Best movies like Heidi
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
After her mother's death, the five year old orphan Heidi is brought by her aunt to her grumpy grandfather Alp, who leads a hermit life in the beautiful Swiss mountains. Heidi's natural cheerfulness quickly brings renewed joy in grandfather Alps life. Heidi becomes friends with the goatherd Peter who is about the same age as her and spent two beautiful years in the pasture. But then she is sent by her aunt to Frankfurt in the house of Consul Sesemann where Heidi should get a proper education and upbringing. After some initial difficulties Heidi eventually adjusts to her new situation and makes friends with Clara, the paralyzed daughter of the consul. Only with the strict governess Miss Rottingmeier she keeps getting in trouble. Miss Rottingmeier clearly can not cope with the free and outdoors spirit of Heidi. But Heidi lets a fresh wind blow through the Sesemann house and even causes Clara to overcome her illness.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 179
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Austria
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags:
Best tv shows and movies like Heidi (1965):
Similar in 86%
Majhli Didi (1967)
Plot Summary:
Bipinchandra breaks family tradition by marrying a city girl, Hemangini, much to the chagrin of his sister-in-law, Kadambini, and her husband, Navinchandra. Things are delicate even after both women give birth to two children each. Then Hemangini testifies against Navinchandra in Court, leading to the division of the property. Things got worse by the arrival of Kadambini's orphaned school-going step-brother, Kishan, who is beaten and abused by not only by Kadambini and Navinchandra, but also by their overweight son. When Hemangini objects to Kishan's ill-treatment, Bipin takes the side of the rest of the family, and may probably force her to abandon Kishan to his fate or divorce her.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 112
Genere: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 136 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 78%
The Magic Mountain (1982)
Plot Summary:
No overview found.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 487
Genere: Drama
Country: Austria, West Germany, France, Italy
Duration: 153 min
Plot tags: surreal
Similar in 76%
The Greatest Store In The World (1999)
Plot Summary:
Geraldine and her two daughters, Livvie and Angeline, are living rough on the streets on London. When their van blows up, they must find an alternitive place to stay. At first, they live in temporary housing, but the conditions are unbearable. Geraldine reacts quickly and the family decides to take up residence in Scottley's, the best department store in London. They must keep it a secret from doorman Brian (whom the girls call Mr. Whiskers), and a couple of bumbling thieves who want to rob the store safe of its jewels.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 455
Genere: Family, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 74 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 80%
A Piggy Tale (1991)
Plot Summary:
Dolly, a lovely, adorable little girl from the mountain region. Due to the death of her parents, she was sent to her parents' friend, Mrs. Chu's care. When Dolly and her mini pig playmate, Guava, first came to Taipei, they brought a great change in the life of the Chu family and created a series of thrilling amusing incidents. One day, Papa Chu brought Guava to the office but negligently lost it. When Dolly heard that Guava got lost, she was very sad and decided to leave home to search for Guava. In order to help Dolly, Chu Pi, Papa Chu's son, called his buddies to join Dolly in the search of Guava. An interesting, worrying search journey by a group of children began.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 20
Genere: Family, Drama
Country: Taiwan
Duration:
Plot tags:
Similar in 90%
Christmas with Tucker (2013)
Plot Summary:
While coming to terms with his dad's recent passing in a tractor accident, 13-year-old George McCray is living with his grandparents on their Kansas farm. George misses his mom, Jill, who has moved to Minnesota to deal with her grief, but there is the promise of their reunion at Christmas. George feels needed on the farm as he helps his grateful grandfather Bo with daily chores and comforts his grandmother Cora. He has also made friends with Mary Ann and became attached to Tucker, the smart and friendly dog the McCrays take in when his troubled owner Frank Thorne lands in jail.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 707
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: captivating, entertaining, feel good
Similar in 88%
Side by Side (2013)
Plot Summary:
Lauren and her younger brother Harvey risk being taken into care when their grandmother, who is their legal guardian, becomes ill. Lauren accepts the offer of a scholarship to a prestigious sports academy on the understanding that she and Harvey stay together while living with Janice, her duplicitous and ambitious agent. It soon becomes clear that there are plans to split the pair up; when Harvey runs away to find their long-lost grandfather, who hasn’t been heard from for years, Lauren follows. En route the pair discover that, despite all their differences, when they are side by side they are strong enough to deal with anything. This beautifully shot British debut is part family drama, part coming of age story and a road trip that nods towards some of the greats of children’s literature. The young leads give compelling and moving performances that make for an emphatically British family film that’s refreshingly free of even the hint of a franchise. (Source: LFF programme).
