Movies like Shepherds and Butchers (2017)
The best movies like Shepherds and Butchers (2017) are Who We Are Now (2018), Skin (2019) and Conviction (2010). If Shepherds and Butchers hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAmerican History X (1998)8.3/10 from 13,136 votes
- NewestSirai (2025)Released 2025
Who We Are Now (2018)
Recently released from prison, Beth is working with her public defender to get her son back from her sister, who was awarded legal custody while Beth was incarcerated for ten years. Soon after, Beth forms an unlikely alliance with Jess, an idealistic young protégé of the public defense team, who decides to take on Beth's cause whether she likes it or not.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSkin (2019)
In a small supermarket in a blue collar town, a black man smiles at a 10 year old white boy across the checkout aisle. This innocuous moment sends two gangs into a ruthless war that ends with a shocking backlash.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisConviction (2010)
When Betty Anne Waters' older brother Kenny is arrested for murder and sentenced to life in 1983, Betty Anne, a Massachusetts wife and mother of two, dedicates her life to overturning the murder conviction. Convinced that her brother is innocent, Betty Anne puts herself through high school, college and, finally, law school in an 18 year quest to free Kenny. With the help of best friend Abra Rice, Betty Anne pores through suspicious evidence mounted by small town cop Nancy Taylor, meticulously retracing the steps that led to Kenny's arrest. Belief in her brother - and her quest for the truth - pushes Betty Anne and her team to uncover the facts and utilize DNA evidence with the hope of exonerating Kenny.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Wronged Man (2010)
Janet Gregory, a single mother with a haunting past, is a paralegal struggling to overcome doubts about Calvin Willis, an African-American husband and father wrongfully accused of raping a neighborhood girl. Eventually convinced of his innocence, Janet takes Calvin's pro bono case and wages a dramatic and stormy 22-year battle with the justice system that ultimately redeems an unjustly accused man and cements a life-long friendship.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
The Forgiven (2018)
After the end of Apartheid, Archbishop Desmond Tutu meets with a brutal murderer seeking redemption.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican Son (2019)
Time passes and tension mounts in a Florida police station as an estranged interracial couple awaits news of their missing teenage son.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Trials of Cate McCall (2013)
In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMurder in the First (1995)
A young, inexperienced public defender is assigned to defend an inmate accused of committing murder while behind bars.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRed Dust (2004)
Sarah Barcant, a lawyer in New York City who grew up in South Africa, returns to her childhood dwelling place to intercede for Alex Mpondo, a Black South African politician who was tortured during apartheid.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Hurricane (1999)
The story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOne Angry Juror (2010)
Based on the true story of Sarah Walsh, a tough New Orleans attorney who serves on a murder trial jury and does some investigating of her own.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Dead Man Walking (1995)
A death row inmate turns for spiritual guidance to a local nun in the days leading up to his scheduled execution for the murders of a young couple.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Few Good Men (1992)
When cocky military lawyer Lt. Daniel Kaffee and his co-counsel, Lt. Cmdr. JoAnne Galloway, are assigned to a murder case, they uncover a hazing ritual that could implicate high-ranking officials such as shady Col. Nathan Jessep.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAnimal Factory (2000)
Suburbanite Ron is spoiled, young and not overly worried about the marijuana charges leveled against him. But, after being made out to be a drug dealer, he faces a five-year jail sentence in San Quentin State Prison. Physically frail and unaccustomed to his rough surroundings, Ron is primed to fall victim to sexual predators and bullying guards – that is, until he's befriended by Earl, a veteran inmate who finds meaning in protecting the vulnerable new kid.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClemency (2019)
Years of carrying out death row executions have taken a toll on prison warden Bernadine Williams. As she prepares to execute another inmate, Bernadine must confront the psychological and emotional demons her job creates, ultimately connecting her to the man she is sanctioned to kill.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican Violet (2008)
A young single mother of four living in a small Texas town. Arrested during a drug raid and accused of a crime she didn't commit, Dee goes against the wishes of her mother, Alma, and rejects the plea-bargain that would free her from jail, but brand her as a felon for life. As word begins to spread that similar incidents are occurring in poor communities all across the country, Dee realizes that there are more mothers out there like her, and decides to take a stand against powerful district attorney Calvin Beckett. Now, despite being well aware of District Attorney Beckett's fierce reputation, Dee enlists the aid of ACLU attorney David Cohen and former narcotics officer Sam Conroy in overcoming the seemingly insurmountable obstacles that, if not navigated with the greatest of caution, now threaten to destroy her life. With the custody of her children on the line, one brave mother wages a valiant battle to strike at the very heart of the corrupt Texas justice system.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMudbound (2017)
