Movies like A River Runs Through It

If you like "A River Runs Through It" you are looking for touching, sentimental and melancholic movies about / with fishing, coming of age, self discovery, father son relationship, beautiful scenery, brother brother relationship and childhood themes of 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). 2. Look for them in the presented list.
A River Runs Through It (1992)
 7.2
 65K
A River Runs Through It (1992)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min.
Story: A River Runs Through is a cinematographically stunning true story of Norman Maclean. The story follows Norman and his brother Paul through the experiences of life and growing up, and how their love of fly fishing keeps them together despite varying life circumstances in the untamed west of Montana in the 1920's.
Style: touching, sentimental, melancholic, intense, tense, atmospheric, serious, captivating, realistic, period piece ...
Plot: fishing, coming of age, self discovery, father son relationship, beautiful scenery, brother brother relationship, childhood, river, wilderness, brothers, tragedy, dysfunctional family, secrets, loneliness, justice, family drama, love story, adaptation, family relations, generation gap, friendship, teenager, parents and children, human nature, philosophy ...
Time: 1900s, year 1992, 1920s, 1910s, 1930s, 20th century, 30s ...
Place: montana, usa
Keyword: americana

Most similar movies to A River Runs Through It

The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out serious, realistic, touching and sentimental films with plots about family relations, coming of age, father son relationship, youth, parents and children, friendship and teenager mostly in Drama, Romance and Adventure genres. Some movies like A River Runs Through It: Legends of the Fall (1994), Stand by Me (1986), What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), Boyhood (2014), Sling Blade (1996). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
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Legends of the Fall (1994)
Genre: Drama, Romance, War, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 133 min.
Story: An epic tale of three brothers and their father living in the remote wilderness of 1900s USA and how their lives are affected by nature, history, war, and love.
Style: emotional, sincere, serious, scenic, sentimental ...
Audience: chick flick, date night, adult
Plot: world war one, love triangle, lovers, conflict, relationships, love, sibling relationship, native american, father son relationship, love story, death, vengeance ...
Time: 19th century, 1910s, 1920s, 1900s, year 1995 ...
Place: america, usa, montana
⇓ similarity ⇓
93%
 8.1
 438K
Stand by Me (1986)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min.
Story: After the death of a friend, a writer recounts a boyhood journey to find the body of a missing boy.
Style: sentimental, sad, emotional, feel good, atmospheric ...
Audience: teens, girls' night, family outing, kids, teen drama ...
Plot: childhood, friendship, coming of age, stephen king, boy, children, youth, teenager, camping, on the road, summer, friends ...
Time: 1950s, 50s, year 1986, year 1959, 20th century
Place: oregon, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min.
Story: Gilbert has to care for his brother Arnie and his obese mother, which gets in the way when love walks into his life.
Style: melancholic, touching, emotional, depressing, sad ...
Audience: teens, chick flick, teen drama
Plot: dysfunctional family, disability, self discovery, mental illness, small town, mentally challenged, responsibility, life philosophy, brothers, coming of age, family drama, family problems ...
Time: 90s, 20th century, year 1993, 60s, 70s
Place: iowa, texas, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
80%
 7.9
 366K
Boyhood (2014)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 165 min.
Story: The film tells a story of a divorced couple trying to raise their young son. The story follows the boy for twelve years, from first grade at age 6 through 12th grade at age 17-18, and examines his relationship with his parents as he grows.
Style: melancholic, independent film, depressing, serious, realistic ...
Audience: teens, kids, girls' night, chick flick, teen drama
Plot: childhood, coming of age, divorced parents, dysfunctional family, family drama, teenager, youth, domestic abuse, adolescence, divorce, brother sister relationship, stepsister stepsister relationship ...
Time: 2010s, year 2014, 90s, near future, 2000s ...
Place: texas, usa, ethiopia, houston texas, austin texas
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
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 8.0
 98K
Sling Blade (1996)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 135 min.
Story: Karl Childers is a mentally disabled man who has been in the custody of the state mental hospital since the age of 12 for killing his mother and her lover. Although thoroughly institutionalized, Karl is deemed fit to be released into the outside ...
Style: independent film, southern gothic, neo noir, serious, bleak ...
Audience: manly, date night, teen drama, adult
Plot: small town, dysfunctional family, friendship, murder, mental institution, redneck, redemption, death threat, father figure, disability, mental illness, domestic violence ...
Time: 20th century, 90s, year 1996
Place: arkansas, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Rambling Rose (1991)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story: Rose, is taken in by the Hillyer family to serve as a 1930s housemaid so that she can avoid falling into a life of prostitution. Rose's appearence and personality is such that all men fall for her, and Rose knows it. She can't help herself ...
