Best movies like The Children Nobody Wanted
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
True story of Tom Butterfield and his crusade to provide family life for homeless children, becoming not only the first bachelor caretaker, but the youngest single adult to become a legal foster parent in the state of Missouri.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 258
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: political
Best tv shows and movies like The Children Nobody Wanted (1981):
Similar in 89%
Foster Child (2007)
Plot Summary:
Thelma (Cherry Pie Picache), together with her husband Dado (Dan Alvaro) and teenage sons Gerald (Alwyn Uytingco) and Yuri (Jiro Manio), are a poor urban family hired by a local foster care facility to provide temporary home and care to abandoned babies pending the latter's formal adoption. The inevitable separation is heart-rending for the foster family. Thelma's current foster child John-John (Kier Segismundo) is to be turned over to his adoptive American parents. Every moment with the 3-year-old John-John becomes more precious as Thelma goes through the day fulfilling her motherly duties for the last time—bathing John-John, feeding him, and bringing him to school where the boy participates in a school presentation.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 292
Genere: Drama
Country: Philippines
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 86%
The White Knights (2015)
Plot Summary:
Jacques Arnault, head of Sud Secours NGO, is planning a high impact operation: he and his team are going to exfiltrate 300 orphan victims of the Chadian civil war and bring them to French adoption applicants. Françoise Dubois, a journalist, is invited to come along with them and handle the media coverage for this operation. Completely immersed in the brutal reality of a country at war, the NGO members start losing their convictions and are faced with the limits of humanitarian intervention.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 671
Genere: Drama
Country: Belgium, France
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, bleak, sincere, social
Similar in 84%
Escaping My Stalker (2020)
Plot Summary:
A street kid, Taylor, has been adopted by Sandy (Alexandra Paul) & Larry. They run a shelter for people in need, and rescued Taylor from the street, and a life of crime. Unfortunately, Taylor's past may be catching up with her. She's got a stalker, and he means business. Can she figure out who's behind this, and why before her new life is snatched away?.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 234
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration:
Plot tags: enigmatic, suspense, mysterious, suspenseful
Similar in 77%
I Am Somebody's Child: The Regina Louise Story (2019)
Plot Summary:
The journey of a young African American girl who navigated over 30 foster homes and psychiatric facilities before age 18, and the one woman, Jeanne, who believed in her. After Jeanne’s unsuccessful attempt to adopt Regina due to a racially motivated ruling, their bond is forced apart.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 514
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: motivational, sentimental, uplifting, touching
Similar in 81%
The Beniker Gang (1984)
Plot Summary:
When his younger friends go up for adoption, threatening their extended family, an orphaned teen helps them discourage potential parents.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 408
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: independent film, uplifting, touching, realistic, semi serious, crying
Similar in 78%
Father (2020)
Plot Summary:
Nikola’s children are taken away from him after social services decide that he is too poor to provide them with a decent living environment. He sets off on foot to lodge a complaint in Belgrade.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Serbia, France, Germany, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: captivating, social, independent film, entertaining
Similar in 80%
Angel Dusted (1981)
Plot Summary:
Cautionary anti-drug film based on a true story, made for NBC television. Drama about the effects on Jean Stapleton and Arthur Hill when their teenage son (John Putch, Stapleton's real-life son) gets spaced out on a marijuana joint laced with PCP, or "angel dust," and the family wrestles with the crisis.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 185
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 87%
A Child Lost Forever: The Jerry Sherwood Story (1992)
Plot Summary:
A teenage mother is forced to give up her baby for adoption and, 19 years later, when she tries to contact her son, she learns that he died, under questionable circumstances when he was three years old.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 397
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: depressing
Similar in 90%
My Name Is Emily (2015)
Plot Summary:
Packed off to a foster home after her father is institutionalized, a rebellious young Irish girl resolves to bust her dad out of the hospital where he's been confined.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Ireland, Sweden
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: sincere, captivating, road movie, philosophical
Similar in 77%
Love, Mary (1985)
Plot Summary:
A teen, who is always in trouble in school and has been sent to reform school, turns her life around when a counselor discovers she is dyslexic.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 106
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 90%
In the Best Interest of the Children (1992)
Plot Summary:
Fact-based story of a legal battle fought over custody of five siblings.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 483
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sad, crying
Similar in 85%
Who Will Love My Children? (1983)
Plot Summary:
Based on a true story of Iowa farm wife Lucile Fray. Ann-Margret plays a dying mother of ten whose last wish is to find loving families for her children.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 629
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: depressing
Similar in 85%
A Friend's Betrayal (1996)
Plot Summary:
Two childhood friends grow up. One has a family and the other has a career. One relationship may make or break a family. Paul, the teenage son, must decide what he wants for his future. While family would like to make that decision for him. Watch as all the truth unravels in this drama/ romance.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 352
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: sexy, ridiculous
Similar in 83%
Annie's Coming Out (1984)
Plot Summary:
It tells the story of a young female social worker who begins work at a hospital for retarded children, and discovers that some of the psychological problems attributed to these children are incorrectly diagnosed. Proving this to be the case is difficult, however, as it is generally accepted that as those who are 'profoundly retarded' cannot communicate, therefore they cannot think. In the case of Annie O'Farrell (Tina Arhondis), finding a way for her to 'talk', other than speaking or writing, finally shows that she is not only able to think, but is highly intelligent. The battle against the hospital to acknowledge this in a legal sense goes to court, as the psychiatrists try to hide their misdiagnosis.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 181
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: independent film, learning
Similar in 76%
Holy Lola (2004)
Plot Summary:
The story of a young couple, Pierre and Geraldine, and their desire for a child, which leads them on a journey of initiation to Cambodia. On their difficult and transformative adventure, they must contend with obstructive authorities and the jealousies and mistrust of a small community of would-be adoptive parents.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 754
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, sincere
Similar in 80%
Ordinary Angels (2024)
Plot Summary:
A hairdresser single-handedly rallies an entire community to help a widowed father save the life of his critically ill young daughter.