In the post–World War II South, two families are pitted against a barbaric social hierarchy and an unrelenting landscape as they simultaneously fight the battle at home and the battle abroad.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAn Act of Defiance (2017)
Apartheid is rampant in South Africa, 1963. When ten men are arrested on a farm in Rivonia for conspiring to commit sabotage and violent acts against the repressive S. African government, tenacious lawyer Bram Fisher steps up to the challenge as lead counsel. He soon finds that political leader Nelson Mandela is also on trial. Mandela urges his fellow defendants to plead not guilty and shine light on the systemic corruption against the African people. As the outcome of the trial looks bleak, Mandela gives his famous "I'm Prepared to Die" speech, discussing how the ANC's resistance is justified. But will Mandela's impassioned speech save these men's lives?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Betty and Coretta (2013)
The widows of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and how they carry on as single mothers after the assassination of their husbands.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
American History X (1998)
Derek Vineyard is paroled after serving 3 years in prison for killing two African-American men. Through his brother, Danny Vineyard's narration, we learn that before going to prison, Derek was a skinhead and the leader of a violent white supremacist gang that committed acts of racial crime throughout L.A. and his actions greatly influenced Danny. Reformed and fresh out of prison, Derek severs contact with the gang and becomes determined to keep Danny from going down the same violent path as he did.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSirai (2025)
As he transfers a young convict from prison to court, a police officer learns about the chain of events that led to the young man's conviction for violence.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Belén (2025)
In the conservative northwestern region of Argentina, Julieta finds herself accused of infanticide after a medical emergency. With support from her attorney and women's rights advocates, she fights for justice in a landmark case that could change lives.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLicense to Kill (1986)
A grieving family whose daughter was killed in a car crash with a drunken driver is outraged and frustrated as they encounter the inevitable bureaucratic delays in bringing the case to trial. Once in the courtroom, they are horror-stricken as the young, hard-pressed district attorney seems unable to overcome the technicalities and maneuverings that the driver's attorney uses to keep his client out of jail and still on the streets as a legal driver. When the judge is forced to rule time and again in favor of the defense, it appears that the driver might escape punishment altogether.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisCrown Heights (2017)
When Colin Warner was wrongfully convicted of murder, his best friend Carl King devoted his life to proving his innocence.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEscape from Pretoria (2020)
South Africa, 1978. Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee, two white political activists from the African National Congress imprisoned by the apartheid regime, put a plan in motion to escape from the infamous Pretoria Prison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDisgrace (2008)
Disgrace is the story of a South African professor of English who loses everything: his reputation, his job, his peace of mind, his good looks, his dreams of artistic success, and finally even his ability to protect his cherished daughter. After having an affair with a student, he moves to the Eastern Cape, where he gets caught up in a mess of post-apartheid politics.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMonster (2021)
The story of Steve Harmon, a 17-year-old honor student whose world comes crashing down around him when he is charged with felony murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPapillon (2017)
Henri “Papillon” Charrière, a safecracker from the Parisian underworld, is wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the penal colony of French Guiana, where he forges a strong friendship with Louis Dega, a counterfeiter who needs his protection.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRampage (1987)
Liberal district attorney decides to seek the death penalty for a man who slaughtered a family at Christmastime, then drank their blood. He escapes, though, and starts killing again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSometimes in April (2005)
Two brothers are divided by marriage and fate during the 100 horrifying days of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Shepherds and Butchers?
The closest matches to Shepherds and Butchers are Who We Are Now (2018), Skin (2019) and Conviction (2010). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Shepherds and Butchers?
People who watched Shepherds and Butchers most often go on to Who We Are Now (2018), Skin (2019) and Conviction (2010).
What is the highest-rated movie like Shepherds and Butchers?
American History X (1998), rated 8.3/10 by 13,136 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Shepherds and Butchers?
Sirai (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Shepherds and Butchers?
Yes: Who We Are Now (2018), Skin (2019) and Conviction (2010).
How are movies similar to Shepherds and Butchers chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Shepherds and Butchers, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.