Movies like Mommie Dearest
If you like "Mommie Dearest" you are looking for cult classic, disturbing and controversial movies about / with child abuse, dysfunctional family, abusive mother, adoption, mansion, bad mother and single mother themes of Biography and Drama genre shot in USA.
Find your next favorite and similar movies in two steps:
1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
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Mommie Dearest (1981)
20K
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min.
Story:
In this biographical film, glamorous yet lonely star Joan Crawford takes in two orphans, and at first their unconventional family seems happy. But after Joan's attempts at romantic fulfillment go sour and she is fired from her contract with MGM studios, her callous and abusive behavior towards her daughter Christina becomes even more pronounced. Christina leaves home and takes her first acting role, only to find her mother's presence still overshadowing her.
Style:
cult classic, disturbing, controversial, factual, talky, intense, psychological, tense, serious, rough ...
Audience:
chick flick, teens
Plot:
child abuse, dysfunctional family, abusive mother, adoption, mansion, bad mother, single mother, abusive parent, domineering mother, single parent, mother daughter relationship, borderline personality disorder, hollywood, bossy woman, actress, female protagonist, abuse, hysterical outburst, narcissistic woman, alcoholism, mother, storytelling, family relations, life is a bitch, family problems ...
Time:
20th century, 1940s, 1930s, 1950s, 60s, 50s, 70s ...
Place:
usa, new york, los angeles
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to Mommie Dearest
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, serious, touching and dramatic films with plots about family relations, runaway, biopic, life is a bitch, storytelling, family problems and childhood mostly in Drama, Biography and Crime genres. Some movies like Mommie Dearest: This Boy's Life (1993), Frances (1982), James Dean (2001), Girl, Interrupted (1999), An American Crime (2007). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
In 1957, a son and mother flee the East and an abusive boyfriend to find a new life, and end up in Seattle, where the mother meets a polite garage mechanic. The boy continually gets into trouble by hanging out with the wrong crowd. The mom marries ...
Style:
depressing, period piece, realistic, touching, emotional ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama
Plot:
coming of age, child abuse, small town, childhood, single parent, husband wife relationship, dysfunctional family, domestic violence, homosexual, biopic, stepfather stepson relationship, abusive stepfather ...
Time:
1950s, 50s, year 1993, 90s, 20th century ...
Place:
seattle, washington state, salt lake city utah, washington d.c., usa ...
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Biography, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 140 min.
Story:
The true story of Frances Farmer's meteoric rise to fame in Hollywood and the tragic turn her life took when she was blacklisted.
Style:
depressing, disturbing, compassionate, factual, intense ...
Plot:
mental illness, rich and poor, mother daughter relationship, hollywood, insanity, biopic, actor's life, women, lobotomy, courtroom, domineering mother, family relations ...
Time:
20th century, 1940s, 1930s, 1950s, year 1958 ...
Place:
california, usa, seattle, manhattan new york city, new york
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
The man behind the legend and a knowing look at the 1950's Hollywood are revealed in this dynamic bioepic of the meteoric star whose troubled life echoed his gut-grabbing performances in East of Eden, Rebel Without A Cause and Giant.
Style:
sentimental, realistic, serious, captivating, clever ...
Plot:
hollywood, actor, father son relationship, filmmaking, actor's life, death of mother, sports car, gay, voice over narration, biopic, dying young, rising to stardom ...
Time:
1950s, 50s, 20th century, 1930s, 1940s
Place:
usa, malibu california, indiana, new york, santa monica california
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 127 min.
Story:
Set in the changing world of the late 1960s, Susanna Kaysen's prescribed "short rest" from a psychiatrist she had met only once becomes a strange, unknown journey into Alice's Wonderland, where she struggles with the thin line ...
Style:
psychological, crying, gothic, serious, heartbreaking ...
Audience:
girls' night, chick flick, teens, teen drama, adult
Plot:
mental illness, suicide, coming of age, psychiatric ward, suicide attempt, mental institution, teenage girl, psychiatrist, borderline personality disorder, insanity, female protagonist, mentally unstable ...
Time:
20th century, year 1999, 90s, year 1967, 60s
Place:
usa
Similarity:
100%
Movie in collections
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
The true story of suburban housewife Gertrude Baniszewski, who kept a teenage girl locked in the basement of her Indiana home during the 1960s.
Style:
disturbing, harsh, bleak, brutal, sad ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama, adult
Plot:
child abuse, true crime, torture, captivity, murder, threat, dysfunctional family, children, court, courtroom drama, domestic violence, trial ...
