Movies Like When the Whales Came

If you liked When the Whales Came (1989), a drama movie directed by Clive Rees, 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
Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
Max imagines running away from his mom and sailing to a far-off land where large talking beasts—Ira, Carol, Douglas, the Bull, Judith and Alexander—crown him as their king, play rumpus, build forts and discover secret…
2
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
Hushpuppy, an intrepid six-year-old girl, lives with her father, Wink, in 'the Bathtub', a southern Delta community at the edge of the world. Wink’s tough love prepares her for the unraveling of the universe—for a time…
3
Moby Dick (1956)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
In 1841, young Ishmael signs up for service aboard the Pequod, a whaler sailing out of New Bedford. The ship is under the command of Captain Ahab, a strict disciplinarian who exhorts his men to find Moby Dick, the…
4
Age of Consent (1969)
★ 6/10Also drama
An elderly artist thinks he has become too stale and is past his prime. His friend (and agent) persuades him to go to an offshore island to try once more. On the island he re-discovers his muse in the form of a young…
5
Breath (2017)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
A pair of teenagers in Western Australia looking to escape the monotony of life in a small town take up surfing lessons from a guy named Sando.
6
The Lighthouse (2019)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
Two lighthouse keepers try to maintain their sanity while living on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.
7
Lord of the Flies (1963)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
Following a plane crash a group of schoolboys find themselves on a deserted island. They appoint a leader and attempt to create an organized society for the sake of their survival. Democracy and order soon begin to…
8
Storm Boy (2019)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
Storm Boy lives a lonely life with his reclusive father on a desolate coastline, but when he forms a close bond with a pelican, Mr. Percival, his life takes a new and unexpected turn.
9
Lord of the Flies (1990)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
When their plane crashes, 25 schoolboys find themselves trapped on a tropical island, miles from civilization.
10
The Young One (1960)
★ 7/10Also drama
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
11
Life of Pi (2012)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
The story of an Indian boy named Pi, a zookeeper's son who finds himself in the company of a hyena, zebra, orangutan, and a Bengal tiger after a shipwreck sets them adrift in the Pacific Ocean.
12
Bait (2019)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
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…
13
The Bounty (1984)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
An idyllic voyage to Tahiti in 1789 turns a crew aboard the H.M.S. Bounty against its captain when they find a tropical paradise.
14
Watership Down (1978)
★ 7.2/10Also drama
When the warren belonging to a community of rabbits is threatened, a brave group led by Fiver, Bigwig, Blackberry and Hazel leave their homeland in a search of a safe new haven.
15
Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove (2010)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
After young Kirra leaves her Australian home to summer with her grandfather in South Africa, she soon discovers a baby orca stranded in the lagoon near her grandfather’s rundown seaside amusement park. She names the…
16
Big Fish (2003)
★ 7.7/10Also drama
Throughout his life Edward Bloom has always been a man of big appetites, enormous passions and tall tales. In his later years, he remains a huge mystery to his son, William. Now, to get to know the real man, Will…
17
In the Heart of the Sea (2015)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
In the winter of 1820, the New England whaling ship Essex is assaulted by something no one could believe—a whale of mammoth size and will, and an almost human sense of vengeance.
18
Remarkably Bright Creatures (2026)
★ 8.3/10Also drama
Through unlikely bonds formed during night shifts at a local aquarium, Tova, an elderly widow, learns of a life-changing discovery that may bring her joy and wonder once again.
19
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
A shipping disaster in the 19th Century has stranded a man and woman in the wilds of Africa. The lady is pregnant, and gives birth to a son in their tree house. Soon after, a family of apes stumble across the house and…
20
The Road Dance (2022)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
A young girl lives in the Outer Hebrides in a small village in the years just before WWI. Isolated and hard by the shore, her life takes a dramatic change when a terrible tragedy befalls her.