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 37
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: UK
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 77%
Audrey's Rain (2003)
Plot Summary:
Jean Smart and Richard Gilliland star in "Audrey's Rain" for Hallmark. Jean plays Aunt Audrey, who took in her sister's two kids after her sister's recent suicide.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 276
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 83%
The Cave of the Yellow Dog (2005)
Plot Summary:
The little nomad girl, Nansal, finds a baby dog in the Mongolian veld, who becomes her best friend - against all rejections of her parents. A story about a Mongolian family of nomads - their traditional way of life and the rising call of the City.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Germany, Mongolia
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, art house, minimal cast, masterpiece, fable
Similar in 90%
Marussia (2013)
Plot Summary:
In cities like Paris there are countless people from Eastern Europe who have forsaken their homelands because they can see no future there. Lucia and her little daughter Marussia are two such people. They have been thrown out by the Russian acquaintances they were staying with and must tramp the streets with their trolley suitcases searching for somewhere else to live. A Russian Orthodox priest offers them their first night's shelter. They spend the second night in a homeless hostel and party through the third with a chance acquaintance. On the fourth night they sleep clandestinely in a cinema and on the fifth with a Russian artist in a hotel … Lucia is good-looking, dresses elegantly and is certainly not shy of men. This serves the mother and her daughter well. In spite of all the uncertainties in their lives, the two frequently share tender moments.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 95
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: France, Russia
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, sincere, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 78%
Little Crumb (1999)
Plot Summary:
The film is based on the popular Dutch childrens book by Chris van Abkoude. In a Dutch port in 1921 lives a 10-year-old orphan boy known to everyone simply as Little Crumb (Ruud Feltkamp). His poverty-stricken mother Lize van Dien (Thekla Reuten) filled with shame was forced to turn him over to Mrs. Koster (Sacha Bulthuis) soon after he was born. Foster mother Mrs. Koster, who has cared for him since he was a baby, is very poor too, unable to support him by herself and proves to be a cruel taskmaster who insists Crumb bring her money before shell feed him. Somehow he must earn his keep out on the streets and can only go home after he has earned enough money. Crumb becomes an urchin stealing from the streets barrows and the shops to stay alive, sleeping in churches or huddled in doorways. Sometimes he has to run off from the police and he has earned the enmity of the most grownups around him.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 75%
Lantern Hill (1989)
Plot Summary:
In 1935 Toronto, Jane Stuart's mother has taken ill, and the two of them have temporarily moved in with her rich, snobbish grandmother, where Jane is verbally abused and her mother bullied. Jane is forced into a private academy, in which the other girls tell her that her father, whom Jane believes to be dead, is actually alive. Soon after, Andrew Stuart sends word that he would like to meet his long-lost daughter, so Jane is sent by train to Bright River to stay with him, where she encounters an old mystery that she must help her father overcome, new friends, and the chance to bring her father and mother back together again.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 319
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: crying
Similar in 79%
Anne of Green Gables (1972)
Plot Summary:
Anne of Green Gables is a made-for-television British mini-series directed by Joan Craft based upon the novel, Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 126
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: UK
Duration: 280 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 88%
Saving Shiloh (2006)
Plot Summary:
In this third movie about Shiloh, Judd Travers is accused of killing a man he once fought in a bar. Everyone in the town consider Judd to be guilty except Marty Preston, but even him has some doubts. Trying to clear Judd's name Marty and his friend searches the woods to find the criminal.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 930
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: serious, sincere, touching, captivating, saga
Similar in 77%
Walking Thunder (1995)
Plot Summary:
In the 1850's, a young boy and his family on their way West become stranded in the Rockies. With the help of a local mountain man, a Sioux medicine man, and a legendary bear knows as "Walking Thunder," the boy learns to become a man, and his family's survival is secured.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 274
