Movies like Forgiven Children (2020)
The best movies like Forgiven Children (2020) are Kids Return (1996), Zero Day (2003) and 180 (2026). If Forgiven Children hooked you with its drama and crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSleepers (1996)7.6/10 from 4,129 votes
- Newest180 (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseKids Return (1996)Also in Japanese
Kids Return (1996)
Shinji and Masaru spend most of their school days harassing fellow classmates and playing pranks. They drop out and Shinji becomes a small-time boxer, while Masaru joins up with a local yakuza gang. However, the world is a tough place.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZero 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 crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this180 (2026)
When an unexpected road rage incident puts his son in critical condition, an enraged father spirals down a dark path of emotional turmoil and vengeance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSiberian Education (2013)
The story of a gang of children growing up in a community of banished criminals, in a forgotten corner of the former Soviet Union. This community rejects the world outside. The only law it obeys… is its own. Against this backdrop two best friends, Kolyma and Gagarin, gradually become fierce enemies as they find themselves on opposite sides of the strict code of honour of the ‘honest criminal’ brotherhood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Friend Dahmer (2017)
Jeffrey Dahmer struggles with a difficult family life as a young boy. During his teenage years he slowly transforms, edging closer to the serial killer he was to become.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBully (2001)
A group of teenagers in South Florida enact a murder plot against their mutual bully, Bobby, who has emotionally, physically, and sexually abused them for years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisViolent Ends (2025)
A man raised in a violent crime family struggles to build an honest life with his fiancée but is dragged back into the criminal world after his cousin’s armed robbery leaves an innocent person caught in the crossfire.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrue Believer (1989)
Eddie Dodd is a burnt out former civil rights lawyer who now specializes in defending drug dealers. Roger Baron, newly graduated from law school, has followed Eddie's great cases and now wants to learn at his feet. With Roger's idealistic prodding, Eddie reluctantly takes on a case of a young Korean man who, according to his mother, has been in jail for eight years for a murder he didn't commit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInside Man (2023)
Based on true events. A disgraced police detective seeking redemption goes undercover to expose a violent crime syndicate. But as he sinks deeper into the mob, the price for absolution may be higher than he can afford.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSilent Night (2023)
A tormented father witnesses his young son die when caught in a gang's crossfire on Christmas Eve. While recovering from a wound that costs him his voice, he makes vengeance his life's mission and embarks on a punishing training regimen in order to avenge his son's death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLady Snowblood (1973)
A strikingly beautiful young woman is trained from birth to be a deadly instrument of revenge against the swindlers who destroyed her family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStranger on the Third Floor (1940)
Newspaper reporter Michael Ward plunges into a nightmare of guilt, fearing that his "evidence" has sentenced the wrong man to death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBarron's Cove (2025)
When his young son is viciously murdered by a classmate, a grieving father with a history of violence kidnaps the child responsible, igniting a frenzied manhunt fueled by a powerful politician -- the father of the kidnapped boy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWinged Creatures (2009)
A psychotic man opens fire in a diner, murdering numerous people before killing himself. The survivors struggle in different ways following this horrendous event: a doctor doubts his own instincts and elects to use an experimental medical procedure on his wife, while a gambler believes he's on a lucky streak. A waitress begins engaging in promiscuous sex, and a young girl whose father is among the dead gains unexpected fame.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSleepers (1996)
Two gangsters seek revenge on the state jail worker who during their stay at a youth prison sexually abused them. A sensational court hearing takes place to charge him for the crimes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Young Savages (1961)
A district attorney investigates the racially charged case of three teenagers accused of the murder of a blind Puerto Rican boy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll About Lily Chou-Chou (2001)
Charts the troubled teenage years of students Yūichi Hasumi and Shūsuke Hoshino, exploring the shifting and complex power dynamics of their relationship against the backdrop of Yūichi's love for the dreamy and abstract music of pop star Lily Chou-Chou.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBullet Ballet (1998)
After his girlfriend commits suicide, a man becomes embroiled in gang warfare attempting to obtain a gun in hopes to kill himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAnd Then I Go (2017)
In the cruel world of junior high, Edwin suffers in a state of anxiety and alienation alongside his only friend, Flake. Misunderstood by their families and demoralized at school daily, their fury simmers quietly until an idea for vengeance offers them a terrifying release.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLuckiest Girl Alive (2022)
A successful woman in New York City finds her life upended when she is forced to confront a dark truth that threatens to unravel her meticulously crafted life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThese Dangerous Years (1957)
A Liverpool gang member wins a singing contest is then called up for National Service where he clashes with another soldier.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Anatomy of a Psycho (1961)
The crazed brother of a condemned killer sent to the gas chamber swears vengeance on those he holds responsible for his brother's execution.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
UNFAIR (2026)
A man in his late 20s sets out to take revenge on someone he believes has wronged him. As his pursuit unfolds, the lines between rage fueled vengeance and the truth start to blur.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Reform School Girl (1957)
A young man steals a car and ends up involved in a pedestrian fatality. The only witness is a girl he has just met. He threatens her life if she talks, so when she refuses to tell what she knows, she is sent to reform school.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
River's Edge (2018)
High schooler Haruna befriends loner Yamada, then is drawn into the tangled relationship between him, a model and the girl who loves him unreasonably.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKickback Karma (2023)
When a fraternity brother decides to brutally bully a college student and involve himself in criminal activity, karma begins knocking on his door.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Neomanila (2017)
Toto, a teenage orphan, is recruited by a notorious death squad. Irma, the groups leader, soon becomes a maternal figure to the young boy. As the two form a familial bond, their loyalties will be put to the test when one of their targets turns out to be a familiar face.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Bullying - Stop It (2014)
Dieter F. Uchtdorf counsels us that when it comes to hating, gossiping, ignoring, ridiculing, holding grudges, or wanting to cause harm—stop it!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
After My Death (2018)
When a school girl disappears, suicide is suspected, and one of her classmates is suspected of having goaded her into it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNot 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
Like Forgiven Children and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Forgiven Children?
The closest matches to Forgiven Children are Kids Return (1996), Zero Day (2003) and 180 (2026). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Forgiven Children?
Start with Kids Return (1996), the closest match to Forgiven Children.
What is the highest-rated movie like Forgiven Children?
Sleepers (1996), rated 7.6/10 by 4,129 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Forgiven Children?
180 (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Forgiven Children?
Yes: Kids Return (1996), Lady Snowblood (1973) and All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001).
How are movies similar to Forgiven Children chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Forgiven Children, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.