Movies like The Boy Who Followed the Sun (1982)
The best movies like The Boy Who Followed the Sun (1982) are I Believe (2019), Flicka (2006) and Skater Girl (2021). If The Boy Who Followed the Sun hooked you with its family and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLittle Lord Fauntleroy (1980)7.3/10 from 326 votes
- NewestOmaha (2025)Released 2025
I Believe (2019)
A 9 year old boy experiences God's power in a supernatural way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFlicka (2006)
Katy McLaughlin desires to work on her family's mountainside horse ranch, although her father insists she finish boarding school. Katy finds a mustang in the hills near her ranch. The headstrong 16 year old then sets her mind to tame a mustang and prove to her father she can run the ranch. But when tragedy happens, it will take all the love and strength the family can muster to restore hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSkater Girl (2021)
Prerna, a teenager growing up in rural India, comes of age when she’s introduced to the sport of skateboarding. As a result, she has to fight the odds to follow her dreams and compete in the national championship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhere the Red Fern Grows (1974)
Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for two years to achieve his dream of buying two red-bone coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in life as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with his dogs, Old Dan and Little Ann.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGreyfriars Bobby (1961)
In Scotland 1865, An old shepherd and his little Skye terrier go to Edinburgh. But when the shepherd dies of pneumonia, the dog remains faithful to his master, refuses to be adopted by anyone, and takes to sleeping on his master's grave in the Greyfriars kirkyard, despite a caretaker with a "no dogs" rule. And when Bobby is taken up for being unlicensed, it's up to the children of Edinburgh and the Lord Provost to decide what's to be done.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLittle Lord Fauntleroy (1980)
Young Cedric Errol and his widowed mother live in genteel poverty in 1880s Brooklyn after the death of his father. Cedric's grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt, has long ago disowned his son for marrying an American. But after the death of the Earl's remaining son, he decides to accept Cedric as his heir.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhere the Red Fern Grows (2003)
Set in the Ozark Mountains during the Great Depression, Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for 2 years to achieve his dream of buying two coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in God as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with "Old Dan" and "Little Ann."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeidi (2005)
Swiss girl Adelheid 'Heidi' is orphaned young. Aunt Detie brings her to grandpa Alp and his wife, who live isolated in the Alps since his murder charge. Heidi soon takes to the wild country, especially accompanying young goatherd Peter. Grandpa refuses to send her to school in the city, but aunt Detie returns and forces him to give in. She's sent to a posh lady in Frankfurt, where she'll be a companion for crippled daughter Clara after school hours.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Second Chance (2011)
A young girl and her coach overcome adversity to make their way into the National Australian Gymnastics Squad.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoovey (2015)
The true and inspiring story of the Elliott family, who refused to surrender, instead turning to one another and their faith in the worst of circumstances, to rebuild their lives, their boy, and their dreams... together. Step by grueling step, with faith, love, and the tireless work of a mother and father to save their family, their farm, their dream, Hoovey learns to walk again. To read again. To dribble and shoot a basketball again. And yes, to dream again himself. Then stepping out in his faith, back onto the hard court, to live that dream of playing this game once more...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Girl Who Believes in Miracles (2021)
When Sara hears a preacher say faith can move mountains, she starts praying. Suddenly people in her town are mysteriously healed! But fame soon takes its toll – can Sara’s family save her before it’s too late?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOliver Twist (1997)
An orphan endures a harsh life in a workhouse before fleeing to London, where he falls in with a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the criminal Fagin, and eventually finds a better life, exposing the cruelties of poverty and child labor in Victorian England.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAngels in the Snow (2015)
The affluent, yet troubled Montgomery family hits the road for a special Christmas in the mountains.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Dry White Season (1989)
During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.
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 thisOmaha (2025)
A young girl and her brother are awoken by their father and loaded into the car on an early morning in 2008. As they road trip across the American West, she discovers the truth about their seemingly spontaneous journey.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisThe Truth About Emanuel (2013)
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Neighbor (2022)
A nightmarish evening unfolds for neighbors David and Robert when they accidentally hit a woman on her bike and flee the scene. While David is increasingly plagued by feelings of guilt, Robert shows no remorse and becomes overbearing and possessive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Am David (2003)
A 12-year-old boy manages to flee a Communist concentration camp on his own, through sheer will and determination. All he has in his possession is a loaf of bread, a letter to deliver to someone in Denmark, and a compass to help get him there.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Spring Poem (2021)
Petra, a young single mother, after divorce and her father's death, tries to free herself and live her life in spite of everyone, looking for the Right One.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Hunting Party (2007)
A young journalist, an experienced cameraman and a discredited reporter find their bold plan to capture Bosnia's top war criminal quickly spiraling out of control when a UN representative mistakes them for a CIA hit squad.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMigrations (1989)
Based on the famous novel of Milos Crnjanski, the story follows Serbian migrations from the Austro-Hungarian Empire during the XVIII century.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Migrations II (1989)
Screening of the synonymous Milos Crnjanski's poetic novel about the tragedy of Serbian people who scattered their energy and bones from Dnepr to Lotaringia during XVII and XIX century. The great Serbian migration topic is given through the military campaign of major Vuk Isakovic (Avtandil Makharadze) at the head of Slavonian-Danube regiment, from spring of 1744. to spring of the next year. The second topic follows tragic but passionate relationship between Vuk's younger brother and his wife, which ends with her long-lasting disease and death.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Clip (2012)
Jasna, a beautiful teenager, leads a crude life in post-war Serbia. She goes on a spree of sex, drugs and partying until she finds love and tenderness in a harsh environment.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisFellowship Offerings (2004)
The screenplay was written immediately after the bombing of Novi Sad, 1999, but it was only a motive to speak up about the people that were humiliated for more than ten years in various ways, and that way became the victims of wrong politics, not only Milosevic's, but Western as well. The title of the movie was born there. In the second book of Moses it is written: " An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings." The people who suffered most in the wars on this territory are the ones that had no influence of what so ever on the development of situation on the Balkan. But, at the same time. there was ambitious youth, that the sense of their life in these stormy time. The film is about them and that is why it sounds optimistic. Film is about the fact that we will always have the energy to survive senseless time and live normally after that.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Red Poppies (2011)
27-year old Vlada is moving to Belgrade from his little hometown, and he spends the last night with old friends. The night brings too much, and evokes inner struggles of all of them...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Mercenaries (2011)
Andy Marlow, an ex British S.A.S serviceman turned mercenary, is sent into the Balkans after a military coup has arisen to rescue a U.S ambassador and his aide.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Dorotheus (1981)
In medieval Serbia, a young monk, a master of herbal medicine, grabs the attention of warlord's wife.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Load (2019)
Vlada works as a truck driver during the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999. Tasked with transporting a mysterious load from Kosovo to Belgrade, he drives through unfamiliar territory, trying to make his way in a country scarred by the war. He knows that once the job is over, he will need to return home and face the consequences of his actions.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like The Boy Who Followed the Sun and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Boy Who Followed the Sun?
The closest matches to The Boy Who Followed the Sun are I Believe (2019), Flicka (2006) and Skater Girl (2021). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Boy Who Followed the Sun?
Start with I Believe (2019), the closest match to The Boy Who Followed the Sun.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Boy Who Followed the Sun?
Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980), rated 7.3/10 by 326 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Boy Who Followed the Sun?
Omaha (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Boy Who Followed the Sun chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Boy Who Followed the Sun, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.