Movies like The Catalpa Rescue (2007)
The best movies like The Catalpa Rescue (2007) are Father Hood (1993), The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019) and Dirty Angels (2024). If The Catalpa Rescue hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
The Catalpa Rescue
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Shawshank Redemption (1994)8.7/10 from 31,828 votes
- NewestShe Rides Shotgun (2025)Released 2025
Father Hood (1993)
Deadbeat dad kidnaps his kids from the bus to an abusive foster home and they go on a run. The cops are after them, they bicker constantly and his idea of a way out is grim, yet this dangerous ride might just turn them into a family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)
A down-on-his-luck crab fisherman embarks on a journey to get a young man with Down syndrome to a professional wrestling school in rural North Carolina and away from the retirement home where he’s lived for the past two and a half years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDirty Angels (2024)
During the United States' 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, a group of female soldiers posing as medical relief are sent back in to rescue a group of kidnapped teenagers caught between ISIS and the Taliban.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCave Rescue (2019)
When a youth football team of 12 boys, aged 11-16, and their 25-year-old coach is trapped deep inside a cave in Northern Thailand, thousands of volunteers and soldiers from around the world unite in a race against time to find them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir (2018)
Ajatashatru Lavash Patel has lived all his life in a small Mumbai neighborhood tricking people with street magic and fakir stunts. He sets out on a journey to find his estranged father but instead gets dragged on a never-ending adventure.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Way Back (2010)
A small band of multicultural convicts stages a daring escape from a WWII-era Siberian gulag, and embarks on a treacherous journey across five countries in a desperate race for freedom and survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBenji (1974)
Benji is a stray who has nonetheless worked his way into the hearts of a number of the townspeople, who give him food and attention whenever he stops by. His particular favorites are a pair of children who feed and play with him against the wishes of their parents. When the children are kidnapped, however, the parents and the police are at a loss to find them. Only Benji can track them down, but will he be in time? If he can save the day, he may just find the permanent home he's been longing for.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Finest Hours (2016)
The Coast Guard makes a daring rescue attempt off the coast of Cape Cod after a pair of oil tankers are destroyed during a blizzard in 1952.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShe Rides Shotgun (2025)
Newly released from prison and marked for death by unrelenting enemies, Nate must now protect his estranged 11-year-old daughter, Polly, at all costs. With scant resources and no one to trust, Nate and Polly forge a bond under fire as he shows her how to fight and survive—and she teaches him the true meaning of unconditional love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLet's Get Harry (1986)
Harry Burck has been kidnapped by South American terrorists, and when the US Government refuses to intervene, Harry's friends decide to take matters into their own hands!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHomeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993)
Before the Seavers leave for a family vacation to San Francisco, they drop off their pets -- Chance, an adventurous American bulldog; Shadow, a wise golden retriever; and Sassy, a cautious cat -- at a friend's ranch. But when the animals start to worry that they've been left for good, the three embark together on a treacherous and thrilling journey to find their way back home through the California wilderness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Marine 6: Close Quarters (2018)
Jake Carter and another former Marine, Luke Trapper, join forces to rescue a young kidnapped girl from a gang of international criminals.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisArthur the King (2024)
Over the course of ten days and 435 miles, an unbreakable bond is forged between pro adventure racer Michael Light and a scrappy street dog companion dubbed Arthur. As the team is pushed to their outer limits of endurance in the race, Arthur redefines what victory, loyalty and friendship truly mean.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStreets of Fire (1984)
Raven Shaddock and his gang of merciless biker friends kidnap rock singer Ellen Aim. Ellen's former lover, soldier-for-hire Tom Cody, happens to be passing through town on a visit. In an attempt to save his star act, Ellen's manager hires Tom to rescue her. Along with a former soldier, they battle through dangerous cityscapes, determined to get Ellen back.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Great Raid (2005)
As World War II rages, the elite Sixth Ranger Battalion is given a mission of heroic proportions: push 30 miles behind enemy lines and liberate over 500 American prisoners of war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll the Money in the World (2017)
The story of the kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III and the desperate attempt by his devoted mother to convince his billionaire grandfather Jean Paul Getty to pay the ransom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSound of Freedom (2023)
The story of Tim Ballard, a former US government agent, who quits his job in order to devote his life to rescuing children from global sex traffickers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisWorld Trade Center (2006)
Two police officers struggle to survive when they become trapped beneath the rubble of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wind and the Lion (1975)
At the beginning of the 20th century an American woman is abducted in Morocco by Berbers, and the attempts to free her range from diplomatic pressure to military intervention.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Catalpa Rescue?
The closest matches to The Catalpa Rescue are Father Hood (1993), The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019) and Dirty Angels (2024). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Catalpa Rescue?
Start with Father Hood (1993), the closest match to The Catalpa Rescue.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Catalpa Rescue?
The Shawshank Redemption (1994), rated 8.7/10 by 31,828 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Catalpa Rescue?
She Rides Shotgun (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Catalpa Rescue?
Yes: Father Hood (1993), The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019) and Dirty Angels (2024).
How are movies similar to The Catalpa Rescue chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Catalpa Rescue, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.