Movies like Build a House, Plant a Tree (1980)
The best movies like Build a House, Plant a Tree (1980) are Hardball (2001), Tigertail (2020) and Farming (2018). If Build a House, Plant a Tree hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedNights of Cabiria (1957)8.0/10 from 893 votes
- NewestPūtaringa (2026)Released 2026
Hardball (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 thisTigertail (2020)
A man reflects on the lost love of his youth and his long-ago journey from Taiwan to America as he begins to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
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 thisHerself (2020)
Struggling to provide her daughters with a safe, happy home, Sandra decides to build one - from scratch. Using all her ingenuity to make her ambitious dream a reality, Sandra draws together a community to lend a helping hand to build her house and ultimately recover her own sense of self.
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 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 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 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 thisI Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977)
A disturbed and institutionalized 16-year-old girl struggles between fantasy and reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 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 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 thisGigi & 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 thisThe Girl in the Book (2015)
The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe 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 thisImperial Dreams (2014)
A 21-year-old reformed gangster's devotion to his family and his future is put to the test when he is released from prison and returns to his old stomping grounds in Watts, Los Angeles.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEmbattled (2020)
The eldest son of a ruthlessly tough MMA champion must fight his way out of the abusive cycle his father has continued.
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 thisThe Visit (1964)
Carla Zachanassian had a child by Serge Miller as a teenager. When Serge refused to marry her, she was driven out of town. By her own wit and cunning, she has returned as a multi-millionaire for a visit. The town lays out the red carpet expecting big things from Carla, only to learn that her sole purpose is to see Serge Miller killed...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Girl and the Oak (1955)
Smilja is a little girl living in Dalmatian Zagora. One day, her mother dies under a small oak tree and she is left without parents. Luckily, she gets adopted and continues to nurture the oak where her mother died. Many years later, Smilja is a handsome woman, but her jealous stepbrother Josip kills her boyfriend Ivan and rapes her. Ivan's brothers swear revenge.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Pūtaringa (2026)
Follow Pete as he explores the struggles of an overwhelming new environment and finds comfort in the small things that remind him of home.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Far Harbor (1996)
A group of seven young people spend a weekend in the home of a wealthy yuppie on Long Island and live out their problems.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Righteous (2021)
A burdened man feels the wrath of a vengeful God after he and his wife are visited by a mysterious stranger.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Black Jew (2017)
Aaron Eliyahu, a Jewish man, travels across India to document the history of Jews. On his journey, unfortunately, Aaron meets with a fatal motor accident that lands him in a state of coma in a hermitage somewhere in North India. By the time he reaches Mala, his hometown, he sees that his house has been converted into a post office and his properties encroached upon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Nights of Cabiria (1957)
Rome, 1957. A woman, Cabiria, is robbed and left to drown by her boyfriend, Giorgio. Rescued, she resumes her life and tries her best to find happiness in a cynical world. Even when she thinks her struggles are over and she has found happiness and contentment, things may not be what they seem.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisFamily Tree (1999)
A lonely young boy, overshadowed by his older brother, picked on by other boys at school and ignored by his businessman father, finds strength and companionship from a stately old oak tree. When his father, a real-estate developer, plans to demolish the old tree in order to make way for a factory, the boy decides to stand up for his friend and stand up to his father.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTraces of Grief (2024)
Shell-shocked Barbara must face up to the loss of a dear companion after a tragic accident. Her best friend Klara and husband Torsten devise a plan to thaw Barbara's heart, after she reminisces about the incident, the funeral, and happier times. Will she agree to the suggestions of her nearest and dearest? Can grief turn into hope?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Enchantment (1948)
Roland Dane finally retires to his childhood home. Lost in thoughts of his lost love Lark, he wishes not to be disturbed in his last days. However, the appearance of his niece and her subsequent romance with Lark's nephew causes Roland to reevaluate his life and offer some advice so the young couple don't make the same mistake he did, all those years ago.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Build a House, Plant a Tree?
The closest matches to Build a House, Plant a Tree are Hardball (2001), Tigertail (2020) and Farming (2018). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Build a House, Plant a Tree?
Start with Hardball (2001), the closest match to Build a House, Plant a Tree.
What is the highest-rated movie like Build a House, Plant a Tree?
Nights of Cabiria (1957), rated 8.0/10 by 893 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Build a House, Plant a Tree?
Pūtaringa (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Build a House, Plant a Tree chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Build a House, Plant a Tree, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.