Movies Like Hard to Place

If you liked Hard to Place (2019), a movie directed by M.D. Neely, 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 Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete (2013)
★ 7.2/10
Coming of age story about two inner city youths, who are left to fend for themselves over the summer after their mothers are taken away by the authorities.
2
Short Term 12 (2013)
★ 7.7/10
Grace, a compassionate young supervisor at a foster care facility, helps at-risk teens. But when a new charge dredges up memories of her own troubled past, Grace's tough exterior begins eroding.
3
A Home of Our Own (1993)
★ 7/10
In 1960s Los Angeles an energetic widow and her six children try to make a dream of theirs come true: to have a home of their own. They leave L.A. and head for the countryside, all the while facing numerous…
4
Please Don't Feed the Children (2025)
★ 6.1/10
After a viral outbreak ravaged the country’s adult population, a group of orphans heads south in search of a new life, only to find themselves at the mercy of a deranged woman harboring a dangerous secret.
5
Problem Child (1990)
★ 6.2/10
Ben Healy and his social climbing wife Flo adopt fun-loving seven year old Junior. But they soon discover he's a little monster as he turns a camping trip, a birthday party and even a baseball game into comic nightmares.
6
The Great Gilly Hopkins (2015)
★ 6.6/10
Young and feisty Gilly Hopkins devises a scheme to escape from her new foster home and reunite with her birth mother.
7
Sleepwalking (2008)
★ 6.1/10
When her boyfriend is arrested for marijuana possession, Joleen Reedy and her 11-year-old daughter, Tara, take refuge with Joleen's aimless brother, James. Joleen soon runs off with a truck driver, and James is unable…
8
Wuthering Heights (1992)
★ 6.7/10
Young orphan Heathcliff is adopted by the wealthy Earnshaw family and moves into their estate, Wuthering Heights. Soon, the new resident falls for his compassionate foster sister, Cathy. The two share a remarkable bond…
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
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
★ 7.6/10
Ricky is a defiant young city kid who finds himself on the run with his cantankerous foster uncle in the wild New Zealand bush. A national manhunt ensues, and the two are forced to put aside their differences and work…
11
Oliver Twist (1948)
★ 7.6/10
When 9-year-old orphan Oliver Twist dares to ask his cruel taskmaster, Mr. Bumble, for a second serving of gruel, he's hired out as an apprentice. Escaping that dismal fate, young Oliver falls in with the street urchin…
12
Like Dandelion Dust (2009)
★ 7.1/10
Rip Porter is sentenced to seven years in prison for beating his wife, Wendy. When he is released, he discovers that Wendy gave up their child, and the privileged Campbell family adopted him. The two families are soon…
13
Philomena (2013)
★ 7.3/10
A woman searches for her adult son, who was taken away from her decades ago when she was forced to live in a convent.
14
Losing Isaiah (1995)
★ 6.5/10
Khaila Richards, a crack-addicted single mother, accidentally leaves her baby in a dumpster while high and returns the next day in a panic to find he is missing. In reality, the baby has been adopted by a warm-hearted…
15
Pete's Dragon (2016)
★ 6.4/10
For years, old wood carver Mr. Meacham has delighted local children with his tales of the fierce dragon that resides deep in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. To his daughter, Grace, who works as a forest ranger…
16
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…
17
Small Things Like These (2024)
★ 6.7/10
In 1985, while working as a coal merchant to support his family, Bill Furlong discovers disturbing secrets kept by the local convent and uncovers truths of his own; forcing him to confront his past and the complicit…
18
Oliver Twist (2005)
★ 6.8/10
An orphan endures a harsh life in a workhouse before fleeing to London, where he falls in with a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the criminal Fagin, and eventually finds a better life, exposing the cruelties of…
19
Gimme Shelter (2013)
★ 6.6/10
After running away from her abusive mother, a streetwise teen seeks refuge with her father, but he rejects her when he learns that she's pregnant.
20
Mean Dreams (2016)
★ 6.4/10
When two youngsters meet and fall for each other, they must go on the run from the girl's corrupt father, who is also the sheriff of the town.