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: independent film, exciting, serious, realistic
Similar in 84%
Summer 1993 (2017)
Plot Summary:
After her mother's death, six-year-old Frida is sent to her uncle's family to live with them in the countryside. But Frida finds it hard to forget her mother and adapt to her new life.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Spain
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: semi autobiographical, sincere, touching, serious, captivating, sentimental, crying
Similar in 89%
Storm Boy (2019)
Plot Summary:
When a highly successful retired businessman, Michael Kingley, starts to see things he at first can't explain, his life takes a dramatic turn. And when his grand-daughter rebels against her father, he is forced to re-evaluate his life and to act to prevent her going down a similar path to one he took years before. He tells her his story, when as a boy he lived a lonely existence with his father, Hideaway Tom, on an isolated coastline and how a bond with an orphaned pelican, Mr. Percival, changed his life forever.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Australia
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, touching, captivating, disturbing, motivational, extraordinary
Similar in 88%
Little Big Girl (2002)
Plot Summary:
While out and about tending to his herd, young shepherd Larus meets a mysterious little girl named Tinke. Quickly realizing that the girl is alone, Larus brings Tinke some food and slowly builds a friendship with her. Tinke, whose parents died within the past year, has managed to survive by her own devices in the wild and has hence become quite feral. Larus convinces Tinke to come to his home so that his parents can take care of her.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 633
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Denmark, Sweden
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, captivating, realistic, serious, offbeat
Similar in 90%
Spin (2003)
Plot Summary:
"Spin" tells the story of a boy who loses his parents in a plane crash, is taken in by his uncle (Tucci), who then leaves him for ten years in the care of his Hispanic ranch hand (Blades) and his wife (Delany). Once in high school, Eddie (Merriman) reconnects with a girl from his past (Garces), and their growing interracial relationship teaches the sometimes-sullen Eddie to think of others before himself.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 537
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, independent film
Similar in 78%
Anne of Green Gables (2016)
Plot Summary:
A retelling of L.M. Montgomery's story of Anne Shirley, an orphan who is accidentally sent to a couple looking to adopt a boy instead.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Canada
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, uplifting, captivating, compassionate, period drama
Similar in 89%
Follow Me, Boys! (1966)
Plot Summary:
Lem Siddons is part of a traveling band who has a dream of becoming a lawyer. Deciding to settle down, he finds a job as a stockboy in the general store of a small town. Trying to fit in, he volunteers to become scoutmaster of the newly formed Troop 1. Becoming more and more involved with the scout troop, he finds his plans to become a lawyer being put on the back burner, until he realizes that his life has been fulfilled helping the youth of the small town.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: retro, touching, feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 81%
Owd Bob (1998)
Plot Summary:
Recently orphaned David must move to the Isle of Man to live with his grandfather, Adam, who's a sheep farmer. Both long for the end of the summer, having nothing in common but their love for dogs, notably Adam's precious champion sheepdog Bob. David strikes a friendship with Maggie, the sassy daughter of friendly neighbor Keith Moore, but Adam hates that family on account of an old canine competition-related tragedy. Other neighbors suspect Bob and the Moore's dog of the recent series of nocturnal sheep-kills.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 418
Genere: Family, Drama
Country: UK, Canada
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 79%
Heidi (1993)
Plot Summary:
After charming her reclusive grandfather and falling in love with the beautiful mountain he calls home, Heidi is uprooted and sent to Frankfurt where she befriends Klara, a young girl confined to a wheelchair.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA, Italy
Duration: 193 min
Plot tags: costume drama, sad, juvenile, feel good, emotional, semi serious, fairy tale, period drama
Similar in 87%
Heidi (2005)
Plot Summary:
Swiss girl Adelheid 'Heidi' is orphaned young. Aunt Detie brings her to grandpa Alp and his wife, who live isolated in the Alps since his murder charge. Heidi soon takes to the wild country, especially accompanying young goatherd Peter. Grandpa refuses to send her to school in the city, but aunt Detie returns and forces him to give in. She's sent to a posh lady in Frankfurt, where she'll be a companion for crippled daughter Clara after school hours.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: UK
