Movies Like Joy
If you liked Joy (2012), a drama movie directed by Ilias Giannakakis, 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

The Young One (1960)
★ 7/10Also dramaA jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
- 2

Holy Lands (2019)
★ 6.1/10Also dramaWhen lapsed Jew and former cardiologist Harry suddenly decides to spend his retirement as a pig farmer in Nazareth, Israel, the move deeply shocks his family and his new neighbours. Back in New York, Harry’s ex-wife…
- 3

Lorelei (2020)
★ 6/10Also dramaA man is released from prison after 15 years. He reunites with his high school girlfriend, now a single mother of three. What follows is a lyrical take on love, regret and second chances.
- 4

Cardboard Boxer (2016)
★ 6.5/10Also dramaGentle and broken, a homeless man fights others on video for money but soon finds comfort in an unlikely friend and the lost diary of a young girl.
- 5

Salomé (2013)
★ 6.1/10Also dramaAfter the lewd and frenetic Dance of the Seven Veils, and with the solemn pledge from the very lips of Herod himself that she could have whatever her heart desires up to half his kingdom, wanton and proud young Salomé…
- 6

Come Sunday (2018)
★ 5.8/10Also dramaEvangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.
- 7

The Color of Friendship (2000)
★ 6.7/10Also dramaMahree Bok lives on a farm in South Africa. Her father is a policeman who cannot hide his joy when activist Steve Biko is caught by the South African authorities. Piper Dellums is the daughter of a US congressman from…
- 8

Gracie (2007)
★ 6.2/10Also dramaA teenager faces an uphill battle when she fights to give women the opportunity to play competitive soccer.
- 9

Hands of Stone (2016)
★ 6.6/10Also dramaThe legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
- 10

Kisses (2008)
★ 7.1/10Also dramaTwo kids, Dylan and Kylie, run away from home on Christmas Day and spend a night of magic and terror on the streets of inner-city Dublin.
- 11

Poor Cow (1967)
★ 6.4/10Also dramaJoy lives a life filled with bad choices. At a young age, she marries and has a child–with an abusive thief who quickly ends up incarcerated. Left alone, she takes up with the guy's mate, another thief, who seems to…
- 12

The Kindness of Strangers (2019)
★ 6.4/10Also dramaClara and her two sons escape from her abusive husband with little more than their car and plan to start over in New York. After the car towed away, the family meets Alice, who gets them into an emergency shelter…
- 13

El Chicano (2019)
★ 6.6/10Also dramaA pair of twin brothers from East L.A. choose to live their lives differently and end up on opposite sides of the law.
- 14

What Maisie Knew (2013)
★ 7.1/10Also dramaIn New York City, a young girl is caught in the middle of her parents' bitter custody battle.
- 15

The Wasp (2024)
★ 6.3/10Also dramaHeather bumps into Carla, having not spoken to her in years, and presents her with a very unexpected proposition that could change both of their lives forever.
- 16

Girl in the Box (2016)
★ 6.7/10Also dramaThe 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.
- 17

Waiting for Anya (2020)
★ 6.3/10Also dramaDuring the harrows of WWII, Jo, a young shepherd along with the help of the widow Horcada, helps to smuggle Jewish children across the border from southern France into Spain.
- 18

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972)
★ 7.3/10Also dramaMiddle-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…
- 19

Most (2003)
★ 7.3/10Also dramaA poetic and powerful story of a father forced to choose between love and duty.
- 20

90 Minutes in Heaven (2015)
★ 5.9/10Also dramaA man involved in a horrific car crash is pronounced dead, only to come back to life an hour and a half later, claiming to have seen Heaven.