Movies like John Denver Trending (2019)

Dear Evan Hansen (2021)

Evan Hansen, a high schooler with social anxiety, unintentionally gets caught up in a lie after the family of a classmate who committed suicide mistakes one of Hansen’s letters for their son’s suicide note.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Detachment (2011)

A chronicle of three weeks in the lives of several high school teachers, administrators and students through the eyes of substitute teacher Henry Barthes. Henry roams from school to school, imparting modes of knowledge, but never staying long enough to form any semblance of sentient attachment.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Cyberbully (2011)

A woman tries to help her teenage daughter when she becomes the victim of online bullying.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Zero Day (2003)

Two troubled adolescents chronicle the events that ultimately lead up to a terrifying assault on their school.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

The Children's Hour (1961)

An unruly student at a private all-girls boarding school scandalously accuses the two women who run it of having a romantic relationship.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Bang Bang You're Dead (2003)

A troubled and bullied high school student fights against judgement from his community after threatening to bomb the football team.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Giant Little Ones (2019)

Two popular teen boys, best friends since childhood, discover their lives, families, and girlfriends dramatically upended after an unexpected incident occurs on the night of a 17th birthday party.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Blackbird (2012)

An unlikely friendship with a preppy classmate lands toubled teenager Sean Randall in serious hot water when he's falsely accused of planning a Columbine shooting scenario.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Gigi & Nate (2022)

A young man with a bright future suffers a near-fatal accident and recreates his new life with the help of an unlikely animal friend.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Wonder (2017)

The story of August Pullman – a boy with facial differences – who enters fifth grade, attending a mainstream elementary school for the first time.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

An 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

Juror #2 (2024)

While serving as a juror in a high profile murder trial, family man Justin Kemp finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma…one he could use to sway the jury verdict and potentially convict—or free—the accused killer.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

The Winslow Boy (1999)

In pre-WWI England, a youngster is expelled from a naval academy over a petty theft, but his parents raise a political furor by demanding a trial.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

The Karate Kid (1984)

New Jersey teen Daniel LaRusso moves to Los Angeles with his mother, and soon strikes up a relationship with Ali. He quickly finds himself the target of bullying by a group of thugs, led by Ali's ex-boyfriend Johnny, who study karate at the Cobra Kai dojo under ruthless sensei John Kreese. Fortunately, Daniel befriends Mr. Miyagi, an unassuming repairman who just happens to be a martial arts master himself. Miyagi takes Daniel under his wing, training him in a more compassionate form of karate for self-defense and, later, preparing him to compete against the brutal Cobra Kai.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

The Son (2022)

A successful lawyer, with a new wife and infant, agrees to care for his teenage son from a previous marriage after his ex-wife becomes concerned about the boy's wayward behavior.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

The Man Without a Face (1993)

Justin McLeod is a former teacher who lives as a recluse on the edge of town after his face is disfigured from an automobile accident ten years earlier, in which a boy was incinerated--and for which he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. Also suspected of being a paedophile, he is befriended by Chuck, causing the town's suspicions and hostility to be ignited.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

To Save a Life (2009)

Jake Taylor has everything. He has a beautiful girl, he's the champion in basketball and beer pong, and everyone loves him. Then, an old childhood friend of his commits suicide. Jake wonders what he could've done to save his friend's life. A youth minister tells him that Jake needs God. So Jake becomes a Christian. However, things begin to spin out of control. Jake is going to realize just what it means to be a Christian and how, to save a life.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Won'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

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

An alcoholic ex-football player drinks his days away, having failed to come to terms with his sexuality and his real feelings for his football buddy who died after an ambiguous accident. His wife is crucified by her desperation to make him desire her: but he resists the affections of his wife. His reunion with his father—who is dying of cancer—jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

The War (1994)

The son of a Vietnam War Veteran must deal with neighborhood bullies as well as his dad's post-traumatic stress disorder while growing up in the deep south in the 1970's.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

Happiness (1998)

The lives of several individuals intertwine as they go about their lives in their own unique ways, engaging in acts which society as a whole might find disturbing in a desperate search for human connection.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

When the World Will Look at Us (2026)

A young man with sinister intentions goes to school with a weapon in his pocket. Their world is about to change. He arrives in the worst possible place at the worst possible time, as an overwhelmed teacher and his classroom debate the meaning of democracy.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

In the Name of the Father (1993)

A small-time Belfast thief, Gerry Conlon, is wrongly convicted of an IRA bombing in London, along with his father and friends, and spends 15 years in prison fighting to prove his innocence.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

Omdat ik je mis (2025)

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

Your Mind Matters (2025)

When Roger Lee slips on his front steps, he has no idea the fall will send him spiralling into the darkest chapter of his life. Injured, and drowning in despair, he hits rock bottom—until he discovers the power of his own words. Through pain, he finds purpose, turning his struggle into wisdom that inspires millions. Now, as a world-renowned speaker, he lifts others the way he once needed lifting. A raw and uplifting story of resilience, reinvention, and the unexpected ways we rise.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

The Quiet (2006)

After her widowed father dies, deaf teenager Dot moves in with her godparents, Olivia and Paul Deer. The Deers' daughter, Nina, is openly hostile to Dot, but that does not prevent her from telling her secrets to her silent stepsister, including the fact that she wants to kill her lecherous father.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

The Cry of the Owl (2009)

Fleeing New York City, a failed marriage and a fragile mental history, artist Robert Forrester moves to small-town Pennsylvania. There he becomes fascinated with the simple domesticity of a beautiful neighbor, watching her through the windows of her home --- until she invites him in for coffee. He is drawn into a relationship with the young woman whose boyfriend goes missing; Robert becomes a murder suspect, gradually sensing he is the target of a larger plot.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

Not Ivan, or How to summon a hero (2021)

Mari teenager Yivan moves to a new city school and faces bullying there because of his accent and unusual name. His grandmother advises him to seek help from the national hero Onar. However, at the most critical moment, help comes from where Yivan does not expect at all.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

Slowrajah (2025)

A young man struggles to fit into the fast-paced world of white-collar jobs as he tries to keep up with his friends' success. While he fears falling behind, he must realize that the true race is against himself.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

Absence of Malice (1981)

Megan Carter is a reporter duped into running an untrue story on Michael Gallagher, a suspected racketeer. He has an alibi for the time his crime was allegedly committed—but it involves an innocent party. When he tells Carter the truth and the newspaper runs it, tragedy follows, forcing Carter to face up to the responsibilities of her job when she is confronted by Gallagher.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama