20 best movies like This Boy’s Life (1993)

List of the best movies like This Boy’s Life (1993): Stand and Deliver, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story, Nowhere Boy, Face, The Miracle Worker, The Good Lie, Gracie, La Bamba, Angela's Ashes.

Tags: movies similar to This Boy’s Life (1993) - full list

Markimdb: 7.3
Genredrama, biography
CountryUSA
Duration01:43

Jaime Escalante is a mathematics teacher in a school in a hispanic neighbourhood. Convinced that his students have potential, he adopts unconventional teaching methods to try and turn gang members and no-hopers into some of the country's top algebra and calculus students.

Markimdb: 5.8
Genremelodrama, drama, biography
CountryUSA
Duration01:36

Tod Lubitch is born with a deficient immune system. As such, he must spend the rest of his life in a completely sterile environment. His room is completely hermetically sealed against bacteria and virus, his food is specially prepared, and his only human contact comes in the form of gloved hands. The movie follows his life into a teenager.

Markimdb: 7.2
Genredrama, biography
CountryUSA
Duration01:44

Based on a true story. Liz Murray is a young girl who is taken care of by her loving, but drug-addicted parents. Liz becomes homeless at 15 and after a tragedy comes upon her, she begins her work to finish high school.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genremelodrama, drama, music, biography
CountryUnited Kingdom, Canada
Duration01:38

The drama tells the story of Lennon's teenage years and the start of his journey to becoming a successful musician. The story also examines the impact on his early life and personality of the two dominant females in his childhood

Markimdb: 6.3
Genredrama
CountryUSA
Duration01:29

Genie, a Chinese-American teenager, develops feelings for a charming African-American DJ, but her grandmother forbids their romance forcing Genie to choose between family and love.

Markimdb: 8.1
Genredrama, biography
CountryUSA
Duration01:46

The true story of the frightening, lonely world of silence and darkness of 7-year-old Helen Keller who, since infancy, has never seen the sky, heard her mother's voice or expressed her innermost feelings. Then Annie Sullivan, a 20-year-old teacher from Boston, arrives. Having just recently regained her own sight, the no-nonsense Annie reaches out to Helen through the power of touch, the only tool they have in common, and leads her bold pupil on a miraculous journey from fear and isolation to happiness and light.

Markimdb: 7.4
Genredrama, biography
CountryKenya, India, USA, Canada, South Africa
Duration01:50

A young refugee of the Sudanese Civil War who wins a lottery for relocation to the United States with three other lost boys. Encountering the modern world for the first time, they develop an unlikely friendship with a brash American woman assigned to help them, but the young man struggles to adjust to this new life and his feelings of guilt about the brother he left behind.

Markimdb: 6.1
Genredrama, biography, sport
CountryUSA
Duration01:35

This is the story of a teenager named Gracie Bowen, who lives in South Orange, New Jersey, is crazy about soccer, as are her three brothers and former soccer star father. Although Gracie wants to join her brothers and father in the nightly practices, she is discouraged by everyone except her elder brother, Johnny. Her father does not believe that girls should play soccer and tells her that she is neither tough enough nor talented enough to play with the boys team. Undeterred, Gracie finds reserves of strength she never knew existed, and persists in changing everyone's beliefs in what she is capable of, including her own. She faces an uphill battle when she fights to give women the opportunity to play competitive soccer. But as the beautiful and strong person that she has always been but she also brings her family together in the face of their own tragedy.

Markimdb: 6.9
Genredrama, music, biography
CountryUSA
Duration01:48

Biographical story of the rise from nowhere of singer Ritchie Valens whose life was cut short by a plane crash.

Markimdb: 7.3
Genredrama, biography
CountryUSA, Republic of Ireland
Duration02:14

Based on the best selling autobiography by Irish expat Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes follows the experiences of young Frankie and his family as they try against all odds to escape the poverty endemic in the slums of pre-war Limerick. The film opens with the family in Brooklyn, but following the death of one of Frankie's siblings, they return home, only to find the situation there even worse. Prejudice against Frankie's Northern Irish father makes his search for employment in the Republic difficult despite his having fought for the IRA, and when he does find money, he spends the money on drink.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genremelodrama, drama, biography
CountryUSA
Duration01:51

The Whole Wide World tells the story of Novalyne Price, an attractive feisty West Texas schoolteacher and her bittersweet, romantic and turbulent relationship with Robert E. Howard, the great pulp fiction writer of the 1930's.

Markimdb: 6.6
Genredrama
CountryRepublic of Ireland, United Kingdom

Centred around greyhound racing in a Catholic community after the "Troubles" have ended but where their legacy remains strong. Donal is a 14-year old who works in a greyhound racing kennel owned by Good Joe. If Donal's favourite greyhound, The Mighty Celt, wins three races in a row, Good Joe has promised him full ownership.

Markimdb: 7.4
Genredrama, crime
CountryUSA
Duration02:11

Two boys find a fugitive hiding out on an island in the Mississippi River and form a pact to help him reunite with his lover and escape.

Markimdb: 7.3
Genredrama, biography
CountryUSA, Germany
Duration02:07

Set in the changing world of the late 1960s, Susanna Kaysen's prescribed "short rest" from a psychiatrist she had met only once becomes a strange, unknown journey into Alice's Wonderland, where she struggles with the thin line between normal and crazy. Susanna soon realizes how hard it is to get out once she has been committed, and she ultimately has to choose between the world of people who belong inside or the difficult world of reality outside.

Markimdb: 5.9
Genredrama, sport
CountryUSA
Duration01:02

A young man finds solace with a young woman, his mother, and a high-school football coach who recruits him to quarterback a six-man team.

Markimdb: 7.2
Genredrama
CountryUSA
Duration01:26

A Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak, and family in a desperate search for sexual expression.

Markimdb: 6.4
Genrefantasy, drama, music, biography
CountryUSA
Duration01:42

The story follows 19-year-old Renee who has always loved fairy tales: the idea of a princess, a hero and a happily ever after. But Renee’s life is that of a darker tale: she’s a young woman battling addiction, depression and self-injury. In a creative blend of artistic fantasy balanced with harsh reality, the movie follows Renee on her courageous journey towards recovery.

Markimdb: 7.2
Genredrama
CountryUSA

Set in the landscape of a rural southern town, "George Washington" is a stunning portrait of how a group of young kids come to grips with a hard world of choices and consequences. During an innocent game in an abandoned amusement park, a member of the group dies. Narrated by one of the children, the film follows the kids as they struggle to balance their own ambitions and relationships against a tragic lie.

Markimdb: 6.7
Genredrama, music, biography
CountryUnited Kingdom, France, USA
Duration01:57

    A Los Angeles journalist befriends a homeless Juilliard-trained musician, while looking for a new article for the paper.

    Markimdb: 7.2
    Genredrama, adventure
    CountryMexico, USA

    Tells the parallel stories of nine-year-old Carlitos and his mother, Rosario. In the hopes of providing a better life for her son, Rosario works illegally in the U.S. while her mother cares for Carlitos back in Mexico.

    Markimdb: 7.2
    Genredrama, biography
    CountryUSA
    Duration02:00

    A boy with a massive facial skull deformity and biker gang mother attempts to live as normal a life as possible under the circumstances.

    Markimdb: 7.5
    Genredrama
    CountryUSA

    Coming of age story about two inner city youths, who are left to fend for themselves over the summer after their mothers are taken away by the authorities.

    Markimdb: 6.3
    Genredrama, music, biography
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:56

    In the mid-80s, three women (each with an attorney) arrive at the office of New York entertainment manager, Morris Levy. One is an L.A. singer, formerly of the Platters; one is a petty thief from Philly; one teaches school in a small Georgia town. Each claims to be the widow of long-dead doo-wop singer-songwriter Frankie Lyman, and each wants years of royalties due to his estate, money Levy has never shared. During an ensuing civil trial, flashbacks tell the story of each one's life with Lyman, a boyish, high-pitched, dynamic performer, lost to heroin. Slowly, the three wives establish their own bond.

    Markimdb: 7.7
    Genredrama, biography, history
    CountryChile, Spain, United Kingdom, France

    Santiago, capital of Chile during the Marxist government of elected, highly controversial president Salvador Allende. Father McEnroe supports his leftist views by introducing a program at the prestigious "collegio" (Catholic prep school) St. Patrick to allow free admission of some proletarian kids. One of them is Pedro Machuca, slum-raised son of the cleaning lady in Gonzalo Infante's liberal-bourgeois home. Yet the new classmates become buddies, paradoxically protesting together as Gonzalo gets adopted by Pedro's slum family and gang. But the adults spoil that too, not in the least when general Pinochet's coup ousts Allende, and supporters such as McEnroe.

