Movies like A Small Life (2000)
The best movies like A Small Life (2000) are Taurus (2022), Stomp the Yard (2007) and Bravetown (2015). If A Small Life hooked you with its drama and music, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Shack (2017)7.5/10 from 2,313 votes
- NewestThe Quiet After (2026)Released 2026
Taurus (2022)
A rising but troubled musician searches for the inspiration to record one last song, pushing himself deep into the void.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisStomp the Yard (2007)
After the death of his younger brother, a troubled 19-year-old street dancer from Los Angeles is able to bypass juvenile hall by enrolling in the historically black, Truth University in Atlanta, Georgia. But his efforts to get an education and woo the girl he likes are sidelined when he is courted by the top two campus fraternities, both of which want and need his fierce street-style dance moves to win the highly coveted national step show competition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBravetown (2015)
After an accidental drug overdose, a talented teenage DJ goes to live with his estranged father in a small Army town, where he gets to the bottom of his own pain and learns empathy for others.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGrace Unplugged (2013)
A talented young singer and aspiring songwriter’s Christian faith and family ties are tested when she defies her worship-pastor father and pursues pop-music stardom in GRACE UNPLUGGED, a moving and inspiring new film that explores the true meaning of success.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuburbia (1984)
When household tensions and a sense of worthlessness overcome Evan, he finds escape when he clings with the orphans of a throw-away society. The runaways hold on to each other like a family until a tragedy tears them apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMo' Better Blues (1990)
Talented but self-centered trumpeter Bleek Gilliam is obsessed with his music and indecisiveness about his girlfriends Indigo and Clarke. But when he is forced to come to the aid of his manager and childhood friend, Bleek finds his world more fragile than he ever imagined.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993)
A collection of vignettes highlighting different aspects of the life, work, and character of the acclaimed Canadian classical pianist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisToo Late Blues (1961)
Ghost is an ideological musician and leader of a jazz band who would rather play his blues in the park to the birds than compromise himself. His peripatetic performances lead him to cross paths with a singer, while his masculinity is thrown into question following a violent brawl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAugust Rush (2007)
Evan, a musically gifted orphan, runs away from his orphanage and searches New York City for his birth parents. On his journey, he's taken under the wing of the Wizard, a homeless man who lives in an abandoned theater. After discovering his talent, the Wizard gives Evan the name "August Rush" and devises a plan to profit from his talent. Little does Evan know that his parents, Lyla and Louis, are searching for him too.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMothers' Instinct (2024)
Housewives Alice and Celine are best friends and neighbours who seem to have it all. However, when a tragic accident shatters the harmony of their lives, guilt, suspicion and paranoia begin to unravel their sisterly bond.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPieces of a Woman (2020)
When a young mother's home birth ends in unfathomable tragedy, she begins a year-long odyssey of mourning that fractures relationships with loved ones in this deeply personal story of a woman learning to live alongside her loss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRabbit Hole (2010)
Life for a happy couple is turned upside down after their young son dies in an accident.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992)
A suburban family chooses seemingly sweet Peyton Flanders as their newborn's nanny. Only much later does the infant's mother, Claire Bartel, realize Peyton's true intentions -- to destroy Claire and replace her in the family. The nail-biting suspense builds quickly in this chilling psychological thriller about deception and bitter revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGoodbye June (2025)
Four siblings' lives change drastically when their ailing mother takes a turn for the worse over the holiday season.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Eternal Daughter (2022)
An artist and her elderly mother confront long-buried secrets when they return to a former family home, now a hotel haunted by its mysterious past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Good Woman Is Hard to Find (2019)
The recently widowed mother of two, Sarah, is desperate to know who murdered her husband in front of her young son, rendering him mute. Coerced into helping a low-life drug dealer stash narcotics stolen from the local Mr. Big, she's forced into taking drastic action to protect her children, evolving from downtrodden submissive to take-charge vigilante.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCowboys (2020)
Troy and his young transgender son Joe are on the run from his conservative mother in the Montana wilderness, with a detective in hot pursuit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Shack (2017)
A grieving man receives a mysterious, personal invitation to meet with God at a place called 'The Shack'.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFor the Love of Jessee (2020)
Doctor Luke Matthew's world comes crashing down when he loses the love of his life and becomes a father in the same night. When he hires Sage as the new nanny, they both begin to realize that the best form of medicine is letting go.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSister Cities (2016)
Based on the internationally-acclaimed play by Colette Freedman, the story of 4 estranged sisters who reunite for their mother’s alleged suicide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSunbeat (2017)
Gabriel and Iris head back to their family holiday home in Portugal with their daughters Emma and Zoé, a couple of adorable six-year-old twins, for a vacation. In the heart of the sun-drenched countryside, as the little ones swim and laugh, the couple’s past begins to rear its head. Emma is overwhelmed by a secret that is simply too big for her to keep, and which she has no right to share with her twin sister.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
H Is for Hawk (2025)
After losing her beloved father, Helen finds herself saved by an unlikely friendship with a stubborn hawk named Mabel. Through the bond, Helen rediscovers the beauty of being alive.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Quiet After (2026)
In a near-future society where grief is erased by law, Noah wakes up with fragments of an unknown woman after a near-fatal accident. Drawn into therapy and reassured by a trusted friend, he begins to piece together the unbearable truth. His search for her, and for himself, becomes an act of defiance against a world that values compliance over love. Haunted by memory and hunted by the system, Noah is forced to confront the cost of remembering, and the deeper cost of letting go.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Hero-Man (TBA)
Adrift in grief, Colby relentlessly pursues the publication of his childhood story as a way to hold onto the brother he lost.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Castration Movie Anthology I. Traps (2024)
Michaela 'Traps' Sinclair is a trans sex worker trying to get by in Vancouver while also mentoring her recently-out friend Adeline and making an attempt at pursuing actual motherhood. Meanwhile, lowly production assistant Turner finds himself dangerously spiraling into inceldom as his current relationship implodes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The House by the Sea (2017)
By a little bay near Marseille lies a picturesque villa owned by an old man. His three children have gathered by his side for his last days. It’s time for them to weigh up what they have inherited of their father’s ideals and the community spirit he created in this magical place. The arrival, at a nearby cove, of a group of boat people will throw these moments of reflection into turmoil.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Starling (2021)
A woman adjusting to life after a loss contends with a feisty bird that's taken over her garden — and a husband who's struggling to find a way forward.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKes (1970)
Bullied at school and ignored and abused at home by his indifferent mother and older brother, Billy Casper, a 15-year-old working-class Yorkshire boy, tames and trains his pet kestrel falcon whom he names Kes. Helped and encouraged by his English teacher and his fellow students, Billy finally finds a positive purpose to his unhappy existence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Lucky Pennies (2014)
Antoine got some family issues so he follows the advices of Lucy on how to make a wish. It's quite easy, you just need to find a lucky penny and to put it on a railroad track. If the train passes and the penny does'nt fall off, then you know the wish will come true.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Feast of Love (2007)
A meditation on love and its various incarnations, set within a community of friends in Oregon. It is described as an exploration of the magical, mysterious and sometimes painful incarnations of love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like A Small Life and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like A Small Life?
The closest matches to A Small Life are Taurus (2022), Stomp the Yard (2007) and Bravetown (2015). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after A Small Life?
Start with Taurus (2022), the closest match to A Small Life.
What is the highest-rated movie like A Small Life?
The Shack (2017), rated 7.5/10 by 2,313 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like A Small Life?
The Quiet After (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like A Small Life?
Yes: Taurus (2022), Stomp the Yard (2007) and Bravetown (2015).
How are movies similar to A Small Life chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside A Small Life, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.