Movies like Drug of Choice
The best movies like Drug of Choice are Ben Is Back (2018), Beautiful Boy (2018) and Hillbilly Elegy (2020). If Drug of Choice hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPalmer (2021)8.1/10 from 2,030 votes
- NewestThe Chronology of Water (2025)Released 2025
Ben Is Back (2018)
19-year-old Ben Burns unexpectedly returns home to his family's suburban home on Christmas Eve morning. Ben's mother, Holly, is relieved and welcoming but wary of her son staying clean. Over a turbulent 24 hours, new truths are revealed, and a mother's undying love for her son is tested as she does everything in her power to keep him safe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeautiful Boy (2018)
After he and his first wife separate, journalist David Sheff struggles to help their teenage son, who goes from experimenting with drugs to becoming devastatingly addicted to methamphetamine.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHillbilly Elegy (2020)
An urgent phone call pulls a Yale Law student back to his Ohio hometown, where he reflects on three generations of family history and his own future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFour Good Days (2021)
A mother helps her daughter work through four crucial days of recovery from substance abuse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClean and Sober (1988)
Hotshot real estate salesman Daryl has a bad cocaine habit. After embezzling his company's money, he wakes up next to a girl who overdosed. To hide from the police, he checks into a rehabilitation program guaranteeing anonymity. Under the mentorship of counselor Craig, Daryl accepts that he has a substance abuse problem. As he falls in love with fellow patient Charlie, Daryl begins committing to a newly sober life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJet Boy (2001)
A coming-of-age story of a reluctant 13-year-old hustler named Nathan who will do whatever it takes to feel loved.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPalmer (2021)
After 12 years in prison, former high school football star Eddie Palmer returns home to put his life back together—and forms an unlikely bond with Sam, an outcast boy from a troubled home. But Eddie's past threatens to ruin his new life and family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisOut of the Blue (1981)
A young girl whose father is an ex-convict and whose mother is a junkie finds it difficult to conform and tries to find comfort in a quirky combination of Elvis and the punk scene.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRequiem for a Dream (2000)
The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island residents are shattered when their addictions run deep.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHoney Boy (2019)
The story of a child star attempting to mend his relationship with his law-breaking, alcohol-abusing father over the course of a decade, loosely based on Shia LaBeouf’s life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisParked (2010)
Fred Daly returns to Ireland with nowhere to live but his car. Then dope-smoking 21-year-old Cathal parks beside him, and brightens up his lonely world. Encouraged by Cathal, Fred meets attractive music teacher Jules. Growing closer, these three outsiders are set on a course that will change their lives forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAdulthood (2008)
After serving six years for killing his schoolmate, a young man learns that someone is out for revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEcho Valley (2025)
Kate lives a secluded life—until her troubled daughter shows up, frightened and covered in someone else's blood. As Kate unravels the shocking truth, she learns just how far a mother will go to try to save her child.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Chronology of Water (2025)
Plagued by an abusive childhood, a woman finds escape in competitive swimming, sexual experimentation, toxic relationships, and addiction before ultimately finding her voice through writing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022)
The joyous, emotional, heartbreaking celebration of the life and music of Whitney Houston, the greatest female R&B pop vocalist of all time. Tracking her journey from obscurity to musical superstardom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisManic (2002)
In lieu of prison, Lyle, a violent adolescent, is placed in a juvenile mental institution where he encounters a group of equally troubled teens. This motley crew—abused, sexually confused, violent, and yet hanging on by their grit and anger—becomes Lyle's last lifeline as he fights to find meaning in a world that seems to defy understanding.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBetter Man (2024)
Follow Robbie Williams' journey from childhood, to being the youngest member of chart-topping boyband Take That, through to his unparalleled achievements as a record-breaking solo artist – all the while confronting the challenges that stratospheric fame and success can bring.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBigger Than Life (1956)
