Movies Like Lean On Me
If you liked Lean On Me (1989), a drama movie directed by John G. Avildsen, 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
The Hate U Give (2018)
★ 8.1/10Also dramaRaised in a poverty-stricken slum, a 16-year-old girl named Starr now attends a suburban prep school. After she witnesses a police officer shoot her unarmed best friend, she's torn between her two very different worlds…
- 2
The Principal (1987)
★ 6.4/10Also dramaBurglary. Drugs. Assault. Rape. The students at Brandel High are more than new Principal Rick Latimer bargained for. Gangs fight to control the school using knives - even guns - when they have to. When Latimer and the…
- 3
Class of 1984 (1982)
★ 6.4/10Also dramaAndy is a new teacher at an inner city high school that is unlike any he has seen before. There are metal detectors at the front door and the place is basically run by a tough kid named Peter Stegman. Soon, Andy and…
- 4
The Basketball Diaries (1995)
★ 7.4/10Also dramaA high school basketball player’s life turns upside down after free-falling into the harrowing world of drug addiction.
- 5
Freedom Writers (2007)
★ 7.9/10Also dramaA young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves, and pursue education beyond high school.
- 6
Beautiful Boy (2018)
★ 7.6/10Also dramaAfter he and his first wife separate, journalist David Sheff struggles to help their teenage son, who goes from experimenting with drugs to becoming devastatingly addicted to methamphetamine.
- 7
Foxfire (1996)
★ 6/10Also dramaThe story of five teenage girls who form an unlikely bond after beating up a teacher who has sexually harassed them. They build a solid friendship but their wild ways begin to get out of control.
- 8
My Friend Dahmer (2017)
★ 6.5/10Also dramaJeffrey Dahmer struggles with a difficult family life as a young boy. During his teenage years he slowly transforms, edging closer to the serial killer he was to become.
- 9
Brave the Dark (2025)
★ 6.7/10Also dramaWhen Mr. Deen discovers one of his students has been living out of his car and thrown into jail, he decides to bail him out. Determined to curb Nate’s self-destructive behavior, Deen quickly discovers a host of dark…
- 10
Bad Education (2019)
★ 6.7/10Also dramaA superintendent of a school district works for the betterment of the student’s education when an embezzlement scheme is discovered, threatening to destroy everything.
- 11
Steve (2025)
★ 6.4/10Also dramaOver one intense day, the devoted head teacher of a last-chance reform school strives to keep his students in line while facing pressures of his own.
- 12
Elephant (2003)
★ 7/10Also dramaSeveral ordinary high school students go through their daily routine as two others prepare for something more malevolent.
- 13
White Boy Rick (2018)
★ 6.4/10Also dramaThe story of Richard Wershe Jr., a teenager who became an undercover informant for the police during the 1980s, and was ultimately arrested for drug trafficking and sentenced to life in prison.
- 14
Bully (2001)
★ 6.7/10Also dramaA group of teenagers in South Florida enact a murder plot against their mutual bully, Bobby, who has emotionally, physically, and sexually abused them for years.
- 15
I'm Not Ashamed (2016)
★ 7.1/10Also dramaBased on the journal entries of Rachel Joy Scott, the first student killed in the Columbine High School shooting in 1999.
- 16
if.... (1968)
★ 7/10Also dramaIn an English boys' boarding school, social hierarchy reigns supreme and power remains in the hands of distanced and ineffectual teachers and callously vicious prefects in the Upper Sixth. Three Lower Sixth students…
- 17
Blow (2001)
★ 7.4/10Also dramaThe story of how George Jung, together with the Medellín Cartel led by Pablo Escobar, established the billion-dollar cocaine empire in the United States in the 1970s.
- 18
Kidulthood (2006)
★ 6.3/10Also dramaA day in the life of a group of troubled 15-year-olds growing up in west London.
- 19
Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005)
★ 6.9/10Also dramaA tale of an inner city drug dealer who turns away from crime to pursue his passion, rap music.
- 20
Nickel Boys (2024)
★ 6.6/10Also dramaChronicles the powerful friendship between two young Black teenagers navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida.