Movies like Paul Laurence Dunbar: An American Poet (2021)
The best movies like Paul Laurence Dunbar: An American Poet (2021) are Dead Poets Society (1989), Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) and Mr. Church (2016). If Paul Laurence Dunbar: An American Poet hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDead Poets Society (1989)8.3/10 from 13,178 votes
- NewestBlue Moon (2025)Released 2025
Dead Poets Society (1989)
At an elite, old-fashioned boarding school in New England, a passionate English teacher inspires his students to rebel against convention and seize the potential of every day, courting the disdain of the stern headmaster.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisFlorence Foster Jenkins (2016)
The story of Florence Foster Jenkins, a New York heiress, who dreamed of becoming an opera singer, despite having a terrible singing voice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMr. Church (2016)
A unique friendship develops when a little girl and her dying mother inherit a cook - Mr. Church. What begins as an arrangement that should only last six months, instead spans fifteen years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Magic of Belle Isle (2012)
In an effort to tap into his original talent, a wheelchair-bound author moves to a rural town, where he befriends a single mother and her three kids, who help reignite his passion for writing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGreat Expectations (1998)
Loosely based on the Charles Dickens' classic novel, "Great Expectations" is a sensual tale of a young man's unforgettable passage into manhood, and the three individuals who will undeniably change his life forever. Through the surprising interactions of these vivid characters, "Great Expectations" takes a unique and contemporary look at life's great coincidences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAvalon (1990)
A Polish-Jewish family comes to the U.S. at the beginning of the twentieth century. There, the family and their children try to make themselves a better future in the so-called promised land.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCabrini (2024)
Italian immigrant Francesca Cabrini arrives in 1889 New York City and is greeted by disease, crime, and impoverished children. Cabrini sets off on a daring mission to convince the hostile mayor to secure housing and healthcare for society's most vulnerable. With broken English and poor health, Cabrini uses her entrepreneurial mind to build an empire of hope unlike anything the world had ever seen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLockout (2012)
Set in the near future, Lockout follows a falsely convicted ex-government agent , whose one chance at obtaining freedom lies in the dangerous mission of rescuing the President's daughter from rioting convicts at an outer space maximum security prison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Help (2011)
Aibileen Clark is a middle-aged African-American maid who has spent her life raising white children and has recently lost her only son; Minny Jackson is an African-American maid who has often offended her employers despite her family's struggles with money and her desperate need for jobs; and Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan is a young white woman who has recently moved back home after graduating college to find out her childhood maid has mysteriously disappeared. These three stories intertwine to explain how life in Jackson, Mississippi revolves around "the help"; yet they are always kept at a certain distance because of racial lines.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisLife (1999)
Two men in 1930s Mississippi become friends after being sentenced to life in prison together for a crime they did not commit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlue Moon (2025)
On the evening of March 31, 1943, legendary lyricist Lorenz Hart confronts his shattered self-confidence in Sardi’s bar as his former collaborator, Richard Rodgers, celebrates the opening night of his ground-breaking hit musical, “Oklahoma!”
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Great Debaters (2007)
The true story of a brilliant but politically radical debate team coach who uses the power of words to transform a group of underdog African-American college students into a historical powerhouse that took on the Harvard elite.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGreenberg (2010)
Roger Greenberg, a failed musician now making a living as a carpenter in New York, returns to Los Angeles to house-sit for his brother. He's stranded there—since he doesn't drive—until his brother's assistant, Florence, comes to his rescue. She's as much a lost soul as he is, and the pair form a significant connection—giving Roger a much-needed reason to be happy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Love Song for Bobby Long (2004)
A headstrong young woman returns to New Orleans after the death of her estranged mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Way We Were (1973)
Opposites attract when, during their college days, Katie Morosky, a politically active Jew, meets Hubbell Gardiner, a feckless WASP. Years later, in the wake of World War II, they meet once again and, despite their obvious differences, attempt to make their love for each other work.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHancock (2008)
Hancock is a down-and-out superhero who's forced to employ a PR expert to help repair his image when the public grows weary of all the damage he's inflicted during his lifesaving heroics. The agent's idea of imprisoning the antihero to make the world miss him proves successful, but will Hancock stick to his new sense of purpose or slip back into old habits?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDead Man Walking (1995)
A death row inmate turns for spiritual guidance to a local nun in the days leading up to his scheduled execution for the murders of a young couple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFar from Heaven (2002)
In 1950s Connecticut, a housewife's life is upended by a marital crisis and mounting racial tensions in society.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Docks of New York (1928)
A blue-collar worker on New York's depressed waterfront finds his life changed after he saves a woman attempting suicide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Edge of Love (2008)
When the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and his flirtatious wife Caitlin sweep into war-torn London, the last thing they expect is to bump into Dylan's childhood sweetheart Vera. Despite her joy at seeing Dylan after so many years, Vera is swept off her feet by a dashing officer, William Killick, and finds herself torn between the open adoration of her new found beau and the wily charms of the exotic Welshman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Paul Laurence Dunbar: An American Poet?
The closest matches to Paul Laurence Dunbar: An American Poet are Dead Poets Society (1989), Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) and Mr. Church (2016). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Paul Laurence Dunbar: An American Poet?
Start with Dead Poets Society (1989), the closest match to Paul Laurence Dunbar: An American Poet.
What is the highest-rated movie like Paul Laurence Dunbar: An American Poet?
Dead Poets Society (1989), rated 8.3/10 by 13,178 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Paul Laurence Dunbar: An American Poet?
Blue Moon (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Paul Laurence Dunbar: An American Poet?
Yes: Dead Poets Society (1989), Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) and Mr. Church (2016).
How are movies similar to Paul Laurence Dunbar: An American Poet chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Paul Laurence Dunbar: An American Poet, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.