Movies like Beginning (2020)
The best movies like Beginning (2020) are Hounddog (2008), Bastard Out of Carolina (1996) and The Trials of Cate McCall (2013). If Beginning hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMe Before You (2016)7.9/10 from 13,706 votes
- NewestBeast (2026)Released 2026
Hounddog (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 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 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 thisLucky Them (2013)
More interested in partying and flirting with young musicians than work, veteran rock journalist Ellie Klug has one last chance to prove her value to her magazine’s editor: a no-stone-unturned search to discover what really happened to long lost rock god, Matt Smith, who also happens to be her ex-boyfriend. Teaming up with an eccentric amateur documentary filmmaker, Ellie hits the road in search of answers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Safety of Objects (2002)
In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.
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 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 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 thisIron Jawed Angels (2004)
Defiant young activists take the women's suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisXiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998)
Young teen girl Xiu Xiu is sent away to a remote corner of the Sichuan steppes for manual labor in 1975 (sending young people to there was a part of Cultural Revolution in China). A year later, she agrees to go to even more remote spot with a Tibetan saddle tramp Lao Jin to learn horse herding.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Good Neighbor (2022)
A nightmarish evening unfolds for neighbors David and Robert when they accidentally hit a woman on her bike and flee the scene. While David is increasingly plagued by feelings of guilt, Robert shows no remorse and becomes overbearing and possessive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Poker House (2008)
Agnes and her two sisters struggle through a day in a home overrun by gamblers, thieves, and johns.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Young One (1960)
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Short History of the Long Road (2019)
Nola grew up living in a van with her father, Clint—two nomads against the world. When tragedy strikes, Nola must confront the reality of life on the road alone, learning to own her grief, her past, and her new destination.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShirley (2020)
A famous horror writer finds inspiration for her next book after she and her husband take in a young couple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEl Chicano (2019)
A pair of twin brothers from East L.A. choose to live their lives differently and end up on opposite sides of the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHelen (2009)
On the outside, Helen has it all – a loving family and a successful career – but when her suppressed mental illness resurfaces, the world crumbles around her. Crippled by depression, Helen finds solace through her friendship with Mathilda, a kindred spirit struggling with bipolar disorder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Nest (2020)
Rory is an ambitious entrepreneur who brings his American wife and kids to his native country, England, to explore new business opportunities. After abandoning the sanctuary of their safe American suburban surroundings, the family is plunged into the despair of an archaic '80s Britain and their unaffordable new life in an English manor house threatens to destroy the family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVesper (2022)
After the collapse of Earth's ecosystem, Vesper, a 13-year-old girl struggling to survive with her paralyzed Father, meets a mysterious Woman with a secret that forces Vesper to use her wits, strength and bio-hacking abilities to fight for the possibility of a future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeast (2026)
MMA legend Patton James, now a commercial fisherman, is pulled back into the cage when his brother is in danger. Reuniting with his old coach Sammy, he commits to one final fight in one championship against the brutal champion Xavier Grau.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll About Nina (2018)
Nina Geld's passion and talent have made her a rising star in the comedy scene, but she's an emotional mess offstage. When a new professional opportunity coincides with a romantic one, she is forced to confront her own deeply troubled past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMe Before You (2016)
Lou Clark, a directionless 26-year-old from the English countryside, takes a job at the local castle as a caregiver and companion to a wealthy young banker, Will Traynor. Wheelchair-bound from an accident two years prior, the once adventurous Will has all but given up — that is until Lou determines to show him that life is worth living.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisFagbug Nation (2014)
What it's like to drive the once vandalized now famous, 'Fagbug' to all 50 states in the USA.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Posthumous (2014)
After false reports of his demise put him and his work on the map, an artist decides to continue the charade by posing as his own brother. Soon, a reporter enters his life and has a profound effect on him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLose a Pound, Find a Penny (2021)
A capture of colliding thoughts and feelings of a group of people, thrown together by circumstance, and unknowingly united by their desperate fight against a system designed to keep them down.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Above the Street, Below the Water (2009)
This is the day when the lives of an intertwined group of people take a new direction. Everything they have taken for granted starts to change. While Anne and Ask's relationship succumbs to 'metal fatigue', Charlotte has to realise that her husband Carl may not be right for her. At the same time Bente has to decide if she is prepared to wait for ever for her lover, while her ex-husband Bjørn must face the pain of finally letting Bente go. The characters and their children are twirled around in an ever-increasing drama which peaks during the opening night of Hamlet. Anne is on stage as Ophelia, and the question remains: to be or not be responsible for one's own happiness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Last Train (2006)
A group of people are imprisoned in a rail car bound from Berlin to a concentration camp in 1945.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTeen Patti (2010)
A professor uses the three-card game to prove his probability thesis. He involves some of his students on his research and later realizes it was a big mistake
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Trojan Cow (2006)
In 1973, two teenagers are illegally transported across the East German border inside a fake cow.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Jump (2021)
Abandoned by his parents, a boy takes care of his younger brother Mattie as they fend for themselves in a council house in Sheffield. When the authorities come to take Mattie away, a desperation to retain control forces the boy to take Mattie and go on the run.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Beginning and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Beginning?
The closest matches to Beginning are Hounddog (2008), Bastard Out of Carolina (1996) and The Trials of Cate McCall (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Beginning?
Start with Hounddog (2008), the closest match to Beginning.
What is the highest-rated movie like Beginning?
Me Before You (2016), rated 7.9/10 by 13,706 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Beginning?
Beast (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Beginning chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Beginning, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.