Movies Like The Great Wide Open

If you liked The Great Wide Open, a movie directed by Ciarán Dooley, 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
Charlie St. Cloud (2010)
★ 7/10
Accomplished sailor Charlie St. Cloud has the adoration of his mother Claire and his little brother Sam, as well as a college scholarship that will lead him far from his sleepy Pacific Northwest hometown. But his…
2
Bonjour Tristesse (2025)
★ 6.1/10
At the height of summer, 18-year-old Cécile is relaxing by the French seaside with her father and falling in love with her new boyfriend. The arrival of her late mother's enigmatic friend turns her world upside down.
3
The Princess Diaries (2001)
★ 7/10
A socially awkward but very bright 15-year-old girl being raised by a single mom discovers that she is the princess of a small European country because of the recent death of her long-absent father, who, unknown to…
4
Bait (2019)
★ 6.6/10
Martin Ward is a cove fisherman, without a boat. His brother Steven has repurposed their father’s vessel as a tourist tripper, driving a wedge between the brothers. With their childhood home now a getaway for London…
5
Bonjour Tristesse (1958)
★ 6.7/10
A spoiled teenager spends the summer at the French Riviera with her rich, widower, playboy father, but when his old flame resurfaces, she resolves to keep her frivolous lifestyle at all costs.
6
The Secret of Roan Inish (1994)
★ 6.7/10
Ten-year-old Fiona is sent to live with her grandparents in a small fishing village in Donegal, Ireland. She soon learns the local legend that an ancestor of hers married a Selkie – a seal who can turn into a human…
7
How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998)
★ 5.8/10
Through good times and bad, Stella and Delilah have always had each other. Now, Stella's so busy building a life that she's forgotten how to really live. But Delilah is about to change all that. What starts as a quick…
8
The Last Song (2010)
★ 7.2/10
A drama centered on a rebellious girl who is sent to a Southern beach town for the summer to stay with her father. Through their mutual love of music, the estranged duo learn to reconnect.
9
The Secret Garden (1993)
★ 7.4/10
A young British girl born and reared in India loses her neglectful parents in an earthquake. She is returned to England to live at her uncle's castle. Her uncle is very distant due to the loss of his wife ten years…
10
The Secret Garden (2020)
★ 6.3/10
Mary Lennox is born in India to wealthy British parents who never wanted her. When her parents suddenly die, she is sent back to England to live with her uncle. She meets her sickly cousin, and the two children find a…
11
Rose of Nevada (2026)
★ 6/10
When a fishing boat, the Rose of Nevada, lost with all hands 30 years ago, mysteriously reappears in the old harbour of a forgotten Cornish village, for those who remember, it’s surely a sign. The boat must go out to…
12
All This, and Heaven Too (1940)
★ 7.2/10
When lovely and virtuous governess Henriette Deluzy comes to educate the children of the debonair Duc de Praslin, a royal subject to King Louis-Philippe and the husband of the volatile and obsessive Duchesse de…
13
A Monster Calls (2016)
★ 7.3/10
12-year-old Conor encounters an ancient tree monster who proceeds to help him cope with his mother's terminal illness and being bullied in school.
14
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
★ 7.6/10
Born under unusual circumstances, Benjamin Button springs into being as an elderly man in a New Orleans nursing home and ages in reverse. Twelve years after his birth, he meets Daisy, a child who flits in and out of…
15
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (2021)
★ 7.1/10
Two teenagers trapped in an endless time loop set out to find all the tiny things that make that one day perfect.
16
The Best of Me (2014)
★ 7.5/10
A pair of former high school sweethearts reunite after many years when they return to visit their small hometown.
17
Ladies in Lavender (2004)
★ 6.4/10
Andrea, a gifted young Polish violinist from Krakow, is bound for America when he is swept overboard by a storm. When the Widdington sisters discover the handsome stranger on the beach below their house, they nurse him…
18
Call of the Wild (2009)
★ 5.9/10
Self-centered and status-conscious, ten year old Ryann Hale journeys to Montana to visit her down-to-earth grandpa, Bill Hale. Ryann bonds with a wolf-dog, Buck, and schemes to save him from a cruel dogsledder.
19
Swallows and Amazons (2016)
★ 6.3/10
Four children dream of escaping the tedium of a summer holiday with their mother. When finally given permission to camp on their own on an island in the middle of a vast lake, they are overjoyed. But when they get…
20
True Spirit (2023)
★ 7/10
When the tenacious young sailor Jessica Watson sets out to be the youngest person to sail solo, nonstop and unassisted around the world, many expect her to fail. With the support of her sailing coach and mentor Ben…