Movies Like Stray

If you liked Stray (2025), a drama movie directed by Kim Bartley, 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
Short Term 12 (2013)
★ 7.7/10Also drama
Grace, a compassionate young supervisor at a foster care facility, helps at-risk teens. But when a new charge dredges up memories of her own troubled past, Grace's tough exterior begins eroding.
2
White Oleander (2002)
★ 7/10Also drama
A teenager journeys through a series of foster homes after her mother goes to prison for committing a crime of passion.
3
Nowhere Special (2020)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
John, a 35-year-old window cleaner, has dedicated his life to bringing up his 4-year-old son, Michael, after the child's mother left them soon after giving birth. When John is given only a few months left to live, he…
4
Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot (2024)
★ 7.2/10Also drama
Led by Donna and Reverend W.C. Martin, 22 families from a rural Black church in the small East Texas town of Possum Trot adopt 77 of the most difficult-to-place kids in the foster system and kickstart a movement in the…
5
Philomena (2013)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
A woman searches for her adult son, who was taken away from her decades ago when she was forced to live in a convent.
6
Mammal (2016)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
After Margaret, a divorcée living in Dublin, loses her teenage son, she develops an unorthodox relationship with Joe, a homeless youth. Their tentative trust is threatened by his involvement with a violent gang and the…
7
Manic (2002)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
In lieu of prison, Lyle, a violent adolescent, is placed in a juvenile mental institution where he encounters a group of equally troubled teens. This motley crew—abused, sexually confused, violent, and yet hanging on…
8
Maps to the Stars (2014)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
Driven by an intense need for fame and validation, members of a dysfunctional Hollywood family chase celebrity, one another, and the relentless ghosts of their pasts. Their fragile ecosystem is disrupted by the arrival…
9
Second Best (1994)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
The difficult relationship between a british postal officer and his adoptive son.
10
Gimme Shelter (2013)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
After running away from her abusive mother, a streetwise teen seeks refuge with her father, but he rejects her when he learns that she's pregnant.
11
The Book of Henry (2017)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
Susan, a single mother of two, works as a waitress in a small town. Her son, Henry, is an 11-year-old genius who not only manages the family finances but acts as emotional support for his mother and younger brother…
12
A Home of Our Own (1993)
★ 7/10Also drama
In 1960s Los Angeles an energetic widow and her six children try to make a dream of theirs come true: to have a home of their own. They leave L.A. and head for the countryside, all the while facing numerous…
13
Evelyn (2002)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
Desmond Doyle is devastated when his wife abandons their family on the day after Christmas. His unemployment, and the fact that there is no woman in the house to care for the children—Evelyn, Dermot and Maurice—make it…
14
The Son (2022)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
A successful lawyer, with a new wife and infant, agrees to care for his teenage son from a previous marriage after his ex-wife becomes concerned about the boy's wayward behavior.
15
Calm with Horses (2020)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
In darkest rural Ireland, ex-boxer Douglas 'Arm' Armstrong has become the feared enforcer for the drug-dealing Devers family, whilst also trying to be a good father to his autistic five-year-old son, Jack. Torn between…
16
Palmer (2021)
★ 8.1/10Also drama
After 12 years in prison, former high school football star Eddie Palmer returns home to put his life back together—and forms an unlikely bond with Sam, an outcast boy from a troubled home. But Eddie's past threatens to…
17
Hellion (2014)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
When motocross and heavy metal obsessed, 13-year-old Jacob's delinquent behavior forces CPS to place his little brother Wes with his aunt, Jacob and his emotionally absent father must finally take responsibility for…
18
L.I.E. (2001)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
With his mother dead and his father busy at work, Howie feels adrift in his New York suburb. He and his friend Gary spend their time burglarizing their neighbors' homes — until they make the mistake of robbing the…
19
Memory (2023)
★ 7/10Also drama
Sylvia is a social worker who leads a simple and structured life: her daughter, her job, her AA meetings. This is blown open when Saul follows her home from their high school reunion. Their surprise encounter will…
20
The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete (2013)
★ 7.2/10Also drama
Coming of age story about two inner city youths, who are left to fend for themselves over the summer after their mothers are taken away by the authorities.