Movies like Orphan of the Past (2012)
The best movies like Orphan of the Past (2012) are Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story (2003), Girl in the Box (2016) and I Am Elizabeth Smart (2017). If Orphan of the Past hooked you with its drama and tv movie, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Orphan of the Past
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPalmer (2021)8.1/10 from 2,030 votes
- NewestWasteman (2026)Released 2026
Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story (2003)
Based on a true story. Liz Murray is a young girl who is taken care of by her loving, but drug-addicted parents. Liz becomes homeless at 15 and after a tragedy comes upon her, she begins her work to finish high school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGirl in the Box (2016)
The true story of 20-year-old Colleen Stan, a hitchhiking woman abducted by a young couple and held captive for seven years, during which time she's tortured and forced to live as a slave to her captors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Am Elizabeth Smart (2017)
The story of Elizabeth Smart's kidnapping and captivity, as told from her perspective.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStuart: A Life Backwards (2007)
Story about the remarkable friendship between a reclusive writer and illustrator and a chaotic homeless man, whom he gets to know during a campaign to release two charity workers from prison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (1996)
A dramatization of the life of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (Don Cheadle), with a lot of factual based occurrences. A reformed junkie returns from prison to clean up his act and devote the rest of his life to the young kids of Harlem. 1996 was the 25th anniversary of the first tournament named after him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisPassion Fish (1992)
After an accident leaves her a paraplegic, a former soap opera star struggles to recover both emotionally and mentally, until she meets her newest nurse, who has struggles of her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPalmer (2021)
After 12 years in prison, former high school football star Eddie Palmer returns home to put his life back together—and forms an unlikely bond with Sam, an outcast boy from a troubled home. But Eddie's past threatens to ruin his new life and family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisWasteman (2026)
Taylor's hopes for a fresh start post-parole are jeopardised by cellmate Dee's arrival. As Dee takes Taylor under his wing, a vicious attack tests their bond, forcing Taylor to choose between protecting Dee and his own chances at freedom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKiller: A Journal of Murder (1996)
Carl Panzram is sent to Leavenworth Prison for burglary. While there, he is brutally beaten by a guard. Neophyte guard Henry Lesser feels sympathy for Panzram, befriends him, and gets him to write his life story. Lesser learns that Panzram's past is much more violent than he thought, but also that he's capable of being a much better person than the rest of the prison staff believes - or so Lesser thinks.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisReturn to Sender (2015)
A nurse mistakes a stranger who pays her a visit for her blind date and soon, the man rapes her and turns her life upside down. The woman works to reclaim her life and exact revenge on her assailant after he's paroled from prison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
When illegal card dealer and recovering heroin addict Frankie Machine gets out of prison, he decides to straighten up. Armed with nothing but an old drum set, Frankie tries to get honest work as a drummer. But when his former employer and his old drug dealer re-enter his life, Frankie finds it hard to stay clean and eventually finds himself succumbing to his old habits.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKill for Me (2013)
Rent’s a bitch. And that is why, six months after her best friend went missing, Amanda finally gives in to getting another roommate, Hailey. The two college students turn out to have something in common, however: abusive men. For Hailey, it’s her dad. For Amanda, it’s a stalkery ex-boyfriend. But problems can be solved and, you know, you scratch my back, I scratch yours. In other words, Kill for Me, I kill for you.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThree on a Match (1932)
Although Vivian Revere is seemingly the most successful of a trio of reunited schoolmates, she throws it away by descending into a life of debauchery and drugs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWoman of Straw (1964)
Anthony Richmond schemes to get the fortune of his tyrannical, wheelchair-using tycoon uncle Charles Richmond by persuading Maria, a nurse he employs, to marry him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat Doesn't Kill You (2008)
Two childhood friends from South Boston turn to crime as a way to get by, ultimately causing a strain in their personal lives and their friendship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Day and a Night (2020)
While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Neighbor (2022)
A nightmarish evening unfolds for neighbors David and Robert when they accidentally hit a woman on her bike and flee the scene. While David is increasingly plagued by feelings of guilt, Robert shows no remorse and becomes overbearing and possessive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFaster (2010)
After 10 years in prison, Driver is now a free man with a single focus - hunting down the people responsible for brutally murdering his brother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Unforgivable (2021)
A woman is released from prison after serving a sentence for a violent crime and re-enters a society that refuses to forgive her past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBesondere Schwere der Schuld (2014)
Joseph Komalschek was sentenced to 30 years in prison for cruelly murdering a young mother and her newborn baby. He never confessed his crimes and the bodies could not be found. After being released from prison, he returns to his hometown. People there treat him with distrust and disdain.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Men of War (1994)
Nick Gunar is a burnt-out, jaded and hard-up former mercenary who is having a difficult time adjusting to civilian life. At the end of his rope, he is hired by the Nitro Mine Corporation to strong-arm the natives of a South China Sea island into giving up their rights to its valuable mineral resources. Nick loathes the thought of another mission, but this seemingly easy job will earn him enough money to get back with his estranged family. He recruits some of his former mercenary buddies to help him with the job. The island people refuse to give up their land and Nick decides to help them fight the greedy corporation that hired him. As greed and treachery begin to unravel, Nick's band of mercenaries choose sides.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisFast Company (1979)
After his sponsor replaces him with his archrival, a race-car driver decides to steal the car and race it himself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisHamlet (1985)
Hamlet suspects his uncle has murdered his father to claim the throne of Denmark and the hand of Hamlet's mother, but the prince cannot decide whether or not he should take vengeance. Direct television broadcast from Kino Helsinki. Students from Theatre Academy Helsinki working under director Jouko Turkka.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
A Delicate Balance (1973)
In their finely appointed Connecticut home, Agnes and Tobias have grown used to the imperfection and fragility of their marriage. Quietly nursing their grief over the death of their son, they get by well enough together. Agnes' boozy sister wanders in and out, and they allow anxiety-stricken friends to move into an upstairs room. But, when their daughter, Julia, shows up announcing her fourth divorce, long-repressed emotions come to the surface.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Midnight (TBA)
An egotistical young man must face consequences after his dark past makes a resurgence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Happily Ever After (1974)
A woman takes revenge on the three college men who abused her a decade earlier.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Fight for Your Life (1977)
A minister dispenses justice on three convicts who take his family hostage.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisStripped Naked (2009)
When exotic dancer Cassie happens upon a drug deal gone bad, she steals the money and the drugs thinking she now has the funds to make her dream of moving to Paris come true. But waiting three days to get her passport proves tougher than she thought when everyone she knows from her ex-boyfriend, to her drug addict boss, to her lesbian lover, to the rightful owner of the money decides to get in on the action.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Withnail & I (1987)
Two out-of-work actors -- the anxious, luckless Marwood and his acerbic, alcoholic friend, Withnail -- spend their days drifting between their squalid flat, the unemployment office and the pub. When they take a holiday "by mistake" at the country house of Withnail's flamboyantly gay uncle, Monty, they encounter the unpleasant side of the English countryside: tedium, terrifying locals and torrential rain.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Orphan of the Past?
The closest matches to Orphan of the Past are Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story (2003), Girl in the Box (2016) and I Am Elizabeth Smart (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Orphan of the Past?
Start with Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story (2003), the closest match to Orphan of the Past.
What is the highest-rated movie like Orphan of the Past?
Palmer (2021), rated 8.1/10 by 2,030 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Orphan of the Past?
Wasteman (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Orphan of the Past chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Orphan of the Past, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.