Movies like Cardboard boxes (2009)
The best movies like Cardboard boxes (2009) are A Boy Called Po (2016), The Boy Who Could Fly (1986) and Ezra (2024). If Cardboard boxes hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedForrest Gump (1994)8.5/10 from 30,851 votes
- NewestThe Accountant² (2025)Released 2025
A Boy Called Po (2016)
A recently widowed, now single father struggles to raise his sixth-grade son with autism. The pressure of his job and coping with the loss of his wife proves to push him nearly to the breaking point.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Boy Who Could Fly (1986)
Milly and Louis, and their recently-widowed mom, Charlene, move to a new neighborhood. Once there, they all deal with a variety of personal problems, but Milly finds a friend in Eric, her autistic next door neighbor. Eric has a fascination with flight, and as the story progresses, he exerts an enthralling force of change on all those around him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEzra (2024)
Stand-up comedian Max Bernal lives with his father Stan while struggling to co-parent his autistic son Ezra with his ex-wife. When forced to confront difficult decisions about their son's future, Max and Ezra embark on a cross-country road trip that has a transcendent impact on both their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiracle Run (2004)
Corinne is a single mother of twin 5-year-old boys, Steven and Phillip, who are diagnosed with autism. Public school officials threaten to remove them from school due to their behavior, but through therapy, the boys are able to make major strides in their capabilities. A decade later, teens Steven and Phillip seek to prove they can handle high school while still struggling with their disorder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Unbreakable Boy (2025)
When Scott and Teresa LeRette learn that their son Austin is both autistic and has brittle bone disease, they initially worry for their son’s future. But with Scott’s growing faith and Austin’s incredible spirit, they become 'unbreakable', finding joy, gratitude, and courage even in the most trying times.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMozart and the Whale (2005)
A love story between two savants with Asperger's syndrome, a kind of autism, whose conditions sabotage their budding relationship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhite Frog (2013)
When Nick, who has Asperger's syndrome, struggles to carry on after the death of his brother Chaz, Chaz's best friend Randy takes Nick under his wing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisAvatar: The Way of Water (2022)
Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, learn the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJack of the Red Hearts (2016)
A teenage con artist tricks a desperate mother into hiring her as a live-in companion for her autistic daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAdam (2009)
Adam, a lonely man with Asperger's Syndrome, develops a relationship with his upstairs neighbor, Beth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTully (2018)
Marlo, a mother of three, including a newborn, is gifted a night nanny by her brother. Hesitant at first, she quickly forms a bond with the thoughtful, surprising, and sometimes challenging nanny named Tully.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFierce People (2006)
A massage therapist looking to overcome her addictions and reconnect with her son, whose father is an anthropologist in South America studying the Yanomani people, moves in with a wealthy ex-client in New Jersey.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBenny & Joon (1993)
A mentally ill young woman finds love with an eccentric man who models himself after Buster Keaton.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSecrets & Lies (1996)
After her adoptive mother dies, Hortense, a successful black optometrist, seeks out her birth mother. She's shocked when her research leads her to Cynthia, a working class white woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Story of Luke (2013)
Sheltered by his grandparents, Luke, a young man with autism, is thrust into a world that doesn't expect anything from him. But Luke is on a quest for a job and true love. And he isn't taking no for an answer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Accountant² (2025)
When an old acquaintance is murdered, Wolff is compelled to solve the case. Realizing more extreme measures are necessary, Wolff recruits his estranged and highly lethal brother, Brax, to help. In partnership with Marybeth Medina, they uncover a deadly conspiracy, becoming targets of a ruthless network of killers who will stop at nothing to keep their secrets buried.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDespicable Me 2 (2013)
Gru is recruited by the Anti-Villain League to help deal with a powerful new super criminal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHouse of Cards (1993)
When Ruth Matthews's husband is killed in a fall at an archaeological dig, her daughter Sally handles her father's death in a very odd manner. As Sally's condition worsens, Ruth takes her to see Jake, an expert in childhood autism. Jake attempts to bring Sally out of her mental disarray through traditional therapy methods, but Ruth takes a different route. She risks her own sanity by attempting to enter her daughter's mind and make sense of the seemingly bizarre things that Sally does, including building a wondrous house of cards
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Ted Kramer is a career man for whom his work comes before his family. His wife Joanna cannot take this anymore, so she decides to leave him. Ted is now faced with the tasks of housekeeping and taking care of himself and their young son Billy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisForrest Gump (1994)
A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBreakthrough for Change (2015)
Akira, Takeshi, Yasu, and Shun are a gang of four close friends, all of whom were core members of their high-school ekiden team. Although they were stars back in those days, having slacked up their efforts subsequently, their daily life is lackluster now that the age of forty is just around the corner. They talk at a favorite local tavern just like they used to after Akira comes home giving up his dream to become an actor. Thinking back, they have never accomplished anything but ekiden, and they have unknowingly acquired a tendency to run away from problems in life in general. The phrase they cannot help muttering to themselves is how brilliant they were in those days… Feeling dispirited, they think of participating in the Shimanto Dragon Ride. A challenge for the four men in their late thirties begins…
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Snow Cake (2006)
A drama focused on the friendship between a high-functioning autistic woman and a man who is traumatized after a fatal car accident.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCat 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: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCube (1998)
A group of strangers find themselves trapped in a maze-like prison. It soon becomes clear that each of them possesses the peculiar skills necessary to escape, if they don't wind up dead first.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlu (2019)
A wind strike, a splash of water and an accomplice look. Will they be enough to change the life of a child?
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Rain Man (1988)
When car dealer Charlie Babbitt learns that his estranged father has died, he returns home to Cincinnati, where he discovers that he has a savant older brother named Raymond and that his father's $3 million fortune is being left to the mental institution in which Raymond lives. Motivated by his father's money, Charlie checks Raymond out of the facility in order to return with him to Los Angeles. The brothers' cross-country trip ends up changing both their lives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNell (1994)
In a remote woodland cabin, a small town doctor discovers Nell — a beautiful young hermit woman with many secrets.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHappiness (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
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Cardboard boxes?
The closest matches to Cardboard boxes are A Boy Called Po (2016), The Boy Who Could Fly (1986) and Ezra (2024). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Cardboard boxes?
Start with A Boy Called Po (2016), the closest match to Cardboard boxes.
What is the highest-rated movie like Cardboard boxes?
Forrest Gump (1994), rated 8.5/10 by 30,851 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Cardboard boxes?
The Accountant² (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like Cardboard boxes?
The closest matches are in other languages.
How are movies similar to Cardboard boxes chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Cardboard boxes, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.