20 best movies like The Russell Girl (2008)

A woman is forced to go on the run when her superhuman abilities are discovered. Years after having abandoned her family, the only place she has left to hide is home.

Two con artists have spent 26 years training their only daughter to swindle, scam and steal at every turn. During a desperate and hastily conceived heist, they charm a stranger into joining them, only to have their entire world turned upside down.

The film follows 24 hours in the life of father and daughter Leo and Molly as she grapples with the challenges of dealing with her father’s chaotic mental state. But as they weave their way around New York City, their ordinary but stressful day takes on a hallucinatory and epic quality, for Leo is seamlessly flowing in and out of several parallel lives; a passionate marriage with his childhood sweetheart Dolores in Mexico and a life of solitude on a remote Greek island, where a chance encounter with two young tourists unmasks the uncomfortable truths of a family life left behind...

What happens when a 30-something woman allows life's "what ifs" to overwhelm her appreciation for what life actually is. Disregarding her current obligations, she digs into her romantic past in hopes of invigorating her present.

A young woman with Asperger's tries to find her first boyfriend with a little help from her older sister.

Survivors of a nuclear attack are grouped together for days in the basement of their apartment building, where fear and dwindling supplies wear away at their dynamic.

A doctor returns home for Christmas to find that her father has decided to retire from his own practice. After reuniting with her high school sweetheart, she wonders if she should stay and take over her father's practice.

A teenager living with her sister and parents in Manhattan during the 1990s discovers that her father is having an affair.

Interwoven stories of what it is to be a mom seen through the lens of photographer Rigby Gray.

Carmilla comes to a rural town where her mother mysteriously disappeared years earlier. She is aided in her quest by an emotionally troubled local girl, with whom she becomes romantically involved. Their relationship ignites the wrath of the girl's father, who holds the key to the dreadful truth Carmilla is seeking. Inspired by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's famed Gothic novella.

When an Asian American girl from the wrong side of the tracks is accepted by a prestigious university, she finds that her academic prowess can be put to lucrative use.

The continuing adventures of the Portokalos family. A follow-up to the 2002 comedy, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."

Nearly a decade after a faulty product landed him in prison, an arrogant inventor is determined to restore his reputation and rebuild his fortune. But first, he has to convince his estranged daughter that he's worthy of a second chance.

At the turning point of the Iran-Contra affair, Elena McMahon, a fearless investigative journalist covering the 1984 US presidential campaign, puts herself in danger when she abandons her assigned task in order to fulfill the last wish of her ailing father, a mysterious man whose past activities she barely knows.

The life of celebrated but reclusive author, J.D. Salinger, who gained worldwide fame with the publication of his novel, The Catcher in the Rye.

A woman's panicked decision to cover up an accidental killing spins out of control when her conscience demands she return the dead man's body to his family.

A woman must fly back to her hometown when her Alzheimer's-stricken mother wanders into a blizzard. The return home forces her to confront her past.

Pennsylvania, 1956. Frank Sheeran, a war veteran of Irish origin who works as a truck driver, accidentally meets mobster Russell Bufalino. Once Frank becomes his trusted man, Bufalino sends him to Chicago with the task of helping Jimmy Hoffa, a powerful union leader related to organized crime, with whom Frank will maintain a close friendship for nearly twenty years.

Dear Sidewalk tells the story of Gardner, a 24 year old mail-carrier, who is struggling to contend with his identity as his quarter-life crisis is in full swing. His regimented routine is thrown out the window when he meets Paige, a divorcee, enduring a mid-life crisis of her own. In this relationship there exists a synchronicity, as they find, despite their age difference, they're both confronting existential problems surrounding identity, love, and the choices in front of them.

An estranged family gathers together in New York for an event celebrating the artistic work of their father.

A kindhearted seventeen-year-old in the American Southwest turns to prostitution to fulfill her dream of a new life in San Francisco.

Massachusetts, 1892. An unmarried woman of 32 and a social outcast, Lizzie lives a claustrophobic life under her father's cold and domineering control. When Bridget Sullivan, a young maid, comes to work for the family, Lizzie finds a sympathetic, kindred spirit, and a secret intimacy soon blossoms into a wicked plan.

Maggie is an uptight, single mother and college writing teacher from New York City. In an effort to reconnect with her troubled teen daughter Summer, she decides to embark on a journey to a Tuscan village where she frequented in her younger days. Upon arrival, Maggie runs into Luca a handsome former lover who is still a bachelor and lives with his eighty-year-old mother Carmen. Summer (missing her “bad boy” boyfriend in NYC) and Carmen (secretly planning a wedding against Luca’s wishes to MARCELINO, her one true love in Rome) impulsively steal Luca’s car and race off to Rome. Maggie and Luca quickly pursue allowing the two mismatched couples to spend some time together and develop a new understanding of each other.

Meredith Hendricks happens to be the best cop in her quiet town on Lake Tahoe. When a black-market exotic species dealer named Clint is paroled from prison, something he let loose begins to make its presence known. Swimmers and land-lovers alike begin to become part of the food chain at an unbelievable rate. Meredith and her team discover that they're not just hunting one eating machine, but a whole family of them. Not everyone will make it out alive, but those who do will never forget this summer at Shark Lake.

