Best movies like When I Find the Ocean
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A little girl leaves home with her pet dog and rabbit to escape abuse and find the ocean in the hopes of feeling closer to her father who has passed away.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 259
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, sincere, captivating
Best tv shows and movies like When I Find the Ocean (2006):
Similar in 89%
My Angel (2011)
Plot Summary:
Fifteen year old Eddie's mother falls very ill after a serious car accident. Eddie and his brother Stewart end up having to take care of themselves and one night when they have ran out of food and electricity, Eddie dreams that his mother asks him to find an angel's halo so that she can be saved. Will Eddie be able to save his mother in time for Christmas?.
IMDB Rating: 4.0
IMDB Votes: 182
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: uplifting, emotional, captivating, sincere, serious
Similar in 84%
The Watsons Go to Birmingham (2013)
Plot Summary:
In the Summer of 1963, Flint, Michigan is home to the Watsons, a close knit family. When 15 year-old Byron’s antics go over the top, his parents realize enough is enough and they decide the family needs a dose of Grandma Sands' no nonsense approach in Birmingham, Alabama. So the Watsons load up their 1948 Plymouth Brown Bomber and head South. When they finally make it to Birmingham, they meet Grandma Sands and her friend, Mr. Robert and discover that life is very different there than in Flint. During that historic summer, the Watsons find themselves caught up in something far bigger than Byron’s antics; something that will change their lives and country forever.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 792
Genere: Drama, Family, History
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: captivating, realistic, sincere, humorous, family saga, sad, semi serious
Similar in 90%
Lost Stallions: The Journey Home (2008)
Plot Summary:
After the death of his father, troubled teen Jake (Alex Hugh) travels with his mother to Harmony Ranch, a special retreat for families dealing with problems. There, Jake gets to know Troubadour, a young distressed stallion. Ranch owner Chief (Mickey Rooney), works to calm the uneasy horse. Jake witnesses Chief's determination with the stallion, and begins to see the wisdom in the old man life. When Troubadour runs away, Jake makes it his mission to bring the lost stallion home. The ranch hand Grey Wolf (Roger Willie) explains to Jake the Native American legend of Heaven's Pathway, a mountain that towers over Harmony Ranch, said to be a place where wounded souls go to find peace. With this knowledge, Jake sets out with his new friends Nicki (Rachael Handy) and Isaac (Evan Tilson Stroud), two other troubled teens, on a journey to the top of Heaven's Pathway in search of Troubadour.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 93
Genere: Family
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 89%
The Maldonado Miracle (2003)
Plot Summary:
A story about a small, dying town in need of hope until one day a young boy gives them something to believe in.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 492
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, realistic, feel good
Similar in 90%
Finding Friends (2005)
Plot Summary:
This kid has to move to a farm in his summer vacation and don't get to go to Norway Cup as he had planned for. Out on the country there is bad cellphone reception, cow smell and inbreed farmers as far as the eye can see. The family Volvo get stolen and the foreigners in the small town automatically gets blamed. From there is a chase to discover what truly happened.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 408
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: Norway
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, sincere, captivating
Similar in 76%
Miracle Dogs (2003)
Plot Summary:
The family friendly animal movie Miracle Dogs concerns a boy who befriends a three-legged dog. Soon his relationship with the canine deepens to the point that the boy is attempting to find new homes for a variety of homeless animals.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 503
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: feel good, serious, touching, cute
Similar in 79%
All Roads Lead Home (2008)
Plot Summary:
The story is about a 12 year old girl who loses her mother in an automobile accident. Her father struggles with the loss of his wife and trying to raise his young daughter who believes her father is partly responsible for her mother's death. Belle's maternal grandfather is a changed man since losing his daughter in the accident. He finds it difficult to have a relationship with Belle since she is a constant reminder of her mother. It is Atticus the new puppy who will change Belle's life and the lives of those who love her.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 918
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, sentimental, melancholic, sincere, touching, disturbing
Similar in 88%
Firelight (2012)
Plot Summary:
Incarcerated women join a band of volunteers who battle forest fires and assist during natural disasters.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 631
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, sincere, touching, serious, psychological, captivating
Similar in 78%
A Storm in Summer (2000)
Plot Summary:
Set in 1969, Abel Shaddick, a crotchety deli owner, has a grudge against virtually everyone in his upstate New York town of Fairview, particularly against his slacker nephew Stanley who lives behind the shop. Without telling his uncle, Stanley agrees to put up a needy city kid for the summer as part of a charity program run by rich debutante Gloria. Abel immediately vetoes the plan, but it is too late. The kid, young Herman Washington, is already on his way.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 507
