Movies like These Three (1936)
The best movies like These Three (1936) are The Whole Wide World (1996), The Magic of Ordinary Days (2005) and The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020). If These Three hooked you with its drama and romance, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedA Little Princess (1995)7.6/10 from 1,080 votes
- NewestAbed's Journey: A Tale of Gebyar Pandu (2026)Released 2026
The Whole Wide World (1996)
In 1930s Texas, pulp fiction master Robert E. Howard is introduced to Novalyne Price, a teacher with aspirations of becoming an author herself, and they begin a unique relationship filled with conversation and imagination. Although the possibility exists for romance, Howard's obsession with his work and dedication to his sick mother leads Price to look elsewhere for love, leaving Howard feeling betrayed and alone.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Magic of Ordinary Days (2005)
Pregnant out of wedlock, an educated young woman is pressured by her father into an arranged marriage with a lonely farmer in this drama set during WWII.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Secret: Dare to Dream (2020)
A widow with three children hires a handyman to fix her house during a major storm. When not doing home repairs, he shares his philosophy of believing in the power of the universe to deliver what we want.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSalome (1953)
In the reign of emperor Tiberius, Gallilean prophet John the Baptist preaches against King Herod and Queen Herodias. The latter wants John dead, but Herod fears to harm him due to a prophecy. Enter beautiful Princess Salome, Herod's long-absent stepdaughter. Herodias sees the king's dawning lust for Salome as her means of bending him to her will. But Salome and her lover Claudius are–contrary to Scripture–nearing conversion to the new religion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisAll This, and Heaven Too (1940)
When lovely and virtuous governess Henriette Deluzy comes to educate the children of the debonair Duc de Praslin, a royal subject to King Louis-Philippe and the husband of the volatile and obsessive Duchesse de Praslin, she instantly incurs the wrath of her mistress, who is insanely jealous of anyone who comes near her estranged husband. Though she saves the duchess's little son from a near-death illness and warms herself to all the children, she is nevertheless dismissed by the vengeful duchess as the attraction between the duke and Henriette continues to grow.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeastly (2011)
A modern-day take on the "Beauty and the Beast" tale where a New York teen is transformed into a hideous monster in order to find true love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKitty Foyle (1940)
A hard-working, white-collar girl falls in love with a young socialite, but meets with his family's disapproval.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGoodbye, Mr. Chips (1969)
Academy Award-honoree Peter O'Toole stars in this musical classic about a prim English schoolmaster who learns to show his compassion through the help of an outgoing showgirl. O'Toole, who received his fourth Oscar-nomination for this performance, is joined by '60s pop star Petula Clark and fellow Oscar-nominee Michael Redgrave.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWon't Back Down (2012)
Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.
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 thisA Little Princess (1995)
When her father enlists to fight for the British in WWI, young Sara Crewe goes to New York to attend the same boarding school her late mother attended. She soon clashes with the severe headmistress, Miss Minchin, who attempts to stifle Sara's creativity and sense of self-worth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Emperor's Club (2002)
William Hundert is a passionate and principled Classics professor who finds his tightly-controlled world shaken and inexorably altered when a new student, Sedgewick Bell, walks into his classroom. What begins as a fierce battle of wills gives way to a close student-teacher relationship, but results in a life lesson for Hundert that will still haunt him a quarter of a century later.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPitfall (1948)
An insurance man wishing for a more exciting life becomes wrapped up in the affairs of an imprisoned embezzler, his model girlfriend, and a violent private investigator.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlicka (2006)
Katy McLaughlin desires to work on her family's mountainside horse ranch, although her father insists she finish boarding school. Katy finds a mustang in the hills near her ranch. The headstrong 16 year old then sets her mind to tame a mustang and prove to her father she can run the ranch. But when tragedy happens, it will take all the love and strength the family can muster to restore hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Man of Her Own (1950)
A penniless pregnant woman adopts the identity of a rich woman killed in a train crash.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeidi (2005)