Style: erotic, touching, sexy, serious, realistic ...
Audience: date night
Plot: older man younger woman relationship, self discovery, love and romance, prostitute, coming of age, dysfunctional family, adolescence, unlikely friendships, redemption, family relations, introspection, parents and children ...
Time: 1930s, year 1991, 20th century, year 1971, year 1935
Place: georgia, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
The Tree of Life (2011)
Genre: Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 139 min.
Story: The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his ...
Style: philosophical, surreal, artsy, atmospheric, visually stunning ...
Audience: teens, family outing
Plot: philosophy, childhood, grief, coming of age, spirituality, father son relationship, parenthood, existentialism, family relations, domineering father, hopes, religion ...
Time: 1950s, 2010s, year 2011, prehistory, 20th century ...
Place: texas, america, usa, china
⇓ similarity ⇓
75%
The Great Santini (1979)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story: As he approaches manhood, Ben Meechum struggles to win the approval of his demanding alpha male father, an aggressively competitive, but frustrated marine pilot.
Style: realistic, emotional, captivating, serious, independent film
Plot: dysfunctional family, military, vietnam war, family drama, military base, family relations, bittersweet, aviation, basketball, high school, father son relationship, army ...
Time: 60s, year 1979, 20th century, year 1962
Place: california, south carolina, atlanta georgia, spain
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Movie in collections
Clara's Heart (1988)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story: David is a teenager whose parents are in a deteriorating marriage after their infant daughter dies. Clara is a chambermaid at a Jamaican resort who's hired to be a housekeeper. She and David develop a close bond, opening his eyes and heart to ...
Style: sentimental, emotional, touching, realistic, serious
Audience: kids
Plot: grief, women, youth, dysfunctional family, friendship, adolescence, black, child hero, sex crime, racism, family relations, couples ...
Time: 80s
Place: jamaica, baltimore, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.9
 47K
The Return (2003)
Genre: Drama
Country: Russia
Duration: 110 min.
Story: A story of two Russian boys whose father suddenly returns home after a 12-year absence. He takes the boys on a holiday to a remote island on a lake that turns into a test of manhood of almost mythic proportions.
Style: bleak, art house, road movie, atmospheric, cerebral ...
Audience: teens, teen drama
Plot: coming of age, brother, journey, survival, children, parents and children, father son relationship, existentialism, wilderness, childhood, on the road, character study ...
Time: year 2003, 90s, 2000s, 21st century
Place: russia, soviet union
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
The Man Without a Face (1993)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story: The story of a relationship between a teacher and his troubled pupil. Justin McLeod is a former teacher who lives as a recluse on the edge of town. His face is disfigured from an automobile accident and fire ten years before in which a boy was ...
Style: touching, inspirational, sincere, realistic, melancholic ...
Audience: kids
Plot: teacher, friendship, coming of age, mentor, loneliness, injustice, teaching the ways of the world, false accusation, teaching, education, disfigurement, children ...
Time: 60s, year 1993, 20th century
Place: maine, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
The Straight Story (1999)
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: UK, France, USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story: A retired farmer and widower in his 70s, Alvin Straight learns one day that his distant brother Lyle has suffered a stroke and may not recover. Alvin is determined to make things right with Lyle while he still can, but his brother lives in ...
Style: road movie, feel good, touching, emotional, motivational ...
Audience: family outing, teens, kids
Plot: road trip, on the road, old age, small town, aging, brother brother relationship, family feud, illness, reconciliation, determination, travel, nature ...
Time: year 1999, 20th century, 90s
Place: iowa, mississippi, nebraska, usa, wisconsin
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
This Boy's Life (1993)
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, realistic, emotional, touching, epic ...
Audience: teens, teen drama
Plot: coming of age, child abuse, small town, single parent, domestic violence, dysfunctional family, biopic, childhood, husband wife relationship, teenager, abusive stepfather, friendship ...
Time: 1950s, 50s, year 1993, 90s, 20th century ...
Place: seattle, washington state, salt lake city utah, washington d.c., usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.2
 117K
Fences (2016)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 139 min.
Story: In 1950s Pittsburgh, a frustrated African-American father struggles with the constraints of poverty, racism, and his own inner demons as he tries to raise a family.
Style: emotional, depressing, talky, stylized, motivational ...
Audience: family friendly
Plot: african american, racism, working class, violent, twists and turns, black, brutality, husband wife relationship, greed, character study, social commentary, life ...
