Movies like The Stray (2017)
The best movies like The Stray (2017) are Storm Rider (2013), A Horse for Summer (2015) and Away and Back (2015). If The Stray hooked you with its drama and family, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMiracles from Heaven (2016)7.5/10 from 1,306 votes
- NewestHeart of a Champion (2023)Released 2023
Storm Rider (2013)
When her father is put into jail, the spoiled teenager Dani loses everything. Forced to live with her uncle Sam on a farm without horses to ride and to train a sad Dani takes care of a young mule and learns what really counts.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & drama
A Horse for Summer (2015)
When a family emergency forces a troubled teen to do the wrong thing for the right reason, a community discovers the meaning of forgiveness.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Away and Back (2015)
Jack Peterson, a widowed father of three young children, encounters Ginny Newsom, a wildlife biologist, whose mission is tracking trumpeter swans, a family of which settle in a pond on the Peterson farm. Could that be romance in the air?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSoul Surfer (2011)
The true story of teen surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her arm in a shark attack and courageously overcame all odds to become a champion again, through her sheer determination and unwavering faith.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Brother's Keeper (2021)
Returning war veteran SFC Travis Fox has one more battle to fight – PTSD. Following an improvised explosive device attack that killed his best friend and their entire Ranger platoon, Travis returns to his hometown to settle the mysterious affairs of his late parents. In searching for answers, he uncovers a new obstacle and finds support from church counselor Tiffany Robertson. Slowly beginning to rediscover his faith in God, Travis uncovers a secret hidden by his friend Donnie that threatens his newfound faith, restores his guilt, and causes him to consider the unthinkable.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUnderdogs (2013)
The story of a small-town high school football team in rural Ohio destined to play their cross-town rival, a perennial powerhouse, while standing up for an entire community.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Angel Dog (2011)
This heart warming film is about a dog named Cooper who is the lone survivor of a terrible car accident. Jake, a family patriarch, loses his wife and children in the accident. Not being a dog person, Jake is angry and resentful toward the dog for even surviving. However, eventually Jake bonds with Cooper, and this bond ends up being the one thing that gets him out of bed in the morning, the one thing that helps him to go on living after such a tragic loss.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
The Way Home (2010)
An inspirational true story about how a rural community rallied around a distraught family to search for their missing two year-old boy and through doing so changed the lives of many of those involved.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
About Scout (2015)
A rebellious Goth girl embarks on a road trip across Texas with a suicidal young man in an effort to find her little sister.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & drama
Wish You Well (2013)
A young girl and her brother come of age at their great grandmother's house in Virginia during the 1940s. After a family tragedy, a young girl moves from New York with your younger brother to live with their great grandmother on a Virginia farm and comes closer to understanding the land and roots that inspired her father's writings while discovering herself, the love of family, and the power of truly believing.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & drama
The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry (2008)
The lives of twelve year old buddies Dustin, Albert, and Mark, sharing a carefree existence in the summer of 1970, suddenly changes when Dustin makes an unexpected friend after cutting the lawn of 75 year old Jonathan Sperry. As the old man shares lessons in faith with the preteen trio, a spiritual transformation occurs.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Touchback (2011)
A former high-school football star loses his shot at a college scholarship due to a devastating gridiron injury, but gets a second chance at living his dream.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDreamer: Inspired By a True Story (2005)
Ben Crane believes that a severely injured racehorse deserves another chance. He and his daughter Cale adopt the mare and save it from being sacrificed by the owner.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDolphin Tale (2011)
A sea of animal rescuers — and a lonely boy in need of a friend – nurse an injured dolphin back to health after it loses its tail in a trap.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Roads Lead Home (2008)
The story is about a 12 year old girl who loses her mother in an automobile accident. Her father struggles with the loss of his wife and trying to raise his young daughter who believes her father is partly responsible for her mother's death. Belle's maternal grandfather is a changed man since losing his daughter in the accident. He finds it difficult to have a relationship with Belle since she is a constant reminder of her mother. It is Atticus the new puppy who will change Belle's life and the lives of those who love her
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Texas Rein (2016)
An all-American story that explores the family dynamic when a prodigal daughter returns home.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Dog Gone (2023)
When his beloved dog goes missing, a young man embarks on an incredible search with his parents to find him and give him life-saving medication.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlabama Moon (2009)
After the unexpected death of his survivalist father, an eleven year old boy raised in the Alabama wilderness must learn how to make a home in the modern world.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiracles from Heaven (2016)
When Christy discovers her 10-year-old daughter Anna has a rare, incurable disease, she becomes a ferocious advocate for her daughter’s healing as she searches for a solution. After Anna has a freak accident and falls three stories, a miracle unfolds in the wake of her dramatic rescue that leaves medical specialists mystified, her family restored and their community inspired.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHeart of a Champion (2023)
A 14-year-old coping with the divorce of her parents, a new school and typical teenage growing pains finds purpose and pride in a lost horse she cares for and trains for a state competition.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & drama
Letters to God (2010)
A young boy fighting cancer writes letters to God, touching lives in his neighborhood and inspiring hope among everyone he comes in contact. An unsuspecting substitute postman, with a troubled life of his own, becomes entangled in the boy's journey and his family by reading the letters. They inspire him to seek a better life for himself and his own son he's lost through his alcohol addiction.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRound of Your Life (2019)
When a car accident leaves his father in a coma, a 15-year-old prodigy joins his high school golf team to try and win the state title for his dad.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family
Virginia's Run (2002)
A teenage girl, trying to come to terms with the death of her mother in a horse-riding accident, nurtures the foal of her mother's horse.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Milton's Secret (2016)
11 year-old Milton Adams is growing up in an uncertain world. With his parents constantly stressing about their careers and finances, and the neighborhood bully tormenting him, Milton feels his whole world is in crisis. But when his Grandpa Howard comes to visit, he discovers anxiety about the past and worrying about the future only make things worse and prevent him from finding true happiness moment to moment.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Our Wild Hearts (2013)
A wealthy teenage girl from Malibu falls in love with a beautiful wild mustang, adventure, and the father she has never known in the wild Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family
Run the Tide (2016)
When their drug abusing mother is released from prison determined to rebuild their family, Rey kidnaps his younger brother Oliver and escapes their desert home for the California coast.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisI Believe (2019)
A 9 year old boy experiences God's power in a supernatural way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhere the Red Fern Grows (2003)
Set in the Ozark Mountains during the Great Depression, Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for 2 years to achieve his dream of buying two coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in God as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with "Old Dan" and "Little Ann."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSkater Girl (2021)
Prerna, a teenager growing up in rural India, comes of age when she’s introduced to the sport of skateboarding. As a result, she has to fight the odds to follow her dreams and compete in the national championship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhere the Red Fern Grows (1974)
Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for two years to achieve his dream of buying two red-bone coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in life as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with his dogs, Old Dan and Little Ann.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Stray?
The closest matches to The Stray are Storm Rider (2013), A Horse for Summer (2015) and Away and Back (2015). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Stray?
People who watched The Stray most often go on to Storm Rider (2013), A Horse for Summer (2015) and Away and Back (2015).
What is the highest-rated movie like The Stray?
Miracles from Heaven (2016), rated 7.5/10 by 1,306 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Stray?
Heart of a Champion (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Stray?
Yes: Storm Rider (2013), A Horse for Summer (2015) and Away and Back (2015).
How are movies similar to The Stray chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Stray, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.