Swiss girl Adelheid 'Heidi' is orphaned young. Aunt Detie brings her to grandpa Alp and his wife, who live isolated in the Alps since his murder charge. Heidi soon takes to the wild country, especially accompanying young goatherd Peter. Grandpa refuses to send her to school in the city, but aunt Detie returns and forces him to give in. She's sent to a posh lady in Frankfurt, where she'll be a companion for crippled daughter Clara after school hours.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 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 thisA Woman's Face (1941)
A female blackmailer with a disfiguring facial scar meets a plastic surgeon who offers her the possibility of looking like a normal woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMusic of the Heart (1999)
After Roberta Guaspari separates from her husband, she receives encouragement from her mother to take up a job of a music teacher at the Central Park East School in East Harlem.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYour Romeo (2016)
Yvette has dreamed of performing Romeo and Juliet since starting high school. Now, in her final year, the headmaster has decided to use the school's entire arts and culture budget to fund a T20 event. In a last ditch effort to put on the play, they ask the school's cricket hero, Marko Marais, to play the role of Romeo.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Free!: Timeless Medley - The Promise (2017)
The second Timeless Medley film mainly recaps Eternal Summer and a little bit of the first season. It focuses on Rin and Samezuka. It also includes new scenes and characters from High Speed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Class (2008)
Teacher and novelist François Bégaudeau plays a version of himself as he negotiates a year with his racially mixed students from a tough Parisian neighborhood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Bank Job (2008)
Terry is a small-time car dealer trying to leave his shady past behind and start a family. Martine is a beautiful model from Terry's old neighbourhood who knows that Terry is no angel. When Martine proposes a foolproof plan to rob a bank, Terry recognises the danger but realises this may be the opportunity of a lifetime.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAbed's Journey: A Tale of Gebyar Pandu (2026)
A 20-year-old loser is given a chance to return to his middle school years and rewrite his past by daring to perform at the school’s biggest talent show, Gebyar Pandu.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The River Wild (1994)
Gail and Tom Hartman are struggling to stay together and decide to take a white-water rafting holiday adventure in Montana for their son Roarke's 10th birthday, only to meet up with a pair of mysterious men whose desperation grows, turning their vacation into a nightmare.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHigh School High (1996)
Richard Clark has just left the well-known Wellington Academy to teach at Marion Barry High School. Now, he will try to inspire the D-average students into making good grades and try to woo a fellow teacher.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisSmilla's Sense of Snow (1997)
Smilla Jaspersen attempts to understand the death of a small boy who falls from the roof of her apartment building. Suspecting wrongdoing, Smilla uncovers a trail of clues leading towards a secretive corporation that has made several mysterious expeditions to Greenland.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRain in the Sunshine (2013)
Schoolboy Hinata has a big crush on his classmate Shigure, but is too shy to tell her. On the day Shigure is leaving, Hinata flies off on the wings of a bird chasing after her to tell how he feels!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
The Longest Yard (2005)
Disgraced pro football quarterback Paul Crewe lands in a Texas federal penitentiary, where manipulative Warden Hazen recruits him to advise the institution's football team of prison guards. Crewe suggests a tune-up game which lands him quarterbacking a crew of inmates in a game against the guards. Aided by incarcerated ex-NFL coach and player Nate Scarborough, Crewe and his team must overcome not only the bloodthirstiness of the opposition, but also the corrupt warden trying to fix the game against them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like These Three?
The closest matches to These Three are The Whole Wide World (1996), The Magic of Ordinary Days (2005) and The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after These Three?
Start with The Whole Wide World (1996), the closest match to These Three.
What is the highest-rated movie like These Three?
A Little Princess (1995), rated 7.6/10 by 1,080 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like These Three?
Abed's Journey: A Tale of Gebyar Pandu (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like These Three?
Yes: The Whole Wide World (1996), The Magic of Ordinary Days (2005) and The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020).
How are movies similar to These Three chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside These Three, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.