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, serious
Similar in 85%
Heidi (2015)
Plot Summary:
Heidi, is an eight-year-old Swiss orphan who is given by her aunt to her mountain-dwelling grandfather. She is then stolen back by her aunt from her grandfather to live in the wealthy Sesemann household in Frankfurt, Germany as a companion to Klara, a sheltered, disabled girl in a wheelchair. Heidi is unhappy but makes the best of the situation, always longing for her grandfather.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Germany, Switzerland
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: sincere, scenic, psychological, touching, unusual plot structure, contemplative, feel good, educational, fairy tale
Similar in 79%
The Secret Garden (1987)
Plot Summary:
When a spoiled English girl living in 19th century India loses both parents in a cholera epidemic, she is sent back to England to live in a country mansion. The lord is a strange old man-- frail and deformed, immensely kind but so melancholy. She wishes to discover what has caused him so much sorrow and to bring joy back to the household. It all must have something to do with the screams and wails which echo through the house at night and no one wants to talk about.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Family, Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, sentimental, light, captivating, disturbing, sad, fairy tale, atmospheric, serious
Similar in 84%
When I Find the Ocean (2006)
Plot Summary:
A little girl leaves home with her pet dog and rabbit to escape abuse and find the ocean in the hopes of feeling closer to her father who has passed away.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 259
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, sincere, captivating
Similar in 83%
Heidi (1968)
Plot Summary:
Heidi is an orphaned girl initially raised by her aunt Dete in Maienfeld, Switzerland. In order to get a job in Frankfurt, Dete brings 5-year-old Heidi to her grandfather, who has been at odds with the villagers for years and lives in seclusion on the alm. He at first resents Heidi's arrival, but the girl manages to penetrate his harsh exterior and subsequently has a delightful stay with him and her best friend, young Peter the goat-herd.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 665
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: West Germany, USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: sentimental, uplifting, touching, feel good, serious, realistic
Similar in 77%
The Railway Children (1970)
Plot Summary:
The Waterbury family are completely happy until mysterious men take their father away and they have to move up to Yorkshire without him. The three open-hearted children soon make many friends including their Old Gentleman whom they regularly wave to on his morning train journey. Bobbie, the eldest girl, makes contact with him to try and get help for the problems they are facing. Meanwhile the children find themselves involved in several unexpected dramas on the railway.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: UK
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, feel good, semi serious, family saga, sad, sentimental, light, inspirational, romantic
Similar in 86%
Pollyanna (2003)
Plot Summary:
Pollyanna Whittier goes to live with her wealthy but bitter aunt after the tragic death of her father. Pollyanna shares a game her father taught her -- the 'Glad Game' -- in which everyone can find a silver lining in even the darkest cloud, and her sunny nature, good humor and determination to look on the bright side of life prove to have an astonishing effect on those around her. With the help of her orphaned friend, Jimmy Bean, she casts her spell on the grumpiest townsfolk of Beldingsville -- including the cynical shut-in Mrs. Snow, the morose millionaire Mr. Pendleton and the enigmatic Dr. Chilton. And Pollyanna masterminds the romance between her Aunt's maid, Nancy, and the handyman, Tim. It is only Aunt Polly, who cannot bring herself to embrace Pollyanna's innocence and joy. But all is not straightforward in Pollyanna's war against pessimism, since she must overcome a personal tragedy that threatens to banish "glad" from her vocabulary forever.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: UK
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: touching, feel good, uplifting, sentimental, realistic, semi serious, humorous, tear jerker, period drama, tearjerker
Similar in 76%
A Little Princess (1995)
Plot Summary:
When her father enlists to fight for the British in WWI, young Sara Crewe goes to New York to attend the same boarding school her late mother attended. She soon clashes with the severe headmistress, Miss Minchin, who attempts to stifle Sara's creativity and sense of self- worth.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 36000
Genere: Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: touching, feel good, fairy tale, heartbreaking, serious, humorous, realistic, semi serious, sweet, sad