Movies like Tender Mercies (1983)
The best movies like Tender Mercies (1983) are Pure Country (1992), A Cowgirl's Song (2022) and Be Here to Love Me (2004). If Tender Mercies hooked you with its drama and music, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedWalk the Line (2005)7.5/10 from 3,260 votes
- NewestDandelion (2024)Released 2024
Pure Country (1992)
Dusty Chandler is a super star in the country music world, but his shows have the style of a '70s rock concert. One day he takes a walk - out of his overdone concerts to find his real country roots. He's helped and hindered by friends and staff, but pushes on in his search for a real music style as well as a real romance.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Cowgirl's Song (2022)
An aspiring but adrift teen singer goes to live with her grandmother, once a country music legend, but has fallen on hard times after the death of her husband five years earlier. Together, they overcome adversity and find redemption through their love of music.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Be Here to Love Me (2004)
Chronicles the fascinating and often turbulent life of Townes Van Zandt.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music
The Thing Called Love (1993)
A group of newcomers to the country music business seek love and stardom.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGod's Country Song (2023)
An aspiring country singer chasing stardom learns he has a young son he never knew about, forcing him to confront his drinking, fractured family relationships, and the kind of man and father he is meant to become.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Sweet Dreams (1985)
The story of Patsy Cline, the velvet-voiced country music singer who died in a tragic plane crash at the height of her fame.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Ride (2012)
At the end of 1952, with the best years of his career behind him, country music legend Hank Williams hires a local kid to drive him through the Appalachian countryside for a pair of New Years shows in West Virginia and Ohio.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Urban Cowboy (1980)
After moving to Pasadena, Texas, country boy Bud Davis starts hanging around a bar called Gilley's, where he falls in love with Sissy, a cowgirl who believes the sexes are equal. They eventually marry, but their relationship is turbulent due to Bud's traditional view of gender roles. Jealousy over his rival leads to their separation, but Bud attempts to win Sissy back by triumphing at Gilley's mechanical bull-riding competition.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCountry Strong (2010)
Soon after the rising young singer-songwriter Beau Williams gets involved with a fallen, emotionally unstable country star Kelly Canter, the pair embark on a career resurrection tour helmed by her husband/manager James and featuring a beauty queen-turned-singer Chiles Stanton. Between concerts, romantic entanglements and old demons threaten to derail them all.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrazy Heart (2009)
When reporter Jean Craddock interviews Bad Blake—an alcoholic, seen-better-days country music legend—they connect, and the hard-living crooner sees a possible saving grace in a life with Jean and her young son.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCoal Miner's Daughter (1980)
Biography of Loretta Lynn, a country and western singer that came from poverty to fame.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNashville (1975)
The intersecting stories of twenty-four characters—from country star to wannabe to reporter to waitress—and their connection through the music business in Nashville, Tennessee.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHoneysuckle Rose (1980)
Buck Bonham is a country singer on the road caught in a romantic triangle with Dyan Cannon and Amy Irving, the daughter of one of his longtime musical sidekick.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Honkytonk Man (1982)
During the Great Depression, a young boy leaves his family's Oklahoma farm to travel with his country musician uncle who is trying out for the Grand Ole Opry.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWalk the Line (2005)
A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSongwriter (1984)
Doc Jenkins may be one of country music's most beloved stars, but his private life is a wreck. He's split up with his longtime partner, Blackie Buck, a country outlaw with a heart of gold. Doc's singer-wife, Honey Carder, has thrown him out of the house. And now he's gotten involved with a sleazy music manager, Rodeo Rocky, who's out to steal his material. Teaming up with Blackie, Doc takes drastic measures to win back his family and reclaim his songs.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Winter People (1989)
Wayland Jackson, a widower with a young daughter, moves to a small, impoverished mountain village in North Carolina, circa 1934. They are taken in by Collie Wright, a single mother with an illegitimate baby, and she and Wayland soon fall in love. Trouble starts when the identity of her baby's father is revealed.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
