Best movies like Pay It Forward

Similar in 80%

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011)

Plot Summary:

A year after his father's death, Oskar, a troubled young boy, discovers a mysterious key he believes was left for him by his father and embarks on a scavenger hunt to find the matching lock.

Similar in 85%

Angela's Ashes (1999)

Plot Summary:

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.

Similar in 82%

Half Nelson (2006)

Plot Summary:

Despite his dedication to the junior-high students who fill his classroom, idealistic teacher Dan Dunne leads a secret life of addiction that the majority of his students will never know. But things change when a troubled student Drey makes a startling discovery of his secret life, causing a tenuous bond between the two that could either end disastrously or provide a catalyst of hope.

Similar in 82%

Little Man Tate (1991)

Plot Summary:

Dede is a sole parent trying to bring up her son Fred. When it is discovered that Fred is a genius, she is determined to ensure that Fred has all the opportunities that he needs, and that he is not taken advantage of by people who forget that his extremely powerful intellect is harboured in the body and emotions of a child.

Similar in 77%

12 and Holding (2005)

Plot Summary:

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.

Similar in 79%

Boyhood (2014)

Plot Summary:

The film tells a story of a divorced couple trying to raise their young son. The story follows the boy for twelve years, from first grade at age 6 through 12th grade at age 17-18, and examines his relationship with his parents as he grows.

Similar in 85%

Marvin's Room (1996)

Plot Summary:

A leukemia patient attempts to end a 20-year feud with her sister to get her bone marrow.

Similar in 90%

Lion (2016)

Plot Summary:

A five-year-old Indian boy gets lost on the streets of Calcutta, thousands of kilometers from home. He survives many challenges before being adopted by a couple in Australia; 25 years later, he sets out to find his lost family.

Similar in 83%

Wonder (2017)

Plot Summary:

The story of August Pullman – a boy with facial differences – who enters fifth grade, attending a mainstream elementary school for the first time.

Similar in 75%

Akeelah and the Bee (2006)

Plot Summary:

Eleven year-old Akeelah Anderson's life is not easy: her father is dead, her mom ignores her, her brother runs with the local gangbangers. She's smart, but her environment threatens to strangle her aspirations. Responding to a threat by her school's principal, Akeelah participates in a spelling bee to avoid detention for her many absences. Much to her surprise and embarrassment, she wins. Her principal asks her to seek coaching from an English professor named Dr. Larabee for the more prestigious regional bee. As the possibility of making it all the way to the Scripps National Spelling Bee looms, Akeelah could provide her community with someone to rally around and be proud of -- but only if she can overcome her insecurities and her distracting home life. She also must get past Dr. Larabee's demons, and a field of more experienced and privileged fellow spellers.

Similar in 78%

Gifted (2017)

Plot Summary:

Frank, a single man raising his child prodigy niece Mary, is drawn into a custody battle with his mother.

Similar in 90%

Philadelphia (1993)

Plot Summary:

No one would take his case until one man was willing to take on the system. Two competing lawyers join forces to sue a prestigious law firm for AIDS discrimination. As their unlikely friendship develops their courage overcomes the prejudice and corruption of their powerful adversaries.

Similar in 81%

Rain Man (1988)

Plot Summary:

Selfish yuppie Charlie Babbitt's father left a fortune to his savant brother Raymond and a pittance to Charlie; they travel cross-country.

Similar in 87%

Seven Pounds (2008)

Plot Summary:

An IRS agent with a fateful secret embarks on an extraordinary journey of redemption by forever changing the lives of seven strangers.

Similar in 83%

The Blind Side (2009)

Plot Summary:

Oversized African-American, Michael Oher, the teen from across the tracks and a broken home, has nowhere to sleep at age 16. Taken in by an affluent Memphis couple, Michael embarks on a remarkable rise to play for the NFL.

Similar in 90%

The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

Plot Summary:

A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.

Similar in 87%

The Man Without a Face (1993)

Plot Summary:

The story of a relationship between a teacher and his troubled pupil. Justin McLeod is a former teacher who lives as a recluse on the edge of town. His face is disfigured from an automobile accident and fire ten years before in which a boy was incinerated and for which he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. He is also suspected of being a pedophile. He is befriended by Chuck, causing the town's suspicion and hostility to be ignited. McLeod inculcates in his protege a love of justice and freedom from prejudice which sustains him beyond the end of the film.

Similar in 76%

The Chorus (2004)

Plot Summary:

Set in 1940's France, a new teacher at a school for disruptive boys gives hope and inspiration.

Similar in 86%

The Notebook (2004)

Plot Summary:

An epic love story centered around an older man who reads aloud to a woman with Alzheimer's. From a faded notebook, the old man's words bring to life the story about a couple who is separated by World War II, and is then passionately reunited, seven years later, after they have taken different paths.

Similar in 76%

Good Will Hunting (1997)

Plot Summary:

Will Hunting has a genius-level IQ but chooses to work as a janitor at MIT. When he solves a difficult graduate-level math problem, his talents are discovered by Professor Gerald Lambeau, who decides to help the misguided youth reach his potential. When Will is arrested for attacking a police officer, Professor Lambeau makes a deal to get leniency for him if he will get treatment from therapist Sean Maguire.

Similar in 84%

Finding Forrester (2000)

Plot Summary:

Gus van Sant tells the story of a young African American man named Jamal who confronts his talents while living on the streets of the Bronx. He accidentally runs into an old writer named Forrester who discovers his passion for writing. With help from his new mentor Jamal receives a scholarship to a private school.

Similar in 75%

Front of the Class (2008)

Plot Summary:

"Front of the Class" is based on the true story of Brad Cohen -- played in the movie by Jimmy Wolk -- who, "after being challenged by Tourette's syndrome from a very young age, defies all odds to become a gifted teacher.

Similar in 83%

The Help (2011)

Plot Summary:

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.

Similar in 81%

Freedom Writers (2007)

Plot Summary:

A young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves, and pursue education beyond high school.

Similar in 82%

The Emperor's Club (2002)

Plot Summary:

William Hundert is a passionate and principled Classics professor who finds his tightly-controlled world shaken and inexorably altered when a new student, Sedgewick Bell, walks into his classroom. What begins as a fierce battle of wills gives way to a close student-teacher relationship, but results in a life lesson for Hundert that will still haunt him a quarter of a century later.

Similar in 82%

Dead Poets Society (1989)

Plot Summary:

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.

Similar in 81%

A Walk to Remember (2002)

Plot Summary:

When the popular, restless Landon Carter is forced to participate in the school drama production he falls in love with Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town's minister. Jamie has a "to-do" list for her life and also a very big secret she must keep from Landon.

Similar in 89%

Forrest Gump (1994)

Plot Summary:

A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events - in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. Yet, despite all the things he has attained, his one true love eludes him. 'Forrest Gump' is the story of a man who rose above his challenges, and who proved that determination, courage, and love are more important than ability.

Similar in 83%

Mona Lisa Smile (2003)

Plot Summary:

The story of Katherine Ann Watson, a feminist teacher who studied at UCLA graduate school and in 1953 left her boyfriend behind in Los Angeles, California to teach at Wellesley College, a conservative women's private liberal arts college in Massachusetts, United States.