Movies like This Way, Students (1972)
The best movies like This Way, Students (1972) are The River (1984), The Young One (1960) and Skin (2009). If This Way, Students hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBeast (2026)7.5/10 from 227 votes
- NewestBeast (2026)Released 2026
- In MalayalamApothecary (2014)Also in Malayalam
The River (1984)
Tom and Mae Garvey are a Tennessee farming couple battling violent floods to save their land. In addition to natural disasters, the Garveys fight to stop a selfish land developer and a local corporation from foreclosing on their farm. While Mae stays at home to care for their children and tend to the crops, Tom finds work as a scab at a steel mill to preserve his family's property.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Young One (1960)
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSkin (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 thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCardboard Boxer (2016)
Gentle and broken, a homeless man fights others on video for money but soon finds comfort in an unlikely friend and the lost diary of a young girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat Maisie Knew (2013)
In New York City, six-year-old Maisie is caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle between her self-absorbed parents—an aging rock singer mother and a distracted art dealer father. As both quickly marry new partners to strengthen their legal standing, Maisie is shuttled back and forth in an endless game of emotional point-scoring. Yet amid the chaos and upheaval, Maisie begins to find true comfort and affection in her new step-parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCome Sunday (2018)
Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisHardball (2001)
An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeast (2026)
MMA legend Patton James, now a commercial fisherman, is pulled back into the cage when his brother is in danger. Reuniting with his old coach Sammy, he commits to one final fight in one championship against the brutal champion Xavier Grau.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEl Chicano (2019)
A pair of twin brothers from East L.A. choose to live their lives differently and end up on opposite sides of the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBrotherly Love (2015)
West Philadelphia basketball star Sergio Taylor deals with the pressures of fame while his brother and sister have their own issues with ambition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRogue Agent (2022)
Conman Robert Freegard poses as an undercover MI5 agent and kidnaps countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt, until the woman who fell for him brings him to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJungleland (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 thisFarming (2018)
Based on the writer/director's childhood, FARMING tells the story of a young Nigerian boy, 'farmed out' by his parents to a white British family in the hope of a better future. Instead, he becomes the feared leader of a white skinhead gang.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 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 thisKisses (2008)
Two kids, Dylan and Kylie, run away from home on Christmas Day and spend a night of magic and terror on the streets of inner-city Dublin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisThe Christmas Shoes (2002)
Two separate stories mesh - in the first, a young music teacher, Maggie Andrews, begins dying of a heart condition and her son Nathan tries to get a pair of Christmas shoes for her before she dies. In the second, lawyer Robert Layton and his wife Kate are slowly drifting apart and the matter comes to a head during Christmas when Kate takes over for Maggie for the school choir.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHands 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Sound of Silence (2019)
A successful "house tuner" in New York City, who calibrates the sound in people's homes in order to adjust their moods, meets a client with a problem he can't solve.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisApothecary (2014)
Dr Vijay Nambiar (Suresh Gopi) is a famous neurosurgeon. His wife Dr Nalini Nambiar (Abhirami) is a gynecologist in the same hospital. They lead a contented and busy family life. 'Appothikkiri' plots the intriguing issues that affect their life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Kolumittayi (2016)
Unni and his friends move to the 6th grade after the new academic year begins. He loves his school life mainly because of his crush Riya and feels threatened by the newcomer in his class - Roney. Soon they lock horns and are in competition.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Olappeeppi (2016)
Olappeeppi portrays the story of an ordinary Malayali family and the changes in the socio-economic scene in Kerala from 1970's to the 2000's . As the name suggests, its about colours of the past, taking us to that era along with a boy named Unni and his grandmother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Ottakolam (2016)
Ottakolam is the exceptional tale of a man who makes a living by cremating the dead.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Sarvopari Palakkaran (2017)
Jose, a circle inspector, finds an ideal bride after meeting several women. Meanwhile, he meets Anupama, a social worker, while working on a sensitive molestation case.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Campus Diary (2016)
Nikhil, a student who joins a college for his post graduate course. Being a guy with a modern personality, Nikhil wants to bring about social changes. As part of an NSS camp, he goes to a village where some interesting events happen and this is what the movie revolves around.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
My Life Partner (2014)
My Life Partner deals with the deep and intricate emotional relationship between two men. The movie narrates the story of two friends-turned-lovers, Richard and Kiran, who were both born and brought up in different cultural backgrounds. Issues crop up when they plan to add a baby to their lives, reinforcing their mutual bond as the Indian law does not allow a man to adopt a child on his own. To find a way around this, Richard, who is a bisexual, marries an orphan, Pavithra. Their life goes topsy-turvy, when Pavithra discovers Richard and Kiran's relationship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Nokkethadhoorathu Kannum Nattu (1984)
Kunjoonjamma Thomas is a widow living in the village all by herself. People always make fun of her because she is grumpy and depressed due to the deaths of her husband and her only child. Children irritate her by ringing her door bell and running away. One day, her granddaughter Girly, who she had never met, visits her. Initially, Kunjoonjamma does not like Girly, but they soon become close to each other.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Abhimanyu (1991)
Abhimanyu movie is all about Hari (Mohanlal) who is a welder in a small factory, witnesses a gang-related murder and gets inadvertently involved with the underworld. The murder of a benevolent local boss complicates life in the slum where Hari lives, causing his slow transformation to a life of crime. Decent performances, in an otherwise weak script.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Aami (2018)
Aami is a biopic based on the life of the renowned poet and author Kamala Das, who was fondly referred by her pet name Aami. The film mainly deals with two relationships the writer had - with the husband and after his demise, with a suitor from a different religion.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like This Way, Students?
The closest matches to This Way, Students are The River (1984), The Young One (1960) and Skin (2009). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after This Way, Students?
Start with The River (1984), the closest match to This Way, Students.
What is the highest-rated movie like This Way, Students?
Beast (2026), rated 7.5/10 by 227 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like This Way, Students?
Beast (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Malayalam movies like This Way, Students?
Yes: Apothecary (2014), Kolumittayi (2016) and Olappeeppi (2016).
How are movies similar to This Way, Students chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside This Way, Students, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.