Movies Like Akseli and Elina

If you liked Akseli and Elina (1970), a drama movie directed by Edvin Laine, 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
Mother of Mine (2005)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
1943: Nine-year-old Eero whose father is killed during the war is brought to Sweden to foster parents to his protection like thousands of other Finnish children. Eero feels lost, particularly as his foster mother Signe…
2
A Call to Spy (2020)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
The story of Vera Atkins, a crafty spy recruiter, and two of the first women she selects for Churchill's "secret army": Virginia Hall, a daring American undaunted by a disability and Noor Inayat Khan, a pacifist. These…
3
Gigi & Nate (2022)
★ 7.6/10Also drama
A young man with a bright future suffers a near-fatal accident and recreates his new life with the help of an unlikely animal friend.
4
The Unknown Soldier (1985)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
Second silver screen adaption of the Finnish war book by Väinö Linna. The story is based on Linna's experiences as an infantry man in the Finnish army during the so called "Continuation War" (1941-1944).
5
The Giver (2014)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
In a seemingly perfect community, without war, pain, suffering, differences or choice, a young boy is chosen to learn from an elderly man about the true pain and pleasure of the "real" world.
6
Home (2021)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
An ex-felon returns home from prison and must confront the demons of his past.
7
The Power of One (1992)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
PK, an English orphan terrorized for his family's political beliefs in Africa, turns to his only friend, a kindly world-wise prisoner, Geel Piet. Geel teaches him how to box with the motto “fight with your fists and…
8
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…
9
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.
10
F.I.S.T. (1978)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
Johnny Kovak joins the Teamsters trade-union in a local chapter in the 1930s and works his way up in the organization. As he climbs higher and higher his methods become more ruthless and finally senator Madison starts…
11
Eleanor the Great (2025)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
12
The Girl in the Book (2015)
★ 5.8/10Also drama
The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.
13
Winged Creatures (2009)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
A psychotic man opens fire in a diner, murdering numerous people before killing himself. The survivors struggle in different ways following this horrendous event: a doctor doubts his own instincts and elects to use an…
14
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.
15
The Guns of Navarone (1961)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
A team of allied saboteurs are assigned an impossible mission: infiltrate an impregnable Nazi-held island and destroy the two enormous long-range field guns that prevent the rescue of 2,000 trapped British soldiers.
16
Empire of the Sun (1987)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
Jamie Graham, a privileged English boy, is living in Shanghai when the Japanese invade and force all foreigners into prison camps. Jamie is captured with an American sailor, who looks out for him while they are in the…
17
Tyson's Run (2022)
★ 7.7/10Also drama
When fifteen-year-old Tyson attends public school for the first time, his life is changed forever. While helping his father clean up after the football team, Tyson befriends champion marathon runner Aklilu. Never…
18
Fast Girls (2012)
★ 6/10Also drama
A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.
19
The Boy in the Woods (2023)
★ 7/10Also drama
The remarkable true-life survival story of a Jewish boy hiding and being hunted in the forests of Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe, based on Maxwell Smart's memoir.
20
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
Middle-aged widow Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her daughters Ruth and Matilda are struggling to survive in a society they barely understand. Beatrice dreams of opening an elegant tea room but does not have the wherewithal…