Movies like Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia (1984)
The best movies like Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia (1984) are Sound of Christmas (2016), The Christmas Shoes (2002) and Double Teamed! (2002). If Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia 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
- Highest ratedWonder (2017)8.1/10 from 8,466 votes
- NewestBistouri (2026)Released 2026
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDouble Teamed! (2002)
Heather and Heidi play volleyball for their school team, when their family decides that they need to go to a bigger school so that they will have a better chance for scholarships. But at the new school, the twins are discovered by the basketball coach. Inspired by the true story of Heather and Heidi Burge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHomeless 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 thisCheaters (2000)
In the fall of 1994, a teacher at Chicago's run-down Steinmetz High conspires with the school's academic decathlon team to cheat on an academic competition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMarvellous (2014)
Dramatisation of the true story of the life of Neil "Nello" Baldwin. Born with a mild learning disability but without the burden of social embarrassment & how his inexhaustible ability to see the good in any situation overcame any stigma society tried to label him with.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSister Cities (2016)
Based on the internationally-acclaimed play by Colette Freedman, the story of 4 estranged sisters who reunite for their mother’s alleged suicide.
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 thisRay Donovan: The Movie (2022)
A showdown decades in the making brings the Donovan family legacy full circle. As the events that made Ray who he is today finally come to light, the Donovans find themselves drawn back to Boston to face the past. Each of them struggles to overcome their violent upbringing, but destiny dies hard, and only their fierce love for each other keeps them in the fight.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Memory Keeper's Daughter (2008)
During a blizzard in 1964, Dr. David Henry delivers his son Paul with the help of nurse Caroline. But when Henry realizes his wife is also carrying a girl with Down syndrome, he hands the second child over to Caroline without his wife's knowledge. Henry's fateful decision yields grave consequences for his family over the next 20 years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHello 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal (2008)
Based on a true story. Five high school cheerleaders, including the daughter of the school principal, run amok -- and teachers, parents and administrators allow them to get away with a wide range of scandalous behavior. Known as the "Fab Five," the girls disregard school rules, drink alcohol and post suggestive pictures on the Internet. But when the new cheerleading coach attempts to discipline them, her superiors ask her to resign.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisWonder (2017)
The story of August Pullman – a boy with facial differences – who enters fifth grade, attending a mainstream elementary school for the first time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Unbreakable Boy (2025)
When Scott and Teresa LeRette learn that their son Austin is both autistic and has brittle bone disease, they initially worry for their son’s future. But with Scott’s growing faith and Austin’s incredible spirit, they become 'unbreakable', finding joy, gratitude, and courage even in the most trying times.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBridge to Terabithia (2007)
Jesse Aarons trained all summer to become the fastest runner in school. So he's very upset when newcomer Leslie Burke outruns him and everyone else. Despite this and other differences including that she's rich, he's poor, she's a city girl, and he's a country boy the two become fast friends. Together they create Terabithia, a land of monsters, trolls, ogres, and giants where they rule as king and queen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAcross the Tracks (1991)
When Billy returns from reform school he has to attend a different high school at the other side of town. He tries to start with a clean slate but his old rival doesn't make it easy on him and his buddy Louie tries to make him go astray again. His brother Joe, quite the opposite of Billy, is a good runner and determined to win a track scholarship. He suggests Billy to join his school's track team, which pits the two brothers against each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisWon'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 thisOut of My Mind (2024)
Melody Brooks, a sixth grader with cerebral palsy, has a quick wit and a sharp mind, but because she is non-verbal and uses a wheelchair, she is not given the same opportunities as her classmates. When a young educator notices her student's untapped potential and Melody starts to participate in mainstream education, Melody shows that what she has to say is more important than how she says it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPhoebe in Wonderland (2008)
The fantastical tale of a little girl who won't - or can't - follow the rules. Confounded by her clashes with the rule-obsessed world around her, Phoebe seeks enlightenment from her unconventional drama teacher, even as her brilliant but anguished mother looks to Phoebe herself for inspiration.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAn American Girl: McKenna Shoots for the Stars (2012)
A young girl struggles to maintain her school grades while competing as a gymnast.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Better Tomorrow (1986)
A reforming ex-gangster tries to reconcile with his estranged policeman brother, but the ties to his former gang are difficult to break.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNext of Kin (1989)
Truman Gates, a Chicago cop, sets out to find his brother's killer. Meanwhile, another of his brothers, Briar (a hillbilly) decides to find the killer himself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisTomer & Elias (2016)
Coming of age film about Sven, a boy who feels trapped in his own family which only consists of duos. His brother Alex in return tries to keep Sven by his side through the same methods his parents use.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Undertow (2004)
The Munns, father John and sons Chris and Tim, recede to the woods of rural Georgia. Their life together is forever changed with the arrival of Uncle Deel, though the tragedy that follows forces troubled Chris to become a man.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHell's Angels (1930)
As the Great War breaks out in Europe, English brothers Roy and Monte enlist in the Royal Flying Corps to fight for king and country, while their Oxford College friend Karl is ordered back to Germany. As a love triangle develops involving Monte, Roy, and Roy's girlfriend, Helen, the brothers' disparate personalities, and Monte's cowardice in the face of war soon threaten to compromise a top-secret bombing mission over German territory.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Shadow Riders (1982)
After starring in "The Sacketts", Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott team up again but this time as Mac and Dal Traven, in a movie based on a classic Louis L'Amour novel. They are brothers, who meet up at the end of the Civil War fighting on opposite sides. They go home only to find their family in dire need and their sisters and brother kidnapped by ruthless raiders. They set out to rescue their family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGentlemen (2014)
Beaten up, bruised, and scared, a young writer hides in a Stockholm apartment, writing the story of its disappeared inhabitants: the flamboyant and charismatic Morgan brothers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
A-Alike (2003)
"A-Alike" is the story of two brothers from opposite sides of the social spectrum.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Stars on Earth (2007)
Ishaan Awasthi is an eight-year-old whose world is filled with wonders that no one else seems to appreciate. Colours, fish, dogs, and kites don't seem important to the adults, who are much more interested in things like homework, marks, and neatness. Ishaan cannot seem to get anything right in class; he is then sent to boarding school, where his life changes forever.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like this
Like Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia?
The closest matches to Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia are Sound of Christmas (2016), The Christmas Shoes (2002) and Double Teamed! (2002). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia?
Start with Sound of Christmas (2016), the closest match to Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia.
What is the highest-rated movie like Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia?
Wonder (2017), rated 8.1/10 by 8,466 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia?
Bistouri (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia?
Yes: Sound of Christmas (2016), The Christmas Shoes (2002) and Double Teamed! (2002).
How are movies similar to Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.