Movies Like Social Worker: The Runaway Girl

If you liked Social Worker: The Runaway Girl (1976), a movie directed by Patrick Tam Kar-Ming, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Cruella (2021)
★ 8/10
In 1970s London amidst the punk rock revolution, a young grifter named Estella is determined to make a name for herself with her designs. She befriends a pair of young thieves who appreciate her appetite for mischief…
2
Paradise Hills (2019)
★ 5.9/10
A young woman is sent to Paradise Hills to be reformed, only to learn that the high-class facility's beautiful facade hides a sinister secret.
3
JOY (2024)
★ 6.9/10
A young nurse, a visionary scientist and an innovative surgeon face opposition from the church, state, media and medical establishment, in their pursuit of the world’s first ‘test tube baby’, Louise Joy Brown.
4
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
★ 6.7/10
It's the 1970s and San Diego anchorman Ron Burgundy is the top dog in local TV, but that's all about to change when ambitious reporter Veronica Corningstone arrives as a new employee at his station.
5
Infernal Affairs (2002)
★ 7.8/10
Chan Wing Yan, a young police officer, has been sent undercover as a mole in the local mafia. Lau Kin Ming, a young mafia member, infiltrates the police force. Years later, their older counterparts, Chen Wing Yan and…
6
Diggers (2007)
★ 6/10
In 1976, four working-class friends come of age in The Hamptons, on the South Shore of Long Island, New York, as clam diggers, as were their fathers and their grandfathers before them. They must cope with and learn to…
7
Becoming Led Zeppelin (2025)
★ 7.4/10
The individual journeys of the four members of the band, as they move through the music scene of the 1960s, playing small clubs throughout Britain and performing some of the biggest hits of the era, until their meeting…
8
Shirley (2024)
★ 6.6/10
Shirley Chisholm makes a trailblazing run for the 1972 Democratic presidential nomination after becoming the first Black woman elected to Congress.
9
Knight Rider (2008)
★ 6.3/10
When a group of ruthless mercenaries kill a reclusive scientist, his creation, a new model of artificially intelligent supercar, escapes to find his daughter and recruit a ex-soldier to thwart them. Pilot for the…
10
Married to the Mob (1988)
★ 6/10
Angela de Marco is fed up with her gangster husband's line of work and wants no part of the crime world. When her husband is killed for having an affair with the mistress of mob boss Tony "The Tiger" Russo, Angela and…
11
42 Up (1999)
★ 7.6/10
Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
12
The Unforgivable (2021)
★ 7.4/10
A woman is released from prison after serving a sentence for a violent crime and re-enters a society that refuses to forgive her past.
13
Car Wash (1976)
★ 6/10
This day-in-the-life cult comedy focuses on a group of friends working at Sully Boyar's Car Wash in the Los Angeles ghetto. The team meets dozens of eccentric customers -- including a smooth-talking preacher, a wacky…
14
King Rat (1965)
★ 7.1/10
When Singapore surrendered to the Japanese in 1942, the Allied POWs, mostly British but including a few Americans, were incarcerated in Changi prison. Among the American prisoners is Cpl. King, a wheeler-dealer who has…
15
Shanghai (2010)
★ 6.1/10
An American man returns to a corrupt, Japanese-occupied Shanghai four months before Pearl Harbor and discovers his friend has been killed. While he unravels the mysteries of the death, he falls in love and discovers a…
16
Girl Asleep (2015)
★ 6.1/10
The world is closing in on Greta Driscoll. On the cusp of turning fifteen, she can’t bear to leave her childhood; it contains all the things that give her comfort in an incomprehensible new world. She floats in a…
17
Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (2024)
★ 7/10
In 1980s Hong Kong, troubled youth Chan Lok-kwun, a mainland refugee, struggles to survive in the Kowloon Walled City by joining underground fights. Betrayed by crime boss Mr. Big while trying to buy a fake ID, he…
18
Motor City (2026)
★ 6.2/10
In 1970s Detroit, John Miller falls for a local gangster's girl and lands in prison for a crime he didn't commit. With his life ruined, Miller plots revenge against the man who took his girl away.
19
The Best of Enemies (2019)
★ 7.4/10
Centers on the unlikely relationship between Ann Atwater, an outspoken civil rights activist, and C.P. Ellis, a local Ku Klux Klan leader who reluctantly co-chaired a community summit, battling over the desegregation…
20
Mischief (1985)
★ 6.7/10
1956: The shy Jonathan's luck with girls changes when he wins the rebellious Gene as a friend in his last year of high school. Gene is adored by many girls and manages to teach Jonathan a few lessons. Gene himself…