Time:
year 2007, 60s, 20th century
Place:
indiana, usa
Similarity:
83%
125K
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
After he and his first wife separate, journalist David Sheff struggles to help their teenage son Nic, who goes from experimenting with drugs to becoming devastatingly addicted to methamphetamine.
Style:
disturbing, rough, captivating, sentimental, social ...
Plot:
addiction, drug addiction, drug addict, boy, teenage boy, father son relationship, divorce, coming of age, rehabilitation, methamphetamine, drug use, teenager ...
Time:
2010s, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
san francisco, los angeles, new york
Similarity:
100%
22K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
A look at a dysfunctional family dominated by the controlling madness of its matriarch, Eve. Her reluctant husband and their three daughters make doomed efforts to cope with Eve's demands, while also trying to get on with their own lives. But, ...
Style:
psychological, realistic, bleak, melancholic, touching ...
Plot:
dysfunctional family, sister sister relationship, depression, father daughter relationship, sibling rivalry, divorce, mother daughter relationship, suicide, attempted rape, three sisters, psychology, character study ...
Time:
20th century, year 1978, 70s
Place:
new york, usa
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
Anthology series of famous feuds with the first season based on the legendary rivalry between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford which began early on their careers, climaxed on the set of "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" and evolved into an ...
Style:
sincere, anthology, melancholic, saga, costume drama ...
Plot:
hollywood, filmmaking, movie star, feud, actress, jealousy, glory, woman, workplace problem, family problems, frustration, women ...
Time:
60s
Place:
los angeles
Similarity:
100%
Movie in collections
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
Paul Snider is a narcissistic, small time hustler who fancies himself a ladies man. His life changes when he meets Dorothy Stratten working behind the counter of a Dairy Queen.
Style:
disturbing, stylized, serious, suspenseful, realistic ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
playboy, female nudity, murder, obsession, nude model, true crime, photograph, fame, rise and fall, movie business, jealous husband, couple relations ...
Time:
80s, year 1983, year 1978, 70s
Place:
vancouver, canada, california, los angeles
Similarity:
100%
33K
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 136 min.
Story:
New York gangster Ben 'Bugsy' Siegel takes a brief business trip to Los Angeles. A sharp-dressing womanizer with a foul temper, Siegel doesn't hesitate to kill or maim anyone crossing him. In L.A. the life, the movies, and most of all ...
Style:
realistic, period piece, stylized, intense, suspense ...
Plot:
mafia, gangster, casino, gambling, biopic, organized crime, hollywood, rise and fall, ambition, love affair, elimination, bohemian life ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, year 1991, year 1945, 1930s ...
Place:
las vegas, los angeles, usa, new york, california ...
Similarity:
50%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min.
Story:
An urgent phone call pulls a Yale Law student back to his Ohio hometown, where he reflects on three generations of family history and his own future.
Style:
thought provoking, period piece, psychological, realistic, touching ...
Plot:
small town life, dysfunctional family, addiction, single mother, heroin addict, mother daughter relationship, mother son estrangement, grandmother grandson relationship, mother daughter conflict, childhood memory, teenage boy, family drama ...
Time:
2020s, year 1946, year 1997, 90s, year 2011 ...
Place:
kentucky, columbus ohio, yale university, ohio, new haven connecticut ...
Similarity:
34%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 135 min.
Story:
This film follows Norma Jean from her simple, ambitious youth to her sex star pinnacle and back down. She moves from lover to lover in order to further her career. She finds fame but never happiness, only knowing seduction but not love.
Style:
contemplative, psychological, realistic, serious, gloomy ...
Plot:
playboy, female nudity, biopic, filmmaking, skinny dipping, actress, female protagonist, rape, abuse, john f. kennedy, hollywood, lgbt ...
Time:
60s, 1940s, 50s, 1950s
Similarity:
33%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
On November 4, 1970 on The CBS Evening News, Walter Cronkite reported on a true, horrific story that was about to rock the country. A 13-year-old girl was discovered in the small Los Angeles suburb of Arcadia who was still in diapers, barely able to ...
Style:
uplifting, realistic, psychological, touching, sincere ...
Plot:
abuse, disability, mistreatment, child abuse, life is a bitch, human spirit, self discovery, family problems, doctors and patients, society, hopes, social misfits ...
Time:
year 1970, 70s
Place:
los angeles, usa
Similarity:
32%
107K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
Tracy is a normal 13-year-old trying to make it in school. After befriending the most popular girl at school, Evie, Tracy's world is turned upside down when Evie introduces her to a world of sex, drugs and cash. But it isn't long before ...
