Skip to content

Movies like The Old Maid (1939)

The best movies like The Old Maid (1939) are A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), Oliver Twist (1948) and Mansfield Park (2007). If The Old Maid hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)

    In Brooklyn circa 1900, the Nolans manage to enjoy life on pennies despite great poverty and Papa's alcoholism. We come to know these people well through big and little troubles: Aunt Sissy's scandalous succession of "husbands"; the removal of the one tree visible from their tenement; and young Francie's desire to transfer to a better school...if irresponsible Papa can get his act together.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  2. Oliver 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 this
  3. Mansfield Park (2007)

    Fanny Price is sent to live with her wealthy relatives, the Bertrams, where she is treated poorly by most except her cousin Edmund. Her life is complicated by the arrival of the worldly Mary and Henry Crawford

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  4. Little Women (1933)

    Four sisters come of age in America in the aftermath of the Civil War.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  5. Evelyn (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 this
  6. Since You Went Away (1944)

    In 1943, several people enter, re-enter, and exit the difficult life of a Midwestern family whose patriarch has been called up to war, leaving behind his wife and two teen daughters.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  7. Rocks (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 · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  8. The Dead (1987)

    After a convivial holiday dinner party, things begin to unravel when a husband and wife address some prickly issues concerning their marriage.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  9. Won'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 this
  10. Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017)

    The behind the scenes story of the life of A.A. Milne and the creation of the Winnie the Pooh stories inspired by his son Christopher Robin.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  11. Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936)

    An American boy turns out to be the heir of a wealthy British earl. He is sent to live with the irritable and unsentimental aristocrat, his grandfather.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  12. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

    Scout Finch, 6, and her older brother Jem live in sleepy Maycomb, Alabama, spending much of their time with their friend Dill and spying on their reclusive and mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. When Atticus, their widowed father and a respected lawyer, defends a black man named Tom Robinson against fabricated rape charges, the trial and tangent events expose the children to evils of racism and stereotyping.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  13. Wonderstruck (2017)

    The story of a young boy in the Midwest is told simultaneously with a tale about a young girl in New York from fifty years ago as they both seek the same mysterious connection.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  14. Anne of Green Gables (2016)

    Anne Shirley, an orphan, is fostered by farmer Matthew Cuthbert and his sister Marilla, who were expecting a boy to be sent them to help with their farm work. They accept Anne, who quickly endears herself to them and to the local villagers.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  15. A Home of Our Own (1993)

    In 1960s Los Angeles an energetic widow and her six children try to make a dream of theirs come true: to have a home of their own. They leave L.A. and head for the countryside, all the while facing numerous difficulties and obstacles during their journey.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  16. Hamilton (2025)

    Presenting the tale of American founding father Alexander Hamilton, this filmed version of the original Broadway smash hit is the story of America then, told by America now.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  17. Little 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 drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  18. Sounder (1972)

    The oldest son of a loving and strong family of black sharecroppers comes of age in the Depression-era South after his father is imprisoned for stealing food.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  19. The Long, Hot Summer (1958)

    Accused barn burner and conman Ben Quick arrives in a small Mississippi town and quickly ingratiates himself with its richest family, the Varners.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  20. A Stolen Life (1946)

    When a woman’s twin sister is drowned, she assumes her identity in order to be close to the man she feels her sister took from her years before.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  21. Pelle the Conqueror (1987)

    In the late 19th century, two Swedish emigrants, Lasse Karlsson and his son Pelle, arrive on the Danish island of Bornholm hoping to find work on a farm and save enough money to travel to the United States of America.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  22. The Return (2003)

    Two young brothers in contemporary Russia are reunited with a father they know only from an old photograph after his sudden return from a long absence. With their mother’s reluctant consent, they set out on a remote trip that quickly becomes an uneasy test of authority, trust, and masculinity. As the journey moves deeper into the wilderness, the fragile bonds between father and sons are pushed to their limits.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  23. Touching the Void (2003)

    The true story of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates' disastrous and nearly-fatal mountain climb of 6,344m Siula Grande in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  24. Evil (2003)

    Stockholm, in the 1950s. Erik is expelled from the local school for getting into one brawl too many. To protect Erik from his violent stepfather’s reaction to his expulsion, Erik's mother arranges for Erik to spend a year at Stjärnsberg Boarding School, the only school willing to accept him. This is Erik's last chance to graduate to Upper School and he promises his mother, for his and her sake, to do all he can to stay out of trouble.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  25. Beneath the Surface (TBA)

    Beneath the Surface introduces readers to the story of the wealthy Kingsley family of Southern California. At the center of the action are the power-hungry children of an aging billionaire, who prove unprepared for a storm of deceptions and ruthless family ambition, while out on a weekend voyage.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  26. Bloody Crayons (2017)

    A group of friends goes to an island for a short film project when they are attacked by a mysterious killer after playing a game of bloody crayons.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  27. The Omega Man (1971)

    Due to an experimental vaccine, Dr. Robert Neville is the only human survivor of an apocalyptic war waged with biological weapons. Besides him, only a few hundred deformed, nocturnal people remain; sensitive to light, and homicidally psychotic.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  28. The Secret Garden (1993)

    A young British girl born and reared in India loses her neglectful parents in an earthquake. She is returned to England to live at her uncle's castle. Her uncle is very distant due to the loss of his wife ten years before. Neglected once again, she begins exploring the estate and discovers a garden that has been locked and forgotten. Aided by one of the servants' boys, she begins restoring the garden, and eventually discovers some other secrets of the manor.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  29. The Night at 14th Parallel (1972)

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  30. Invincible (2006)

    Inspired by the true story of Vince Papale, a man with nothing to lose who ignored the staggering odds and made his dream come true. When the coach of Papale's beloved hometown football team hosted an unprecedented open tryout, the public consensus was that it was a waste of time – no one good enough to play professional football was going to be found this way.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this

Like The Old Maid and something else?

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

Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies like The Old Maid?

The closest matches to The Old Maid are A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), Oliver Twist (1948) and Mansfield Park (2007). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after The Old Maid?

Start with A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), the closest match to The Old Maid.

What is the highest-rated movie like The Old Maid?

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), rated 8.0/10 by 3,012 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like The Old Maid?

Hamilton (2025) is the most recent release on this list.

Are there English movies like The Old Maid?

Yes: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), Oliver Twist (1948) and Mansfield Park (2007).

How are movies similar to The Old Maid chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Old Maid, 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