    Markimdb: 7.2
    Genredrama
    CountryUSA

    Alejandro, a tough and ambitious Latino street orphan on the verge of adolescence, lives and works in an auto-body repair shop in a sprawling junkyard on the outskirts of Queens, New York. In this chaotic world of adults, young Alejandro struggles to make a better life for himself and his 16-year-old sister, Isamar.

    Markimdb: 6.8
    Genredrama
    CountryUnited Kingdom
    Duration01:36

    A young boy trying to deal with his mother's heroin addiction befriends a waitress who helps him cope with the tough situation.

    Markimdb: 7.2
    Genrecomedy, drama
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:40

    This tells the story of a strong friendship between a young boy with Morquio's syndrome and an older boy who is always bullied because of his size. Adapted from the novel, Freak the Mighty, the film explores a building of trust and friendship. Kevin, an intelligent guy helps out Maxwell to improve his reading skills. In return, Kevin wants Maxwell to take him out places since he is not allowed out unauthorized. Being the social outcasts of the town, Kevin and Maxwell come to realize that they are similar to each other and accept that they are "freaks" and nothing will stop them.

    Markimdb: 7.8
    Genremelodrama, drama, crime, biography
    CountryUSA, Canada
    Duration01:52

    The true story of Soldier’s Girl, which takes place in Fort Campbell, KY, tells the heart-wrenching story of the life and tragic death of soldier Barry Winchell. His love for Calpernia Addams, a beautiful transgendered nightclub performer was misunderstood by fellow soldiers and eventually leads to his brutal death.

    Markimdb: 7.1
    Genredrama, music, biography
    CountryUSA
    Duration02:41

    Saxophone player Charlie Parker comes to New York in 1940. He is quickly noticed for his remarkable way of playing. He becomes a drug addict but his loving wife Chan tries to help him.

    Markimdb: 6.7
    Genredrama, adventure, family, military
    CountryUSA
    Duration02:05

    The son of a Vietnam War Veteran must deal with neighborhood bullies as well as his dad's post-traumatic stress disorder while growing up in the deep south in the 1970's.

    Markimdb: 6.8
    Genrecomedy, drama, family
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:54

    Simon Birch and Joe Wenteworth are boys who have a reputation for being oddballs. Joe never knew his father, and his mother, Rebecca, is keeping her lips sealed no matter how much he protests. Simon, meanwhile, is an 11-year-old dwarf whose outsize personality belies his small stature. Indeed, he often assails the local reverend with thorny theological questions and joins Joe on his quest to find his biological father.

    Markimdb: 5.9
    Genredrama
    CountryFrance, USA, Iran

    A wealthy Iranian family struggles to contain a teenager's growing sexual rebellion and her brother's newfound conservatism.

    Markimdb: 7.5
    Genredrama
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:30

    Three pre-adolescents with virginal and eager-of-signals naivety, hit headlong against monstrous and inhospitable loneliness, in the incandescent fire among the ashes of their own inocence.

    Markimdb: 5.9
    Genrecomedy, drama, music
    CountryUSA
    Duration02:23

    A sweeping multigenerational story set against the backdrop of the raw, roaring New York City of the late 1980s; adoption, teen pregnancy, drugs, hardcore punk rock, the unbridled optimism and reckless stupidity of the young—and old—are all major elements in this heart-aching tale of the son of diehard hippies and his strange odyssey through the extremes of late 20th century youth culture.

    Markimdb: 7.2
    Genredrama
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:50

    Set in South Carolina in 1964, this is the tale of Lily Owens a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother. To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father, Lily flees with Rosaleen, her caregiver and only friend, to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother's past.

    Markimdb: 6.3
    Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:36

    Four young people navigate the suburban wonderland of metro-Detroit looking for love and adventure on the last weekend of summer.

    Markimdb: 7.2
    Genremelodrama, drama, music, biography
    CountryBelgium, Italy

    The true story of Rocco Granata, an Italian coal miner's son who followed his passion for music against his father's wishes and social barriers.

