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Movies like Childhood Holidays (1981)

The best movies like Childhood Holidays (1981) are Won't Back Down (2012), Gigi & Nate (2022) and The Banishment (2008). If Childhood Holidays hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. 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

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  2. 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
  3. The Banishment (2008)

    While vacationing in the countryside at his childhood home, a woman suddenly reveals to her husband that she is expecting a child – but not his.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  4. Winged Creatures (2009)

    A psychotic man opens fire in a diner, murdering numerous people before killing himself. The survivors struggle in different ways following this horrendous event: a doctor doubts his own instincts and elects to use an experimental medical procedure on his wife, while a gambler believes he's on a lucky streak. A waitress begins engaging in promiscuous sex, and a young girl whose father is among the dead gains unexpected fame.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

  5. I Am Elizabeth Smart (2017)

    The story of Elizabeth Smart's kidnapping and captivity, as told from her perspective.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  6. A Call to Spy (2020)

    The story of Vera Atkins, a crafty spy recruiter, and two of the first women she selects for Churchill's "secret army": Virginia Hall, a daring American undaunted by a disability and Noor Inayat Khan, a pacifist. These civilian women form an unlikely sisterhood while entangled in dangerous missions to turn the tide of the war.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  7. A Wrinkle in Time (2003)

    Meg and Charles Wallace are aided by Calvin and three interesting women in the search for their father who disappeared during a government experiment. Their travels take them around the universe to a place unlike any other.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  8. Girl in the Box (2016)

    The true story of 20-year-old Colleen Stan, a hitchhiking woman abducted by a young couple and held captive for seven years, during which time she's tortured and forced to live as a slave to her captors.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  9. Skin (2009)

    Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  10. Jungleland (2020)

    Stanley manages his boxer brother Lion but when a devastating loss in the ring leaves the pair in debt, an opportunity to recoup the cash leads to a series of misadventures that threaten to break the bond between them.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  11. The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972)

    Middle-aged widow Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her daughters Ruth and Matilda are struggling to survive in a society they barely understand. Beatrice dreams of opening an elegant tea room but does not have the wherewithal to achieve her lofty goal. Epileptic Ruth is a rebellious adolescent, while shy but highly intelligent and idealistic Matilda seeks solace in her pets and school projects, including one designed to show how small amounts of radium affect marigolds.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  12. The Call of the Wild (1972)

    John Thornton, is a fearless man who's after more than gold; he wants to do what's right. Thornton works for the U.S. mail and is the only person daring and smart enough to figure out how to travel the deadly 600 miles from Skagway to Dawson, Alaska in the icy winter. His incredibly dog Buck is by his side and part of how he survives.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  13. Fast Girls (2012)

    A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  14. Hands of Stone (2016)

    The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  15. Outlaws - For Greater Glory (2012)

    A chronicle of the Cristeros War (1926-1929), which was touched off by a rebellion against the Mexican government's attempt to secularize the country.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  16. Adopt a Highway (2019)

    Russ Millings has just been released from prison after serving 21 years for a 3rd strike conviction for possessing an ounce of marijuana. As he tries to adapt to a world he doesn’t recognize – including trying to learn how to use the internet – he finds an abandoned baby in a dumpster behind the fast food restaurant where he works as a dishwasher. Unsure of what to do, and caught between impulses of kindness and panic, Russ soon realizes this could be his chance at redemption.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  17. The Nest (2020)

    Rory is an ambitious entrepreneur who brings his American wife and kids to his native country, England, to explore new business opportunities. After abandoning the sanctuary of their safe American suburban surroundings, the family is plunged into the despair of an archaic '80s Britain and their unaffordable new life in an English manor house threatens to destroy the family.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  18. TalhotBlond (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 this
  19. All Day and a Night (2020)

    While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  20. Dear Zoe (2022)

    Tess enlists her biological father – a lovable slacker from the wrong side of the tracks – and the charming juvenile delinquent next door to help her come to grips with the death of her little sister.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  21. Forrest Gump (1994)

    A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  22. Burning Rainbow Farm (TBA)

    Tom Crosslin and Rollie Rohm, a couple in rural Michigan, build a peaceful, pot-friendly utopia called Rainbow Farm. When the two run afoul of local authorities and their young son is taken from them, a standoff ensues leading to one of the largest and most dramatic sieges America has ever seen.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  23. Metropolis (1927)

    In a futuristic city sharply divided between the rich and the poor, the son of the city's mastermind meets a prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  24. Revolutionary Road (2008)

    A young couple living in a Connecticut suburb during the mid-1950s struggle to come to terms with their personal problems while trying to raise their two children. Based on a novel by Richard Yates.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  25. Odette Toulemonde (2007)

    Objectively, Odette Toulemonde has nothing to be happy about, but is. Balthazar Balsan has everything to be happy about, but isn’t. Odette, awkwardly forty, with a delightful hairdresser son and a daughter bogged down in adolescence, spends her days behind the cosmetic’s counter in a department store and her nights sewing feathers on costumes for Parisian variety shows. She dreams of thanking Balthazar Balsan, her favorite author, to whom – she believes – she owes her optimism. The rich and charming Parisian writer then turns up in her life in an unexpected way.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  26. Under Capricorn (1949)

    A British ex-convict in colonial Australia and his fragile wife, haunted by the past crime that binds them, struggle to rebuild their lives when a young newcomer stirs long-buried passions and secrets.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  27. Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

    In 1935, when his train is stopped by deep snow, detective Hercule Poirot is called on to solve a murder that occurred in his car the night before.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  28. Les Misérables (1958)

    In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  29. Evil Under the Sun (1982)

    An opulent beach resort provides a scenic background to this amusing whodunit as Poirot attempts to uncover the nefarious evildoer behind the strangling of a notorious stage star.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  30. Atonement (2007)

    A young girl irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this

Like Childhood Holidays and something else?

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

Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies like Childhood Holidays?

The closest matches to Childhood Holidays are Won't Back Down (2012), Gigi & Nate (2022) and The Banishment (2008). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after Childhood Holidays?

Start with Won't Back Down (2012), the closest match to Childhood Holidays.

What is the highest-rated movie like Childhood Holidays?

Forrest Gump (1994), rated 8.5/10 by 30,874 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like Childhood Holidays?

Dear Zoe (2022) is the most recent release on this list.

How are movies similar to Childhood Holidays chosen?

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

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