Movies like Ordinary Careers (1958)
The best movies like Ordinary Careers (1958) are The Ron Clark Story (2006), Come Sunday (2018) and Won't Back Down (2012). If Ordinary Careers hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Hunt (2012)8.1/10 from 5,086 votes
- NewestEleanor the Great (2025)Released 2025
- In ChineseAmerican Dreams in China (2013)Also in Chinese
The Ron Clark Story (2006)
Passionate and innovative teacher Ron Clark leaves his small hometown to teach in one of Harlem's toughest schools. But to break through to the students, he must use unconventional methods, including his ground-breaking classroom rules, to help them reach their potential. Based on a true story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCome Sunday (2018)
Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisWon't Back Down (2012)
Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican Dreams in China (2013)
Three Chinese friends build a successful English language school to help Chinese teenagers fulfil their dreams.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTyson's Run (2022)
When fifteen-year-old Tyson attends public school for the first time, his life is changed forever. While helping his father clean up after the football team, Tyson befriends champion marathon runner Aklilu. Never letting his autism hold him back, Tyson becomes determined to run his first marathon in hopes of winning his father's approval. With the help of an unlikely friend and his parents, Tyson learns that with faith in yourself and the courage to take the first step, anything is possible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisHands of Stone (2016)
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRogue Agent (2022)
Conman Robert Freegard poses as an undercover MI5 agent and kidnaps countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt, until the woman who fell for him brings him to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnuja (2024)
When a brilliant nine-year-old working in a sweatshop gets a chance to attend school, she must make a difficult choice for her and her sister's future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBack to Back, Face to Face (1994)
Wang Shuangli is Deputy Director of the local Cultural Centre, and hopes to be appointed Director. However Old Ma is brought in from the country and installed as Director. This starts a long train of events with Wang's cronies using the bureaucracy to try to oust the new director.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
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 · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChild's Play (1972)
At an exclusive boys' school, a new gym teacher is drawn into a feud between two older instructors, and he discovers that everything at the school is not quite as staid, tranquil and harmless as it seems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEleanor the Great (2025)
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
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 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 thisBuddha Mountain (2011)
In Chengdu, China, a retired female opera singer named Master Chang takes in a trio of young tenants into her boarding home. The tenants include a rock singer and a college student who has run away from home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSalomé (2013)
After the lewd and frenetic Dance of the Seven Veils, and with the solemn pledge from the very lips of Herod himself that she could have whatever her heart desires up to half his kingdom, wanton and proud young Salomé comes before her king with an unreasonable demand. Beguiled by John the Baptist, and then scorned for the sake of his god, lascivious Salomé—encouraged by her mother, the vindictive, Herodias—commands that John be executed and his head delivered on a silver platter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Week Friends (2022)
A high school student suffers from a strange amnesia, causing her memories to only last a week. After she befriends a new student, his kindness and persistence make her gradually open up.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972)
Middle-aged widow Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her daughters Ruth and Matilda are struggling to survive in a society they barely understand. Beatrice dreams of opening an elegant tea room but does not have the wherewithal to achieve her lofty goal. Epileptic Ruth is a rebellious adolescent, while shy but highly intelligent and idealistic Matilda seeks solace in her pets and school projects, including one designed to show how small amounts of radium affect marigolds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOne Second (2020)
A movie fan escapes from a labour camp during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and strikes up a relationship with a homeless female vagabond.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRabbit Without Ears (2007)
Rainbow press reporter Ludo is sentenced to 8 months, but is released on probation. But he has to work 300 hours for a local daycare center and meets Anna who has unfinished business with him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hunt (2012)
A teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son’s custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisPlayground (2017)
Si-eun, a new kindergarten teacher, believes that between six-year Seo-ra and a boy her age, some kind of bad education is starting up.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bunny Drop (2011)
Daikichi learns that his recently deceased grandfather has an illegitimate daughter with an unknown mother. The girl's name is Rin and she is just 6 years old. Everybody in Daikichi's family looks at the girl as an embarrassment and wants no part of her. Disgusted by his family's attitude, Daikichi decides to raise Rin by himself, even though he has no experience raising a child and is still single.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLittle Big Master (2015)
The story of a hopeful headmaster who perseveres in running a kindergarten for underprivileged children in Yuen Long, despite many challenges and little reward. Based on true events.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Kindergarten Teacher (2018)
Lisa Spinelli is a Staten Island teacher who is unusually devoted to her students. When she discovers one of her five-year-olds is a prodigy, she becomes fascinated with the boy, ultimately risking her family and freedom to nurture his talent.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDert Bende (1973)
The love lives of two sisters who are in love with the same man are intertwined. And when one of them decisively decides to get married, things get really complicated.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Newest City in the World (1974)
Little Fatmir, whose parents have worked in a construction site, dreams of building himself a town. In his efforts to make his dream a reality, the kindergarten teacher and a workman who brings in working tools for all his friends, assist him. Within the courtyard of a kindergarten, the newest town in the world is thus erected, where children's dreams and characters are revealed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Daddy Day Care (2003)
Two men get laid off and have to become stay-at-home dads when they can't find jobs, which inspires them to open their own day-care center.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
SnoozefestMovies like thisKindergarten Cop (1990)
Hard-edged cop John Kimble gets more than he bargained for when he goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to get the goods on a brutal drug lord while at the same time protecting the man's young son. Pitted against a class of boisterous moppets whose antics try his patience and test his mettle, Kimble may have met his match … in more ways than one.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Ordinary Careers?
The closest matches to Ordinary Careers are The Ron Clark Story (2006), Come Sunday (2018) and Won't Back Down (2012). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Ordinary Careers?
Start with The Ron Clark Story (2006), the closest match to Ordinary Careers.
What is the highest-rated movie like Ordinary Careers?
The Hunt (2012), rated 8.1/10 by 5,086 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Ordinary Careers?
Eleanor the Great (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like Ordinary Careers?
Yes: American Dreams in China (2013), Back to Back, Face to Face (1994) and Buddha Mountain (2011).
How are movies similar to Ordinary Careers chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Ordinary Careers, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.