Movies Like Up the Down Staircase

If you liked Up the Down Staircase (1967), a drama movie directed by Robert Mulligan, 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
Wonderstruck (2017)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
The story of a young boy in the Midwest is told simultaneously with a tale about a young girl in New York from fifty years ago as they both seek the same mysterious connection.
2
Wonder (2017)
★ 8.1/10Also drama
The story of August Pullman – a boy with facial differences – who enters fifth grade, attending a mainstream elementary school for the first time.
3
Music of the Heart (1999)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
After Roberta Guaspari separates from her husband, she receives encouragement from her mother to take up a job of a music teacher at the Central Park East School in East Harlem.
4
Hungry Hearts (2015)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
The relationship of a couple who meet by chance in New York City is put to the test when they encounter a life or death circumstance.
5
To Sir, with Love (1967)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
A British Guianese engineer starts a job as a high school teacher in London’s East End, where his uninterested and delinquent pupils are in desperate need of attention and care.
6
Won't Back Down (2012)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for…
7
The Penguin Lessons (2025)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
In 1976, as Argentina descends into violence and chaos, a world-weary English teacher regains his compassion for others thanks to an unlikely friendship with a penguin.
8
The Emperor's Club (2002)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
William Hundert is a passionate and principled Classics professor who finds his tightly-controlled world shaken and inexorably altered when a new student, Sedgewick Bell, walks into his classroom. What begins as a…
9
A Little Princess (1995)
★ 7.6/10Also drama
When her father enlists to fight for the British in WWI, young Sara Crewe goes to New York to attend the same boarding school her late mother attended. She soon clashes with the severe headmistress, Miss Minchin, who…
10
Coach Carter (2005)
★ 7.6/10Also drama
Based on a true story, in which Richmond High School head basketball coach Ken Carter made headlines in 1999 for benching his undefeated team due to poor academic results.
11
The Words (2012)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
The Words follows young writer Rory Jansen who finally achieves long sought after literary success after publishing the next great American novel. There's only one catch - he didn't write it. As the past comes back to…
12
My Salinger Year (2020)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
A college grad takes a clerical job working for the literary agent of the renowned, reclusive writer J.D. Salinger.
13
Bridge to Terabithia (2007)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
Jesse Aarons trained all summer to become the fastest runner in school. So he's very upset when newcomer Leslie Burke outruns him and everyone else. Despite this and other differences including that she's rich, he's…
14
Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)
★ 7.2/10Also drama
The story of boxer Rocky Graziano's rise from juvenile delinquent to world champ.
15
The Woman in the Window (1944)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
A seductive woman gets an innocent professor mixed up in murder.
16
The Truth About Emanuel (2013)
★ 6/10Also drama
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
17
Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2019)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
When architect-turned-recluse Bernadette Fox goes missing prior to a family trip to Antarctica, her 15-year-old daughter, Bee, goes on a quest with Bernadette's husband to find her.
18
The Other Woman (2010)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
Emilia, a law-school graduate, falls in love with her married boss, Jack. After Emilia marries Jack, her happiness turns unexpectedly to grief following the death of her infant daughter. Devastated, Emilia nonetheless…
19
Edie (2018)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
To try and overcome a lifetime of bitterness and resentment, 83-year-old Edie decides that it is never too late. After packing an old camping bag, she leaves her life behind and embarks on an adventure she never got to…
20
Finding Forrester (2000)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
Gus Van Sant tells the story of a young African American man named Jamal who confronts his talents while living on the streets of the Bronx. He accidentally runs into an old writer named Forrester who discovers his…