Movies like The Terrible Mother (1972)
The best movies like The Terrible Mother (1972) are The Neighbors' Window (2019), A Corner in Wheat (1909) and Curfew (2012). If The Terrible Mother hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
The Terrible Mother
Quick picks
- Highest ratedReservoir Dogs (1991)7.5/10 from 222 votes
- NewestEleanor the Great (2025)Released 2025
The Neighbors' Window (2019)
The story of a middle-aged woman with small children whose life is shaken up when two free-spirited twenty-somethings move in across the street.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Corner in Wheat (1909)
On a whim, a greedy tycoon decides to corner the world market in wheat. This doubles the price of bread, forcing grain producers into charity lines and others further into poverty. The film contrasts the differences between the lives of those who work to grow the wheat and the life of the man who dabbles in its sale for profit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCurfew (2012)
At the lowest point of his life, Richie gets a call from his estranged sister asking him to look after his nine-year old niece, Sophia, for a few hours.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAnuja (2024)
When a brilliant nine-year-old working in a sweatshop gets a chance to attend school, she must make a difficult choice for her and her sister's future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Nest (2020)
Rory is an ambitious entrepreneur who brings his American wife and kids to his native country, England, to explore new business opportunities. After abandoning the sanctuary of their safe American suburban surroundings, the family is plunged into the despair of an archaic '80s Britain and their unaffordable new life in an English manor house threatens to destroy the family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 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 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 thisEleanor the Great (2025)
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReservoir Dogs (1991)
Short film made with the help of the Sundance Film Institute and serving as a proof-of-concept for the subsequent feature film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInseparable (2007)
When young dad, Joe, discovers he's dying, drifter Charlie is given a unique opportunity to turn his life around. A story of family, identity and starting again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisThe Girl in the Book (2015)
The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisHands of Stone (2016)
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe River (1984)
Tom and Mae Garvey are a Tennessee farming couple battling violent floods to save their land. In addition to natural disasters, the Garveys fight to stop a selfish land developer and a local corporation from foreclosing on their farm. While Mae stays at home to care for their children and tend to the crops, Tom finds work as a scab at a steel mill to preserve his family's property.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (2004)
The story of golf icon and legend, Bobby Jones, who retired from competition at the tender age of 28.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSunshine State (2002)
A woman and her new husband returns to her hometown roots in coastal northern Florida, and must deal with family, business, and encroaching real estate development.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972)
Middle-aged widow Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her daughters Ruth and Matilda are struggling to survive in a society they barely understand. Beatrice dreams of opening an elegant tea room but does not have the wherewithal to achieve her lofty goal. Epileptic Ruth is a rebellious adolescent, while shy but highly intelligent and idealistic Matilda seeks solace in her pets and school projects, including one designed to show how small amounts of radium affect marigolds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 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 thisJason et les royaumes (2025)
After a suicide attempt, Jason spends the summer with his grandmother, Aimée. Each week, a taxi takes him to his physiotherapy sessions, driven by Agatha. To escape the truth about his accident, Jason invents a new life for himself during the rides, turning the road into an imaginary and romantic escape.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Little Boy (2007)
The second installment of Frank Mosley's Perception Trilogy, inspired by Greek philosopher Plato's quote, "We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." It is an examination of responsibility during the creation of the Atomic bomb during 1945. Shot on a soundstage to invoke the sense of theater, it highlights a moment in time where innocence is lost and only uncertainty lies ahead. Michael Morse is an anonymous man working for an anonymous sector of the Manhattan Project when he gets two phone calls in quick succession: that the atomic bomb has been completed and that his wife has just given birth to their son at the local hospital. What happens next is a fusing of past, present, and future, interweaving in the head of a man doomed to be the messenger of destruction.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Leave (2007)
Billy the Marine's last day home before going back to Iraq. Realizing he may never come back, he tries to make amends with various people in his life. For Billy, the real battle may be on the home front rather than the front lines. LEAVE is an entirely improvised drama that was shot over the course of one day in Arlington, Texas, using both actors and non actors, both family and friends of the director, all from a one page outline. The story ultimately describes the different ways people express their love to one another, and how these ways of communicating love are sometimes lost.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Lions' Den (2007)
A group of old friends are hanging at one of their houses exchanging stories of sexual escapades, awaiting another friend to arrive so they can celebrate a birthday at a nude bar. When one of them is suddenly accused of having masturbated in his friend's bathroom, what starts as a McCarthy-era trial of accusations at one individual suddenly escalates into a night of judgment that tests the truth of their words and the strength of all their friendships. LIONS' DEN is an entirely improvised drama using both actors and non actors shot over the course of an evening, based from a loose outline. It ultimately is a probing of the way men behave with one another. It also emphasizes the way people point the finger at others to hide their own sins and actions. A melting pot of lies, truths, egos, and masculinity that is stirred with documentary-style filmmaking.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Topeka (2010)
A young businessman from New York (Layne Edelman) visits a diner in Topeka while on a business trip through the Midwest. Layne quickly notices something 'unusual' about this diner as he eavesdrops on the townsfolk conversations. When he returns to his table to find his belongings stolen, Layne's 'small town experience' spins mercilessly out of control.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Sally Ride (2021)
A colony trying to regain the suddenly terminated lines of connection to the earth that now threatens their existence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Empty (2020)
A disconnected husband and wife fill the void of their marriage with addictive technology to destructive results.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Wedding Party (2011)
A young couple. A luxurious hotel room. A wedding party.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Ace of Clubs (2021)
Nathan is joined by his daughter Camille by the racetracks. He hopes that by betting on the race, he will be able to afford the school of her dreams...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like The Terrible Mother and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Terrible Mother?
The closest matches to The Terrible Mother are The Neighbors' Window (2019), A Corner in Wheat (1909) and Curfew (2012). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Terrible Mother?
Start with The Neighbors' Window (2019), the closest match to The Terrible Mother.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Terrible Mother?
Reservoir Dogs (1991), rated 7.5/10 by 222 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Terrible Mother?
Eleanor the Great (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Terrible Mother?
Yes: The Neighbors' Window (2019), A Corner in Wheat (1909) and Curfew (2012).
How are movies similar to The Terrible Mother chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Terrible Mother, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.