    Markimdb: 5.8
    Genredrama
    CountryUSA

    A gauzy summer in South Brooklyn. Lila, an awkward adolescent girl, passes her time breaking into beach homes and tagging along on dates between her pretty friend Chiara and Chiara's new boyfriend, Patrick. Lila decides this will be the summer she loses her virginity, too—her interest is piqued when she meets Sammy, an older boy reputed to sleep with just about anyone. Yet Lila's attempts at sexual conquest risk taking her beyond her limits, and into dangerous uncharted territory. 

    Markimdb: 7.5
    Genredrama
    CountryGeorgia, Germany, France
    Duration01:42

    Eka and Natia leave their childhood behind and ignore societal customs to escape from their turbulent family lives.

    Markimdb: 6.9
    Genredrama
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:46

    When David Greene receives a football scholarship to a prestigious prep school in the 1950s, he feels pressure to hide the fact that he is Jewish from his classmates and teachers, fearing that they may be anti-Semitic. He quickly becomes the big man on campus thanks to his football skills, but when his Jewish background is discovered, his worst fears are realized and his friends turn on him with violent threats and public ridicule.

    Markimdb: 7.2
    Genredrama
    CountryUSA
    Duration02:03

    A River Runs Through is a cinematographically stunning true story of Norman Maclean. The story follows Norman and his brother Paul through the experiences of life and growing up, and how their love of fly fishing keeps them together despite varying life circumstances in the untamed west of Montana in the 1920's.

    Markimdb: 6.9
    Genredrama
    CountryUSA

    Life of a King is the true story of one man's mission to give inner city kids of Washington DC something he never had - a future. After being incarcerated for eighteen years, Eugene Brown established the Big Chair Chess Club to get kids off the streets and working towards lives they never believed they were capable of. This is his inspirational story.

    Markimdb: 7.1
    Genredrama
    CountryBulgaria, Sweden

    Two estranged brothers are brought together when they have opposite roles in a racist beating: while Georgi who's recently joined a neo-nazi group participates in the violence, Hristo witnesses and rescues a Turkish family. Only by reuniting will the two brothers be able to assess what they really want from life.

    Markimdb: 7.5
    Genredrama, music, biography, history
    CountryUSA, United Kingdom, Australia
    Duration02:05

    Author P.L. Travers travels from London to Hollywood as Walt Disney Pictures adapts her novel Mary Poppins for the big screen.

    Markimdb: 7.8
    Genredrama
    CountryUSA
    Duration02:04

    Beth, Calvin, and their son Conrad are living in the aftermath of the death of the other son. Conrad is overcome by grief and misplaced guilt to the extent of a suicide attempt. He is in therapy. Beth had always preferred his brother and is having difficulty being supportive to Conrad. Calvin is trapped between the two trying to hold the family together.

    Markimdb: 6.3
    Genremelodrama, drama, music
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:31

    David Sinclair seems to have everything going for him: he's smart, musically talented, and very successful. To top off his senior year in high school, his band is trying to get a recording session. Therefore, David's suicide leaves everyone, especially his best friend and band-mate, Chris, with a lot of questions.

    Markimdb: 7.4
    Genremelodrama, drama, biography
    CountryUnited Kingdom
    Duration02:11

    C.S. Lewis, a world-renowned writer and professor, leads a passionless life until he meets spirited poet Joy Gresham

    Markimdb: 6.3
    Genrethriller, drama
    CountryUSA
    Duration02:06

    Alan, Red, and Smitty spend high summer on the Jersey Shore roving the boardwalk and getting into trouble. But the discovery of good old fashioned treasure sets the friends on an escalating course of suspicion and violence in this atmospheric thriller.

    Markimdb: 7.3
    Genredrama
    CountryUSA
    Duration00:29

    Maddie is a teenage girl dealing with addiction who has a reputation as a party girl who doesn’t think she has a problem, until she’s confronted one day by her school guidance counselor and is forced to choose between expulsion and rehab. Maddie makes the difficult decision to live with other recovering addicts at a sober living facility while facing the daily pressures of her teenage life. Based on the popular young adult novel by Blake Nelson.

    Markimdb: 6.9
    Genredrama, biography, sport
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:48

    A coming of age drama following the life of Matt Hamill, the first deaf wrestler to win a National Collegiate Wrestling Championship.




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