Movies Like Curse of the Starving Class
If you liked Curse of the Starving Class (1994), a drama movie directed by J. Michael McClary, 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
Angela's Ashes (1999)
★ 7.3/10Also dramaAn Irish Catholic family returns to 1930s Limerick after a child's death in America. The unemployed I.R.A. veteran father struggles with poverty, prejudice, and alcoholism as the family endures harsh slum conditions.
- 2
Holler (2021)
★ 6/10Also dramaIn a forgotten pocket of Southern Ohio where American manufacturing and opportunity are drying up, a determined young woman finds a ticket out when she is accepted to college. Alongside her older brother, Ruth Avery…
- 3
Hillbilly Elegy (2020)
★ 6.7/10Also dramaAn urgent phone call pulls a Yale Law student back to his Ohio hometown, where he reflects on three generations of family history and his own future.
- 4
Of Mice and Men (1992)
★ 7.2/10Also dramaTwo drifters, one a gentle but slow giant, try to make money working the fields during the Depression so they can fulfill their dreams.
- 5
In Cold Blood (1967)
★ 7.5/10Also dramaAfter a botched robbery results in the brutal murder of a rural family, two drifters elude police, in the end coming to terms with their own mortality and the repercussions of their vile atrocity.
- 6
Anniversary (2025)
★ 6.9/10Also dramaA close-knit family is caught in the turmoil of a controversial rising movement known as "The Change.” Ellen and Paul witness their lives fall apart when Ellen's former student Liz reappears and starts dating their…
- 7
The Nest (2020)
★ 6.1/10Also dramaRory is an ambitious entrepreneur who brings his American wife and kids to his native country, England, to explore new business opportunities. After abandoning the sanctuary of their safe American suburban…
- 8
Echo Valley (2025)
★ 6.5/10Also dramaKate lives a secluded life—until her troubled daughter shows up, frightened and covered in someone else's blood. As Kate unravels the shocking truth, she learns just how far a mother will go to try to save her child.
- 9
This Boy's Life (1993)
★ 7.1/10Also dramaWhen a son and mother move to Seattle in hopes for a better life, the mother meets a seemingly polite man. Things go south when the man turns out to be abusive, endangering their lives. As the mother struggles to…
- 10
Hellion (2014)
★ 5.9/10Also dramaWhen 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…
- 11
Bring Them Down (2025)
★ 6.7/10Also dramaWhen the ongoing rivalry between farmers Michael and Jack suddenly escalates, it triggers a chain of events that take increasingly violent and devastating turns, leaving both families permanently altered.
- 12
Bastard Out of Carolina (1996)
★ 7.1/10Also dramaA poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as…
- 13
Mexicali (2026)
★ 7.7/10Also dramaA former special forces contractor is forced out of retirement as an avocado farmer in Mexico when local gangsters try to force him and his family off their farm.
- 14
Holy Lands (2019)
★ 6.1/10Also dramaWhen lapsed Jew and former cardiologist Harry suddenly decides to spend his retirement as a pig farmer in Nazareth, Israel, the move deeply shocks his family and his new neighbours. Back in New York, Harry’s ex-wife…
- 15
The Safety of Objects (2002)
★ 6.5/10Also dramaIn a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband…
- 16
Joe the King (1999)
★ 5.8/10Also dramaA destitute 14-year-old struggles to keep his life together despite harsh abuse at his mother's hands, harsher abuse at his father's, and a growing separation from his slightly older brother.
- 17
The Thing with Feathers (2025)
★ 6.5/10Also dramaFollowing the death of his wife, a young father's hold on reality crumbles, and a strange presence begins to stalk him from the shadowy recesses of the apartment he shares with his two young sons.
- 18
Wendy and Lucy (2008)
★ 6.8/10Also dramaA near-penniless drifter's journey to Alaska in search of work is interrupted when she loses her dog while attempting to shoplift food for it.
- 19
The Starling Girl (2023)
★ 6.3/10Also drama17-year-old Jem Starling struggles with her place within her Christian fundamentalist community. But everything changes when her magnetic youth pastor Owen returns to their church.
- 20
That Evening Sun (2009)
★ 6.8/10Also dramaAn aging Tennessee farmer returns to his homestead and must confront a family betrayal, the reappearance of an old enemy, and the loss of his farm.