Movies like Passionate Defense (1997)
The best movies like Passionate Defense (1997) are Don't Make Me Go (2022), Our Friend (2019) and American Woman (2018). If Passionate Defense hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedA Walk to Remember (2002)7.7/10 from 4,375 votes
- NewestDie My Love (2025)Released 2025
Don't Make Me Go (2022)
A terminally ill man and his teenage daughter embark on a road trip from California to New Orleans for his 20th college reunion. While there, he secretly hopes she can reunite with the mother who left them long ago.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOur Friend (2019)
After learning that his terminally ill wife has six months to live, a man welcomes the support of his best friend who moves into their home to help out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmerican Woman (2018)
A young grandmother in a small Pennsylvania town raises her daughter's child after the girl disappears. All the while, a desperate search for her continues.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Life Without Me (2003)
A fatally ill mother with only two months to live creates a list of things she wants to do before she dies without telling her family of her illness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFathers and Daughters (2015)
A Pulitzer-winning writer grapples with being a widower and father after a mental breakdown, while, 27 years later, his grown daughter struggles to forge connections of her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe People We Hate at the Wedding (2022)
A dysfunctional family that can't seem to get along and get it together reluctantly reunites for a family wedding. As their many skeletons are wrenched from the closet, it turns out to be just what this singular family needs to reconnect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Meddler (2016)
With a new iPhone, an apartment near the Grove, and a comfortable bank account left to her by her beloved late husband, Marnie Minervini has happily relocated from New Jersey to Los Angeles to be near her daughter Lori, a successful (but still single) screenwriter, and smother her with motherly love. But when the dozens of texts, unexpected visits, and conversations dominated by unsolicited advice force Lori to draw strict personal boundaries, Marnie finds ways to channel her eternal optimism and forceful generosity to change the lives of others - as well as her own - and find a new purpose in life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOrdinary Love (2019)
An extraordinary look at the lives of a middle-aged couple in the midst of the wife's breast cancer diagnosis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne True Thing (1998)
A career woman reassesses her parents' lives after she is forced to care for her cancer-stricken mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Walk to Remember (2002)
When the popular, restless Landon Carter is forced to participate in the school drama production, he falls in love with Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town's minister. Jamie has a "to-do" list for her life, as well as a very big secret she must keep from Landon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiracles from Heaven (2016)
When Christy discovers her 10-year-old daughter Anna has a rare, incurable disease, she becomes a ferocious advocate for her daughter’s healing as she searches for a solution. After Anna has a freak accident and falls three stories, a miracle unfolds in the wake of her dramatic rescue that leaves medical specialists mystified, her family restored and their community inspired.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWe Live in Time (2024)
An up-and-coming chef and a recent divorcée find their lives forever changed when a chance encounter brings them together, in a decade-spanning, deeply moving romance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOrdinary Angels (2024)
Inspired by the incredible true story of a hairdresser who single-handedly rallies an entire community to help a widowed father save the life of his critically ill young daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIf I Had Legs I'd Kick You (2025)
With her life crashing down around her, Linda attempts to navigate her child's mysterious illness, her absent husband, a missing person, and an increasingly hostile relationship with her therapist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Goodbye Girl (1977)
After being dumped by her live-in boyfriend, an unemployed dancer and her 10-year-old daughter are reluctantly forced to live with a struggling off-Broadway actor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMadea's Big Happy Family (2011)
When Shirley, Madea's niece, receives distressing news about her health, the only thing she wants is her family gathered around her. However, Shirley's three adult children are too preoccupied with their own troubled lives to pay attention to their mother. It is up to Madea, with the help of rowdy Aunt Bam, to bring the clan together and help Shirley deal with her crisis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMeet My Valentine (2015)
When Tom learns that he has terminal brain cancer, he decides to find a replacement husband for his wife and a father to his daughter, before it is too late. Unbeknownst to his wife Valentine, Tom sets up an on-line dating profile for her, and realizes that he doesn't know much about her anymore. Tom endeavors to get to know Valentine, and learns why he fell in love with her all those years ago... just in time to say goodbye.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPhffft (1954)
Robert and Nina Tracey resolve to live separate lives when their eight-year marriage dissolves into disagreements and divorce. But their separate attempts to get back out on the dating scene have a funny way of bringing them together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDie My Love (2025)
After inheriting a remote Montana house, Jackson moves there from New York with his partner Grace, and the couple soon welcome a child. As Jackson becomes increasingly absent and rural isolation sets in, Grace struggles with loneliness, creative frustration, and unresolved emotional wounds. What begins as an attempt at renewal gradually turns into an intense psychological descent, placing strain on their relationship and exposing the fragile balance between love, identity, and motherhood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Passionate Defense?
The closest matches to Passionate Defense are Don't Make Me Go (2022), Our Friend (2019) and American Woman (2018). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Passionate Defense?
Start with Don't Make Me Go (2022), the closest match to Passionate Defense.
What is the highest-rated movie like Passionate Defense?
A Walk to Remember (2002), rated 7.7/10 by 4,375 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Passionate Defense?
Die My Love (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like Passionate Defense?
The closest matches are in other languages.
How are movies similar to Passionate Defense chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Passionate Defense, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.