Movies like Ella & Nell (2018)
The best movies like Ella & Nell (2018) are The Safety of Objects (2002), Bastard Out of Carolina (1996) and Lucky Them (2013). If Ella & Nell hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Trials of Cate McCall (2013)6.4/10 from 321 votes
- NewestBrownsville Bred (2025)Released 2025
- In German3 Days in Quiberon (2018)Also in German
The 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 thisBastard Out of Carolina (1996)
A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLucky Them (2013)
More interested in partying and flirting with young musicians than work, veteran rock journalist Ellie Klug has one last chance to prove her value to her magazine’s editor: a no-stone-unturned search to discover what really happened to long lost rock god, Matt Smith, who also happens to be her ex-boyfriend. Teaming up with an eccentric amateur documentary filmmaker, Ellie hits the road in search of answers.
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 thisCall Me Crazy: A Five Film (2013)
A psychotherapist helps a law student cope with schizophrenia in one of five interconnected tales dealing with mental illness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this3 Days in Quiberon (2018)
1981, Quiberon, a small village on the coast of Brittany, France. Hilde Fritsch arrives to visit her old friend who has retreated to a spa hotel to escape the daily pressures of her life. Her friend is world-famous star Romy Schneider, but together, they appear like two regular women who are just happy to be reunited. Yet it quickly becomes apparent that Hilde is supposed to offer the support the sensitive actress needs to be able to truly face her own demons.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisStrange Weather (2016)
Years after her son's suicide, a woman longs to confront both the past and a friend of his who took his business idea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisIron Jawed Angels (2004)
Defiant young activists take the women's suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Trials of Cate McCall (2013)
In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Truth About Emanuel (2013)
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSky (2016)
A woman embarks on a journey alone across the United States after fleeing from her violent husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoly Lands (2019)
When lapsed Jew and former cardiologist Harry suddenly decides to spend his retirement as a pig farmer in Nazareth, Israel, the move deeply shocks his family and his new neighbours. Back in New York, Harry’s ex-wife Monica is trying to manage the lives of their adult children, Annabelle and David, as well as her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Believe in Unicorns (2015)
Feeling awkward and isolated, an imaginative and strong-willed teenage girl runs away from home with an older punk rock drifter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Dry White Season (1989)
During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Short History of the Long Road (2019)
Nola grew up living in a van with her father, Clint—two nomads against the world. When tragedy strikes, Nola must confront the reality of life on the road alone, learning to own her grief, her past, and her new destination.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSomeday We'll Tell Each Other Everything (2023)
Set in a warm summer in 1990 in former East Germany, it follows a young woman who begins a relationship with a charismatic farmer who is twice her age.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Year Ago in Winter (2008)
A renowned artist must uncover a young dancer's secrets in order to truly capture her likeness for a commissioned work.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Caveman's Valentine (2001)
Romulus, a misunderstood musician turned recluse hiding from personal demons in a New York City cave, finds the frozen body of a young drifter in a tree. The authorities, including his police officer daughter, claim the death is accidental. Romulus is convinced the man was murdered by a prominent art photographer but how can he prove he's right when everyone thinks he's insane?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisTuesday (2024)
A mother and her teenage daughter must confront Death when it arrives in the form of an astonishing talking bird.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDiablillos de arrabal (1940)
In a poor neighborhood in Mexico City, two gangs of kids fight for control of the center where they work as "boleros", musicians or announcers. "Completo" joins the gang led by "Rorro", a rival of the group headed by "Curricán".
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Cry (2007)
In New York, detective Alex Scott is investigating with his partner Sergio Perez the disappearance of several children. When they visit the Mexican witch Gloria, the woman advises that a powerful evil force is chasing the reincarnation of her son and drowning the other children to bring pain to their mothers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Brownsville Bred (2025)
Set against the vibrant yet challenging backdrop of her urban neighborhood, the complexities of adolescence are explored as Elaine faces an unexpected upheaval in her life due to her father, Manny, an aspiring salsa musician whose struggles lead him away from his family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Jacob Have I Loved (1989)
In the early 1940s, a depressed young woman, who's been eclipsed all of her life by her beautiful twin sister, tries to overcome her low self-esteem with help from a crusty old sea captain.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
A Million Little Pieces (2019)
A young drug-addled writer approaching the bottom of his descent submits to two months of agonizing detox at a treatment center in Minnesota.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDer Duft von Holunder (2011)
Once Sofie Möller left her idyllic hometown with the aim of making a career in the big city. Now she returns with her mother Agnes to attend the funeral of her grandmother and to revamp her empty house for sale. It does not take long for Sofie to be confronted with her past, which apart from the grandmotherly love consisted of many personal injuries. When she meets her former boyhood friend Tom Sommer again, Sofie has come to the time to rethink her own emotional life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Christmas Secret (2014)
While her life is falling apart, single mother Christine finds a magical family heirloom that leads to love and good fortune during Christmas.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBut Muzeyyen That's the Deepest Desire (2014)
Arif, who is trying to write his first book, believes that life contains many unanswerable questions, especially about women and relationships. But when Müzeyyen appears unexpectedly, everything he has ever known or tried to learn is suddenly turned upside down.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEurope in the Evening (1989)
Based on the novel "Trust D. E." by Ilja Ehrenburg. Jens Boot, a successful manager in a multinational corporation, organizes the takeover of companies in Europe. Very soon he realizes his task—the preparation of the destruction of Europe. He suspects his girlfriend of being involved in the conspiracy. Only in the European desert do they meet again.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Apatride (2018)
Henia will give anything to mend her broken past and find her mother, from whom she has been separated since the conflict between Morocco and Algeria during the Black Demonstration of 1975. After being given an opportunity to assist an elderly blind man, she accepts the offer and eventually finds herself agreeing to marry him. For Henia, this is a chance to get the necessary papers for her return to Algeria. For the old man, it’s a chance to start over. For his son, it is a disgrace.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Ella & Nell?
The closest matches to Ella & Nell are The Safety of Objects (2002), Bastard Out of Carolina (1996) and Lucky Them (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Ella & Nell?
Start with The Safety of Objects (2002), the closest match to Ella & Nell.
What is the highest-rated movie like Ella & Nell?
The Trials of Cate McCall (2013), rated 6.4/10 by 321 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Ella & Nell?
Brownsville Bred (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there German movies like Ella & Nell?
Yes: 3 Days in Quiberon (2018), Someday We'll Tell Each Other Everything (2023) and A Year Ago in Winter (2008).
How are movies similar to Ella & Nell chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Ella & Nell, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.