Movies like Boys Town (1938)
The best movies like Boys Town (1938) are The Boys of St. Vincent (1994), Doubt (2008) and Across the Tracks (1991). If Boys Town hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedOliver Twist (1948)7.6/10 from 270 votes
- NewestSoul on Fire (2025)Released 2025
The Boys of St. Vincent (1994)
The true story of boys being sexually abused at their orphanage, run by a religious community in Newfoundland.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDoubt (2008)
In 1964 Bronx, two Catholic school nuns question the new priest's ambiguous relationship with a troubled African-American student.
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 thisThe Keys of the Kingdom (1944)
A young priest, Father Chisholm is sent to China to establish a Catholic parish among the non-Christian Chinese. While his boyhood friend, also a priest, flourishes in his calling as a priest in a more Christian area of the world, Father Chisholm struggles. He encounters hostility, isolation, disease, poverty and a variety of set backs which humble him, but make him more determined than ever to succeed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFatima (2020)
In 1917, outside the parish of Fátima, Portugal, a 10-year-old girl and her two younger cousins witness multiple visitations of the Virgin Mary, who tells them that only prayer and suffering will bring an end to World War I. As secularist government officials and Church leaders try to force the children to recant their story, word of the sighting spreads across the country, inspiring religious pilgrims to flock to the site in hopes of witnessing a miracle..
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHouse of Strangers (1949)
Ruthless Italian-American banker Gino Monetti is engaged in a number of criminal activities. Three of his four grown sons refuse to help their father stay out of prison after he's arrested for his questionable business practices. Three of them take over the business but kick their father out. Max, a lawyer, is the only son that remains loyal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Man Without a Face (1993)
Justin McLeod is a former teacher who lives as a recluse on the edge of town after his face is disfigured from an automobile accident ten years earlier, in which a boy was incinerated--and for which he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. Also suspected of being a paedophile, he is befriended by Chuck, causing the town's suspicions and hostility to be ignited.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEvelyn (2002)
Desmond Doyle is devastated when his wife abandons their family on the day after Christmas. His unemployment, and the fact that there is no woman in the house to care for the children—Evelyn, Dermot and Maurice—make it clear to the authorities this is an untenable situation. The Catholic Church and the Irish courts decide to put the Doyle children into Church-run orphanages.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSmall Things Like These (2024)
In 1985, while working as a coal merchant to support his family, Bill Furlong discovers disturbing secrets kept by the local convent and uncovers truths of his own; forcing him to confront his past and the complicit silence of a small Irish town controlled by the Catholic Church.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo One Would Tell (1996)
Shy sixteen-year-old Stacy Collins can't believe that the most popular guy in school, an attractive athlete named Bobby Tennison, is interested in her. At first she is flattered by his constant attention, but then he becomes possessive and jealous-telling her who she can speak to and what she can wear. Threats escalate into violence when Bobby thinks Stacy has stepped out of line. Soon she is walking on egg shells and living in fear. Having seen the tell-tale bruises, Stacy's best friend convinces her to break things off with Bobby-but in a moment of weakness, Stacy goes to meet him. It will be the last time she is seen alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNewsies (1992)
A week in the life of the exploited, child newspaper sellers in turn-of-the-century New York. When their publisher, Joseph Pulitzer, tries to squeeze a little more profit out of their labours, they organize a strike, only to be confronted with the Pulitzer's hard-ball tactics.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTraitor (2008)
When straight arrow FBI agent Roy Clayton heads up the investigation into a dangerous international conspiracy, all clues seem to lead back to former U.S. Special Operations officer Samir Horn.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisStanding Up (2013)
Based on one of the most beloved Young Adult novels of all time: Two kids are stripped naked and left together on an island in a lake - victims of a vicious summer camp prank; But rather than have to return to camp and face the humiliation, they decide to take off, on the run together. What follows is a three day odyssey of discovery and self-discovery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Left Hand of God (1955)
A man in priestly robes, seemingly the long-awaited Father O'Shea, arrives at a little-frequented Catholic mission in 1947 China. Though the man seems curiously uncomfortable with his priestly duties, his tough tactics prove very successful in the Seven Villages, as around them China disintegrates in civil war and revolution. But he has a secret, and his friendship with mission nurse Anne (an attractive war widow) seems to be taking on an unpriestly tone.
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 thisThe Young Savages (1961)
A district attorney investigates the racially charged case of three teenagers accused of the murder of a blind Puerto Rican boy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOliver Twist (1948)
When 9-year-old orphan Oliver Twist dares to ask his cruel taskmaster, Mr. Bumble, for a second serving of gruel, he's hired out as an apprentice. Escaping that dismal fate, young Oliver falls in with the street urchin known as the Artful Dodger and his criminal mentor, Fagin. When kindly Mr. Brownlow takes Oliver in, Fagin's evil henchman Bill Sikes plots to kidnap the boy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSoul on Fire (2025)
After a horrific accident leaves his body scarred, a young boy strives to live and show everyone what is possible with the help of his family, his faith, his community, his longtime idol's kindness, and the entire city of St. Louis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Fugitive (1947)
Anti-Catholic and anti-cleric policies in the Mexican state of Tabasco lead the revolutionary government to persecute the state's last remaining priest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBlack Pearls (1958)
Reform school teacher tries to carry his class to the right path by teaching them diving.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Apparitions at Fatima (1991)
A docudrama about the apparitions of the Virgin Mary at Fatima, Portugal.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Delinquent Parents (1938)
A woman is forced to keep her marriage and past indiscretions a secret from those she loves.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Zerschmetterte Träume - Eine Liebe in Fesseln (1998)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Abraham (1993)
Rather than choosing a great leader or king, God chooses Abraham, an elderly shepherd from Mesopotamia, as the way to establish his Covenant with mankind... A man of great faith, Abraham continues to believe in God even when He seems to have abandoned him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Last Supper (1995)
A group of idealistic but frustrated liberals succumb to the temptation of murdering right-wing pundits for their political beliefs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBella (2006)
An international soccer star is on his way to sign a multimillion dollar contract when something happens that brings his career to an abrupt end. A beautiful waitress, struggling to make it in New York City, discovers something about herself that she's unprepared for. In one irreversible moment, their lives are turned upside down.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisApothecary (2014)
Dr Vijay Nambiar (Suresh Gopi) is a famous neurosurgeon. His wife Dr Nalini Nambiar (Abhirami) is a gynecologist in the same hospital. They lead a contented and busy family life. 'Appothikkiri' plots the intriguing issues that affect their life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Flesh + Blood (1985)
A band of medieval mercenaries take revenge on a noble Lord who cheated them by kidnapping his son's fiancée. As the plague and warfare cut a swathe of destruction throughout the land, the mercenaries hole up in a castle and await their fate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuscipe (TBA)
After years, a Catholic priest tries to rekindle a broken relationship with his secret daughter. But to her, he's just the man (or father) who never wanted her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Boys Town?
The closest matches to Boys Town are The Boys of St. Vincent (1994), Doubt (2008) and Across the Tracks (1991). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Boys Town?
Start with The Boys of St. Vincent (1994), the closest match to Boys Town.
What is the highest-rated movie like Boys Town?
Oliver Twist (1948), rated 7.6/10 by 270 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Boys Town?
Soul on Fire (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Boys Town?
Yes: The Boys of St. Vincent (1994), Doubt (2008) and Across the Tracks (1991).
How are movies similar to Boys Town chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Boys Town, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.