IMDB Rating:
IMDB Votes:
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 84%
Little Girl Lost (1988)
Plot Summary:
This heart-wrenching story inspired by real events depicts the trials of the Brady family, who are trying desperately to adopt a helpless little girl they took in when she was in a foster care program. Clara and Tim Brady are in for the fight of their lives as they find that adopting Tella will not be so easy -- especially when social services puts her back into the care of her abusive father.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 251
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 86%
In The Name of God (2013)
Plot Summary:
In a time of forgiving and giving thanks, a reverend and his family take in a troubled boy named Mason after having lost a son of their own. It's a bumpy ride for Mason, butting heads with his new step-brother and the church counselor he's sentenced to see on a weekly basis. However, with and a renewed faith and a deeper understanding of Thanksgiving traditions, Mason must not only learn to forgive himself, but to understand the true meaning of family.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 181
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: christian film, melancholic, sincere, unusual plot structure, contemplative, entertaining
Similar in 80%
Deep in My Heart (1999)
Plot Summary:
In this made-for-tv movie, an adopted woman decides to find her birth mother. Her search leads her to a shocking discovery that she has to face and why her upbringing was not an easy one.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 457
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 83%
Dreams I Never Had (2017)
Plot Summary:
A teenage girl is held captive in the home of a wealthy family. She is befriended by the family's young gardener, himself an illegal from Mexico. Their friendship carries both of them through their hopeless, sequestered lives and ultimately inspires them to break free.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 139
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 76%
Zelly and Me (1988)
Plot Summary:
A young orphan who lives with her grandmother in a large Virginian home infatuates herself with the voices of Joan d'Arc. Her French nanny seeks out the help of a rich suitor to take her and the orphan away when she realizes that the grandmother cannot offer the orphan the love that she needs.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 464
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 83%
A Private Matter (1992)
Plot Summary:
The true story of Romper Room host "Miss Sherri" Finkbine, who, after the devastating effects of thalidomide were discovered in the early 1960s, sparked a firestorm of controversy with her determination to obtain an abortion.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 306
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: tense, sincere, serious, emotional, realistic, controversial, crying
Similar in 83%
For the Love of a Child (2006)
Plot Summary:
1959, support from US troops based in Asia and later from the Sates enables two actresses to start a charity for mixed-race 'orphans' who are locally neglected as outcasts. Thus originates Childhelp, which later runs multi-disciplinary centers for abused and/or neglected children in the States. Among them is bright Jacob Fletcher, whose stepfather, a lawyer, terrorized him into utter trauma and reclaims him shortly after 10 months in jail. Jacob's peers have distressing stories of their own, but competent, devoted staff helps most of them decisively on the former farm, using animal therapy.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 431
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: touching, disturbing, rough, thought provoking, tense, bleak, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 81%
The Lost & Found Family (2009)
Plot Summary:
When her husband dies, Mrs. Ester Hobbes (Ellen Bry, TV's St. Elsewhere) learns that his wealth was just an illusion. Her only real inheritance is a run-down Southern home occupied by a foster family. Slowly, Mrs. Hobbes finds herself making unexpected connections with rebellious teen Justin (Lucas Till, Hannah Montana: The Movie) and the rest of the unwanted kids. Share the journey of discovery in this touching drama of lives transformed.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 329
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: christian film, sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, indie film
Similar in 81%
A Father for Brittany (1998)
Plot Summary:
Keith and Kim Lussier are a childless couple who are given custody of a 3-month-old foster child, Brittany. However, tragedy strikes when Kim dies of cancer in the middle of the adoption process, leaving Keith to fight for Brittany's custody alone.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 265
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 75%
A Year in My Life (2006)
Plot Summary:
In 1950s France, a young boy is taken in by a couple after spending a few months in the care of social service.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 224
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: sentimental, uplifting, touching, sincere, captivating, feel good, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 84%
Gracie's Choice (2004)
Plot Summary:
For as long as she can remember, 16 year-old Gracie has been raising her four siblings, each of whom has a different, absent father and their mother is on the fast track to self-destruction. When these children's lives are about to be pulled apart, Gracie will have to do the impossible and make the ultimate sacrifices to keep her family together.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, emotional, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 89%
The Deep End of the Ocean (1999)
Plot Summary:
Michelle Pfeiffer is ferocious in the role of a desperate mother whose 3-year-old son disappears during her high school reunion. Nine years later, by chance, he turns up in the town in which the family has just relocated. Based on Jacquelyn Mitchard's best-selling novel (an Oprah book club selection), the movie effectively presents the troubling dynamics that exist between family members who've suffered such an unsettling loss.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, sentimental, emotional, melancholic, serious, realistic, inspirational, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 84%
White Oleander (2002)
Plot Summary:
A teenager journeys through a series of foster homes after her mother goes to prison for committing a crime of passion.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 34000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: emotional, intense, touching, disturbing, serious, realistic, erotic, sentimental, gothic, social
Similar in 83%
I Am Sam (2001)
Plot Summary:
Sam has the mental capacity of a 7-year-old. He has a daughter with a homeless woman who abandons them when they leave the hospital, leaving Sam to raise Lucy on his own. But as Lucy grows up, Sam's limitations start to become a problem and the authorities take her away. Sam shames high-priced lawyer Rita into taking his case pro bono and in turn teaches her the value of love and family.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 154000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: inspirational, emotional, touching, tear jerker, sad, sentimental, sincere, serious, heartbreaking, sweet