A friendly, successful suburban teacher and father grows dangerously addicted to cortisone, resulting in his transformation into a household despot.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Poker House (2008)
Agnes and her two sisters struggle through a day in a home overrun by gamblers, thieves, and johns.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTraffic (2000)
An exploration of the United States of America's war on drugs from multiple perspectives. For the new head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the war becomes personal when he discovers his well-educated daughter is abusing cocaine within their comfortable suburban home. In Mexico, a flawed, but noble policeman agrees to testify against a powerful general in league with a cartel, and in San Diego, a drug kingpin's sheltered trophy wife must learn her husband's ruthless business after he is arrested, endangering her luxurious lifestyle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBringing Out the Dead (1999)
Once called "Father Frank" for his efforts to rescue lives, Frank Pierce sees the ghosts of those he failed to save around every turn. He has tried everything he can to get fired, calling in sick, delaying taking calls where he might have to face one more victim he couldn't help, yet cannot quit the job on his own.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this99 Francs (2007)
Paris, France, 2001. Octave Parango, a young advertiser working at the Ross & Witchcraft advertising agency, lives a suicidal existence, ruled by cynicism, irresponsibility and debauchery. The obstacles he will encounter in developing a campaign for a new yogurt brand will force him to face the meaning of his work and the way he manages his relationship with those who orbit around his egotistic lifestyle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisActs of Mercy (2009)
Under the thumb of Nurse Baker, Nurse Maggie Collins struggles to care for the long-term residents of Moss Oak Manor, a home for the elderly. When good intentions are misinterpreted, Maggie must struggle to address issues of ambition and ethics.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Great Silence (1968)
A mute gunslinger fights in the defense of a group of outlaws and a vengeful young widow, against a group of ruthless bounty hunters.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBoogeyman (2005)
Every culture has one – the horrible monster fueling young children's nightmares. But for Tim, the Boogeyman still lives in his memories as a creature that devoured his father 16 years ago. Is the Boogeyman real, or did Tim make it up to explain why his father abandoned his family?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisCharlie Bartlett (2008)
Awkward teenager Charlie Bartlett has trouble fitting in at a new high school. Charlie needs some friends fast, and decides that the best way to find them is to appoint himself the resident psychiatrist. He becomes one of the most popular guys in school by doling out advice and, occasionally, medication, to the student body.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Conformist (1971)
A weak-willed Italian man becomes a fascist flunky who goes abroad to arrange the assassination of his old teacher, now a political dissident.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this8½ (1963)
Guido Anselmi, a film director, finds himself creatively barren at the peak of his career. Urged by his doctors to rest, Anselmi heads for a luxurious resort, but a sorry group gathers—his producer, staff, actors, wife, mistress, and relatives—each one begging him to get on with the show. In retreat from their dependency, he fantasizes about past women and dreams of his childhood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisDrugstore Cowboy (1989)
Portland, Oregon, 1971. Bob Hughes is the charismatic leader of a peculiar quartet, formed by his wife, Dianne, and another couple, Rick and Nadine, who skillfully steal from drugstores and hospital medicine cabinets in order to appease their insatiable need for drugs. But neither fun nor luck last forever.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHead-On (2004)
With the intention to break free from the strict familial restrictions, a suicidal young woman sets up a marriage of convenience with a forty-year-old addict, an act that will lead to an outburst of envious love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Drug of Choice?
The closest matches to Drug of Choice are Ben Is Back (2018), Beautiful Boy (2018) and Hillbilly Elegy (2020). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Drug of Choice?
Start with Ben Is Back (2018), the closest match to Drug of Choice.
What is the highest-rated movie like Drug of Choice?
Palmer (2021), rated 8.1/10 by 2,030 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Drug of Choice?
The Chronology of Water (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Drug of Choice?
Yes: Ben Is Back (2018), Beautiful Boy (2018) and Hillbilly Elegy (2020).
How are movies similar to Drug of Choice chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Drug of Choice, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.