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, uplifting, feel good, emotional, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 81%
Saving Shiloh (2006)
Plot Summary:
In this third movie about Shiloh, Judd Travers is accused of killing a man he once fought in a bar. Everyone in the town consider Judd to be guilty except Marty Preston, but even him has some doubts. Trying to clear Judd's name Marty and his friend searches the woods to find the criminal.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 930
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: serious, sincere, touching, captivating, saga
Similar in 77%
Misa mi (2003)
Plot Summary:
When her mother died, 10 year old girl Misa's world stopped. And when her father, along with her new girlfriend, wants to spend the summer in the Swedish province Skåne she refuses to come with them. Misa's father reluctantly agrees that Misa stays with her grandmother in Arjeplog over the summer instead. In the deep forest of northern Sweden Misa find more than she ever could imagine; she meets a wolf with cubs that Misa develop a deep and strange connection with. But the wolf spreads fear in the small village and someone has hired a poacher to kill it and her cubs.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 274
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Sweden
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, sincere
Similar in 79%
A Dog of Flanders (1999)
Plot Summary:
Poor but happy, young Nello and his grandfather live alone, delivering milk as a livelihood, in the outskirts of Antwerp, a city in Flanders (the Flemish or Dutch-speaking part of modern-day Belgium). They discover a beaten dog (a Bouvier, a large sturdy dog native to Flanders) and adopt it and nurse it back to health, naming it Patrasche, the middle name of Nello's mother Mary, who died when Nello was very young. Nello's mother was a talented artist, and like his mother, he delights in drawing, and his friend Aloise is his model and greatest fan and supporter.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Family, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sentimental, inspirational, entertaining, tear jerker, melancholic, touching, sad, serious, realistic, sexy
Similar in 85%
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 75%
The Sound of the Spirit (2012)
Plot Summary:
Beautiful and precocious Rivka is a twelve-year-old Jewish girl who believes in Jesus. She and her father attend a Messianic Jewish congregation in their community. But when her father suddenly dies, Rivka's life changes forever. She ends up moving in with her traditional Jewish relatives and attending their synagogue. From her stormy relationship with her uncle, to a meeting with the synagogue’s senior rabbi, to the attention of the cutest boy in the synagogue, Rivka learns life lessons that stir her faith to new levels, touching the hearts of those whose lives she has reluctantly impacted. "The Sound of the Spirit" is the never-before-told story of a young girl caught in the crossfire of strong feelings between two faith communities. It’s told with humor, compassion, and grace.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 158
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: serious, touching, realistic, emotional, christian film, independent film
Similar in 84%
We Can Be Heroes! (2002)
Plot Summary:
Two kids - about 11 years old - Marcello and Fatima, meet and like each other very much. Both have dreams and problems. Marcello wants to fly but feels like an absolutely useless human being, Fatima wants to play soccer - which is not acceptable for her Muslim family. But then they start to support each other in a very delicate and subtle manner.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 999
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Sweden
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, serious, captivating, contemplative
Similar in 80%
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 77%
Miracle Dogs Too (2006)
Plot Summary:
Zack, a young boy, finds two cocker spaniels caged in the woods and takes them home. The animals, Sissy and Buddy, have magical healing powers that change the people of a small town.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 340
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: sentimental, feel good, serious, touching
Similar in 88%
Eskil & Trinidad (2013)
Plot Summary:
Eskil moves from town to town with his father in Northern Sweden. He misses his mother and sucks at playing hockey, the main activity among the boys his age. Things changes when he meets Trinidad, a mysterious woman who lives outside society spending her time building a great ship that perhaps could take Eskil to his mother.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 185
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Sweden
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, feel good, sentimental, light, sincere, captivating, exciting, tense
Similar in 86%
Owd Bob (1998)
Plot Summary:
Recently orphaned David must move to the Isle of Man to live with his grandfather, Adam, who's a sheep farmer. Both long for the end of the summer, having nothing in common but their love for dogs, notably Adam's precious champion sheepdog Bob. David strikes a friendship with Maggie, the sassy daughter of friendly neighbor Keith Moore, but Adam hates that family on account of an old canine competition-related tragedy. Other neighbors suspect Bob and the Moore's dog of the recent series of nocturnal sheep-kills.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 418
Genere: Family, Drama
Country: UK, Canada
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 77%
Where the Red Fern Grows (2003)
Plot Summary:
Set in the Ozark Mountains during the Great Depression, Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for 2 years to achieve his dream of buying two coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in God as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with "Old Dan" and "Little Ann.".
