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Movies like Youth Drug Ward (1968)

The best movies like Youth Drug Ward (1968) are Drugstore Cowboy (1989), The Wild Life (1984) and Bound by Honor (1993). If Youth Drug Ward hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. Drugstore Cowboy (1989)

    Portland, Oregon, 1971. Bob Hughes is the charismatic leader of a peculiar quartet, formed by his wife, Dianne, and another couple, Rick and Nadine, who skillfully steal from drugstores and hospital medicine cabinets in order to appease their insatiable need for drugs. But neither fun nor luck last forever.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  2. The Wild Life (1984)

    Eighties teen romp involving Bill and his new apartment, Jim and his rebellious antics, Tom and his crazy self, and Anita with her older man David.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  3. Bound by Honor (1993)

    Based on the true life experiences of poet Jimmy Santiago Baca, the film focuses on half-brothers Paco and Cruz, and their bi-racial cousin Miklo. It opens in 1972, as the three are members of an East L.A. gang known as the "Vatos Locos", and the story focuses on how a violent crime and the influence of narcotics alter their lives. Miklo is incarcerated and sent to San Quentin, where he makes a "home" for himself. Cruz becomes an exceptional artist, but a heroin addiction overcomes him with tragic results. Paco becomes a cop and an enemy to his "carnal", Miklo.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  4. The Basketball Diaries (1995)

    A high school basketball player’s life turns upside down after free-falling into the harrowing world of drug addiction.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  5. The Wanderers (1979)

    The streets of the Bronx are owned by '60s youth gangs where the joy and pain of adolescence is lived. Philip Kaufman tells his take on the novel by Richard Price about the history of the Italian-American gang ‘The Wanderers.’

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  6. Basquiat (1996)

    The brief life of Jean Michel Basquiat, a world renowned New York street artist struggling with fame, drugs and his identity.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  7. Dope (2015)

    Malcolm is carefully surviving life in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles while juggling college applications, academic interviews, and the SAT. A chance invitation to an underground party leads him into an adventure that could allow him to go from being a geek, to being dope, to ultimately being himself.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  8. Half Nelson (2006)

    Despite his dedication to the junior-high students who fill his classroom, idealistic teacher Dan Dunne leads a secret life of addiction that the majority of his students will never know. But things change when a troubled student Drey makes a startling discovery of his secret life, causing a tenuous bond between the two that could either end disastrously or provide a catalyst of hope.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  9. Hot Summer Nights (2018)

    In 1991, a sheltered teenager comes of age during a wild summer on Cape Cod, getting rich from selling pot to gangsters, falling in love for the first time, partying, and eventually realizing that he's in way over his head.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  10. Kids (1995)

    A group of bored, disaffected New York City teenagers spend a day skating, smoking, drinking, partying, deflowering virgins, and getting into fights.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  11. The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015)

    Minnie Goetze is a 15-year-old aspiring comic-book artist, coming of age in the haze of the 1970s in San Francisco. Insatiably curious about the world around her, Minnie is a pretty typical teenage girl. Oh, except that she’s sleeping with her mother’s boyfriend.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  12. Art School Confidential (2006)

    Starting from childhood attempts at illustration, the protagonist pursues his true obsession to art school. But as he learns how the art world really works, he finds that he must adapt his vision to the reality that confronts him.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  13. Hell Camp: Teen Nightmare (2023)

    Out-of-control teens across America were sent to a therapy camp in the harsh Utah desert. The conditions were brutal, but the staff were even worse.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

  14. Fritz the Cat (1972)

    In late 1960s New York City, fed up with monotonous college life and police repression, free-spirited Fritz, an impenitent seducer and unrestrained party-animal, decides to explore the world. And just like that, as he flees NYC, heading to San Francisco, Fritz embarks on an endless adventure of illumination. Immersed in a world surrounded by drugs and sex, Fritz participates in mad orgies, brings about a revolution, incites mass urban riots, and crosses paths with drug-addled Nazi bikers.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  15. Foxfire (1996)

    The story of five teenage girls who form an unlikely bond after beating up a teacher who has sexually harassed them. They build a solid friendship but their wild ways begin to get out of control.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  16. Big Wednesday (1978)

    Three 1960s California surfers fool around, drift apart and reunite years later to ride epic waves.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  17. 21 Jump Street (2012)

    When cops Schmidt and Jenko join the secret Jump Street unit, they use their youthful appearances to go undercover as high school students. They trade in their guns and badges for backpacks, and set out to shut down a dangerous drug ring. But, as time goes on, Schmidt and Jenko discover that high school is nothing like it was just a few years earlier -- and, what's more, they must again confront the teenage terror and anxiety they thought they had left behind.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  18. My Favorite Year (1982)

    Fledgling comic Benjy Stone can't believe his luck when his childhood hero, the swashbuckling matinee idol Alan Swann, gets booked to appear on the variety show he writes for. But when Swann arrives, he fails to live up to his silver screen image. Instead, he's a drunken womanizer who suffers from stage fright. Benjy is assigned to look after him before the show, and it's all he can do to keep his former idol from going completely off the rails.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  19. Bad Boys (1983)

    Mick O'Brien is a young Chicago street thug torn between a life of petty crime and the love of his girlfriend. But when the heist of a local drug dealer goes tragically wrong Mick is sentenced to a brutal juvenile prison where violence is a rite of passage and respect is measured in vengeance.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  20. Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood (2019)

    Los Angeles, 1969. TV star Rick Dalton, a struggling actor specializing in westerns, and stuntman Cliff Booth, his best friend, try to survive in a constantly changing movie industry. Dalton is the neighbor of the young and promising actress and model Sharon Tate, who has just married the prestigious Polish director Roman Polanski…

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this

Like Youth Drug Ward and something else?

Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies like Youth Drug Ward?

The closest matches to Youth Drug Ward are Drugstore Cowboy (1989), The Wild Life (1984) and Bound by Honor (1993). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after Youth Drug Ward?

Start with Drugstore Cowboy (1989), the closest match to Youth Drug Ward.

What is the highest-rated movie like Youth Drug Ward?

Bound by Honor (1993), rated 8.2/10 by 1,673 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like Youth Drug Ward?

Hell Camp: Teen Nightmare (2023) is the most recent release on this list.

Are there English movies like Youth Drug Ward?

Yes: Drugstore Cowboy (1989), The Wild Life (1984) and Bound by Honor (1993).

How are movies similar to Youth Drug Ward chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Youth Drug Ward, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.

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