Movies Like Life Ain't Like the Movies

If you liked Life Ain't Like the Movies (2021), a drama movie directed by Robert Mychal Butler, 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
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
A disturbed and institutionalized 16-year-old girl struggles between fantasy and reality.
2
All Together Now (2020)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
An optimistic, talented teen clings to a huge secret: she's homeless and living on a school bus. When tragedy strikes, can she learn to accept a helping hand?
3
Hounddog (2008)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
4
Hala (2019)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
Seventeen-year-old Pakistani American teenager Hala struggles to balance desire with her family, cultural, and religious obligations. As she comes into her own, she grapples with a secret that threatens to unravel her…
5
Lorelei (2020)
★ 6/10Also drama
A 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.
6
Charm City Kings (2020)
★ 7.8/10Also drama
Mouse desperately wants to join The Midnight Clique, the infamous Baltimore dirt bike riders who rule the summertime streets. When Midnight’s leader, Blax, takes 14-year-old Mouse under his wing, Mouse soon finds…
7
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.
8
Hungry Hearts (2015)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
The relationship of a couple who meet by chance in New York City is put to the test when they encounter a life or death circumstance.
9
The Truth About Emanuel (2013)
★ 6/10Also drama
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
10
The Young One (1960)
★ 7/10Also drama
A 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.
11
Pimp (2018)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
An urban love story set on the hard streets of the Bronx. A struggling female pimp, named Wednesday, grows up learning the game from her dad. Once he's gone she's left to look out for her prostitute mother and…
12
Imperial Dreams (2014)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
A 21-year-old reformed gangster's devotion to his family and his future is put to the test when he is released from prison and returns to his old stomping grounds in Watts, Los Angeles.
13
1 Chance 2 Dance (2014)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
When a 17-year old aspiring dancer is uprooted in her high school senior year, she finds herself divided between two boys, and she will have one last shot at making her dream a reality.
14
The Girl in the Book (2015)
★ 5.8/10Also drama
The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.
15
Above the Rim (1994)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
Story of a promising high school basketball star and his relationships with two brothers, one a drug dealer and the other a former basketball star fallen on hard times and now employed as a security guard.
16
Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story (2003)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
Based on a true story. Liz Murray is a young girl who is taken care of by her loving, but drug-addicted parents. Liz becomes homeless at 15 and after a tragedy comes upon her, she begins her work to finish high school.
17
All Day and a Night (2020)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.
18
Fast Girls (2012)
★ 6/10Also drama
A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.
19
The Short History of the Long Road (2019)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
Nola grew up living in a van with her father, Clint—two nomads against the world. When tragedy strikes, Nola must confront the reality of life on the road alone, learning to own her grief, her past, and her new…
20
Lady Driver (2020)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
When a rebellious teen embarks on a solo summer journey to connect with her roots, she finds herself in a new world, geared up for the ride of her life, and discovers she had the drive in her all along.