Movies Like I Want to Be Famous

If you liked I Want to Be Famous (1976), a drama movie directed by Roger Lambert, 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
Giant Little Ones (2019)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
Two popular teen boys, best friends since childhood, discover their lives, families, and girlfriends dramatically upended after an unexpected incident occurs on the night of a 17th birthday party.
2
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…
3
Boy A (2008)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
Freed after a lengthy term in a juvenile detention center, convicted child killer Jack Burridge finds work as a deliveryman and begins dating co-worker Michelle. While out on the road one day, Jack notices a distressed…
4
Boyhood (2014)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
The film tells a story of a divorced couple trying to raise their young son. The story follows the boy for twelve years, from first grade at age 6 through 12th grade at age 17-18, and examines his relationship with his…
5
The Fabelmans (2022)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
Growing up in post-World War II era Arizona, young Sammy Fabelman aspires to become a filmmaker as he reaches adolescence, but soon discovers a shattering family secret and explores how the power of films can help him…
6
Donnie Darko (2001)
★ 7.8/10Also drama
After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.
7
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
★ 7.8/10Also drama
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1991. High school freshman Charlie is a wallflower, always watching life from the sidelines, until two senior students, Sam and her stepbrother Patrick, become his mentors, helping him…
8
Paperhouse (1988)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
A young girl lost in the loneliness and boredom of reality finds solace in an ill boy, whom she can visit in a surreal dream world that she drew in her school composition book.
9
Mammal (2016)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
After Margaret, a divorcée living in Dublin, loses her teenage son, she develops an unorthodox relationship with Joe, a homeless youth. Their tentative trust is threatened by his involvement with a violent gang and the…
10
Manic (2002)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
In lieu of prison, Lyle, a violent adolescent, is placed in a juvenile mental institution where he encounters a group of equally troubled teens. This motley crew—abused, sexually confused, violent, and yet hanging on…
11
Mysterious Skin (2005)
★ 7.7/10Also drama
A teenage hustler and a young man obsessed with alien abductions cross paths, together discovering a horrible, liberating truth.
12
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…
13
Trust (2010)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
A suburban family is torn apart when fourteen-year-old Annie meets her first boyfriend online. After months of communicating via online chat and phone, Annie discovers her friend is not who he originally claimed to be…
14
This Boy's Life (1993)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
When a son and mother move to Seattle in hopes for a better life, the mother meets a seemingly polite man. Things go south when the man turns out to be abusive, endangering their lives. As the mother struggles to…
15
Kes (1970)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
Bullied at school and ignored and abused at home by his indifferent mother and older brother, Billy Casper, a 15-year-old working-class Yorkshire boy, tames and trains his pet kestrel falcon whom he names Kes. Helped…
16
Joe Bell (2020)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
The true story of a small town, working class father who embarks on a solo walk across the U.S. to crusade against bullying after his son is tormented in high school for being gay.
17
Nocturnal Animals (2016)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
Susan Morrow receives a book manuscript from her ex-husband – a man she left 20 years earlier – asking for her opinion of his writing. As she reads, she is drawn into the fictional life of Tony Hastings, a mathematics…
18
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)
★ 7/10Also drama
An award-winning cynical journalist, Lloyd Vogel, begrudgingly accepts an assignment to write an Esquire profile piece on the beloved television icon Fred Rogers. After his encounter with Rogers, Vogel's perspective on…
19
Bully (2001)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
A group of teenagers in South Florida enact a murder plot against their mutual bully, Bobby, who has emotionally, physically, and sexually abused them for years.
20
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…