Movies Like Sam's Boy

If you liked Sam's Boy (1922), a movie directed by H. Manning Haynes, here are 19 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
The Lost Bus (2025)
★ 7/10
A determined father risks everything to rescue a dedicated teacher and her students from a raging wildfire.
2
Fences (2016)
★ 6.9/10
In 1950s Pittsburgh, a frustrated African-American father struggles with the constraints of poverty, racism, and his own inner demons as he tries to raise a family.
3
The Road (2009)
★ 7/10
A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind and water. It is cold enough to crack stones and, when the snow falls, it is gray. Their…
4
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
★ 7.6/10
Born under unusual circumstances, Benjamin Button springs into being as an elderly man in a New Orleans nursing home and ages in reverse. Twelve years after his birth, he meets Daisy, a child who flits in and out of…
5
Fluke (1995)
★ 7.1/10
Workaholic Thomas Johnson dies in an auto accident and reincarnates as a dog. Remembering some of his previous being, he returns to his wife and son to protect them from the man who caused his accident. But, as time…
6
Dad (1989)
★ 6.4/10
A busy executive learns during a meeting that his mother may be dying and rushes home to her side. He ends up being his father's caretaker and becomes closer to him than ever before. Estranged from his own son, the…
7
The Big Country (1958)
★ 7.6/10
Retired wealthy sea captain Jim McKay arrives in the Old West, where he becomes embroiled in a feud between his future father-in-law, Major Terrill, and the rough and lawless Hannasseys over a valuable patch of land.
8
Greenland 2: Migration (2026)
★ 6.4/10
Having found the safety of the Greenland bunker after the comet Clarke decimated the Earth, the Garrity family must now risk everything to embark on a perilous journey across the wasteland of Europe to find a new home.
9
She Rides Shotgun (2025)
★ 7/10
Newly released from prison and marked for death by unrelenting enemies, Nate must now protect his estranged 11-year-old daughter, Polly, at all costs. With scant resources and no one to trust, Nate and Polly forge a…
10
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
★ 7.9/10
A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.
11
News of the World (2020)
★ 6.9/10
A Texan traveling across the wild West bringing the news of the world to local townspeople, agrees to help rescue a young girl who was kidnapped.
12
Nowhere Special (2020)
★ 7.3/10
John, a 35-year-old window cleaner, has dedicated his life to bringing up his 4-year-old son, Michael, after the child's mother left them soon after giving birth. When John is given only a few months left to live, he…
13
The Grey (2012)
★ 6.6/10
After their plane crashes in Alaska, six oil workers are led by a skilled huntsman to survival, but a pack of merciless wolves haunts their every step.
14
Old Yeller (1957)
★ 6.9/10
Young Travis Coates is left to take care of the family ranch with his mother and younger brother while his father goes off on a cattle drive in the 1860s. When a yellow mongrel comes for an uninvited stay with the…
15
White Squall (1996)
★ 6.3/10
In 1960, a hardy group of prep school students boards an old-fashioned sailing ship. With Capt. Christopher Sheldon at the helm, the oceangoing voyage is intended to teach the boys fortitude and discipline. But the…
16
Last Ride (2009)
★ 6.4/10
A young boy travels across Australia with his father, who's wanted by the law.
17
The Black Stallion (1979)
★ 7.1/10
While traveling with his father, young Alec becomes fascinated by a mysterious Arabian stallion that is brought on board and stabled in the ship he is sailing on. When it tragically sinks both he and the horse survive…
18
Light of My Life (2019)
★ 6.5/10
Years after a pandemic wipes out most of the female population, a father struggles to shield his daughter from a dangerous and predatory world.
19
The Call of the Wild (2020)
★ 7.5/10
Buck is a big-hearted dog whose blissful domestic life is turned upside down when he is suddenly uprooted from his California home and transplanted to the exotic wilds of the Yukon during the Gold Rush of the 1890s. As…