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Movies like Pauline's Law, Bad Seed (2017)

The best movies like Pauline's Law, Bad Seed (2017) are The Safety of Objects (2002), That Evening Sun (2009) and Bastard Out of Carolina (1996). If Pauline's Law, Bad Seed hooked you with its drama, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. The 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

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  2. That Evening Sun (2009)

    An aging Tennessee farmer returns to his homestead and must confront a family betrayal, the reappearance of an old enemy, and the loss of his farm.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  3. 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

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  4. Holy 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

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  5. Chaos (2001)

    A bourgeois couple, modern yet conventional. One night by accident, a young prostitute barges into their lives. Hounded down, beaten up, threatened, she will continue to struggle, with the help of a well off lady, first for her survival-her resurrection-then for her dignity and freedom. Stormy encounters for everyone involved.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  6. TalhotBlond (2012)

    Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  7. Hounddog (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

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  8. Declaration of War (2011)

    Roméo and Juliette are two young actors. They fall in love at first sight, move in together and make a baby. A love story and the founding of a home like millions of others. Except that their little boy, Adam, behaves abnormally. The young parents try hard to persuade themselves that everything is okay but, with the passing of time, they cannot delude themselves anymore: their son has a problem. From now on, war is declared. A war against illness. A war against Death. A war against despair.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  9. Farming (2018)

    Based on the writer/director's childhood, FARMING tells the story of a young Nigerian boy, 'farmed out' by his parents to a white British family in the hope of a better future. Instead, he becomes the feared leader of a white skinhead gang.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  10. What 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 this
  11. The 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

  12. The 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

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  13. My Little Princess (2011)

    Young Violetta and her mother Hannah are a peculiar couple. Ten-year-old Violetta lives a quiet life with her grandmother, while her mother Hannah is an unpredictable photographer who lives off of the generosity of others. When Hannah forces her daughter to pose as a model, Violetta finds her life with her loving grandmother turned upside down.The resulting pictures quickly become a sensation for the trendy 70's Paris art scene, and Violetta finds herself caught in between her new stature as an art muse and her dull childhood.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  14. The Nest (2020)

    Rory is an ambitious entrepreneur who brings his American wife and kids to his native country, England, to explore new business opportunities. After abandoning the sanctuary of their safe American suburban surroundings, the family is plunged into the despair of an archaic '80s Britain and their unaffordable new life in an English manor house threatens to destroy the family.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  15. The Dazzled (2019)

    Camille, is the eldest of a large family. One day, her parents enter a religious community which gradually, regimentation becomes sectarian and Camille will have to fight to assert her freedom and save her brothers and sisters.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  16. Lucky Them (2013)

    More interested in partying and flirting with young musicians than work, veteran rock journalist Ellie Klug has one last chance to prove her value to her magazine’s editor: a no-stone-unturned search to discover what really happened to long lost rock god, Matt Smith, who also happens to be her ex-boyfriend. Teaming up with an eccentric amateur documentary filmmaker, Ellie hits the road in search of answers.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  17. Alex of Venice (2015)

    After her stay-at-home husband leaves her, a workaholic lawyer finds that she is not completely up to the tasks of caring for her young son, ailing father and household all by herself.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

  18. Saint Omer (2022)

    A novelist attends the trial of a woman accused of killing her 15-month-old daughter by abandoning her to the rising tide on a beach in northern France. But as the trial continues, her own family history, doubts, and fears about motherhood are steadily dislodged as the life story of the accused is gradually revealed.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  19. The Caveman's Valentine (2001)

    Romulus, a misunderstood musician turned recluse hiding from personal demons in a New York City cave, finds the frozen body of a young drifter in a tree. The authorities, including his police officer daughter, claim the death is accidental. Romulus is convinced the man was murdered by a prominent art photographer but how can he prove he's right when everyone thinks he's insane?

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

  20. Our Struggles (2018)

    While Olivier, a 39 year-old foreman gives his job everything he’s got, Laura, his wife and the mother of their two children, abandons the family home, leaving Olivier alone to face his responsibilities. Lost and completely thrown, Olivier is going to have to come to terms with his new status as a single father raising his children alone. Because Laura’s not coming back.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies like Pauline's Law, Bad Seed?

The closest matches to Pauline's Law, Bad Seed are The Safety of Objects (2002), That Evening Sun (2009) and Bastard Out of Carolina (1996). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after Pauline's Law, Bad Seed?

Start with The Safety of Objects (2002), the closest match to Pauline's Law, Bad Seed.

What is the highest-rated movie like Pauline's Law, Bad Seed?

What Maisie Knew (2013), rated 7.1/10 by 466 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like Pauline's Law, Bad Seed?

Saint Omer (2022) is the most recent release on this list.

Are there French movies like Pauline's Law, Bad Seed?

Yes: Chaos (2001), Declaration of War (2011) and My Little Princess (2011).

How are movies similar to Pauline's Law, Bad Seed chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Pauline's Law, Bad Seed, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.

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