Movies like Boy in a Backpack (2016)
The best movies like Boy in a Backpack (2016) are Great Expectations (2012), Spenser Confidential (2020) and Turtles All the Way Down (2024). If Boy in a Backpack hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFight Club (1999)8.4/10 from 33,292 votes
- NewestLove Me Love Me (2026)Released 2026
Great Expectations (2012)
Orphan Pip discovers through lawyer Mr. Jaggers that a mysterious benefactor wishes to ensure that he becomes a gentleman. Reunited with his childhood patron, Miss Havisham, and his first love, the beautiful but emotionally cold Estella, he discovers that the elderly spinster has gone mad from having been left at the altar as a young woman, and has made her charge into a warped, unfeeling heartbreaker.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpenser Confidential (2020)
Spenser, a former Boston patrolman who just got out from prison, teams up with Hawk, an aspiring fighter, to unravel the truth behind the death of two police officers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTurtles All the Way Down (2024)
17-year-old Aza Holmes tries be a good daughter, a good friend, and a good student, all while navigating an endless barrage of invasive, obsessive thoughts that she cannot control. When she reconnects with Davis, her childhood crush, Aza is confronted with fundamental questions about her potential for love, happiness, friendship, and hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGone in Sixty Seconds (2000)
Ex-car thief Randall Raines is forced out of retirement to save his brother Kip after a boost gone wrong. With the help of allies old and new, they race to meet the demands of notorious crime boss Raymond Calitri as the police are in hot pursuit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Simple Plan (1998)
Captivated by the lure of sudden wealth, the quiet rural lives of two brothers erupt into conflicts of greed, paranoia and distrust when over $4 million in cash is discovered at the remote site of a downed small airplane. Their simple plan to retain the money while avoiding detection opens a Pandora's box when the fear of getting caught triggers panicked behavior and leads to virulent consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTwo for the Money (2005)
A former college athlete joins forces with a sports consultant to handicap football games for high-rolling gamblers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCharlie St. Cloud (2010)
Accomplished sailor Charlie St. Cloud has the adoration of his mother Claire and his little brother Sam, as well as a college scholarship that will lead him far from his sleepy Pacific Northwest hometown. But his bright future is cut short when tragedy strikes and takes his dreams with it. After high school classmate Tess returns home unexpectedly, Charlie grows torn between honoring a promise he made four years earlier and moving forward with newfound love. As he finds the courage to let go of the past for good, Charlie discovers the soul most worth saving is his own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLove Me Love Me (2026)
After her brother's death, June moves to Milan for a fresh start, finding comfort in Will, the perfect honor student at her new international school. But when his troubled best friend James—hiding a dangerous life in clandestine MMA fights—sparks a rivalry that quickly turns into irresistible attraction, June must choose between safety and a love that upends everything she thought she wanted.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeautiful Boy (2018)
After he and his first wife separate, journalist David Sheff struggles to help their teenage son, who goes from experimenting with drugs to becoming devastatingly addicted to methamphetamine.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSupercross (2005)
Faced with the suspicious death of their father, two brothers must motivate one another to get back on their bikes and take the Las Vegas Motocross Championships by storm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFurious 7 (2015)
Deckard Shaw seeks revenge against Dominic Toretto and his family for his comatose brother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisT2 Trainspotting (2017)
After 20 years abroad, Mark Renton returns to Scotland and reunites with his old friends Sick Boy, Spud and Begbie.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFight Club (1999)
A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisFoxcatcher (2014)
The greatest Olympic Wrestling Champion brother team joins Team Foxcatcher led by multimillionaire sponsor John E. du Pont as they train for the 1988 games in Seoul - a union that leads to unlikely circumstances.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBenji (2018)
Two school kids strike up a friendship with an orphaned puppy named Benji. When danger befalls them and they end up kidnapped by robbers who are in over their heads, Benji and his scruffy sidekick come to the rescue.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCherry (2021)
Cherry drifts from college dropout to army medic in Iraq—anchored only by his one true love, Emily. But after returning from the war with PTSD, his life spirals into drugs and crime as he struggles to find his place in the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Smashing Machine (2025)
In the late 1990s, up-and-coming mixed martial artist Mark Kerr aspires to become the greatest fighter in the world. However, he must also battle his opioid dependence and a volatile relationship with his girlfriend Dawn.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Outfit (1973)
A two-bit criminal takes on the Mafia to avenge his brother's death. Earl Macklin is a small time criminal who is released from prison after an unsuccessful bank robbery only to discover that a pair of gunmen killed his brother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFast & Furious (2009)
When a crime brings them back to L.A., fugitive ex-con Dom Toretto reignites his feud with agent Brian O'Conner. But as they are forced to confront a shared enemy, Dom and Brian must give in to an uncertain new trust if they hope to outmaneuver him. And the two men will find the best way to get revenge: push the limits of what's possible behind the wheel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFight or Flight (2025)
A mercenary takes on the job of tracking down a target on a plane but must protect that target when they're surrounded by people trying to kill both of them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Boy in a Backpack?
The closest matches to Boy in a Backpack are Great Expectations (2012), Spenser Confidential (2020) and Turtles All the Way Down (2024). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Boy in a Backpack?
Start with Great Expectations (2012), the closest match to Boy in a Backpack.
What is the highest-rated movie like Boy in a Backpack?
Fight Club (1999), rated 8.4/10 by 33,292 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Boy in a Backpack?
Love Me Love Me (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Boy in a Backpack?
Yes: Great Expectations (2012), Spenser Confidential (2020) and Turtles All the Way Down (2024).
How are movies similar to Boy in a Backpack chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Boy in a Backpack, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.