Movies Like Bastard Out of Carolina

If you liked Bastard Out of Carolina (1996), a drama movie directed by Anjelica Huston, 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
The Safety of Objects (2002)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband…
2
Hounddog (2008)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
3
Lucky Them (2013)
★ 6/10Also drama
More interested in partying and flirting with young musicians than work, veteran rock journalist Ellie Klug has one last chance to prove her value to her magazine’s editor: a no-stone-unturned search to discover what…
4
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…
5
Strange Weather (2016)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
Years after her son's suicide, a woman longs to confront both the past and a friend of his who took his business idea.
6
The Trials of Cate McCall (2013)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.
7
Iron Jawed Angels (2004)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
Defiant young activists take the women's suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote.
8
A Dry White Season (1989)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.
9
Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
An acclaimed stage performer, Dorothy still struggled with the challenge of her color, in a time that wouldn't let some stars in by the front door. Yet against the odds she beat out many more famous rivals for the role…
10
Goodbye June (2025)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
Four siblings' lives change drastically when their ailing mother takes a turn for the worse over the holiday season.
11
El Chicano (2019)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
A pair of twin brothers from East L.A. choose to live their lives differently and end up on opposite sides of the law.
12
Tuesday (2024)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
A mother and her teenage daughter must confront Death when it arrives in the form of an astonishing talking bird.
13
The Poker House (2008)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
Agnes and her two sisters struggle through a day in a home overrun by gamblers, thieves, and johns.
14
The Short History of the Long Road (2019)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
Nola grew up living in a van with her father, Clint—two nomads against the world. When tragedy strikes, Nola must confront the reality of life on the road alone, learning to own her grief, her past, and her new…
15
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.
16
Helen (2009)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
On the outside, Helen has it all – a loving family and a successful career – but when her suppressed mental illness resurfaces, the world crumbles around her. Crippled by depression, Helen finds solace through her…
17
Alex of Venice (2015)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
After her stay-at-home husband leaves her, a workaholic lawyer finds that she is not completely up to the tasks of caring for her young son, ailing father and household all by herself.
18
Holler (2021)
★ 6/10Also drama
In a forgotten pocket of Southern Ohio where American manufacturing and opportunity are drying up, a determined young woman finds a ticket out when she is accepted to college. Alongside her older brother, Ruth Avery…
19
Hands of Stone (2016)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
20
Vesper (2022)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
After the collapse of Earth's ecosystem, Vesper, a 13-year-old girl struggling to survive with her paralyzed Father, meets a mysterious Woman with a secret that forces Vesper to use her wits, strength and bio-hacking…