8 Seconds (1994)
This film chronicles the life of Lane Frost, 1987 PRCA Bull Riding World Champion, his marriage and his friendships with Tuff Hedeman (three-time World Champion) and Cody Lambert.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Star Is Born (1976)
Has-been singing idol John Norman Howard falls in love with young, up-and-coming songstress Esther Hoffman in Frank Pierson's version of the classic love story updated to the rock and roll era.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)
The lives of two struggling musicians, who happen to be brothers, inevitably change when they team up with a beautiful, up-and-coming singer.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWheeler (2017)
The story of an aspiring musician from Kaufman, Texas who travels to Nashville with the lifelong dream of trying his hand at country music. By embodying the title character under prosthetic make up, actor Stephen Dorff successfully infiltrates Music City and takes his character on an authentic singer / songwriter journey. With the help of key allies on the ground, "Wheeler" converses with real people in real locations, with every musical number performed live. The line between reality and fiction blurs as Wheeler chases his dream in this touching tribute to old school country legends.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Bronco Billy (1980)
An idealistic, modern-day cowboy struggles to keep his Wild West show afloat in the face of hard luck and waning interest.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDandelion (2024)
It follows a singer-songwriter in a downward spiral as she takes a last effort gig at a motorcycle rally in South Dakota where she meets Casey, a guitarist who walked away from his dream long ago.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Bound for Glory (1976)
A biography of Woody Guthrie, one of America's greatest folk singers. He left his dust-devastated Texas home in the 1930s to find work, discovering the suffering and strength of America's working class.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Song (2014)
Aspiring singer-songwriter Jed King struggles to catch a break and escape the long shadow of his father, a country music legend. After reluctantly accepting a gig at a local vineyard harvest festival, Jed is love-struck by the vineyard owner’s daughter, Rose, and a romance quickly blooms. Soon after their wedding, Jed writes Rose “The Song,” which becomes a breakout hit. Thrust into a life of stardom and a world of temptation in the form of fellow performer Shelby Bale, Jed’s life and marriage begin to fall apart.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Rose (1979)
Rock-and-roll singer Mary Rose Foster's romantic relationships and mental health are continuously imperilled by the demands of life on the road.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrossroads (1986)
A wanna-be blues guitar virtuoso seeks a long-lost song by legendary musician, Robert Johnson.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTough Enough (1983)
An aspiring country singer, whose money is disappearing faster than his career opportunities, enters a "Tough Man" amateur boxing contest to earn some cash to pay his bills. Amazingly enough, he wins it, and is picked to go onto the national finals. He's torn between his first love, music, and the glitz, glamor and money of the "Tough Man" world.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
The Idolmaker (1980)
Based on the life of rock promoter/producer Bob Marucci, who discovered, among others, Frankie Avalon and Fabian.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Songcatcher (2001)
After being denied a promotion at the university where she teaches, Doctor Lily Penleric, a brilliant musicologist, impulsively visits her sister, who runs a struggling rural school in Appalachia. There she stumbles upon the discovery of her life - a treasure trove of ancient Scots-Irish ballads, songs that have been handed down from generation to generation, preserved intact by the seclusion of the mountains. With the goal of securing her promotion, Lily ventures into the most isolated areas of the mountains to collect the songs and finds herself increasingly enchanted.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Tender Mercies?
The closest matches to Tender Mercies are Pure Country (1992), A Cowgirl's Song (2022) and Be Here to Love Me (2004). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Tender Mercies?
People who watched Tender Mercies most often go on to Pure Country (1992), A Cowgirl's Song (2022) and Be Here to Love Me (2004).
What is the highest-rated movie like Tender Mercies?
Walk the Line (2005), rated 7.5/10 by 3,260 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Tender Mercies?
Dandelion (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Tender Mercies?
Yes: Pure Country (1992), A Cowgirl's Song (2022) and Be Here to Love Me (2004).
How are movies similar to Tender Mercies chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Tender Mercies, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.