In a yurt on the snow-covered fields of the North, Nanook and Sedna live following the traditions of their ancestors. Alone in the wilderness, they look like the last people on Earth. Nanook and Sedna's traditional way of life starts changing - slowly, but inevitably. Hunting becomes more and more difficult, the animals around them die from inexplicable deaths and the ice has been melting earlier every year. Chena, who visits them regularly, is their only connection to the outside world - and to their daughter Ága, who has left the icy tundra a long time ago due to family feud. When Sedna's health deteriorates, Nanook decides to fulfill her wish. He embarks on a long journey in order to find Ága.

A teenager tries to deal with his guilty conscience after his role in a prank that causes the death of his girlfriend's older brother.

Julia moves in with her fiancé, David, but his ex-wife and her own haunting past join forces to rock her quiet suburban existence.

A resort executive is sent to a newly purchased lodge in Maine with instructions to turn it in to an ultra-modern resort, and finds a charming, successful lodge loaded with holiday spirit. Will she stick with her boss’s plans to tear everything down or find a way to save what she has come to love? Stars Candace Cameron-Bure and Alan Thicke.

To inherit her father's company, socialite Ellen must first visit his small hometown, where she learns the value of hard work and helping others.

A California high school student plans to escape from her family and small town by going to college in New York.

A slice of life story about a young man named Ruben, who returns home to take care of his ailing father. He reconnects with his boyhood friend Jimmy after starting a job with his Uncle.

A widowed new dad copes with doubts, fears, heartache and dirty diapers as he sets out to raise his daughter on his own. Inspired by a true story.

October, 2008. Young nun Colleen is avoiding all contact from her family, until an email from her mother announces, “Your brother is home.” On returning to her childhood home in Asheville, NC, she finds her old room exactly how she left it: painted black and covered in goth/metal posters. Her parents are happy enough to see her, but unease and awkwardness abounds. Her brother is living as a recluse in the guesthouse since returning home from the Iraq war. During Colleen’s visit, tensions rise and fall with a little help from Halloween, pot cupcakes, and GWAR. Little Sister is a sad comedy about family – a schmaltz-free, pathos-drenched, feel good movie for the little goth girl inside us all.

The family-friendly movie explores the transformational role prayer plays in the lives of the Jordan family. Tony and Elizabeth Jordan, a middle-class couple who seemingly have it all – great jobs, a beautiful daughter, their dream home. But appearances can be deceiving. In reality, the Jordan’s marriage has become a war zone and their daughter is collateral damage. With the help of Miss Clara, an older, wiser woman, Elizabeth discovers she can start fighting for her family instead of against them. Through a newly energized faith, Elizabeth and Tony’s real enemy doesn’t have a prayer.

As single mom Grace juggles work, bills, and her affair with a married doctor, her daughter, Ansiedad, plots a shortcut to adulthood after finding inspiration in the coming-of-age stories she's reading for school.

And suddenly, overnight, the world came to a halt. Two men, two survivors, one kid, and hatred that separates them. A place forgotten by everyone, including the creatures that inhabit the Earth... until now.

Inspired by a true story, this film tells the shocking tale of a mother and daughter who are nothing like they seem, their tumultuous relationship ending in a brutal murder.

A long lost music producer finds a singer-songwriter right about the moment he has given up all hope on life.

The story of Mark Felt, who under the name "Deep Throat" helped journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the Watergate scandal in 1974.

Grace, a compassionate young supervisor at a foster care facility, works with her boyfriend and colleague, Mason, to help at-risk teens. But when a new charge dredges up memories of her own troubled past, Grace's tough exterior begins eroding.

Cold Moon takes place in tiny Babylon, Fla., where the granddaughter of Clark’s character is murdered by a mysterious assailant, her body sunk into the black waters of the Styx River — the river where her parents disappeared from their boat a decade earlier. Suspicion falls on a duplicitous banker and his wealthy father, played by Stewart and Lloyd.

The true story of Gabby Douglas who becomes the first African American to be named Individual All-Around Champion in artistic gymnastics at the Olympic Games.

A fading actor best known for his portrayal of a popular superhero attempts to mount a comeback by appearing in a Broadway play. As opening night approaches, his attempts to become more altruistic, rebuild his career, and reconnect with friends and family prove more difficult than expected.

Fatima, an Algerian-born woman who now lives in France with her two teenage daughters, with whom she is barely able to communicate.

A father is without the means to pay for his daughter's medical treatment. As a last resort, he partners with a greedy co-worker to rob a casino. When things go awry they're forced to hijack a city bus.

A girl's obsession with her brother's disappearance leads her on a nightmarish journey through a small town's Gothic landscape where she is faced with a deadly proposition. How far will she go to save the people she loves?

Jake and Mati are two outsiders in the northerly Portuguese city of Porto who once experienced a brief connection. A mystery remains about the moments they shared, and in searching through memories, they relive the depths of a night uninhibited by the consequences of time.

When party girl Sasha Li blows through most of her trust fund, she is cut off by her father and forced to go back to China and work for the family toy business.

When young and successful reporter Jamie finds out that her sister has died in mysterious circumstances, she travels to Singapore to uncover the truth. There, she discovers multiple deaths linked to her sister's and must join forces with her sister's husband in order to defeat a demonic entity that is using new technology to complete an ancient mission.

Greta's dad Tom is moving the family cross-country in a dented station wagon, promising a California paradise to his kids. All that's missing is Mom.