Best movies like The Miracle Worker
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies like The Miracle Worker? Offer your insights to direct others to movies and tv shows you've already viewed that may also rivet them. Support widening the community of people alluding videos to one another. We appreciate your input!
Plot Summary:
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.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: inspirational, emotional, period piece, black and white, sentimental, touching, retro, thought provoking, social, sad
Best tv shows and movies like The Miracle Worker (1962):
Similar in 87%
The Wild Child (1970)
Plot Summary:
Director François Truffaut makes a rare on-screen appearance in one of his most unusual films. Based on a true story, the film follows the discovery of a feral child (Jean-Pierre Cargol) who's grown up wild in the forest in late-18th-century France. Truffaut plays Dr. Jean Itard, the deaf specialist who tries to civilize the boy, teaching him to walk, speak and read; the screenplay was adapted from Itard's writings.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: France
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, touching, black and white, social, intelligent, historical drama, anthropological, tense, clever, serious
Similar in 75%
The Miracle Worker (2000)
Plot Summary:
Devoted teacher Anne Sullivan (Alison Elliott) leads deaf, blind and mute Helen Keller (Hallie Kate Eisenberg) out of solitude and helps integrate her into the world.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, emotional, sentimental, uplifting, realistic, motivational, biblical, feel good
Similar in 90%
Cries from the Heart (1994)
Plot Summary:
A drama directed by Michael Switzer.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 312
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sincere, uplifting, touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 84%
My World (2013)
Plot Summary:
At 2 Ela lost her ability of seeing and hearing because of a severe illness. And then she became a total disappointment of her family due to her untamed behaviors. But everything changed after an unorthodox teacher stepped into their lives to educate Ela while healing himself.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: Turkey
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: uplifting, realistic, emotional, sincere, captivating, touching, educational, sad, serious
Similar in 88%
My Left Foot (1989)
Plot Summary:
In this true story told through flashbacks, Christy Brown is born with crippling cerebral palsy into a poor, working-class Irish family. Able only to control movement in his left foot and to speak in guttural sounds, he is mistakenly believed to be retarded for the first ten years of his life.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 79000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Ireland, UK
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: touching, inspirational, sincere, unusual plot structure, dramatic, sentimental, motivational, sad, captivating, biting
Similar in 87%
The Miracle Worker (1979)
Plot Summary:
The true story of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan, a gripping battle to overcome impossible obstacles and the struggle to communicate. As a young girl, Helen Keller is stricken with scarlet fever. The illness leaves her blind, mute, and deaf. Sealed off from the world, Helen cannot communicate with anyone, nor anyone with her. Often frustrated and desperate, Helen flies into uncontrollable rages and tantrums that terrify her hopeless family. The gifted teacher Annie Sullivan is summoned by the family to help the girl understand the world from which she is isolated, freeing Helen Keller from her internal prison forever. Television remake of the 1962 film which also starred Patty Duke in the role of Helen Keller.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 732
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: sincere, uplifting, touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 89%
Black (2005)
Plot Summary:
Black is an adaptation of Helen Keller's autobiography. Black revolves around a blind and deaf girl, and her relationship with her teacher who himself later develops Alzheimer's disease.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 36000
Genere: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: touching, inspirational, uplifting, sincere, emotional, serious, entertaining, psychological, thought provoking, depressing
Similar in 88%
Marie's Story (2014)
Plot Summary:
Marie Heurtin is born both blind and deaf. Sister Marguerette wins her trust and teaches her how to express herself.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: France
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, uplifting, emotional, realistic, sad, independent film, indie film, tear jerker, tearjerker
Similar in 88%
Miracle Run (2004)
Plot Summary:
Single mom Corrine discovers that her twins are autistic. She refuses to give up on their potential, even though it seems that the rest of the world has turned its back on them. Thanks to this incredible mother's support, her boys accomplish the unimaginable.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, uplifting, touching
Similar in 77%
Beyond the Blackboard (2011)
Plot Summary:
Inspired by a true story, “Beyond the Blackboard” is about a 24-year-old first-time teacher who makes a difference in the lives of the homeless children she teaches in a shelter’s makeshift classroom. Set in 1987 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, this movie tells the story a brand-new teacher and Mom who is given a tougher than expected teaching job and winds up teaching homeless children in a school that is housed in a room and called, literally, The School with No Name. She has some personal prejudicial hurdles to cross before she is able to be a true teacher for these children and of course there are hurdles like the lack of books and supplies.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: uplifting, touching, serious, emotional, inspirational, realistic, learning
Similar in 82%
Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story (2005)
Plot Summary:
Based on a true story, former parole officer Marilyn Gambrell and a colleague set up a pioneer trial-based program in one of America's toughest high schools to help the children of incarcerated parents regain control of their own lives and not expect the same thing to happen as it did to their parents. To the surprise of everyone, the program works, but the administration warns the duo that it will not last unless every senior student is able to pass his or her final exams and graduate with the class. As the end of the school year approaches, Gertz faces a crisis to save everything she believes in or lose it all.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 402
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: uplifting, serious, realistic
Similar in 78%
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.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA, UK, Ireland
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, depressing, sad, compassionate, serious, melancholic, sincere, gothic, epic
Similar in 82%
Dangerous Minds (1995)
Plot Summary:
Former Marine Louanne Johnson lands a gig teaching in a pilot program for bright but underachieving teens at a notorious inner-city high school. After having a terrible first day, she decides she must throw decorum to the wind. When Johnson returns to the classroom, she does so armed with a no-nonsense attitude informed by her military training and a fearless determination to better the lives of her students -- no matter what the cost.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 56000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: touching, inspirational, sentimental, hood, sincere, rough, sexy, political, social, hispanic
