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Movies Like The Whales of August

If you liked The Whales of August (1987), a drama movie directed by Lindsay Anderson, 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. 1Marvin's Room

    Marvin's Room (1996)

    ★ 6.7/10Also drama

    A leukemia patient attempts to end a 20-year feud with her sister to get her bone marrow.

  2. 2Rachel Getting Married

    Rachel Getting Married (2008)

    ★ 6.3/10Also drama

    A young woman who has been in and out from rehab for the past 10 years returns home for the weekend for her sister's wedding.

  3. 3A Streetcar Named Desire

    A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

    ★ 7.6/10Also drama

    A disturbed, aging Southern belle moves in with her sister for solace — but being face-to-face with her brutish brother-in-law accelerates her downward spiral.

  4. 4Dancing at Lughnasa

    Dancing at Lughnasa (1998)

    ★ 6/10Also drama

    Five unmarried sisters make the most of their simple existence in rural Ireland in the 1930s.

  5. 5The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry

    The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (1945)

    ★ 6.2/10Also drama

    George Sanders stars in this engrossing melodrama about a very domineering sister who holds a tight grip on her brother -- especially when he shows signs of falling in love.

  6. 6What Maisie Knew

    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…

  7. 7The Color Purple

    The Color Purple (2023)

    ★ 7/10Also drama

    A decades-spanning tale of love and resilience and of one woman's journey to independence. Celie faces many hardships in her life, but ultimately finds extraordinary strength and hope in the unbreakable bonds of…

  8. 8Vanya on 42nd Street

    Vanya on 42nd Street (1994)

    ★ 6.7/10Also drama

    An uninterrupted rehearsal of Chekhov's 'Uncle Vanya' plays out by a company of actors. The setting: their run-down theater with an unusable stage and crumbling ceiling. The play is shown act by act with the briefest…

  9. 9Anne of Green Gables

    Anne of Green Gables (1985)

    ★ 8.1/10Also drama

    Anne Shirley, an orphan, is fostered by farmer Matthew Cuthbert and his sister Marilla, who were expecting a boy to be sent them to help with their farm work. They accept Anne, who quickly endears herself to them and…

  10. 10In the Bedroom

    In the Bedroom (2001)

    ★ 6.9/10Also drama

    Summertime on the coast of Maine, "In the Bedroom" centers on the inner dynamics of a family in transition. Matt Fowler is a doctor practicing in his native Maine and is married to New York born Ruth Fowler, a music…

  11. 11The Piano Lesson

    The Piano Lesson (2024)

    ★ 5.9/10Also drama

    A brother and sister's battle over a prized heirloom piano unleashes haunting truths about how the past is perceived — and who defines a family legacy.

  12. 12A River Runs Through It

    A River Runs Through It (1992)

    ★ 7/10Also drama

    The Maclean brothers, Paul and Norman, live a relatively idyllic life in rural Montana, spending much of their time fly fishing. The sons of a minister, the boys eventually part company when Norman moves east to attend…

  13. 13Head Full of Honey

    Head Full of Honey (2018)

    ★ 6.3/10Also drama

    A young girl tries to help her grandfather, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, navigate his increasing forgetfulness, and ends up going on a remarkable adventure with him.

  14. 14The Winter Guest

    The Winter Guest (1997)

    ★ 6.5/10Also drama

    It's winter in a small Scottish village near the sea, and multiple lives intersect in a day. Frances has just lost her husband to an early death, so her mother, Elspeth, travels to Frances' house to reconnect with her…

  15. 15You're Not You

    You're Not You (2014)

    ★ 7.4/10Also drama

    When an accomplished pianist is diagnosed with the devastating and incurable disease ALS, she hires a directionless young woman who becomes her full-time caregiver. Complete opposites, the strangers form a…

  16. 16Paris, Texas

    Paris, Texas (1984)

    ★ 8.1/10Also drama

    A man wanders out of the desert not knowing who he is. His brother finds him, and helps to pull his memory back of the life he led before he walked out on his family and disappeared four years earlier.

  17. 17Digging to China

    Digging to China (1997)

    ★ 6.4/10Also drama

    Precocious young Harriet and her older sister Gwen live at their mother's motel in small-town New Hampshire. Harriet dreams of a life beyond her inattentive family and the stultifying town. A mentally disabled man…

  18. 18Janet Planet

    Janet Planet (2024)

    ★ 6.1/10Also drama

    In rural Western Massachusetts, 11-year-old Lacy spends the summer of 1991 at home, enthralled by her own imagination and the attention of her mother, Janet. As the months pass, three visitors enter their orbit, all…

  19. 19Skin

    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.

  20. 20The Last Rifleman

    The Last Rifleman (2023)

    ★ 6.7/10Also drama

    A WWII veteran escapes his care home in Northern Ireland and embarks on an arduous but inspirational journey to France to attend the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, finding the courage to face the ghosts of his…

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