Movies like Waking Up Wally: The Walter Gretzky Story (2005)
The best movies like Waking Up Wally: The Walter Gretzky Story (2005) are Adventures of a Mathematician (2021), Radium Girls (2020) and Munich - The Edge of War (2021). If Waking Up Wally: The Walter Gretzky Story hooked you with its drama and history, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedRichard Jewell (2019)7.4/10 from 2,844 votes
- NewestGiant (2026)Released 2026
Adventures of a Mathematician (2021)
The warmhearted story of Polish immigrant and mathematician Stan Ulam, who moved to the U.S. in the 1930s. Stan deals with the difficult losses of family and friends all while helping to create the hydrogen bomb and the first computer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRadium Girls (2020)
Young women toiling in a factory are exposed to hazardous material which takes a disastrous toll on their health.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMunich - The Edge of War (2021)
At the tense 1938 Munich Conference, former friends who now work for opposing governments become reluctant spies racing to expose a Nazi secret.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEight Men Out (1988)
Buck Weaver and Hap Felsch are young idealistic players on the Chicago White Sox, a pennant-winning team owned by Charles Comiskey - a penny-pinching, hands-on manager who underpays his players and treats them with disdain. And when gamblers and hustlers discover that Comiskey's demoralized players are ripe for a money-making scheme, one by one the team members agree to throw the World Series. But when the White Sox are defeated, a couple of sports writers smell a fix and a national scandal explodes, ripping the cover off America's favorite pastime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSnow Flower and the Secret Fan (2011)
A story set in 19th century China and centered on the lifelong friendship between two girls who develop their own secret code as a way to contend with the rigid cultural norms imposed on women.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShattered Glass (2003)
Stephen Glass is a staff writer for the respected current events and policy magazine The New Republic and a freelance feature writer for publications such as Rolling Stone, Harper's and George. By the mid-90s, Glass' articles had turned him into one of the most sought-after young journalists in Washington, but a bizarre chain of events - chronicled in Buzz Bissinger's September 1998 Vanity Fair article - suddenly stopped his career in its tracks.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPanther (1995)
In this sprawling, fictionalized history of the Black Panthers, 1960s Oakland becomes a war zone as the Panthers battle for the right to exist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJulia (1977)
At the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOranges and Sunshine (2010)
The story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham, who uncovers one of the most significant social scandals in recent times – the forced migration of children from the United Kingdom to Australia and other Commonwealth countries. Almost singlehandedly, Margaret reunited thousands of families, brought authorities to account and worldwide attention to an extraordinary miscarriage of justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Book of Daniel (2013)
Taken into slavery after the fall of Jerusalem in 605 B.C., Daniel is forced to serve the most powerful king in the world, King Nebuchadnezzar. Faced with imminent death, Daniel proves himself a trusted Advisor and is placed among the king's wise men. Threatened by death at every turn Daniel never ceases to serve the king until he is forced to choose between serving the king or honoring God. With his life at stake, Daniel has nothing but his faith to stand between him and the lions' den.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGiant (2026)
Follows Prince Naseem Hamed from his humble beginnings on the tough working-class streets of Sheffield and his discovery by Ingle, himself a steel industry worker turned boxing trainer. Their unlikely partnership, Naz’s unorthodox style, cocky persona, and sheer dominance in the ring propelled them to the top of boxing’s elite and unprecedented levels of global superstardom, all in the face of the rampant Islamophobia and racism of ’80s and 90’s Britain.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSuffragette (2015)
Based on true events about the foot soldiers of the early feminist movement, women who were forced underground to pursue a dangerous game of cat and mouse with an increasingly brutal State.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Current War (2018)
Electricity titans Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse compete to create a sustainable system and market it to the American people.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMother Night (1996)
An American spy behind the lines during WWII serves as a Nazi propagandist, a role he cannot escape in his future life as he can never reveal his real role in the war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHome Run (2013)
A pro ball player with a substance abuse problem is forced into rehab in his hometown, finding new hope when he gets honest about his checkered past, and takes on coaching duties for a misfit Little League team
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlue Chips (1994)
Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future are secretly being paid by boosters. This practice is forbidden in the college game, but Pete is desperate and has pressures from all around.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (2004)
The story of golf icon and legend, Bobby Jones, who retired from competition at the tender age of 28.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMy Dinner with Hervé (2018)
An unlikely friendship evolves over one wild night in LA between a struggling journalist and actor Hervé Villechaize, the world's most famous gun-toting dwarf, resulting in life-changing consequences for both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 Canadiens, Forever (2009)
Neglected by his father, William, a star college hockey player, also suffered harassment from his coach and some teammates. By chance of a visit to Sainte-Justine hospital, the young man, whose morale and motivation are at its lowest, meets ten-year-old Daniel, awaiting a kidney transplant. Their passion for the Habs unites them instantly and William tries, by all means, to give him hope in the face of the disease.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history & drama
Net Worth (1995)
The story of the NHL in the 1950's, focusing on the battle between the players, led by Hall of Famer Ted Lindsay, and the owners, over issues of benefits and pensions. A dramatization based on the true story from the book of the same title.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history & drama
Faggot (2017)
This short film tells the story of Alexis, a 16-years-old hockey player who, after discovering he is gay, must face a heartbreaking dilemma: come out to his homophobic friends at the risk of being rejected and ridiculed, or stay in the closet even if that would mean abandoning Elliot, the only person who really loves him for what he is.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
D3: The Mighty Ducks (1996)
The Ducks are offered scholarships at Eden Hall Academy but struggle with their new coach's methods and come under pressure from the board to retain their scholarships before their big game against the Varsity team.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Mighty Ducks (1992)
After reckless young lawyer Gordon Bombay gets arrested for drunk driving, he must coach a kids hockey team for his community service. Gordon has experience on the ice, but isn't eager to return to hockey, a point hit home by his tense dealings with his own former coach, Jack Reilly. The reluctant Gordon eventually grows to appreciate his team, which includes promising young Charlie Conway, and leads them to take on Reilly's tough players.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Rhino Brothers (2002)
After a stint in the minor leagues, young hockey player Stefan Kanachowski (Curtis Bechdholt) returns to his tiny hometown to live with his girlfriend (Deanna Milligan) and hit the ice with his older brothers, Sasha (William McDonald) and Victor (Alistair Abell), who play for a local amateur team called the Rhinos. But even though no one wants to say it, they're all thinking the same thing: Has Stefan lost his shot at the big time?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Slap Shot (1977)
To build up attendance at their games, the management of a struggling minor-league hockey team signs up the Hanson Brothers, three hard-charging players whose job is to demolish the opposition.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSudden Death (1995)
When a man's daughter is suddenly taken during a championship hockey game – with the captors demanding a billion dollars by game's end – he frantically sets a plan in motion to rescue her and abort an impending explosion before the final buzzer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIndian Horse (2018)
Follows the life of Native Canadian Saul Indian Horse as he survives residential school and life amongst the racism of the 1970s. A talented hockey player, Saul must find his own path as he battles stereotypes and alcoholism.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCowards Bend the Knee (2003)
When he takes his girlfriend to a seedy abortion clinic in the back room of a combination hair salon / bordello, Guy Maddin meets the madam’s daughter and falls in love. But she won’t let any man touch her until her father’s murder has been avenged.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Waking Up Wally: The Walter Gretzky Story?
The closest matches to Waking Up Wally: The Walter Gretzky Story are Adventures of a Mathematician (2021), Radium Girls (2020) and Munich - The Edge of War (2021). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Waking Up Wally: The Walter Gretzky Story?
Start with Adventures of a Mathematician (2021), the closest match to Waking Up Wally: The Walter Gretzky Story.
What is the highest-rated movie like Waking Up Wally: The Walter Gretzky Story?
Richard Jewell (2019), rated 7.4/10 by 2,844 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Waking Up Wally: The Walter Gretzky Story?
Giant (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Waking Up Wally: The Walter Gretzky Story?
Yes: Adventures of a Mathematician (2021), Radium Girls (2020) and Munich - The Edge of War (2021).
How are movies similar to Waking Up Wally: The Walter Gretzky Story chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Waking Up Wally: The Walter Gretzky Story, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.