Time: 1950s, year 2016, 2010s, 20th century
Place: pittsburgh, pennsylvania, indiana, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 6.5
 31K
Nell (1994)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story: In a remote woodland cabin, a small town doctor discovers Nell - a beautiful young hermit woman with many secrets.
Style: touching, psychological, sentimental, compassionate, serious ...
Audience: kids
Plot: isolation, feral child, mental illness, twins, childhood, forest, disability, loneliness, secrets, mother daughter relationship, self discovery, child born of rape ...
Time: year 1994, 90s
Place: north carolina, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 8.8
 2.3M
Fight Club (1999)
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 139 min.
Story: A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the ...
Style: surprise ending, psychological, twist ending, cerebral, philosophical ...
Audience: manly, boys' night, chick flick, girls' night, adult
Plot: twists and turns, psychology, fight, plot twist, schizophrenia, self destructing, insanity, fighting the system, split personality, losing-it hero, against the rules, nihilism ...
Time: 20th century, 90s, year 1999, year 2013
Place: delaware, america, los angeles, iran, seattle ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
50%
 8.5
 281K
Cinema Paradiso (1988)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 174 min.
Story: A filmmaker recalls his childhood, when he fell in love with the movies at his village's theater and formed a deep friendship with the theater's projectionist.
Style: sad, uplifting, inspirational, touching, emotional ...
Audience: teens, date night, adult
Plot: childhood, coming of age, friendship, first love, filmmaking, cinema, nostalgia, haunted by the past, adolescence, breast feeding, village, funeral ...
Time: 20th century, 1940s, year 1988, 1950s, year 1954 ...
Place: italy, sicily, europe, rome italy, corsica
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
The Last Picture Show (1971)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min.
Story: The coming of age of a youth named Sonny in a small Texas town in the 1950s.
Style: black and white, sentimental, realistic, thought provoking, captivating ...
Audience: teens, teen drama
Plot: coming of age, small town, friendship, high school, older woman younger man relationship, self discovery, teenager, elopement, nostalgia, graduation, death, depression ...
Time: 1950s, 20th century, 50s, year 1971, year 1951 ...
Place: texas, usa, austin texas, midwest, oklahoma ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Movie in collections
 6.8
 31K
Wildlife (2018)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min.
Story: 14-year-old Joe is the only child of Jeanette and Jerry—a housewife and a golf pro—in a small town in 1960s Montana. Nearby, an uncontrolled forest fire rages close to the Canadian border, and when Jerry loses his job—and his sense of ...
Style: melancholic, suspenseful, indie film, serious, thought provoking ...
Audience: teens
Plot: unemployment, coming of age, teenage boy, infidelity, parents and children, cheerleader, fired from the job, marital separation, family relations, family drama, father son relationship, unemployed ...
Time: 60s, 90s, year 1960
Place: montana, sarajevo, idaho, portland oregon, washington state
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.2
 7K
Avalon (1990)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min.
Story: Avalon is the third in Levinson's semi-autobiographical series of four "Baltimore Films": Diner (1982), Tin Men (1987), Avalon (1990), and Liberty Heights (1999). The film is set in Baltimore in the early 1950s and explores the themes ...
Style: realistic, sentimental, cult classic, semi autobiographical, semi serious ...
Audience: date night
Plot: thanksgiving, immigrant, culture clash, american history, immigration, children, hospital, nostalgia, intrigue, culture, migration, youth ...
Time: 1940s, 1910s, 1900s, 20th century, year 1948 ...
Place: baltimore, maryland, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.3
 3K
Left Luggage (1998)
Genre: Drama
Country: Netherlands, UK, Belgium, USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story: While escaping from Nazis during the WWII, a Jewish man dug suitcases full of things dear to his heart in the ground two. The war deprived him of his family, and afterwards he endlessly turns over the soil of Antwerp to find the suitcases, which ...
Style: sentimental, touching, emotional, inspirational, compassionate ...
Plot: judaism, holocaust survivor, racism, life, nazi, tragedy, justice, mentor, depression, dysfunctional family, friendship, culture clash ...
Time: 20th century, year 1998, year 1972
Place: europe, israel, antwerp, belgium
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Ordinary People (1980)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min.
Story: Beth, Calvin, and their son Conrad are living in the aftermath of the death of the other son. Conrad is overcome by grief and misplaced guilt to the extent of a suicide attempt. He is in therapy. Beth had always preferred his brother and is having ...
Style: depressing, realistic, compassionate, sentimental, crying ...
