Skip to content

Movies like Patients (2017)

The best movies like Patients (2017) are The Upside (2019), The Intouchables (2011) and Sink or Swim (2018). If Patients hooked you with its drama and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. The Upside (2019)

    Phillip is a wealthy quadriplegic who needs a caretaker to help him with his day-to-day routine in his New York penthouse. He decides to hire Dell, a struggling parolee who's trying to reconnect with his ex and his young son. Despite coming from two different worlds, an unlikely friendship starts to blossom.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  2. The Intouchables (2011)

    A true story of two men who should never have met – a quadriplegic aristocrat who was injured in a paragliding accident and a young man from the projects.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  3. Sink or Swim (2018)

    40-year-old Bertrand has been suffering from depression for the last two years and is barely able to keep his head above water. Despite the medication he gulps down all day, every day, and his wife's encouragement, he is unable to find any meaning in his life. Curiously, he will end up finding this sense of purpose at the swimming pool, by joining an all-male synchronised swimming team.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  4. Patch Adams (1998)

    The true story of Dr. Hunter "Patch" Adams, who in the 1970s found that humor is the best medicine, and was willing to do just anything to make his patients laugh—even if it meant risking his own career.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  5. Box of Moonlight (1996)

    Al Fountain, a middle-aged electrical engineer, is on the verge of a mid-life crisis, when he decides to take his time coming home from a business trip, rents a car, and heads out looking for a lake he remembers from his childhood. But his wandering takes him into the life of Kid, a free-spirited young man who helps Al escape from the routine of everyday life and find freedom to enjoy himself.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  6. My Own Love Song (2010)

    A wheelchair-bound singer and her best friend embark on a roadtrip to Memphis.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  7. The Station Agent (2003)

    When his only friend dies, a man born with dwarfism moves to rural New Jersey to live a life of solitude, only to meet a chatty hot dog vendor and a woman dealing with her own personal loss.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  8. The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)

    A down-on-his-luck crab fisherman embarks on a journey to get a young man with Down syndrome to a professional wrestling school in rural North Carolina and away from the retirement home where he’s lived for the past two and a half years.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  9. The Hedgehog (2009)

    Paloma is a serious and highly articulate but deeply bored 11-year-old who has decided to kill herself on her 12th birthday. Fascinated by art and philosophy, she questions and documents her life and immediate circle, drawing trenchant and often hilarious observations on the world around her. But as her appointment with death approaches, Paloma finally meets some kindred spirits in her building's grumpy janitor and an enigmatic, elegant neighbor, both of whom inspire Paloma to question her rather pessimistic outlook on life.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  10. Digging to China (1997)

    Precocious young Harriet and her older sister Gwen live at their mother's motel in small-town New Hampshire. Harriet dreams of a life beyond her inattentive family and the stultifying town. A mentally disabled man named Ricky comes to stay at the motel, and Harriet finds him kinder and more interesting than anyone she has ever met. After tragedy strikes, Harriet and Ricky cling to each other ever more tightly.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  11. Deepwater Horizon (2016)

    A story set on the offshore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, which exploded during April 2010 and created the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  12. Gigi & Nate (2022)

    A young man with a bright future suffers a near-fatal accident and recreates his new life with the help of an unlikely animal friend.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  13. Clouds (2020)

    Young musician Zach Sobiech discovers his cancer has spread, leaving him just a few months to live. With limited time, he follows his dream and makes an album, unaware that it will soon be a viral music phenomenon.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  14. Out 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 this
  15. Before I Fall (2017)

    Samantha Kingston has everything. Then, everything changes. After one fateful night, she wakes up with no future at all. Trapped into reliving the same day over and over, she begins to question just how perfect her life really was.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  16. Fathers and Daughters (2015)

    A Pulitzer-winning writer grapples with being a widower and father after a mental breakdown, while, 27 years later, his grown daughter struggles to forge connections of her own.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  17. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)

    Jean-Dominique Bauby, editor-in-chief of French fashion bible Elle magazine, has a devastating stroke at age 43. The damage to his brain stem results in locked-in syndrome, with which he is almost completely paralyzed and only able to communicate by blinking an eye. Bauby painstakingly dictates his memoir via the only means of expression left to him.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  18. My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown (1989)

