Movies Like The Best Years of Your Life

If you liked The Best Years of Your Life (1986), a movie directed by Adrian Shergold, 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
Me Before You (2016)
★ 7.9/10
Lou Clark, a directionless 26-year-old from the English countryside, takes a job at the local castle as a caregiver and companion to a wealthy young banker, Will Traynor. Wheelchair-bound from an accident two years…
2
The Mighty (1998)
★ 7.2/10
Kevin, an intelligent guy helps out Maxwell to improve his reading skills. In return, Kevin wants Maxwell to take him out places since he is not authorized to go out. Being the social outcasts of the town, Kevin and…
3
My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown (1989)
★ 7.5/10
No one expects much from Christy Brown, a boy with cerebral palsy born into a working-class Irish family. Though Christy is a spastic quadriplegic and essentially paralyzed, a miraculous event occurs when, at the age…
4
Out of My Mind (2024)
★ 7.7/10
Melody Brooks, a sixth grader with cerebral palsy, has a quick wit and a sharp mind, but because she is non-verbal and uses a wheelchair, she is not given the same opportunities as her classmates. When a young educator…
5
I Capture the Castle (2003)
★ 6.7/10
In 1930s England, 17-year-old Cassandra Mortmain and her eccentric family struggle to survive in a decaying English castle.
6
We the Animals (2018)
★ 6.5/10
Manny, Joel and Jonah tear their way through childhood and push against the volatile love of their parents. As Manny and Joel grow into versions of their father and Ma dreams of escape, Jonah, the youngest, embraces an…
7
The Upside (2019)
★ 7.1/10
Phillip is a wealthy quadriplegic who needs a caretaker to help him with his day-to-day routine in his New York penthouse. He decides to hire Dell, a struggling parolee who's trying to reconnect with his ex and his…
8
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
★ 7.8/10
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1991. High school freshman Charlie is a wallflower, always watching life from the sidelines, until two senior students, Sam and her stepbrother Patrick, become his mentors, helping him…
9
The Unbreakable Boy (2025)
★ 7.9/10
When Scott and Teresa LeRette learn that their son Austin is both autistic and has brittle bone disease, they initially worry for their son’s future. But with Scott’s growing faith and Austin’s incredible spirit, they…
10
Rocks (2020)
★ 6.6/10
15-year-old Rocks fears that she and her little brother Emmanuel will be taken into care and forced apart if anyone finds out that their mother has left them. Against all odds, and with the help of her loyal friends…
11
Don't Move (2024)
★ 6.3/10
A grieving woman in a secluded forest encounters a killer who injects her with a paralytic drug. As her body shuts down, her fight for survival begins.
12
Run (2020)
★ 7.2/10
Chloe, a teenager who is confined to a wheelchair, is homeschooled by her mother, Diane. Chloe soon becomes suspicious of her mother and begins to suspect that she may be harboring a dark secret.
13
Fences (2016)
★ 6.9/10
In 1950s Pittsburgh, a frustrated African-American father struggles with the constraints of poverty, racism, and his own inner demons as he tries to raise a family.
14
Dog Pound (2010)
★ 7.2/10
Three juvenile delinquents arrive at a correctional center and are put under the care of an experienced guard.
15
Don't Tell a Soul (2020)
★ 6.6/10
Two thieving teenage brothers, stealing money to help their sick mom, match wits with a troubled security guard stuck at the bottom of a forgotten well.
16
Killer: A Journal of Murder (1996)
★ 5.9/10
Carl Panzram is sent to Leavenworth Prison for burglary. While there, he is brutally beaten by a guard. Neophyte guard Henry Lesser feels sympathy for Panzram, befriends him, and gets him to write his life story…
17
East of Eden (1955)
★ 7.5/10
In the Salinas Valley in and around World War I, Cal Trask feels he must compete against overwhelming odds with his brother for the love of their father. Cal is frustrated at every turn, from his reaction to the war…
18
The Long Walk (2025)
★ 6.8/10
In a dystopian America, fifty teenage boys take part in a deadly annual walking contest, forced to maintain a minimum pace or be executed, until only one survivor remains.
19
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
★ 7.7/10
Gilbert Grape is a small-town young man with a lot of responsibility. Chief among his concerns are his mother, who is so overweight that she can't leave the house, and his mentally impaired younger brother, Arnie, who…
20
David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived (2023)
★ 7.1/10
As Daniel Radcliffe's stunt double in the Harry Potter films, David Holmes' work has been seen worldwide by millions of people. Tragically an on-set accident ended what David calls "the best job in the world," leaving…