Movies like Custody (1988)
The best movies like Custody (1988) are Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980), Seeds of Yesterday (2015) and Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors (2015). If Custody 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 ratedWar Room (2015)7.9/10 from 613 votes
- NewestFatherland (2026)Released 2026
Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980)
Young Cedric Errol and his widowed mother live in genteel poverty in 1880s Brooklyn after the death of his father. Cedric's grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt, has long ago disowned his son for marrying an American. But after the death of the Earl's remaining son, he decides to accept Cedric as his heir.
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 thisDolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors (2015)
"Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors" is based on the inspiring true story of living legend Dolly Parton's remarkable upbringing. This once-in-a-lifetime movie special takes place inside the tight-knit Parton family as they struggle to overcome devastating tragedy and discover the healing power of love, faith and a raggedy patchwork coat that helped make Parton who she is today. The film is set in the Tennessee Great Smoky Mountains in 1955. It is neither a biopic nor a musical about Dolly's whole life and performing career, but rather a family-oriented faith-based story about the incidents in her and her family's life around the time she was nine years old.
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 thisDeath of a Salesman (1985)
Willy Loman, an aging, failing salesman, struggles to accept reality and his failure to achieve the American Dream.
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 thisMansfield Park (2007)
Fanny Price is sent to live with her wealthy relatives, the Bertrams, where she is treated poorly by most except her cousin Edmund. Her life is complicated by the arrival of the worldly Mary and Henry Crawford
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDouble Teamed! (2002)
Heather and Heidi play volleyball for their school team, when their family decides that they need to go to a bigger school so that they will have a better chance for scholarships. But at the new school, the twins are discovered by the basketball coach. Inspired by the true story of Heather and Heidi Burge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAn American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong (2009)
A fourth grader and her friends deal with bullying from a more popular girl in their class.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlowers in the Attic (2014)
After the sudden death of their father, four children face cruel treatment from their ruthless grandmother.
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 thisAnne of Green Gables (2016)
Anne Shirley, an orphan, is fostered by farmer Matthew Cuthbert and his sister Marilla, who were expecting a boy to be sent them to help with their farm work. They accept Anne, who quickly endears herself to them and to the local villagers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTwitches Too (2007)
Reunited witch twins Camryn and Alex adjust to their new life as supernatural beings while at the same time trying to maintain a normal existence in this sequel to the magical Disney Channel original movie Twitches. But they soon find themselves going head to head with the forces of darkness that threaten to destroy their world. Luckily, their birth mother, the powerful Miranda, is on hand to help out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGirl Fight (2011)
Inspired by a true story, Girl Fight recounts the harrowing story of a 16-year-old, stellar high school student whose life spirals downward when her former friends conspire to upload onto the Internet a shocking video of them beating her up.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Ted Kramer is a career man for whom his work comes before his family. His wife Joanna cannot take this anymore, so she decides to leave him. Ted is now faced with the tasks of housekeeping and taking care of himself and their young son Billy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisReality (2023)
Augusta, Georgia, United States, June 3, 2017. After running some errands, Reality Winner returns home, where she is approached by two men.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCustody (2016)
When a hard-working single mother, Sara Diaz, has her children taken from her after she is suspected of injuring her son, Ally Fisher, a recent law school graduate, is assigned to represent her case before Judge Martha Schulman, a veteran of the Family Court System.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParadise (1991)
A 10-year-old boy spends a summer in the country with a childless couple and a precocious girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWar Room (2015)
The family-friendly movie explores the transformational role prayer plays in the lives of the Jordan family. Tony and Elizabeth Jordan, a middle-class couple who seemingly have it all – great jobs, a beautiful daughter, their dream home. But appearances can be deceiving. In reality, the Jordan’s marriage has become a war zone and their daughter is collateral damage. With the help of Miss Clara, an older, wiser woman, Elizabeth discovers she can start fighting for her family instead of against them. Through a newly energized faith, Elizabeth and Tony’s real enemy doesn’t have a prayer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 thisApparitions at Fatima (1991)
A docudrama about the apparitions of the Virgin Mary at Fatima, Portugal.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Fatherland (2026)
In 1949, German writer Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika embark on a road trip across a Germany in ruins, from US-dominated Frankfurt to Soviet-controlled Weimar.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Am Sam (2001)
Sam, a neurodivergent man, has a daughter with a homeless woman who abandons them when they leave the hospital, leaving Sam to raise Lucy on his own. But as Lucy grows up, Sam's limitations as a parent start to become a problem and the authorities take her away. Sam convinces high-priced lawyer Rita to take his case pro bono and in turn teaches her the value of love and family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe War Game (1966)
A hypothetical Chinese invasion of South Vietnam triggers a new world war between East and West. In Rochester, Kent, the anticipation of a nuclear attack leads to mass evacuations. When a stray missile explodes, the ensuing firestorm blinds all those who see it. It's not long before the fabric of society is ripped apart from radiation poisoning, a lack of infrastructure and rioting for food and other necessities.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Heart Set Free: Charles Wesley (2008)
A biography of Charles Wesley, father of the Weselyan Church, hymn writer, and preacher.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Black Friday (2004)
Bombs tear through Bombay in 1993, wreaking havoc and polarising the citizens. With perpetrators at large, the state launches a massive man-hunt to unmask the perpetrators behind these events.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAnna Karenina (1948)
In Imperial Russia, Anna, wife of the officer Karenin, goes to Moscow to visit her brother. On the way, she meets charming cavalry officer Vronsky, to whom she's immediately attracted— but in St. Petersburg’s high society, a relationship like this could destroy a woman’s reputation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnder Gottsunda (2014)
Teenage outsiders take refuge into an underground world of strange subcultures. A father is training his daughter to manage without him. The kids from Palestine are crafting slingshots. Two boys reject their parents in a rite of passage.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Adak Engkot (TBA)
Aidil, a teenager from Maratua Island, as he prepares to inherit his father’s grouper fish farming business. Amidst natural challenges and family expectations, Aidil grows from a curious boy into his father’s true partner. This is a coming-of-age story about legacy, resilience, and the unspoken bond between father and son.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Coup (2021)
Hamburg, Germany, summer 1988. A young bank employee embezzles a large amount of money using an ingenious technique and flees to Australia, from where he phones his girlfriend to tell her what he has done so easily; but her reaction is not what he naively expected.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Custody and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Custody?
The closest matches to Custody are Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980), Seeds of Yesterday (2015) and Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors (2015). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Custody?
Start with Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980), the closest match to Custody.
What is the highest-rated movie like Custody?
War Room (2015), rated 7.9/10 by 613 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Custody?
Fatherland (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Custody?
Yes: Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980), Seeds of Yesterday (2015) and Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors (2015).
How are movies similar to Custody chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Custody, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.