Movies Like Not One Less

If you liked Not One Less (1999), a drama movie directed by Zhang Yimou, 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
Dead Poets Society (1989)
★ 8.3/10Also drama
At an elite, old-fashioned boarding school in New England, a passionate English teacher inspires his students to rebel against convention and seize the potential of every day, courting the disdain of the stern…
2
Cheaters (2000)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
In the fall of 1994, a teacher at Chicago's run-down Steinmetz High conspires with the school's academic decathlon team to cheat on an academic competition.
3
Detachment (2011)
★ 7.6/10Also drama
A chronicle of three weeks in the lives of several high school teachers, administrators and students through the eyes of substitute teacher Henry Barthes. Henry roams from school to school, imparting modes of…
4
Johnny Tsunami (1999)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
A Hawaiian teenage surfer shows off his skills when he takes to the snow slopes in Vermont.
5
Pay It Forward (2000)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
Like some other kids, 12-year-old Trevor McKinney believed in the goodness of human nature. Like many other kids, he was determined to change the world for the better. Unlike most other kids, he succeeded.
6
The Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon (1997)
★ 7.2/10Also drama
Jack London's classic story from 1903 about Buck, a dog kidnapped from his home in California and taken to the Yukon where he is mistreated until a prospector discovers him and relates to his situation. Although the…
7
Beyond the Blackboard (2011)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
Inspired by a true story, “Beyond the Blackboard” is about a 24-year-old first-time teacher who makes a difference in the lives of the homeless children she teaches in a shelter’s makeshift classroom. Set in 1987 in…
8
The Good Witch's Family (2011)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
A young witch visits her cousin in a small town during a heated mayoral election race. Her kind-hearted cousin, the town’s beloved “good witch” and newlywed with two teenage step-kids, is running for office, but must…
9
October Sky (1999)
★ 7.7/10Also drama
The true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes.
10
Stray Dogs (2014)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
An alcoholic man and his two young children barely survive in Taipei. They cross paths with a lonely grocery clerk who might help them make a better life.
11
Mountain Patrol (2004)
★ 7.6/10Also drama
A moving true story about volunteers protecting antelope against poachers in the severe mountains of Tibet.
12
Head Full of Honey (2018)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
A young girl tries to help her grandfather, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, navigate his increasing forgetfulness, and ends up going on a remarkable adventure with him.
13
Frontera (2014)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
After crossing the border illegally for work, Miguel, a hard-working father and devoted husband, finds himself wrongfully accused of murdering a former sheriff’s wife. After learning of his imprisonment, Miguel’s…
14
Sleep Dealer (2008)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
Set in a near-future, militarized world marked by closed borders, virtual labor and a global digital network that joins minds and experiences, three strangers risk their lives to connect with each other and break the…
15
Mr. Tree (2011)
★ 7.2/10Also drama
Teased by hallucinations, Shu, a slacker living in a rural village, struggles with an ever-loosening grip on reality. Yet when one of his visions manifests as real, his fellow villagers come to regard him as a…
16
Flicka (2006)
★ 6.9/10Also drama
Katy McLaughlin desires to work on her family's mountainside horse ranch, although her father insists she finish boarding school. Katy finds a mustang in the hills near her ranch. The headstrong 16 year old then sets…
17
Normal (2003)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
A Midwestern husband and father announces his plan to have a sex change operation.
18
Black Dog (2024)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
Released from jail, Lang returns to his hometown in Northwest China. As part of a dog patrol tasked with clearing stray dogs before the 2008 Olympics, he bonds with a black stray. The two lonely souls embark on a new…
19
Buddha Mountain (2011)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
In Chengdu, China, a retired female opera singer named Master Chang takes in a trio of young tenants into her boarding home. The tenants include a rock singer and a college student who has run away from home.
20
Stand by Me (1986)
★ 7.8/10Also drama
After learning that a boy their age has been accidentally killed near their rural homes, four boys decide to go see the body. Gordie, Vern, Chris, and Teddy encounter a mean junk man and a marsh full of leeches, but…