Style:
tense, sincere, emotional, teen, independent film ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick, girls' night, teen drama, adult
Plot:
coming of age, adolescence, friendship, drug addiction, addiction, peer pressure, teenage protagonist, dysfunctional family, underage drinking, teenage girl, teenager, self harm ...
Time:
year 2003, 20th century, y2k, near future, 2000s ...
Place:
california, usa, los angeles, venice beach california
Similarity:
32%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 133 min.
Story:
The film spans from Hepburn's early childhood to the 1950s which details her life as a Dutch ballerina, coming to grips with her parents' divorce, and enduring life in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II. She then settles in ...
Style:
uplifting, serious, feel good, realistic, sentimental ...
Plot:
hollywood, actor's life, world war two, showbiz, celebrity culture, childhood, performer's life, rising to stardom, filmmaking, haunted by the past, artists and showbiz, human spirit ...
Time:
20th century, 60s, 1940s, 50s, 1950s
Place:
usa, new york, holland, europe, manhattan new york city
Similarity:
32%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
Based on the life stories of the eccentric aunt and first cousin of Jackie Onassis raised as Park Avenue débutantes but who withdrew from New York society, taking shelter at their Long Island summer home, "Grey Gardens." As their wealth ...
Style:
touching, realistic, compassionate, depressing, melancholic ...
Plot:
eccentric family, eccentricity, dysfunctional family, depression, betrayal, family life, eviction, family relations, elderly, parents and children, oldtimer, women ...
Time:
20th century, 70s, 1930s
Place:
new york, north america, usa, california
Similarity:
32%
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
1959, support from US troops based in Asia and later from the Sates enables two actresses to start a charity for mixed-race 'orphans' who are locally neglected as outcasts. Thus originates Childhelp, which later runs multi-disciplinary ...
Style:
disturbing, touching, rough, serious, realistic ...
Plot:
child abuse, orphan, adoption, rescue, life is a bitch, danger, parents and children, dysfunctional family, selflessness, family relations, family problems, abuse ...
Time:
50s, 20th century, 60s
Similarity:
31%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
A teenager journeys through a series of foster homes after her mother goes to prison for committing a crime of passion.
Style:
intense, disturbing, touching, serious, realistic ...
Audience:
girls' night, teens, chick flick, teen drama
Plot:
coming of age, mother daughter relationship, foster child, women's prison, manipulation, bad mother, murder, teenage life, mother daughter estrangement, borderline personality disorder, mental illness, adoption ...
Time:
year 2002, 21st century
Place:
california, usa, los angeles, nova scotia, mexico
Similarity:
31%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
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.
Style:
emotional, serious, psychological, rough, cult classic ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick
Plot:
abusive mother, pregnancy, homeless, abuse, teenage mother, mother daughter relationship, survival, starting over, pregnant teenager, family problems, life is a bitch, youth ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa
Similarity:
31%
2K
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min.
Story:
A true story of a young woman whose abusive childhood results in her developing a multiple personality disorder.
Style:
psychological, sad, touching, heartbreaking, disturbing ...
Plot:
dissociative identity disorder, mental illness, psychology, mental disorder, child abuse, physical abuse, abuse, abusive parent, children, mental health, domineering mother, patient ...
Place:
nova scotia
Similarity:
31%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
Bettie Page grew up in a conservative religious family in Tennessee and became a photo model sensation in 1950s New York. Bettie's legendary pin-up photos made her the target of a Senate investigation into pornography, and transformed her into ...
Style:
erotic, melancholic, sexy, black and white, factual ...
Audience:
girls' night, teens, adult
Plot:
rape, photography, female nudity, sexualized violence, sex, photographer, bdsm, female protagonist, sexual abuse, investigation, sexual awakening, religion ...
Time:
50s, 20th century, 1950s, year 2005, 1940s ...
Place:
usa, tennessee, new york, manhattan new york city, brooklyn new york city ...
Similarity:
31%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
Sir Laurence Olivier is making a movie in London. Young Colin Clark, an eager film student, wants to be involved and he navigates himself a job on the set. When film star Marilyn Monroe arrives for the start of shooting, all of London is excited to ...
Style:
sentimental, period piece, romantic, melancholic, factual ...
Audience:
chick flick, date night, girls' night
Plot:
movie star, historical figure, fame, biopic, impossible love, actress, hollywood, celebrity, actor's life, love story, nervous breakdown, ambition ...
Time:
50s, year 2011, 1900s, 1950s, 20th century ...
Place:
england, britain, europe, london, california
Similarity:
31%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, UK, France, Japan
Duration: 97 min.
