Best movies like Whale Rider
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
On the east coast of New Zealand, the Whangara people believe their presence there dates back a thousand years or more to a single ancestor, Paikea, who escaped death when his canoe capsized by riding to shore on the back of a whale. From then on, Whangara chiefs, always the first-born, always male, have been considered Paikea's direct descendants. Pai, an 11-year-old girl in a patriarchal New Zealand tribe, believes she is destined to be the new chief. But her grandfather Koro is bound by tradition to pick a male leader. Pai loves Koro more than anyone in the world, but she must fight him and a thousand years of tradition to fulfill her destiny.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 44000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: New Zealand, Germany
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, thought provoking, atmospheric, inspirational, poignant, independent film, realistic, intense, intellectual
Best tv shows and movies like Whale Rider (2002):
Similar in 77%
My Friend Joe (1996)
Plot Summary:
During the course of one summer, a young Irish lad named Chris befriends an American boy named Joe. The two couldn't be more different, yet they become inseparable. Things turn horribly wrong however, when Chris discovers his new best friend isn't a he, but a she. The sadness only begins as Chris learns why Joe's gender must be kept a secret.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 302
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: UK, Germany, Ireland
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: independent film, touching, emotional, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 80%
The Letter Writer (2011)
Plot Summary:
When a teenager receives a mysterious letter in the mail, she sets out to find the author. It's a journey that will change her life forever.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, inspirational, road movie
Similar in 80%
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 85%
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 75%
The White Balloon (1995)
Plot Summary:
Several people try to take advantage of a little girl's innocence to hustle money her mom gave to her to buy a goldfish with.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Iran
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, spiritual, educational, sad, poetic, touching, humorous, semi serious, crying, independent film
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 80%
Where the Red Fern Grows (1974)
Plot Summary:
Where the Red Fern Grows is the heartwarming and adventurous tale for all ages about a young boy and his quest for his own red-bone hound hunting dogs.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: sad, depressing, epic, emotional, tear jerker, touching, feel good, semi serious, independent film, tearjerker
Similar in 87%
Shiloh (1996)
Plot Summary:
An abused beagle runs away from his owner. On the road, he meets young Marty Preston and follows him home. The boy immediately forms a bond with the dog and names him Shiloh. His stern father won't let him keep the dog because it belongs to Judd Travers, a local hunter. After Shiloh is mistreated again, he runs away and returns to Marty. Knowing his father will once again make him bring Shiloh back to Judd, he makes a home for the dog in an old shed up the hill from the Prestons' house and hides him from his family. His secret is soon discovered when a stray attacks the dog one night and he must turn to his father for help.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sweet, touching, emotional, semi serious, feel good, gothic, epic, independent film, fairy tale, sentimental
Similar in 89%
An American Girl Adventure (2005)
Plot Summary:
Pre-American Revolution Virginian girl whose love for the outdoors leads to the friendship of a lifetime. Felicity loves horses, and though her parents plead with her to remain indoors, she years to ride the open plains. When Felicity comes into contact with a beautiful mare which has suffered at the hands of its callous owner, she takes it upon herself to care for the creature.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, feel good, realistic
Similar in 89%
Marley & Me (2008)
Plot Summary:
A newly married couple who, in the process of starting a family, learn many of life's important lessons from their trouble-loving retriever, Marley. Packed with plenty of laughs to lighten the load, the film explores the highs and lows of marriage, maturity and confronting one's own mortality, as seen through the lens of family life with a dog.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 166000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: touching, sad, feel good, funny, sentimental, tear jerker, emotional, heartbreaking, intense, humorous
Similar in 86%
The River Within (2009)
Plot Summary:
Jason returns home to get away while he studies for the upcoming bar exam. After visiting his oldest friend, a "coulda-been-girlfriend" who is now engaged, and a pushy preacher, his easygoing summer becomes filled with unwanted drama. Over the few months he's there, he begins to question what life is about, and what is his purpose in it? Written by Barley.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 205
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, inspirational, independent film, crying
Similar in 78%
My Sister's Keeper (2009)
Plot Summary:
Sara and Brian live an idyllic life with their young son and daughter. But their family is rocked by sudden, heartbreaking news that forces them to make a difficult and unorthodox choice in order to save their baby girl's life. The parents' desperate decision raises both ethical and moral questions and rips away at the foundation of their relationship. Their actions ultimately set off a court case that threatens to tear the family apart, while revealing surprising truths that challenge everyone's perceptions of love and loyalty and give new meaning to the definition of healing.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 97000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: sad, tear jerker, heartbreaking, touching, sentimental, emotional, thought provoking, compassionate, suspense, dramatic
Similar in 86%
Finding Neverland (2004)
Plot Summary:
Finding Neverland is an amusing drama about how the story of Peter Pan and Neverland came to be. During a writing slump play writer J.M. Barrie meets the widowed Sylvia and her three children who soon become an important part of Barrie’s life and the inspiration that lead him to create his masterpiece “Peter Pan.”.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 211000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Family
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, heartbreaking, inspirational, emotional, clever, period piece, sad, sweet, fairy tale
Similar in 90%
The Secret Garden (1993)
Plot Summary:
A young British girl born and reared in India loses her neglectful parents in an earthquake. She is returned to England to live at her uncle's castle. Her uncle is very distant due to the loss of his wife ten years before. Neglected once again, she begins exploring the estate and discovers a garden that has been locked and neglected. Aided by one of the servants' boys, she begins restoring the garden, and eventually discovers some other secrets of the manor.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 44000
