Best movies like The Switch
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Larry McAfee is paralyzed from the neck down following a motorcycle accident. He gradually loses the will to live, in the meantime befriending a talk radio DJ over the phone. The two meet each other and become friends, though Larry still wishes to end his life. The DJ reluctantly has a switch installed on Larry's life support that Larry can activate at any time (via his mouth) to end his life.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 123
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags:
Best tv shows and movies like The Switch (1993):
Similar in 84%
Blue Away to America (1999)
Plot Summary:
The victim of a serious accident, Camille finds himself in a strange, huge, rehabilitation centre run by Professor Helpos. He soon teams up with a group calling themselves "the wreckers" and who make their own rules, ignoring those of the medical establishment.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 139
Genere: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 90%
Heart of a Child (1994)
Plot Summary:
A drama directed by Sandor Stern.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 119
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 85%
Nobody's Perfect (2013)
Plot Summary:
"Daijobu 3 Kumi" depicts the interactions between new teacher Shinnosuke Akao, who was born without arms and legs, and the 28 students in his 5th grade class, told from the vantage point of school board member Yusaku Shiraishi.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 56
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: captivating, disturbing
Similar in 82%
Then Barbara Met Alan (2022)
Plot Summary:
The untold disability civil-rights love story of two cabaret performers, Barbara and Alan, who met at a gig, fell in love, and became the driving force behind an unprecedented campaign of direct action that ultimately led to the passing of the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 244
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 67 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 80%
Alex: The Life of a Child (1986)
Plot Summary:
Based on true events, 'Alex: The Life of a Child' follows former 'Sports Illustrated' writer Frank Deford and his wife Carole when their happy, all-American family is rocked to the core when their baby daughter Alex is diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. While CF sufferers were almost certainly doomed to an early death in the Seventies, Alex grew into a child who showed remarkable courage and strength in face of her illness. Her loving family were quick to rally around her, determined to show the same bravery as the little girl as they supported and cherished her through life and struggled to move on after her death at the tragically young age of eight.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 239
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 80%
When You Remember Me (1990)
Plot Summary:
Fact-based story of Mike Mills, a teen with muscular dystrophy, who is placed in a state nursing home by his destitute single mother. There he must contend with being the only young person in the clinic and with an abusive head nurse.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 382
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 86%
Seizure: The Story of Kathy Morris (1980)
Plot Summary:
A young music student has a seizure forcing her to undergo brain surgery. She comes out of the surgery unable to count or read and has difficulty adapting to life.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 47
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 86%
Joni (1979)
Plot Summary:
Based on Joni Eareckson's autobiography. She becomes paralyzed after breaking her neck in a swimming accident at age 17. Trying to cope with her new life, she learns to paint using her mouth and finds strength in her new Christian faith.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 361
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 75 min
Plot tags: christian film, independent film
Similar in 83%
Penguin Bloom (2020)
Plot Summary:
When an unlikely ally enters the Bloom family's world in the form of an injured baby magpie they name Penguin, the bird’s arrival makes a profound difference in the struggling family’s life.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Australia, USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: inspirational, sincere, uplifting, captivating, feel good, anamorphic, powerful, crying
Similar in 81%
Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story (1995)
Plot Summary:
The story of one of America's first female reporters.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 242
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 75%
The Other Side of the Mountain (1975)
Plot Summary:
A female skiing champion is paralyzed in a tragic skiing accident. Her girlfriend is taken out of competition when she contracts polio.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: independent film, sincere, uplifting, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, sentimental
Similar in 82%
Break Every Chain (2021)
Plot Summary:
Drowning in the depths of depression and sadness, burning with anger, and chained down by alcoholism, Jonathan couldn’t do it anymore. After the loss of his father as a young boy, facing countless horrific death scenes in the line of duty, and the death of his son, Jonathan turned to the world for answers — finding only darkness. Faced with the threat of losing all that is left to him, Jonathan turns to faith and finds hope and redemption.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 533
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: christian film
Similar in 82%
Bill: On His Own (1983)
Plot Summary:
Bill Sackter struggles to cope after his best friend and guardian, Barry Morrow and his wife Beverly move away. Bill moves into a group home run by Mae Driscoll who teaches him how to read. Bill soon discovers his religious heritage, overcoming the fire that accidentally destroyed his small canteen business, and then travels to California to search for the Morrows.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 342
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 83%
1000 to 1 (2014)
Plot Summary:
Cory Weissman is a college basketball player who suffers a devastating stroke. He perseveres to find new meaning in his life both on, and more importantly, off the court.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: captivating, emotional, serious, motivational, inspirational, realistic, uplifting
Similar in 85%
Cavalcade (2005)
Plot Summary:
An accomplished playboy Leo neglects his girlfriend and enjoys parties. His girlfriend parts from him and then, when he wants to see her once more, he has an accident. He survives, but his whole life is now to be changed. This film is about fetching through the problems of having reduced abilities. Fortunately, he's not alone and his friends are staunch. In the end, he becomes content wheelchair bound. He is grateful for what he has...and God has given to him.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 209
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: France
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 77%
Door to Door (2002)
Plot Summary:
Sometimes the true heroes in our lives are those people who inspire us not with their superhuman accomplishments but simply by their refusal to give up in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds and the dignity in which they go about their lives. Bill Porter is one of those heroes. Born with cerebral palsy, he was told for many years that he was unemployable. But with the unwavering support of a dedicated mother and an indomitable spirit that has become his trademark, Porter did support himself as a door-to-door salesman in Portland, Ore.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: feel good, touching, serious, realistic, uplifting, tear jerker, tearjerker
Similar in 87%
Brain on Fire (2016)
Plot Summary:
Susannah Cahalan, an up-and-coming journalist at the New York Post becomes plagued by voices in her head and seizures, causing a rapid descent into insanity.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA, Canada, Ireland
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: medical drama, thought provoking, realistic, suspenseful, neurotic, inspirational, touching, sad, cult classic
Similar in 89%
Breathe (2017)
Plot Summary:
Based on the true story of Robin, a handsome, brilliant and adventurous man whose life takes a dramatic turn when polio leaves him paralyzed.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: sad, touching, compassionate, inspirational, factual, sentimental, rough, realistic, romantic, cult classic
Similar in 86%
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 80%
No Child of Mine (1993)
Plot Summary:
A woman attempts to stop her daughter signing away her down syndrome grandson for adoption. Based on a true story.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 170
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 85%
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 85%
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (2009)
Plot Summary:
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story is a movie based on the life story of world-renowned neurosurgeon Ben Carson from 1961 to 1987.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: uplifting, emotional, sincere, inspirational, realistic, christian film, factual, captivating, touching, spiritual
Similar in 86%
You Don't Know Jack (2010)
Plot Summary:
Angel of mercy… or murderous “Doctor Death”? Jack Kervorkian is one of the most polarizing figures in modern American history, a man whose passionate belief that people have the right to die has brought him both praise and vilification. Oscar®- and Emmy®-winning actor Al Pacino brings “Dr. Death” to life in an all-new HBO Films presentation: You Don’t Know Jack, directed by Oscar®-winner Barry Levinson.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, intense, compassionate, intellectual, unusual plot structure, witty, talky, realistic, depressing
Similar in 78%
The Sea Inside (2004)
Plot Summary:
The Sea Inside is about Spaniard Ramón Sampedro, who fought a 30-year campaign to win the right to end his life with dignity. It is the story of Ramón’s relationships with two women: Julia a lawyer who supports his cause, and Rosa, a local woman who wants to convince him that life is worth living.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 84000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Spain, France, Italy
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: sad, thought provoking, emotional, philosophical, touching, sentimental, breathtaking, serious, depressing, heartbreaking
Similar in 82%
The Other Side of the Mountain: Part II (1978)
Plot Summary:
The Other Side of the Mountain Part 2 is a 1978 film directed by Larry Peerce. It stars Marilyn Hassett and Timothy Bottoms. It is a sequel to The Other Side of the Mountain.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 385
Genere: Biography, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 84%
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 82%
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 89%
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 88%
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 75%
Something the Lord Made (2004)
Plot Summary:
A dramatization of the relationship between heart surgery pioneers Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: emotional, sincere, uplifting, inspirational, serious, realistic, motivational, thought provoking, feel good, spiritual