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: touching, feel good, semi serious, gothic, sad, independent film
Similar in 90%
Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning (2008)
Plot Summary:
Anne, now a middle-aged woman, is troubled by recent events in her life. Her husband, Gilbert, has been killed overseas as a medical doctor during World War II. Her two daughters are pre-occupied with their own young families and her adopted son Dominic has yet to return from the war. When a long-hidden secret is discovered under the floorboards at Green Gables, Anne retreats into her memories to relive her troubled early years prior to arriving as an orphan at Green Gables and being adopted by the Cuthberts.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 652
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Canada
Duration: 144 min
Plot tags: sincere, feel good, captivating, psychological, realistic, serious
Similar in 82%
Letters to Elena (2011)
Plot Summary:
In the beautiful hills of the Copper Canyon in Chihuahua, Mexico, a young boy (Emilio) is adopted by the mailman (Teo). As part of their daily tasks, they not only deliver the mail but read letters to the villagers, as well as take dictation, since most are illiterate. Young Emilio quickly learns to read and write but feels saddened by the mostly difficult stories sent by relatives, that moved north to Denver, Colorado in pursuit of a better future. One day Teo becomes disabled and Emilio takes over the mail route and with great imagination, he changes the letters to happy and optimistic stories. Within days, the village is transformed. The elders, once hopeless, lonely and sad, are now happy and enthusiastic, enjoying the "supposed" success their loved ones write from the United States. But the enjoyment is short lived, as they realize that all the wonderful stories are the same.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 130
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic
Similar in 85%
Heidi (1968)
Plot Summary:
Heidi is an orphaned girl initially raised by her aunt Dete in Maienfeld, Switzerland. In order to get a job in Frankfurt, Dete brings 5-year-old Heidi to her grandfather, who has been at odds with the villagers for years and lives in seclusion on the alm. He at first resents Heidi's arrival, but the girl manages to penetrate his harsh exterior and subsequently has a delightful stay with him and her best friend, young Peter the goat-herd.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 665
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: West Germany, USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: sentimental, uplifting, touching, feel good, serious, realistic
Similar in 90%
Adventures of Bailey: Christmas Hero (2012)
Plot Summary:
It's "Christmas time" at the Baker household, and Bailey is at it again. Worried that he will not get any presents from Santa because he's been a bad doggie, Bailey learns about a mysterious Native American Indian called the "Handsome Fellow," who may be able to make his Christmas wishes come true. With thoughts of tennis balls, stuffed animals and more dog bones then he can count, he sets out to find this legend, inadvertently dragging his brother along for the ride. But when Bailey's misguided missteps cause harm to Duke and even threaten their family's Christmas plans, Bailey must not only find a way to save his brother, but he is also forced to make a big decision... one that just might enable him to finally understand the "true" meaning of Christmas.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 118
Genere: Family
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, sentimental, feel good, semi serious, independent film
Similar in 86%
Booky & the Secret Santa (2007)
Plot Summary:
Booky does everything she can to make an enjoyable Christmas, for her family, during the depression as her father is out of work.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 311
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Canada
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, realistic, sincere, captivating, feel good, serious
Similar in 90%
Smitty (2012)
Plot Summary:
SMITTY is a family film about a rescue dog. When life gets tough for Ben, a friendly paw is all it takes to pull him through. Mischievous thirteen-year-old Ben is sent to his grandfather's farm for the summer, where he crosses paths with a lovable mutt. With help from the unlikely canine companion, Ben learns the importance of friendship, family and responsibility.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 659
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: sincere, captivating, light, feel good, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 76%
The Christmas Bunny (2010)
Plot Summary:
The Christmas Bunny tells the story of a lonely foster child (Sophie Bolen) who finds a lost, injured rabbit in the woods on Christmas Eve. The rabbit is nursed back to health by The Bunny Lady (Florence Henderson), who runs a rabbit rescue in an old barn behind her Michigan farmhouse.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 854
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: sentimental, uplifting, touching, sincere, captivating, light, serious, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 86%
Ruby Bridges (1998)
Plot Summary:
The true story of Ruby Bridges, an African-American girl who, in 1960 at age 6, helped to integrate the all-white schools of New Orleans. Although she was the only black girl to come to the school she was sent to, (and since all the white mothers pulled their children out of class, she was the only one there, period), and though she faced a crowd of angry white citizens every day, she emerged unscathed, physically or emotionally. Encouraged by her teacher, a white woman from the North named Barbara Henry, and her mother, Lucille, and with her own quiet strength, she eventually broke down a century-old barrier forever, a pivotal moment in the civil-rights movement.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: uplifting, inspirational, political, sincere, thought provoking, touching, feel good, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 80%
Call of the Wild (2009)
Plot Summary:
Self-centered and status-conscious, ten year old Ryann Hale journeys to Montana to visit her down-to-earth grandpa, Bill Hale. Ryann bonds with a wolf-dog, Buck, and schemes to save him from a cruel dogsledder.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 881
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, captivating, contemplative
Similar in 81%
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