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Movies like The Great Pretender (1991)

The best movies like The Great Pretender (1991) are The Assault (2014), Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors (2015) and Hello Sister, Goodbye Life (2006). If The Great Pretender 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

  1. The Assault (2014)

    After a cheerleader is sexually assaulted by the high school football team, she must overcome her shame and use the evidence gathered from the subsequent social media firestorm to piece together the night that she can't remember in her fight for justice. Based on the true story of the Steubenville, Ohio rape case.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  2. Dolly 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

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  3. Hello 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

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  4. 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

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  5. Seeds of Yesterday (2015)

    The Sheffield family reveal and go through some home truths as their middle child inherits the Foxworth mansion. The family's ghosts looming over, and more tragedies are in store as the curse lives on.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  6. How 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

  7. Girl 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

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  8. An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong (2009)

    A fourth grader and her friends deal with bullying from a more popular girl in their class.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  9. Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980)

    Young Cedric Errol and his widowed mother live in genteel poverty in 1880s Brooklyn after the death of his father. Cedric's grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt, has long ago disowned his son for marrying an American. But after the death of the Earl's remaining son, he decides to accept Cedric as his heir.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  10. Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (2004)

    Redemption tells the story of Stan "Tookie" Williams, founder of the Crips L.A. street gang. Story follows his fall into gang-banging, his prison term, and his work writing children's novels encouraging peace and anti-violence resolutions which earned him multiple Nobel Peace Prize nominations. After exhausting all forms of appeal, Tookie was executed by lethal injection.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  11. Sound of Christmas (2016)

    Lizzie is a young piano teacher working at a music school while trying to save enough money for a Steinway piano. The school is gearing up for their major Christmas fundraiser and she has committed much of her time to plan the event. One afternoon, she meets Brad who takes an interest in her playing and asks if she will teach his uninterested teenage daughter. She begins to break through to the young girl, and sparks begin to fly with Brad, but she is shocked to find out that his interest is not solely in her playing, but in the property that houses the music school. She sets out to save the school and the event, but can she work things out with Brad?

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  12. Christmas in Angel Falls (2017)

    Gabby Messinger, a Guardian Angel who has trouble following the rules and is known for meddling in the love live’s of others, is tasked by the Angel Michael to help the town of Angel Falls find its Christmas spirit again.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  13. Garage Sale Mystery: A Case Of Murder (2017)

    Jenn buys an old reel-to-reel recorder at a garage sale only to find that it includes the sound of a man pleading for his life. When the former owner of the recorder, a retired therapist, is found murdered in a patient’s apartment, Jenn’s investigation leads to other patients whose love lives are more entangled than she was first led to believe.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  14. Miss Marple: They Do It with Mirrors (1992)

    At the insistence of Ruth Van Rydock, an old schoolfriend who is convinced that there is something wrong, Miss Marple agrees to visit 'Stonygates', the country house of Ruth's sister.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  15. Each Dawn I Die (1939)

    A corrupt D.A. with governatorial ambitions is annoyed by an investigative reporter's criticism of his criminal activities and decides to frame the reporter for manslaughter in order to silence him.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  16. Quiz Show (1994)

    Herbert Stempel's transformation into an unexpected television personality unfolds as he secures victory on the cherished American game show, 'Twenty-One.' However, when the show introduces the highly skilled contestant Charles Van Doren to replace Stempel, it compels Stempel to let out his frustrations and call out the show as rigged. Lawyer Richard Goodwin steps in and attempts to uncover the orchestrated deception behind the scenes.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  17. While the City Sleeps (1956)

    Newspaper men compete against each other to find a serial killer dubbed "The Lipstick Killer".

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  18. Reality (2023)

    Augusta, Georgia, United States, June 3, 2017. After running some errands, Reality Winner returns home, where she is approached by two men.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  19. They Made Me a Fugitive (1947)

    After being framed for a policeman's murder, a criminal escapes prison and sets out for revenge.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  20. Won't Back Down (2012)

    Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  21. San Francisco International (1970)

    This pilot for the TV series stars Pernell Roberts as Jim Conrad, who runs an airport, much to the chagrin of his boss, "his way." In this, two plots run - a kid whose parents are splitting up decides to take off in a little red prop plane (and Conrad talks him down), and thieves played by the handsome Tab Hunter and his truly ugly sidekicks try to steal a money shipment. Roberts was replaced by Lloyd Bridges when the show went to series.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  22. Hellinger's Law (1981)

    A flamboyant criminal lawyer named Nick Hellinger takes on the case of a syndicate's accountant (actually a Justice Department agent who has infiltrated the mob) accused of murdering a local TV newscaster.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  23. E.D.N.Y. (2003)

    A supercharged, brilliant prosecutor leads a team of U.S. attorneys in the Eastern District of New York.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  24. Ritual of Evil (1970)

    A psychiatrist investigates the death of one of his patients, a young heiress.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  25. Bates Motel (1987)

    A mentally disturbed man who roomed with the late Norman Bates at a psychiatric facility inherits the infamous Bates Motel after his death and attempts to fix it up as a respectable business.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  26. State Fair (1976)

    Melissa and Jim Bryant live on an Iowa farm with their adult son Chuck, their adult daughter Karen, and their teenage son Wayne, who is a high school sophomore. Wayne is a talented singer and guitarist who dreams of country music stardom. Karen, newly separated from her husband, has recently rejoined the family with her own young son Tommy, who misses his father. This was a pilot film for a proposed television series that was not picked up.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  27. Doctors' Private Lives (1978)

    Two heart surgeons clash over personal issues and medical ethics in a big-city hospital.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  28. Bar Girls (1990)

    Failed series pilot about a pair of mismatched law partners who struggle to stay ahead of their creditors.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  29. Swaroop: Bovine Bliss (2001)

    A comedy pilot for the what could've been the first series starring Indian immigrants in America. Swaroop is a 10 year old kid, smart, resourceful and a good heart. In this episode, next door neighbor "Steve" wins a live cow in a poker game.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style

  30. Sailor Moon (1995)

    When Queen Beryl interrupts the marriage between Sailor Moon and Prince Darien, the Princess Warriors move to Earth to protect the Jewels of Power.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style

Like The Great Pretender and something else?

Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies like The Great Pretender?

The closest matches to The Great Pretender are The Assault (2014), Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors (2015) and Hello Sister, Goodbye Life (2006). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after The Great Pretender?

Start with The Assault (2014), the closest match to The Great Pretender.

What is the highest-rated movie like The Great Pretender?

Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980), rated 7.3/10 by 326 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like The Great Pretender?

Reality (2023) is the most recent release on this list.

Are there English movies like The Great Pretender?

Yes: The Assault (2014), Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors (2015) and Hello Sister, Goodbye Life (2006).

How are movies similar to The Great Pretender chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Great Pretender, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.

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