Movies like Rubaru (2020)
The best movies like Rubaru (2020) are Bastard Out of Carolina (1996), Hounddog (2008) and The Girl in the Book (2015). If Rubaru hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedWhat Maisie Knew (2013)7.1/10 from 466 votes
- NewestHomebound (2025)Released 2025
- In HindiHomebound (2025)Also in Hindi
Bastard 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 thisSkin (2009)
Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCall Me Crazy: A Five Film (2013)
A psychotherapist helps a law student cope with schizophrenia in one of five interconnected tales dealing with mental illness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhat Maisie Knew (2013)
In New York City, six-year-old Maisie is caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle between her self-absorbed parents—an aging rock singer mother and a distracted art dealer father. As both quickly marry new partners to strengthen their legal standing, Maisie is shuttled back and forth in an endless game of emotional point-scoring. Yet amid the chaos and upheaval, Maisie begins to find true comfort and affection in her new step-parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisHardball (2001)
An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoly Lands (2019)
When lapsed Jew and former cardiologist Harry suddenly decides to spend his retirement as a pig farmer in Nazareth, Israel, the move deeply shocks his family and his new neighbours. Back in New York, Harry’s ex-wife Monica is trying to manage the lives of their adult children, Annabelle and David, as well as her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGracie (2007)
A teenager faces an uphill battle when she fights to give women the opportunity to play competitive soccer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Believe in Unicorns (2015)
Feeling awkward and isolated, an imaginative and strong-willed teenage girl runs away from home with an older punk rock drifter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMagpie (2024)
A couple's lives are thrown into disarray when their daughter is cast opposite a controversial major star.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHungry Hearts (2015)
The relationship of a couple who meet by chance in New York City is put to the test when they encounter a life or death circumstance.
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 thisHomebound (2025)
Two childhood friends from a small North Indian village chase a police job that promises them the dignity they’ve long been denied. But as they inch closer to their dream, mounting desperation threatens the bond that holds them together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMaya (1961)
Disillusioned with his wealthy friends, a man pretends to be poor and goes to live in the slums where he falls in love with a burglar's sister.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Gunahon Ka Devta (1967)
A drunkard falls in love with a girl, who takes on the responsibility of making him better.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Dange (2024)
Former friends Xavier and Yuva meet again in college as adversaries when their respective cohorts come to blows during their annual cultural festival.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Black Bud (2021)
Sanya, a rebellious contemporary girl but a poet at heart, escapes her strict orthodox father's house in search of a new life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Cheers (2015)
10 years ago, a boy abandoned his alcoholic mother. Now a man, he returns to meet her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Afternoon Clouds (2017)
Kaki is a 60-year-old widow who lives with her Nepali maid, Malti. The film takes place on one afternoon in their house where a flower blossoms in the balcony. Malti meets a boy (a sailor) from her hometown unexpectedly.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Daava (1997)
Arjun is police officer and he has two stepbrothers, Bhishma and Suraj. Dhaman takes full advantage of this situation, and watches as the brothers go against each other.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Ek Second... Jo Zindagi Badal De... (2010)
From the moment Rashi (Manisha Koirala) decides not to get on a train home from her job, her life turns in a new direction. But what about what could have been if she did board that train? This drama about destiny and life's turns traces Rashi's parallel lives. Her current beau (Moammar Rana) may not be her true love, as she's about to find out -- or &NFi;not&NFi_; find out. Partho Ghosh (Mr. Hot Mr. Kool) directs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Aag (1994)
Birju is the mysterious guardian of a remote village. One day, a beautiful young woman arrives and disrupts the order. This disruption forces Birju into conflict with the village aristocracy and reveals his shocking past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bahurani (1989)
Amit wants to marry a modern woman but his parents get him married to a village girl, Madhuri. When Amit refuses to accept her as his wife, Madhuri reinvents herself as Malathi and re-enters his life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Rubaru?
The closest matches to Rubaru are Bastard Out of Carolina (1996), Hounddog (2008) and The Girl in the Book (2015). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Rubaru?
Start with Bastard Out of Carolina (1996), the closest match to Rubaru.
What is the highest-rated movie like Rubaru?
What Maisie Knew (2013), rated 7.1/10 by 466 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Rubaru?
Homebound (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Hindi movies like Rubaru?
Yes: Homebound (2025), Maya (1961) and Gunahon Ka Devta (1967).
How are movies similar to Rubaru chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Rubaru, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.