Movies like Waking David (2016)
The best movies like Waking David (2016) are My Father's Shadow (2025), Father Mother Sister Brother (2025) and Our Mother's House (1967). If Waking David hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)7.6/10 from 877 votes
- NewestFather Mother Sister Brother (2025)Released 2025
My Father's Shadow (2025)
Two young brothers explore Lagos with their estranged father during the 1993 Nigerian election crisis, witnessing both the city's magnitude and their father's daily struggles as political unrest threatens their journey home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFather Mother Sister Brother (2025)
Estranged siblings reunite after years apart, forced to confront unresolved tensions and reevaluate their strained relationships with their emotionally distant parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOur Mother's House (1967)
Seven children bury their mother and hide her death - until their long-lost father returns.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHamlet (1948)
Winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, Sir Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet continues to be the most compelling version of Shakespeare’s beloved tragedy. Olivier is at his most inspired—both as director and as the melancholy Dane himself—as he breathes new life into the words of one of the world’s greatest dramatists.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSeeds of Yesterday (2015)
The Sheffield family reveal and go through some home truths as their middle child inherits the Foxworth mansion. The family's ghosts looming over, and more tragedies are in store as the curse lives on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Reckless Moment (1949)
After discovering the dead body of her teenage daughter's lover, a housewife takes desperate measures to protect her family from scandal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI'll Be Home for Christmas (2016)
Jackie Foster, a dynamic Assistant District Attorney and single mom, is looking forward to wrapping up her latest case and spending Christmas with Gracie, her adorable and precocious, eight-year old daughter. But when Jackie’s estranged dad, Jack , a gruff retired police officer, unexpectedly shows up at her door, they will be forced to confront old wounds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUndercurrent (1946)
After a rapid engagement, a dowdy daughter of a chemist weds an industrialist, knowing little of his family or past. He transforms her into an elegant society wife, but becomes enraged whenever she asks about Michael, his mysterious long-lost brother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAurora Teagarden Mysteries: Haunted By Murder (2022)
A murder investigation is reignited in a house that is considered haunted by the Lawrenceton locals and where years ago Aurora and Sally, as teenagers, discovered a body.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Dark Corner (1946)
Ex-con turned private investigator Bradford Galt suspects someone is following him and maybe even trying to kill him. With the assistance of his spunky secretary, Kathleen Stewart, he dives deep into a mystery in search of answers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHello Sister, Goodbye Life (2006)
A college student must take care of her 7-year-old half sister after the death of their parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSteve Jobs (2015)
Set backstage at three iconic product launches and ending in 1998 with the unveiling of the iMac, Steve Jobs takes us behind the scenes of the digital revolution to paint an intimate portrait of the brilliant man at its epicenter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Strange Woman (1946)
In early 19th century New England, an unscrupulous woman uses her beauty and wits to seduce, deceive and control the men around her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPeople Like Us (2012)
After flying home to L.A. for the funeral of his estranged record-producer father, a struggling man discovers that the will stipulates that he must deliver $150,000 in cash to a 30-year-old alcoholic sister he never knew existed, and her troubled 12-year-old son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
An alcoholic ex-football player drinks his days away, having failed to come to terms with his sexuality and his real feelings for his football buddy who died after an ambiguous accident. His wife is crucified by her desperation to make him desire her: but he resists the affections of his wife. His reunion with his father—who is dying of cancer—jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMildred Pierce (1945)
A hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful restaurant business to support her spoiled daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEverybody's Fine (2009)
Eight months after the death of his wife, Frank Goode looks forward to a reunion with his four adult children. When all of them cancel their visits at the last minute, Frank, against the advice of his doctor, sets out on a road trip to reconnect with his offspring. As he visits each one in turn, Frank finds that his children's lives are not quite as picture-perfect as they've made them out to be.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Naked City (1948)