Story:
The dysfunctional twenty-three years old Sarah takes her six year old natural son Jeremiah from the home of his beloved foster parents with the support of the social service to live with her. Along the years, the boy shares her insane and lowlife ...
Style:
disturbing, psychological, serious, rough, depressing ...
Plot:
child abuse, pedophile, rape, child molester, child rape, child molestation, prostitute, sex, coming of age, life is a bitch, dysfunctional family, society ...
Time:
year 2004
Place:
indiana, asia, tennessee
Similarity:
31%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min.
Story:
A mother and daughter dispute is resolved by the "Yaya sisterhood" - long time friends of the mother.
Style:
touching, sentimental, sincere, intense, rom com ...
Audience:
chick flick, girls' night, teens
Plot:
dysfunctional family, estrangement, playwright, relationships, women, friendship, corporal punishment, reconciliation, childhood memory, mother daughter relationship, female protagonist, american south ...
Time:
year 2002
Place:
southern usa, louisiana, new york, usa
Similarity:
31%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
The story is located in Los Angeles in the sixties. An energetic widow, Frances Lacey, with her six children try to make a dream of theirs come true: to have a home of their own. Therefore they leave Los Angeles and head for the countryside, while ...
Style:
emotional, sentimental, touching, realistic, semi serious ...
Audience:
kids
Plot:
single parent, christmas, family relations, corporal punishment, heartwarming, widow, biopic, youth, coming of age, family problems, children, parenthood ...
Time:
year 1993, 1900s, 90s
Place:
california, los angeles, idaho, usa, salt lake city utah
Similarity:
31%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 131 min.
Story:
A twice-divorced mother of three who sees an injustice, takes on the bad guy and wins -- with a little help from her push-up bra. Erin goes to work for an attorney and comes across medical records describing illnesses clustered in one nearby town. ...
Style:
inspirational, touching, feel good, uplifting, factual ...
Audience:
girls' night, chick flick, adult
Plot:
environmental, justice, court, lawyer, contamination, small town, single mother, investigation, corporate crime, business, lawsuit, legal ...
Time:
year 1993, 90s, y2k, year 2000, 2000s ...
Place:
california, los angeles, usa, new jersey
Similarity:
31%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: Ireland, UK, USA
Duration: 145 min.
Story:
Based on the best selling autobiography by Irish expat Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes follows the experiences of young Frankie and his family as they try against all odds to escape the poverty endemic in the slums of pre-war Limerick. The film ...
Style:
sad, touching, depressing, compassionate, serious ...
Audience:
toddlers, teen drama
Plot:
poverty, ira, injustice, parents and children, youth, family relations, depression, life is a bitch, death, children, rich and poor, human nature ...
Time:
1940s, year 1999, 90s, 1930s, 20th century ...
Place:
ireland, new york, brooklyn new york city, europe, usa ...
Similarity:
30%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
A young girl stuck in a horrific cycle of familial violence finds the power to build her own future from the place she least suspected in an inspiring tale of friendship and devotion starring Ossie Davis and Della Reese, and directed by Bruce ...
Style:
inspirational, spiritual, serious, realistic, gloomy ...
Audience:
family outing
Plot:
christian, adoption, racism, coming of age, hardship, countryside, teenager, abuse, childhood, youth, life is a bitch, single parent ...
Time:
1940s, 90s, 20th century
Place:
southern usa, georgia
Similarity:
30%
31K
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story:
In August of 1949, Life Magazine ran a banner headline that begged the question: "Jackson Pollock: Is he the greatest living painter in the United States?" The film is a look back into the life of an extraordinary man, a man who has ...
Style:
emotional, breathtaking, intellectual, inspirational, atmospheric ...
Plot:
painter, artist, art, painting, biopic, genius, addiction, alcoholism, bohemian life, art history, self destructing, rise and fall ...
Time:
20th century, 1940s, 1950s, year 1945, year 1941 ...
Place:
new york, usa, greenwich village manhattan new york city, brooklyn new york city, europe ...
Similarity:
30%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
Based on the true story of Evelyn Ryan, a midwestern housewife who managed to rescue her family from debt by entering contests for ad slogans sponsored by consumer product companies.
Style:
inspirational, sentimental, touching, semi serious, uplifting ...
Audience:
chick flick, kids
Plot:
advertising, contests and competitions, optimism, underdog, adaptation, prize, creativity, courage, eviction, small town, ambition, family problems ...
Time:
50s, 20th century, 1950s, 60s, year 2005
Place:
ohio, usa
Similarity:
30%
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