Movies like In the Shadow (2006)
The best movies like In the Shadow (2006) are Adam's Sake (2025), Lorelei (2020) and Strange Weather (2016). If In the Shadow hooked you with its drama, these 20 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
- NewestStreet Flow 3 (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchAdam's Sake (2025)Also in French
Adam's Sake (2025)
A head nurse defies hospital rules to let a mother stay with her malnourished son. As they navigate a complex crisis, the nurse's empathy proves just as vital to the boy's healing as medicine.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLorelei (2020)
A man is released from prison after 15 years. He reunites with his high school girlfriend, now a single mother of three. What follows is a lyrical take on love, regret and second chances.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisChaos (2001)
A bourgeois couple, modern yet conventional. One night by accident, a young prostitute barges into their lives. Hounded down, beaten up, threatened, she will continue to struggle, with the help of a well off lady, first for her survival-her resurrection-then for her dignity and freedom. Stormy encounters for everyone involved.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll to Play For (2023)
Sylvie lives with her two children whom she’s raising on her own. One evening, there’s an accident, and her youngest son is removed from her care. Sylvie must subsequently fight to get her son back and to keep herself afloat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisO.G. (2018)
Louis Menkins is five weeks away from being released after 26 years in prison. He is faced with the decision to put his own release at risk in order to protect a young man named Beecher from growing gang controversies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAll Day and a Night (2020)
While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYoung Mothers (2025)
Housed in a shelter for young mothers, Jessica, Perla, Julia, Ariane, and Naïma, all of whom have grown up in difficult circumstances, struggle to obtain a better life for themselves and their children.
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 thisStreet Flow 3 (2026)
Grieving and facing the consequences of their crimes, the Traoré brothers get one last chance to forge a new path.
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 thisAlex of Venice (2015)
After her stay-at-home husband leaves her, a workaholic lawyer finds that she is not completely up to the tasks of caring for her young son, ailing father and household all by herself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 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 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 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 thisAdopt a Highway (2019)
Russ Millings has just been released from prison after serving 21 years for a 3rd strike conviction for possessing an ounce of marijuana. As he tries to adapt to a world he doesn’t recognize – including trying to learn how to use the internet – he finds an abandoned baby in a dumpster behind the fast food restaurant where he works as a dishwasher. Unsure of what to do, and caught between impulses of kindness and panic, Russ soon realizes this could be his chance at redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Adopted (2011)
Lisa and Marine live a life of relative companionship together, where the only man permitted into the equation is Lisa’s young son, Leo. However, their simple existence is thrown into disarray when Marie meets and falls in love with Alex, a customer at her bookshop. Lisa is left feeling excluded, and tension develop. But soon an unexpected accident forces all of those involved to reassess the situation and adopt a different position in each other’s lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHome (2021)
An ex-felon returns home from prison and must confront the demons of his past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Son (2002)
A joinery instructor at a rehab center refuses to take a new teen as his apprentice, but then begins to follow the boy through the hallways and streets.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like In the Shadow?
The closest matches to In the Shadow are Adam's Sake (2025), Lorelei (2020) and Strange Weather (2016). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after In the Shadow?
Start with Adam's Sake (2025), the closest match to In the Shadow.
What is the highest-rated movie like In the Shadow?
The Trials of Cate McCall (2013), rated 6.4/10 by 321 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like In the Shadow?
Street Flow 3 (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like In the Shadow?
Yes: Adam's Sake (2025), Chaos (2001) and All to Play For (2023).
How are movies similar to In the Shadow chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside In the Shadow, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.