Movies Like I Want to Live

If you liked I Want to Live (1982), a drama movie directed by Miroslav Mikuljan, 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
Bring Them Down (2025)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
When 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.
2
Anemone (2025)
★ 5.8/10Also drama
Middle-aged Jem sets out from his suburban home on a journey into the woods, where he reconnects with his estranged hermit brother Ray. Bonded by a mysterious, complicated past, the men share a fraught, if occasionally…
3
The Greening of Whitney Brown (2011)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
Whitney, a spoiled pre-teen from Philadelphia, is forced to move to the country when her parents feel the squeeze of economic hard times. A fish out of water, far from her comfort zone, she befriends an amazing horse…
4
Daddy Longlegs (2010)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
After months of living a solitary existence, Lenny, 34, picks up his kids from school. Every year he spends a couple of weeks with his sons Sage, 9, and Frey, 7. Lenny hosts his kids within a midtown studio apartment…
5
Farming (2018)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
Based on the writer/director's childhood, FARMING tells the story of a young Nigerian boy, 'farmed out' by his parents to a white British family in the hope of a better future. Instead, he becomes the feared leader of…
6
Last Ride (2009)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
A young boy travels across Australia with his father, who's wanted by the law.
7
What Maisie Knew (2013)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
In New York City, six-year-old Maisie is caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle between her self-absorbed parents—an aging rock singer mother and a distracted art dealer father. As both quickly marry new…
8
One & Two (2015)
★ 5.8/10Also drama
In an isolated farmhouse, located in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by a mysterious wooden wall, Zac and Eva, two siblings gifted with extraordinary abilities, endure every day the wrath of their strict father…
9
In Cold Blood (1967)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
After 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.
10
The Beautiful Country (2004)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
After reuniting with his mother in Ho Chi Minh City, a family tragedy causes Binh to flee from Viet Nam to America. Landing in New York, Binh begins a road trip to Texas, where his American father is said to live.
11
The Nest (2020)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
Rory 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…
12
I Never Sang for My Father (1970)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
A man living in the towering shadow of his aging father finds it difficult to start a new chapter in his life by marrying his girlfriend and moving to California.
13
Holy Lands (2019)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
When 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…
14
Light of My Life (2019)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
Years after a pandemic wipes out most of the female population, a father struggles to shield his daughter from a dangerous and predatory world.
15
Skin (2009)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.
16
The Parts You Lose (2019)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
An unlikely friendship unfolds between a young deaf boy, Wesley, and a fugitive criminal who takes refuge in an abandoned barn on the family’s rural North Dakota farm.
17
Broken Lance (1954)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
Tensions erupt within an Arizona cattle baron's household when his three sons vie for control of the ranch.
18
The Color of Friendship (2000)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
Mahree Bok lives on a farm in South Africa. Her father is a policeman who cannot hide his joy when activist Steve Biko is caught by the South African authorities. Piper Dellums is the daughter of a US congressman from…
19
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.
20
Fences (2016)
★ 6.9/10Also drama
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.