Movies like The Sparrows Nesting (2016)
The best movies like The Sparrows Nesting (2016) are My Brother's Keeper (2021), Preacher's Kid (2010) and Higher Ground (2011). If The Sparrows Nesting hooked you with its drama and family, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Wedding Banquet (1993)7.2/10 from 309 votes
- NewestMexicali (2026)Released 2026
My Brother's Keeper (2021)
Returning war veteran SFC Travis Fox has one more battle to fight – PTSD. Following an improvised explosive device attack that killed his best friend and their entire Ranger platoon, Travis returns to his hometown to settle the mysterious affairs of his late parents. In searching for answers, he uncovers a new obstacle and finds support from church counselor Tiffany Robertson. Slowly beginning to rediscover his faith in God, Travis uncovers a secret hidden by his friend Donnie that threatens his newfound faith, restores his guilt, and causes him to consider the unthinkable.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPreacher's Kid (2010)
Longing to experience more of life, twentysomething preacher's daughter Angie strikes out on her own for the very first time and joins a traveling gospel show.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHigher Ground (2011)
Inspired by screenwriter Carolyn S. Briggs' memoir This Dark World, a tight-knit spiritual community is thrown off-kilter when one of their own begins to question her faith, love, and trust - in human relationships as well as in God.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLike Dandelion Dust (2009)
Rip Porter is sentenced to seven years in prison for beating his wife, Wendy. When he is released, he discovers that Wendy gave up their child, and the privileged Campbell family adopted him. The two families are soon in a legal battle for the child they both love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Starling Girl (2023)
17-year-old Jem Starling struggles with her place within her Christian fundamentalist community. But everything changes when her magnetic youth pastor Owen returns to their church.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrom Straight A's to XXX (2017)
When a change of circumstances leaves Miriam unable to pay her college tuition, she makes a surprising decision: to start performing in adult films, using the pseudonym Belle Knox. Miriam lies to her family and her friends at school, keeping her double life a secret. But soon rumours spread and Miriam becomes the subject of vicious online attacks and unwanted attention. Miriam fights back: she talks to the media, saying her new line of work empowers her as a feminist. But her confident stand has unintended consequences. Miriam is shunned by her conservative family and her colleagues in the adult film world. One impulsive decision has quickly spiralled out of control - and Miriam's problems are just beginning.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisHoly 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 thisBastard 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 thisGoodbye June (2025)
Four siblings' lives change drastically when their ailing mother takes a turn for the worse over the holiday season.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGimme Shelter (2013)
After running away from her abusive mother, a streetwise teen seeks refuge with her father, but he rejects her when he learns that she's pregnant.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMexicali (2026)
A former special forces contractor is forced out of retirement as an avocado farmer in Mexico when local gangsters try to force him and his family off their farm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Safety of Objects (2002)
In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuburbia (1984)
When household tensions and a sense of worthlessness overcome Evan, he finds escape when he clings with the orphans of a throw-away society. The runaways hold on to each other like a family until a tragedy tears them apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Miseducation of Cameron Post (2018)
Pennsylvania, 1993. After getting caught with another girl, teenager Cameron Post is sent to a conversion therapy center run by the strict Dr. Lydia Marsh and her brother, Reverend Rick, whose treatment consists in repenting for feeling “same sex attraction.” Cameron befriends fellow sinners Jane and Adam, thus creating a new family to deal with the surrounding intolerance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHellion (2014)
When motocross and heavy metal obsessed, 13-year-old Jacob's delinquent behavior forces CPS to place his little brother Wes with his aunt, Jacob and his emotionally absent father must finally take responsibility for their actions and each other in order to bring Wes home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Enforcer (2022)
A noir thriller set in Miami, the film follows an enforcer who discovers his femme fatale boss has branched out into cyber sex trafficking, putting a young runaway he’s befriended at risk. He sacrifices everything to save the young girl from the deadly organization he’s spent his life building.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMommie Dearest (1981)
Renowned film star Joan Crawford's abuse towards Christina, her adopted daughter, intensifies as her professional and romantic relationships turn sour.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Poker House (2008)
Agnes and her two sisters struggle through a day in a home overrun by gamblers, thieves, and johns.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Killing of Two Lovers (2021)
In a rural Utah town, David, a father of four, grapples with his separation from wife Nikki as she pursues a new relationship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMadame Favre's (2026)
In a nursing home, a young man visits his grandmother. As she constantly repeats that she wants to go home, his grandson visits her now empty apartment, seeking to capture memories of a fading past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & family
102 Not Out (2018)
An unusual love-hate relationship between a 75-year-old son and his 102-year-old father, who wants to break the oldest-man-alive record.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Banger Sisters (2002)
In the late '60s, the self-proclaimed belles of the rock 'n' roll ball, rocked the worlds of every music legend whose pants they could take off -- and they have the pictures to prove it. But it's been more than two decades since the Banger Sisters earned their nickname -- or even laid eyes on each other. Their reunion is the collision of two women's worlds; one who's living in the past, and one who's hiding from it. Together they learn to live in the moment.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisFaith (2019)
A devout Evangelical Christian struggles with his faith and against the insistent pressures from his family and community after a sudden and unexpected tragedy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Unforgettable (2024)
On Christmas Eve, a burglar is tasked with stealing a necklace from an old lady. Nothing is going to go as planned…
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Wait Till Your Mother Gets Home (1983)
An award winning high school football coach finds himself out of work, and switching roles with his wife for the summer when she goes back to work for the first time in 15 years.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family
The Track (1970)
A successful doctor comes into conflict with his friends and family and is slowly driven towards suicide.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Wedding Banquet (1993)
A Taiwanese-American man is happily settled in New York with his American boyfriend. He plans a marriage of convenience to a Chinese woman in order to keep his parents off his back and to get the woman a green card. Chaos follows when his parents arrive in New York for the wedding.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRudy, the Racing Pig (1995)
Flat-dwelling urban family win a pig in a raffle, and decide to keep it. They lose their flat (no pets allowed) but eventually Rudi the pig makes good.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family
Hager (2020)
After his colleague Schweitzer goes missing during a drug raid, undercover cop Till Hager is tasked with tracking down a mysterious new drug called "Abaddon" - a substance which supposedly drags it's users down the deepest depths of hell.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like The Sparrows Nesting and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Sparrows Nesting?
The closest matches to The Sparrows Nesting are My Brother's Keeper (2021), Preacher's Kid (2010) and Higher Ground (2011). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Sparrows Nesting?
Start with My Brother's Keeper (2021), the closest match to The Sparrows Nesting.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Sparrows Nesting?
The Wedding Banquet (1993), rated 7.2/10 by 309 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Sparrows Nesting?
Mexicali (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Sparrows Nesting?
Yes: My Brother's Keeper (2021), Preacher's Kid (2010) and Higher Ground (2011).
How are movies similar to The Sparrows Nesting chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Sparrows Nesting, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.