After a former model is drowned in her bathtub, Detective James Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon attempt to piece together her murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Damned Don't Cry (1950)
Fed up with her small-town marriage, a woman goes after the big time and gets mixed up with the mob.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Music Never Stopped (2011)
Henry struggles to bond with his estranged son, Gabriel, who suffers from a brain tumor that prevents him from forming new memories. With Gabriel unable to shed the beliefs and interests that caused their physical and emotional distance, Henry must learn to embrace his son's choices and try to connect with him through music.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTrophy (2021)
Dominique, a shy and introverted teenager, wants just one thing: to become the best hockey player in her league. Her father, acting as her personal trainer, expects no less. But when she secures a coveted trophy, whose win is it?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Prathidhwani (1971)
A man who works as a driver for Dinesh, a smuggler who likes helping the poor, abandons him upon learning his truth. However, he is soon killed by a group of criminals.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Animal Attraction II: Passion's Desire (1999)
Unable to control his carnal desires, handsome and successful Mark gets caught in a dicey situation in this slick erotic thriller helmed by Mike Sedan. Juggling relationships with three beautiful women -- Cindy , Donna, and Jill -- the young lothario can't decide between them but crosses into dangerous territory when he adds more ladies to his harem.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Arsenault and Fils (2022)
The Arsenaults, a close-knit family who profit from illegal hunting, have ruled the roost for several generations in Témiscouata, Quebec. The return to the fold of Anthony, the impetuous youngest of the family, then the arrival of Émilie, a radio host who exercises an ascendancy over Anthony and his older brother Adam, will come to test the harmony of the clan.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Ge.hen'nah (TBA)
A drama set in a small rural town in Lebanon about Yvette who is past 30, unmarried, devoutly religious and still living with her parents. Today, she is preparing to go to a retreat. It's a dream come true for her. However, as the bus approaches, a fight breaks out between her parents. She tries to intercede, but her father's rage is overwhelming. Is she able to calm her father and go to the trip? How far would you go to protect your mother?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Golden Night (1976)
After his family tries to kill him and he has been pronounced dead, Michel returns from the dead and sets about getting revenge on his family members. He sends each one a voodoo doll, warning of their fate. Wandering over the streets of Paris, Michel is the haunted and hunted, as he himself hunts his villainous kin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Back Roads (2019)
A young man cares for his younger sisters after their mother is imprisoned for murdering their abusive father. When he strikes up an affair with a married woman, long-dormant family secrets bubble to the surface.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAnita (2021)
This long-awaited biopic provides a vivid account of the remarkable life of Anita Mui in and behind the limelight, chronicling her journey from a child performer to becoming one of world's most recognized music icons.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Jone, Sometimes (2025)
Bilbao, August. Jone, 20 years old, lives with her father and younger sister Marta. Aita, Jone's father, had to quit his job due to the consequences of his Parkinson's disease. Meanwhile, Bilbao's Semana Grande festivities kick off, setting the stage for Jone's first experience of love. Throughout this summer, Jone will navigate the dichotomy between the sense of invincibility she shares with Olga, the girl she falls in love with, and the fear of being left alone due to her father's illnes
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Winter Journey (2019)
Tucson, Arizona, September 1996. At the request of his son Martin, George Goldsmith tells him of his past in Nazi Germany as a member of a family of Jewish musicians and the strange history of the Jüdischer Kulturbund, a Jewish organization sponsored by Reichsminister Joseph Goebbels.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Waking David?
The closest matches to Waking David are My Father's Shadow (2025), Father Mother Sister Brother (2025) and Our Mother's House (1967). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Waking David?
Start with My Father's Shadow (2025), the closest match to Waking David.
What is the highest-rated movie like Waking David?
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), rated 7.6/10 by 877 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Waking David?
Father Mother Sister Brother (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Waking David?
Yes: My Father's Shadow (2025), Father Mother Sister Brother (2025) and Our Mother's House (1967).
How are movies similar to Waking David chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Waking David, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.