Movies like The Solitary Man (1979)
The best movies like The Solitary Man (1979) are Normal (2003), TalhotBlond (2012) and American Son (2019). If The Solitary Man hooked you with its drama and tv movie, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks
- Highest ratedAmerican Son (2019)6.0/10 from 242 votes
- NewestHello (2022)Released 2022
Normal (2003)
A Midwestern husband and father announces his plan to have a sex change operation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTalhotBlond (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 thisAmerican Son (2019)
Time passes and tension mounts in a Florida police station as an estranged interracial couple awaits news of their missing teenage son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBurton and Taylor (2013)
Legendary acting duo and married couple Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor prepare for a 1983 theatrical production of the play "Private Lives."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (1996)
A dramatization of the life of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (Don Cheadle), with a lot of factual based occurrences. A reformed junkie returns from prison to clean up his act and devote the rest of his life to the young kids of Harlem. 1996 was the 25th anniversary of the first tournament named after him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI 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 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 this...First Do No Harm (1997)
When Lori Reimuller learns that her young son Robbie has epilepsy, she first trusts the judgment of the hospital staff in how best to bring it under control. As Robbie's health slides radically downhill, however, she becomes frustrated and desperate, and so does her own research into the existing literature on treatments. When she decides to try an alternative treatment called the Ketogenic Diet, devised long ago by a doctor from Johns Hopkins, she is met with narrow-minded resistance from Robbie's doctor, who is prepared to take legal action to prevent Lori from removing him from the hospital.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGirl 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 thisReturn to Zero (2014)
Based on the true story of a successful couple, Maggie and Aaron who are preparing for the arrival of their first child.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTwelve Angry Men (1954)
Twelve Angry Men is a 1954 teleplay by Reginald Rose for the Studio One anthology television series. Initially staged as a CBS live production on 20 September 1954, the drama was later rewritten for the stage in 1955 under the same title and again for a feature film, 12 Angry Men (1957). The episode garnered three Emmy Awards for writer Rose, director Franklin Schaffner and Robert Cummings as Best Actor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCheaters (2000)
In the fall of 1994, a teacher at Chicago's run-down Steinmetz High conspires with the school's academic decathlon team to cheat on an academic competition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeaven (2019)
Heaven Leigh Casteel, gifted and intelligent, is the eldest of five dirt-poor children struggling to survive in a mountain shack. As she endures neglect and abuse, Heaven discovers a dark secret that changes everything she thought she knew about her family. Then tragedy tears her world apart and she must forge her own way in the cruel, unknown world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHello (2022)
An emotionally unavailable flight attendant meets a potential love interest and later finds out that her "perfect guy" has ulterior motives. As the clock ticks down on New Year's Eve, she must fight to keep her murdered ex-boyfriend's secrets or find herself dead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAngels in the Snow (2015)
The affluent, yet troubled Montgomery family hits the road for a special Christmas in the mountains.
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 thisInherit the Wind (1999)
Two great lawyers argue the case for and against a science teacher accused of the crime of teaching evolution.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTuesdays with Morrie (1999)
A journalist finds himself questioning his own life when his best friend, a dying man, offers him some very powerful wisdom and advice for coping in relationships, careers and society.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAlex of Venice (2015)
After her stay-at-home husband leaves her, a workaholic lawyer finds that she is not completely up to the tasks of caring for her young son, ailing father and household all by herself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Killing of Two Lovers (2021)
In a rural Utah town, David, a father of four, grapples with his separation from wife Nikki as she pursues a new relationship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRoadracers (1994)
In the 1950s, guitar-playing drifter Dude Delaney wanders into a quiet town looking to play music and generally cause trouble, much to the chagrin of the local sheriff, known as Sarge. While palling around with his B-movie-obsessed friend Nixer, Dude meets the beautiful Donna, and is offered a position in a rockabilly band, but the sheriff is intent on getting rid of him by any means necessary.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStrapped (1993)
Ex-con attempting to go straight runs across serious problems. His girlfriend gets arrested for dealing crack to an undercover police officer. In a desperate attempt to get the charges dropped against his woman, he strikes a deal with a weapons cop to turn in local gun dealers. However, the D.A. is not satisfied with the results, resulting in some serious game playing and double crossing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Wicked Moms Club (2017)
Mandy is a new mom in town and at first, she is welcomed into the circle of elite moms, but when her daughter outperforms power mom Olivia's daughter, she finds herself ostracized.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Park Is Mine (1986)
A Vietnam vet takes forceful control of Central Park to remember those who served and died in the Vietnam War.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisNotes from the Field (2018)
A dramatization of the accounts of the students, parents, teachers and administrators caught in America’s school-to-prison pipeline, which pushes underprivileged, minority youth out of the classroom and into incarceration.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Set Up (1990)
The Set Up is a made-for-TV movie starring Anthony Wong
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Undercover (1992)
Chik Chi Ming is promoted to senior inspector after solving a major case while in prison. However, he learns that his old friend, Sai, who was released and has returned to a life of crime. To help him reform, Chik arranges for Sai to go undercover in a notorious gang. Sai earns the trust of the gang leader’s mistress and becomes her driver, but discovers her affair.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Crazy Famous (2017)
A fame obsessed average Joe escapes a mental institution with a band of misfits for one last desperate attempt to be famous.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
George Carlin: 40 Years of Comedy (1997)
George Carlin celebrates 40 years of comedy and here, he presents 2 new standup bits, comedian Jon Stewart gives an interview with him, and we look at his old comedy work through the last 4 decades.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
George Carlin: Back in Town (1996)
Back in Town is George Carlin's ninth HBO special. It was also released on CD on September 17, 1996. This was also his first of many performances at the Beacon Theater in New York City. He rants about Abortion, The death penalty, prison farms, fart jokes, free floating hostility and words.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Solitary Man?
The closest matches to The Solitary Man are Normal (2003), TalhotBlond (2012) and American Son (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Solitary Man?
Start with Normal (2003), the closest match to The Solitary Man.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Solitary Man?
American Son (2019), rated 6.0/10 by 242 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Solitary Man?
Hello (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Solitary Man?
Yes: Normal (2003), TalhotBlond (2012) and American Son (2019).
How are movies similar to The Solitary Man chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Solitary Man, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.





























