Movies like The Boy in the Picture (2016)
The best movies like The Boy in the Picture (2016) are Adventures in Public School (2018), Clika (2026) and Coda (2020). If The Boy in the Picture hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
The Boy in the Picture
Quick picks
- Highest ratedRoom (2015)8.0/10 from 9,945 votes
- NewestClika (2026)Released 2026
Adventures in Public School (2018)
A socially-awkward, home-schooled kid forces his way into public school against his suffocating, but loving, mother's wishes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClika (2026)
Aspiring small-town musician Chito is determined to make it big. When a clip of him performing one of his songs goes viral, he seizes the opportunity and pushes to carve out a place for himself in the new wave of Mexican-American music... and ultimately gets caught in a game more dangerous than anticipated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCoda (2020)
A famous pianist at the twilight of his career meets a free-spirited music critic who soon becomes his rock as his mental state deteriorates.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe True Adventures of Wolfboy (2019)
Follows a young boy who runs away from home in the search of his estranged mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisEradication (2022)
When an unknown disease wipes out most of the world’s population, a man with unique blood is isolated for study. Fearing for his wife’s safety, he breaks his quarantine – into a world overrun by monstrous Infected and a shadowy agency hunting them down.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDriving Lessons (2006)
A shy teenage boy trying to escape the influence of his domineering mother, has his world changed when he begins to work for a retired actress.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMuch Ado About Nothing (2013)
A modern retelling of Shakespeare's classic comedy about two pairs of lovers with different takes on romance and a way with words.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad Sister (2015)
As a top student at St. Adeline's Catholic Boarding School, Zoe senses that something is not quite right about the school's new nun-- a sense proven to be true when it is revealed the "good' nun is an imposter with a fatal attraction to Zoe's brother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVicious (2025)
When Polly receives a mysterious box, it comes with one rule: place inside something she needs, something she hates, and something she loves. If she doesn’t obey, it will consume everything—and everyone—she’s ever known.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEddie Izzard: Definite Article (1996)
Eddie arrives on stage through a huge book which opens to reveal herself sitting at the top of a staircase. Then discusses Caesar dog food, 24 hour garages, Latin, and winds her way through James Bond gadgets, Einstein and Pavlov.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisOh, Ramona! (2019)
Oh, Ramona! seeks the transformation of Andrew from a teenager into an adult who lives candidly and selflessly his first love story, innocent and uninvolved, alternating with the second, intense and insane story, incapable of making a choice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisOtherhood (2019)
Feeling forgotten on Mother's Day, three best friends leave the suburbs and drive to New York City to surprise their adult sons.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Possessed (2021)
A man with the ability to exorcise demons fights to protect his loved ones after a sudden surge in demonic possessions. After discovering his nephew's girlfriend has the same supernatural gift, they join forces for the ultimate confrontation. Inspired by actual events.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRocks (2020)
15-year-old Rocks fears that she and her little brother Emmanuel will be taken into care and forced apart if anyone finds out that their mother has left them. Against all odds, and with the help of her loyal friends, she evades the authorities and navigates the most defining days of her young life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat Maisie Knew (2013)
In New York City, six-year-old Maisie is caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle between her self-absorbed parents—an aging rock singer mother and a distracted art dealer father. As both quickly marry new partners to strengthen their legal standing, Maisie is shuttled back and forth in an endless game of emotional point-scoring. Yet amid the chaos and upheaval, Maisie begins to find true comfort and affection in her new step-parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Young One (1960)
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYou're a Big Boy Now (1966)
Naive library clerk Bernard Chanticleer moves out of his parents’ home and into a chaotic city full of eccentric landlords, meddling parents, and romantic missteps. Infatuated with a glamorous but manipulative go-go dancer, he learns through heartbreak—and the kindness of a steadfast admirer—what growing up really means.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRoom (2015)
Held captive for 7 years in an enclosed space, a woman and her young son finally gain their freedom, allowing the boy to experience the outside world for the first time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Jazz Singer (1927)
A young Jewish man is torn between tradition and individuality when his old-fashioned family objects to his career as a jazz singer. This is the first full length feature film to use synchronized sound, and is the original film musical.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this10,000 Saints (2015)
A sweeping multigenerational story set against the backdrop of the raw, roaring New York City of the late 1980s; adoption, teen pregnancy, drugs, hardcore punk rock, the unbridled optimism and reckless stupidity of the young—and old—are all major elements in this heart-aching tale of the son of diehard hippies and his strange odyssey through the extremes of late 20th century youth culture.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Boy in the Picture?
The closest matches to The Boy in the Picture are Adventures in Public School (2018), Clika (2026) and Coda (2020). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Boy in the Picture?
Start with Adventures in Public School (2018), the closest match to The Boy in the Picture.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Boy in the Picture?
Room (2015), rated 8.0/10 by 9,945 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Boy in the Picture?
Clika (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Boy in the Picture chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Boy in the Picture, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.