Similar in 89%
Won't Back Down (2012)
Plot Summary:
Two determined mothers, one a teacher, look to transform their children's failing inner city school. Facing a powerful and entrenched bureaucracy, they risk everything to make a difference in the education and future of their children.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: touching, uplifting, realistic, serious, emotional, inspirational
Similar in 84%
Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story (2003)
Plot Summary:
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.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: emotional, sincere, touching, serious, captivating, realistic, inspirational, sad, teen, crying
Similar in 86%
Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)
Plot Summary:
A prepubescent chess prodigy refuses to harden himself in order to become a champion like the famous but unlikable Bobby Fischer.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 42000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: inspirational, uplifting, touching, feel good, intelligent, clever, intellectual, psychological, motivational, sentimental
Similar in 78%
St. Giuseppe Moscati: Doctor to the Poor (2007)
Plot Summary:
Giuseppe Moscati, Doctor saint of Naples, was a doctor of the early twentieth century, from an aristocratic family devoted his career to serving the poor. The film focuses on the human side, partially leaving aside the spiritual part.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 525
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 200 min
Plot tags: touching, inspirational, sincere, uplifting, sentimental, compassionate, spiritual
Similar in 76%
Mask (1985)
Plot Summary:
A boy with a massive facial skull deformity and biker gang mother attempts to live as normal a life as possible under the circumstances.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 32000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: uplifting, captivating, sentimental, touching, emotional, depressing, sad, compassionate, sincere, realistic
Similar in 90%
Lorenzo's Oil (1992)
Plot Summary:
Lorenzo Odone was a normal child until the age of 7. After then, strange things began to happen to him: he would have blackouts, memory lapses, and other strange mental phemonenons. He is eventually diagnosed as suffering from ALD: an extremely rare incurable degenerative brain disorder. Frustrated at the failings of doctors and medicine in this area, the Odones begin to educate themselves.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA, Australia
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, emotional, inspirational, melancholic, serious, heartbreaking, sad, depressing, crying
Similar in 86%
The Brooke Ellison Story (2004)
Plot Summary:
Rendered a quadriplegic since a child from a near-fatal neck injury, a young girl fights against all odds to succeed in life from grade school to her acceptance into college under the assistance of her loyal and dedicated mother.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: sincere, uplifting, sentimental, touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, saga
Similar in 76%
Helen Keller: The Miracle Continues (1984)
Plot Summary:
Set in 1898, Cambridge, Massachusetts, depicts Annie Sullivan Macy supporting her student Helen Keller at Radcliffe College.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 154
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, uplifting, touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic
Similar in 86%
October Sky (1999)
Plot Summary:
Based on the true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes, and eventually became a NASA scientist.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 97000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: inspirational, touching, realistic, feel good, sentimental, emotional, uplifting, period piece, exciting, motivational
Similar in 81%
Awakenings (1990)
Plot Summary:
Dr. Malcolm Sayer, a shy research physician, uses an experimental drug to "awaken" the catatonic victims of a rare disease. Leonard is the first patient to receive the controversial treatment. His awakening, filled with awe and enthusiasm, proves a rebirth for Sayer too, as the exuberant patient reveals life's simple but unutterably sweet pleasures to the introverted doctor.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 155000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: inspirational, motivational, sentimental, sincere, uplifting, psychological, touching, serious, cerebral, emotional
Similar in 89%
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
Plot Summary:
The true story of Elle France editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who, in 1995 at the age of 43, suffered a stroke that paralyzed his entire body, except his left eye. Using that eye to blink out his memoir, Bauby eloquently described the aspects of his interior world, from the psychological torment of being trapped inside his body to his imagined stories from lands he'd only visited in his mind.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 110000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: France, USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: touching, inspirational, emotional, depressing, psychological, sincere, breathtaking, visual, motivational, sentimental
Similar in 90%
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.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 355000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: touching, inspirational, emotional, sentimental, motivational, uplifting, realistic, feel good, captivating, christian film
Similar in 88%
Temple Grandin (2010)
Plot Summary:
A biopic of Temple Grandin, an autistic woman who has become one of top scientists in humane livestock handling.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 32000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: touching, inspirational, sincere, compassionate, emotional, feel good, thought provoking, intense, visually appealing, psychological
Similar in 79%
The Ron Clark Story (2006)
Plot Summary:
Matthew Perry is real-life inspiration Ron Clark, a passionate and innovative teacher who leaves his small hometown to teach in one of Harlem's toughest schools. But to break through to this students, Clark must use unconventional methods, including his ground-breaking classroom rules, to drive them toward their potential.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: uplifting, serious, emotional, realistic, inspirational, touching, teen, indie film, learning
Similar in 80%
Stand and Deliver (1988)
Plot Summary:
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.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: inspirational, sentimental, uplifting, touching, realistic, hispanic, motivational, intellectual, spiritual, political
Similar in 87%
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.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: inspirational, touching, realistic, sentimental, emotional, sweet, talky, sincere, thought provoking, spiritual
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.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 84000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: inspirational, feel good, touching, sentimental, rough, motivational, hood, emotional, educational, spiritual