    No one expects much from Christy Brown, a boy with cerebral palsy born into a working-class Irish family. Though Christy is a spastic quadriplegic and essentially paralyzed, a miraculous event occurs when, at the age of 5, he demonstrates control of his left foot by using chalk to scrawl a word on the floor. With the help of his steely mother — and no shortage of grit and determination — Christy overcomes his infirmity to become a painter, poet and author.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  19. Cave Rescue (2019)

    When a youth football team of 12 boys, aged 11-16, and their 25-year-old coach is trapped deep inside a cave in Northern Thailand, thousands of volunteers and soldiers from around the world unite in a race against time to find them.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  20. No 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 this
  21. A Good Year (2006)

    Failed London banker Max Skinner inherits his uncle's vineyard in Provence, where he spent many childhood holidays. Upon his arrival, he meets a woman from California who tells Max she is his long-lost cousin and that the property is hers.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  22. Half of Me (2024)

    A young gay, neurotic and ex-religious art student goes into a spin with the surprise visit of an eccentric childhood friend.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama

  23. He's Just Not That Into You (2009)

    Remember that really cute girl/guy who said they'd call – and didn't? Maybe they lost your number. Maybe they're in the hospital. Maybe they're awed by your looks, brains or success. Or maybe... They're just not that into you.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  24. Flow and Ebb (2024)

    Crab fishers Fred and Malte have never talked about their feelings. After a stroke of fate Fred experiences a mental breakdown.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy

  25. Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986)

    Beverly Hills couple Barbara and Dave Whiteman find their lives altered by the arrival of a vagrant who tries to drown himself in their swimming pool.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy

  26. Gorillas in the Mist (1988)

    The story of Dian Fossey, a scientist who came to Africa to study the vanishing mountain gorillas, and later fought to protect them.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  27. Little Sharks (1992)

    When dishwasher Ingo, whose girl-friend has just left him, returns a borrowed bar stool to the Folkwang Acting School in Essen, he stumbles into the audition for next year's new students. He lets Johannes, the broke and unsuccessful applicant, stay with him. Ingo decides to go to Munich with Johannes, where he wants to try his luck once again. Hitchhiking, they get rides with very different drivers on the autobahn. They meet up with the smooth-talking Ali in the wayside dinner "Raststätte Spessart". Arriving in Munich, the trio tries to find cheap sleeping accommodation. They enter Ingo into the audition at Munich acting school. Moreover, Johannes falls in love with street artist Herta from Berlin. Written by emkarpf

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy

  28. Dersu Uzala (1975)

    A military explorer meets and befriends a Goldi man in Russia’s unmapped forests. A deep and abiding bond evolves between the two men, one civilized in the usual sense, the other at home in the glacial Siberian woods.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  29. The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998)

    The circle of life continues for Simba, now fully grown and in his rightful place as the king of Pride Rock. Simba and Nala have given birth to a daughter, Kiara who's as rebellious as her father was. But Kiara drives her parents to distraction when she catches the eye of Kovu, the son of the evil lioness, Zira. Will Kovu steal Kiara's heart?

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  30. Dangerous Minds (1995)

    Former Marine Louanne Johnson lands a gig teaching in a pilot program for bright but underachieving teens at a notorious inner-city high school. After having a terrible first day, she decides she must throw decorum to the wind. When Johnson returns to the classroom, she does so armed with a no-nonsense attitude informed by her military training and a fearless determination to better the lives of her students -- no matter what the cost.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this

Like Patients and something else?

Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies like Patients?

The closest matches to Patients are The Upside (2019), The Intouchables (2011) and Sink or Swim (2018). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after Patients?

Start with The Upside (2019), the closest match to Patients.

What is the highest-rated movie like Patients?

The Intouchables (2011), rated 8.3/10 by 19,047 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like Patients?

Half of Me (2024) is the most recent release on this list.

Are there French movies like Patients?

Yes: The Intouchables (2011), Sink or Swim (2018) and The Hedgehog (2009).

How are movies similar to Patients chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Patients, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.

↑ ↓ to move · Enter to open · Full search page