Genere: Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: costume drama, touching, atmospheric, feel good, fairy tale, sentimental, period piece, serious, realistic, light
Similar in 87%
Dolphin Tale (2011)
Plot Summary:
A story centered on the friendship between a boy and a dolphin whose tail was lost in a crab trap.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: uplifting, sentimental, touching, realistic, serious, inspirational, social, saga
Similar in 81%
Duma (2005)
Plot Summary:
An orphaned cheetah becomes the best friend and pet of a young boy living in South Africa.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sweet, sentimental, touching, captivating, inspirational, sad, atmospheric, realistic, semi serious, romantic
Similar in 83%
My Girl (1991)
Plot Summary:
Vada Sultenfuss is obsessed with death. Her mother is dead, and her father runs a funeral parlor. She is also in love with her English teacher, and joins a poetry class over the summer just to impress him. Thomas J., her best friend, is "allergic to everything", and sticks with Vada despite her hangups. When Vada's father hires Shelly, and begins to fall for her, things take a turn to the worse.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 87000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, feel good, crying, emotional, sad, sweet, inspirational, tear jerker, heartbreaking
Similar in 90%
Alabama Moon (2009)
Plot Summary:
After the unexpected death of his survivalist father, an eleven year old boy raised in the Alabama wilderness must learn how to make a home in the modern world.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, exciting, serious, inspirational, feel good
Similar in 78%
Kes (1969)
Plot Summary:
A young, English working-class boy spends his free time caring for and training his pet falcon.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: UK
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: independent film, bleak, depressing, realistic, emotional, social, sad, serious, heartbreaking, bad ending
Similar in 89%
Where is the Friend's Home? (1987)
Plot Summary:
An 8 year old boy must return his friend's notebook he took by mistake, lest his friend be punished by expulsion from school.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Iran
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: social, art house, inspirational, road movie, thought provoking, independent film, islamic, touching, feel good, serious
Similar in 89%
Bee Season (2005)
Plot Summary:
11-year-old Eliza is the invisible element of her family unit: her parents are both consumed with work and her brother is wrapped up in his own adolescent life. Eliza ignites not only a spark that makes her visible but one that sets into motion a revolution in her family dynamic when she wins a spelling bee. Finding an emotional outlet in the power of words and in the spiritual mysticism that he sees at work in her unparalleled gift, Eliza's father pours all of his energy into helping his daughter become spelling bee champion. A religious studies professor, he sees the opportunity as not only a distraction from his life but as an answer to his own crisis of faith. His vicarious path to God, real or imagined, leads to an obsession with Eliza's success and he begins teaching her secrets of the Kabbalah. Now preparing for the National Spelling Bee, Eliza looks on as a new secret of her family's hidden turmoil seems to be revealed with each new word she spells.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, depressing, realistic, psychological, sincere, thought provoking, serious, spiritual, anamorphic
Similar in 85%
Children of Heaven (1997)
Plot Summary:
Zohre's shoes are gone; her older brother Ali lost them. They are poor, there are no shoes for Zohre until they come up with an idea: they will share one pair of shoes, Ali's. School awaits.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 79000
Genere: Drama, Family, Sport
Country: Iran
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, emotional, sincere, sentimental, compassionate, sad, inspirational, feel good, dramatic
Similar in 82%
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.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 175000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA, Hong Kong, Canada
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: inspirational, uplifting, touching, sincere, thought provoking, motivational, sad, feel good, tear jerker, cute
Similar in 79%
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.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: touching, uplifting, emotional, sentimental, realistic, sweet, serious, inspirational, feel good, sincere
Similar in 79%
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
Similar in 87%
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.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 484000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, India
Duration: 146 min
Plot tags: touching, inspirational, thought provoking, uplifting, emotional, feel good, captivating, period piece, sad, sentimental
Similar in 85%
The Joy Luck Club (1993)
Plot Summary:
Through a series of flashbacks, four young chinese women born in America and their respective mothers born in feudal China, explore their past. This search will help them understand their difficult mother/daughter relationship.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 139 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, sincere, captivating, thought provoking, emotional, sad, retro, depressing, spiritual
Similar in 75%
Little Women (1994)
Plot Summary:
With their father away as a chaplain in the Civil War, Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy grow up with their mother in somewhat reduced circumstances. They are a close family who inevitably have their squabbles and tragedies. But the bond holds even when, later, male friends start to become a part of the household.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 62000
Genere: Drama, Family, Romance
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: sentimental, uplifting, costume drama, period piece, tear jerker, sad, touching, serious, depressing, sex comedy
Similar in 75%
Fly Away Home (1996)
Plot Summary:
Amy is only 13 years old when her mother is killed. She goes to Canada to live with her father, an eccentric inventor whom she barely knows. Amy is miserable in her new life... until she discovers a nest of goose eggs that were abandoned when a local forest is torn down. The eggs hatch and Amy becomes "Mama Goose". When Winter comes, Amy, and her dad must find a way to lead the birds South.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 27000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: uplifting, emotional, touching, serious, inspirational, sentimental, thought provoking, feel good, epic, sad
Similar in 80%
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.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 89000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: inspirational, touching, romantic, sentimental, period piece, sweet, educational, thought provoking, independent film, deep