Halloween.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBest Man Down (2012)
A newlywed couple cancels their honeymoon and returns to the snowy Midwest to make the funeral arrangements for their best man, who died unexpectedly after their ceremony.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Finds You in Charm (2015)
A young Amish woman, who isn't satisfied with her path at home, visits a cousin for the summer. Over the summer, she is exposed to another world, finds friendship and more. Soon she must choose and come to terms with the life she wants.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBaywatch: Hawaiian Wedding (2003)
Mitch Buchannon, believed to have died in a boating accident survived and only has amnesia, he has been recovering in a Los Angeles hospital. His new fiancée, Allison Ford, resembles his old lover, Lt. Stephanie Holden who died years ago.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMickey and Minnie Wish Upon a Christmas (2021)
After a series of mishaps, Mickey, Minnie and the gang are separated all over the world and must try to get back to Hot Dog Hills by Christmas Eve. A mysterious and jolly stranger shows up to tell them about The Wishing Star, which could be the secret to bringing everybody home in time to celebrate together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe 12 Days of Christmas Eve (2022)
When Brian Conway, a successful businessman whose family relationships have suffered, gets in a car accident on Christmas Eve, Santa gives him twelve chances to redo the day and repair the relationships in his life, including with his daughter Michelle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWizards of Waverly Place: Wizard School (2008)
When Alex is caught using magic to clean her room she is forced to go to wizard school with Justin. Max and Jerry camp out on the terrace to prove their manhood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Return of the Native (1994)
Eustacia Vye, an exquisite beauty despairing at her boring life on an English moor, sets up a fateful lovers' triangle when she uses her wiles to entice two men, a dashing suitor and a successful man who made his name abroad and returned to his home on the heath.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Remember the Night (1940)
Unexpected love blossoms when an assistant district attorney agrees to take a recidivist shoplifter home so she doesn't have to spend Christmas alone in jail.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAnte Returns Home (2001)
Ante is a village fella who arrives in Zagreb to study at the faculty of forestry.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
A Sea Dog's Tale (1926)
An island princess falls in love with a young man whose picture she sees in the newspaper. Her father, the king, sends his agents to the U.S. to kidnap the man and bring him back to the islands to marry his daughter. Complications ensue.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The Goodbye Kiss (2006)
Leftist radical-turned-terrorist Giorgio—hiding out in Latin America since the 1970s—turns himself in as soon as the Berlin Wall falls. Wishing to lead a comfortable, bourgeois life in his native Italy, he cuts a deal with a dirty cop, getting his sentence reduced in return for ratting former comrades out. Once released, Giorgio obsessively pursues his dream of becoming an upright citizen, but his old police aquaintance keeps dragging him down...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhen Shadows Dance at Night (2021)
Following her brother's death, Georgia, a young college student, returns home to her reservation only to find she's become the prey of a shapeshifting, faceless figure.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Amazonia: The Catherine Miles Story (1985)
A young woman seeks vengeance and finds love when her parents are killed in the Amazon and she is taken prisoner by an indigenous tribe of headhunters.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAller retour (1978)
The story of a group of people who came to France to the temporary work, their sufferings, persecutions, and a constant struggle for survival.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Angry God (1948)
The god Colima tries to win the love of a beautiful young native, who won't betray the man she loves.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Old Acquaintance (1943)
Two writers, friends since childhood, fight over their books and lives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Medicine River?
The closest matches to Medicine River are Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas! (2011), The Late Shift (1996) and Three Wise Men and a Baby (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Medicine River?
Start with Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas! (2011), the closest match to Medicine River.
What is the highest-rated movie like Medicine River?
Wizards of Waverly Place: Wizard School (2008), rated 9.0/10 by 261 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Medicine River?
My Mother's Wedding (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Medicine River?
Yes: Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas! (2011), The Late Shift (1996) and Three Wise Men and a Baby (2022).
How are movies similar to Medicine River chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Medicine River, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.