Movies like Tangled Roots (2020)
The best movies like Tangled Roots (2020) are The Great Debaters (2007), Safety (2020) and Moxie (2021). If Tangled Roots hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Tangled Roots
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Hate U Give (2018)8.1/10 from 2,266 votes
- NewestQueen of the Ring (2025)Released 2025
The Great Debaters (2007)
The true story of a brilliant but politically radical debate team coach who uses the power of words to transform a group of underdog African-American college students into a historical powerhouse that took on the Harvard elite.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSafety (2020)
The story of Ray-Ray McElrathbey, a freshman football player for Clemson University, who secretly raised his younger brother on campus after his home life became too unsteady.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMoxie (2021)
Inspired by her mom's rebellious past and a confident new friend, a shy 16-year-old publishes an anonymous zine calling out sexism at her school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWoodlawn (2015)
Love and unity in a school torn by racism and hate in the 1970s. A gifted high school football player must learn to embrace his talent and his faith as he battles racial tensions on and off the field.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hate U Give (2018)
Raised in a poverty-stricken slum, a 16-year-old girl named Starr now attends a suburban prep school. After she witnesses a police officer shoot her unarmed best friend, she's torn between her two very different worlds as she tries to speak her truth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHounddog (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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisQueen of the Ring (2025)
In a time when pro wrestling for women was illegal all over the country, a small town single mother embraces the danger to change culture as she dominates America's most masculine sport to become the first million dollar female athlete in history.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Girl in the Book (2015)
The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisMy Brilliant Career (1979)
A young woman who is determined to maintain her independence finds herself at odds with her family who wants her to tame her wild side and get married.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiss Meadows (2014)
Miss Meadows is a school teacher with impeccable manners and grace. However, underneath the candy-sweet exterior hides a ruthless gun-toting vigilante who takes it upon herself to right the wrongs in the world by whatever means necessary. For Miss Meadows, bad behavior is simply unforgivable.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisRichard Jewell (2019)
Richard Jewell thinks quick, works fast, and saves hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lives after a domestic terrorist plants several pipe bombs and they explode during a concert, only to be falsely suspected of the crime by sloppy FBI work and sensational media coverage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSteel Magnolias (1989)
A young beautician, newly arrived in a small Louisiana town, finds work at the local salon, where a small group of women share a close bond of friendship and welcome her into the fold.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFoxfire (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 thisWhite Boy Rick (2018)
The story of Richard Wershe Jr., a teenager who became an undercover informant for the police during the 1980s, and was ultimately arrested for drug trafficking and sentenced to life in prison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMansfield Park (1999)
Fanny Price is sent to live with her wealthy relatives, the Bertrams, where she is treated poorly by most except her cousin Edmund. Her life is complicated by the arrival of the worldly Mary and Henry Crawford.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Best of Enemies (2019)
Centers on the unlikely relationship between Ann Atwater, an outspoken civil rights activist, and C.P. Ellis, a local Ku Klux Klan leader who reluctantly co-chaired a community summit, battling over the desegregation of schools in Durham, North Carolina during the racially-charged summer of 1971. The incredible events that unfolded would change Durham and the lives of Atwater and Ellis forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGlory Road (2006)
In 1966, Texas Western coach Don Haskins led the first all-black starting line-up for a college basketball team to the NCAA national championship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Pelican Brief (1993)
A law student's theory about the recent deaths of two Supreme Court justices embroils her in a far-reaching web of murder, corruption, and greed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJust Mercy (2019)
The powerful true story of Harvard-educated lawyer Bryan Stevenson, who goes to Alabama to defend the disenfranchised and wrongly condemned — including Walter McMillian, a man sentenced to death despite evidence proving his innocence. Bryan fights tirelessly for Walter with the system stacked against them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNappily Ever After (2018)
After an accident at the hair salon, Violet realizes she's not living life to the fullest. A soulful barber helps her put the pieces back together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Tangled Roots?
The closest matches to Tangled Roots are The Great Debaters (2007), Safety (2020) and Moxie (2021). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Tangled Roots?
Start with The Great Debaters (2007), the closest match to Tangled Roots.
What is the highest-rated movie like Tangled Roots?
The Hate U Give (2018), rated 8.1/10 by 2,266 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Tangled Roots?
Queen of the Ring (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Tangled Roots?
Yes: The Great Debaters (2007), Safety (2020) and Moxie (2021).
How are movies similar to Tangled Roots chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Tangled Roots, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.