Movies Like A Reason to Live

If you liked A Reason to Live (1985), a drama and tv movie movie directed by Peter Levin, 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
Girl in the Box (2016)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and tv movie
The true story of 20-year-old Colleen Stan, a hitchhiking woman abducted by a young couple and held captive for seven years, during which time she's tortured and forced to live as a slave to her captors.
2
Cheaters (2000)
★ 6.3/10Also drama and tv movie
In the fall of 1994, a teacher at Chicago's run-down Steinmetz High conspires with the school's academic decathlon team to cheat on an academic competition.
3
TalhotBlond (2012)
★ 6.3/10Also drama and tv movie
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.
4
Normal (2003)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and tv movie
A Midwestern husband and father announces his plan to have a sex change operation.
5
Hello (2022)
★ 6.3/10Also drama and tv movie
An emotionally unavailable flight attendant meets a potential love interest and later finds out that her "perfect guy" has ulterior motives. As the clock ticks down on New Year's Eve, she must fight to keep her…
6
Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (1996)
★ 7.1/10Also drama and tv movie
A dramatization of the life of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (Don Cheadle), with a lot of factual based occurrences. A reformed junkie returns from prison to clean up his act and devote the rest of his life to the young…
7
Hello Sister, Goodbye Life (2006)
★ 6.1/10Also drama and tv movie
A college student must take care of her 7-year-old half sister after the death of their parents.
8
Heaven (2019)
★ 6.2/10Also drama and tv movie
Heaven Leigh Casteel, gifted and intelligent, is the eldest of five dirt-poor children struggling to survive in a mountain shack. As she endures neglect and abuse, Heaven discovers a dark secret that changes everything…
9
Iron Jawed Angels (2004)
★ 6.8/10Also drama and tv movie
Defiant young activists take the women's suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote.
10
Seeds of Yesterday (2015)
★ 6.4/10Also tv movie and drama
The Sheffield family reveal and go through some home truths as their middle child inherits the Foxworth mansion. The family's ghosts looming over, and more tragedies are in store as the curse lives on.
11
The Christmas Shoes (2002)
★ 6.8/10Also drama and tv movie
Two separate stories mesh - in the first, a young music teacher, Maggie Andrews, begins dying of a heart condition and her son Nathan tries to get a pair of Christmas shoes for her before she dies. In the second…
12
Ray Donovan: The Movie (2022)
★ 6.8/10Also drama and tv movie
A showdown decades in the making brings the Donovan family legacy full circle. As the events that made Ray who he is today finally come to light, the Donovans find themselves drawn back to Boston to face the past. Each…
13
American Son (2019)
★ 6.1/10Also drama and tv movie
Time passes and tension mounts in a Florida police station as an estranged interracial couple awaits news of their missing teenage son.
14
Chatroom (2010)
★ 5.8/10Also drama
When strangers Jim, Eva, Emily and Mo meet William online in his new 'Chelsea Teens!' chatroom, they're completely seduced by his fast-talking, charismatic character. But beneath the surface lies a much darker truth…
15
Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors (2015)
★ 6.5/10Also drama and tv movie
"Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors" is based on the inspiring true story of living legend Dolly Parton's remarkable upbringing. This once-in-a-lifetime movie special takes place inside the tight-knit Parton family as…
16
Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding (2003)
★ 6/10Also drama and tv movie
Mitch Buchannon, believed to have died in a boating accident survived and only has amnesia, he has been recovering in a Los Angeles hospital. His new fiancée, Allison Ford, resembles his old lover, Lt. Stephanie Holden…
17
Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal (2008)
★ 5.9/10Also drama and tv movie
Based on a true story. Five high school cheerleaders, including the daughter of the school principal, run amok -- and teachers, parents and administrators allow them to get away with a wide range of scandalous…
18
Beast (2026)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
MMA legend Patton James, now a commercial fisherman, is pulled back into the cage when his brother is in danger. Reuniting with his old coach Sammy, he commits to one final fight in one championship against the brutal…
19
I Am Elizabeth Smart (2017)
★ 6.8/10Also drama and tv movie
The story of Elizabeth Smart's kidnapping and captivity, as told from her perspective.
20
Scum (1977)
★ 7.2/10Also tv movie and drama
Carlin is a new reform school inmate with a reputation as a hard case. The authorities encourage gang leader Pongo to humble Carlin, but Carlin overtakes Pongo as Daddy of the ward. The guards institute a reign of…