Movies Like Orphan of the Past

If you liked Orphan of the Past (2012), a drama and tv movie movie directed by Artur Ribeiro, 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
Palmer (2021)
★ 8.1/10Also drama
After 12 years in prison, former high school football star Eddie Palmer returns home to put his life back together—and forms an unlikely bond with Sam, an outcast boy from a troubled home. But Eddie's past threatens to…
2
Wasteman (2026)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
Taylor's hopes for a fresh start post-parole are jeopardised by cellmate Dee's arrival. As Dee takes Taylor under his wing, a vicious attack tests their bond, forcing Taylor to choose between protecting Dee and his own…
3
Passion Fish (1992)
★ 7/10Also drama
After an accident leaves her a paraplegic, a former soap opera star struggles to recover both emotionally and mentally, until she meets her newest nurse, who has struggles of her own.
4
Girl in the Box (2016)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and tv movie
The true story of 20-year-old Colleen Stan, a hitchhiking woman abducted by a young couple and held captive for seven years, during which time she's tortured and forced to live as a slave to her captors.
5
Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story (2003)
★ 7.3/10Also drama and tv movie
Based on a true story. Liz Murray is a young girl who is taken care of by her loving, but drug-addicted parents. Liz becomes homeless at 15 and after a tragedy comes upon her, she begins her work to finish high school.
6
Return to Sender (2015)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
A nurse mistakes a stranger who pays her a visit for her blind date and soon, the man rapes her and turns her life upside down. The woman works to reclaim her life and exact revenge on her assailant after he's paroled…
7
Stuart: A Life Backwards (2007)
★ 7.4/10Also drama and tv movie
Story about the remarkable friendship between a reclusive writer and illustrator and a chaotic homeless man, whom he gets to know during a campaign to release two charity workers from prison.
8
The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
When illegal card dealer and recovering heroin addict Frankie Machine gets out of prison, he decides to straighten up. Armed with nothing but an old drum set, Frankie tries to get honest work as a drummer. But when his…
9
I Am Elizabeth Smart (2017)
★ 6.8/10Also drama and tv movie
The story of Elizabeth Smart's kidnapping and captivity, as told from her perspective.
10
Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (1996)
★ 7.1/10Also drama and tv movie
A dramatization of the life of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (Don Cheadle), with a lot of factual based occurrences. A reformed junkie returns from prison to clean up his act and devote the rest of his life to the young…
11
The Good Neighbor (2022)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
A nightmarish evening unfolds for neighbors David and Robert when they accidentally hit a woman on her bike and flee the scene. While David is increasingly plagued by feelings of guilt, Robert shows no remorse and…
12
What Doesn't Kill You (2008)
★ 6/10Also drama
Two childhood friends from South Boston turn to crime as a way to get by, ultimately causing a strain in their personal lives and their friendship.
13
Faster (2010)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
After 10 years in prison, Driver is now a free man with a single focus - hunting down the people responsible for brutally murdering his brother.
14
The Unforgivable (2021)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
A woman is released from prison after serving a sentence for a violent crime and re-enters a society that refuses to forgive her past.
15
The Village (2004)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
When a willful young man tries to venture beyond his sequestered Pennsylvania hamlet, his actions set off a chain of chilling incidents that will alter the community forever.
16
My Dinner with Hervé (2018)
★ 6.3/10Also drama and tv movie
An unlikely friendship evolves over one wild night in LA between a struggling journalist and actor Hervé Villechaize, the world's most famous gun-toting dwarf, resulting in life-changing consequences for both.
17
All Day and a Night (2020)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.
18
Dead Man's Shoes (2004)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
A soldier returns to his small town and exacts a deadly revenge on the thugs who tormented his disabled brother while he was away.
19
Rear Window (1954)
★ 8.3/10Also drama
A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.
20
Lock Up (1989)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
Frank Leone is nearing the end of his prison term for a relatively minor crime. Just before he is paroled, however, Warden Drumgoole takes charge. Drumgoole was assigned to a hell-hole prison after his administration…