Audience: teens
Plot: dysfunctional family, therapy, psychiatrist, suicide attempt, depression, grief, suicide, coming of age, father son relationship, alienation, psychotherapy, psychoanalysis ...
Time: 20th century, year 1980, 70s
Place: chicago, usa, illinois, middle east, houston texas ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
19%
 7.2
 124K
Pay It Forward (2000)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min.
Story: Like some other kids, 12-year-old Trevor McKinney believed in the goodness of human nature. Like many other kids, he was determined to change the world for the better. Unlike most other kids, he succeeded.
Style: touching, inspirational, emotional, motivational, sentimental ...
Audience: chick flick, kids, teens, teen drama
Plot: teacher, childhood, single parent, teachers and students, alcoholic, life philosophy, good deed, disfigurement, death, boy, alcoholism, addiction ...
Time: year 2000, 90s, 20th century
Place: tibet, nevada, usa, las vegas
⇓ similarity ⇓
18%
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Life as a House (2001)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 125 min.
Story: When a man is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he takes custody of his misanthropic teenage son, for whom quality time means getting high, engaging in small-time prostitution, and avoiding his father.
Style: emotional, sentimental, touching, sincere, sad ...
Audience: teens, chick flick, teen drama
Plot: terminal illness, father son relationship, dying, cancer, dysfunctional family, relationships, reconciliation, illness, divorce, fighting illness, redemption, family relations ...
Time: year 2001
Place: california, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
18%
The Boys Are Back (2009)
Genre: Drama
Country: Australia, UK
Duration: 104 min.
Story: When the wife of sports-writer Joe Warr dies of cancer, he takes on the responsibility of raising their 6-year-old son, and his teenage son from a previous marriage. As Joe rejects the counsel of his mother-in-law and other parents, he develops his ...
Style: touching, inspirational, melancholic, sentimental, intense ...
Audience: girls' night
Plot: single parent, single father, family drama, cancer, family relations, father son relationship, depression, life philosophy, brothers, overcoming, widower, writers ...
Time: 21st century
Place: england, australia, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
18%
The Neon Bible (1995)
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, Spain
Duration: 91 min.
Story: While on a train, a teenage boy thinks about his life and the flamboyant aunt whose friendship acted as an emotional shield from his troubled family. This film evokes the haunting quality of memory while creating a heartfelt portrait of a boy's ...
Style: stylized, inspirational, serious, emotional, erotic ...
Plot: childhood, loneliness, working class, dialogue, small town, family problems, society, religion, world war two, child's point of view, youth, melancholy ...
Time: 1940s
Place: georgia, southern usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
18%
Scent of a Woman (1992)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 156 min.
Story: Charlie Simms is a student at a private preparatory school who comes from a poor family. To earn the money for his flight home to Gresham, Oregon for Christmas, Charlie takes a job over Thanksgiving looking after retired U.S. Army officer Lieutenant ...
Style: inspirational, sentimental, dramatic, realistic, touching ...
Audience: teens
Plot: friendship, blindness, mentor, blind character, thanksgiving, tango, human spirit, human nature, loneliness, coming of age, disability, preparatory school ...
Time: 20th century, 90s
Place: new york, new england, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
50%
White Water Summer (1987)
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story: When the experienced guide Vic accompanies the city boy Alan and his three friends on their first wilderness experience, he not only hope to teach the four boys lessons about the wilderness, but about themselves. Vic pushes them to the limit. Soon ...
Style: intense, sincere, exciting, suspenseful, contemplative ...
Audience: kids, teens
Plot: wilderness, survival, river, coming of age, summer, nature, camping, friendship, youth, camp, mountain climbing, teenager ...
Time: 80s, year 1987, 20th century
Place: manhattan new york city, usa, new york
⇓ similarity ⇓
17%
 7.6
 35K
On Golden Pond (1981)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min.
Story: For Norman and Ethel Thayer, this summer on golden pond is filled with conflict and resolution. When their daughter Chelsea arrives, the family is forced to renew the bonds of love and overcome the generational friction that has existed for years. ...
Style: inspirational, sentimental, realistic, touching, witty ...
Audience: family outing
Plot: family relations, elderly, aging, love story, family holiday, daughter, marriage, summer, alienation, couples, bittersweet, passion ...
Time: 20th century, 80s
Place: new hampshire, new england, maine
⇓ similarity ⇓
17%
Extraordinary Measures (2010)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story: Working-class father John Crowley is finally on the fast track to corporate success when his two young children, Megan and Patrick, are diagnosed with Pompe disease - a condition that prevents the body from breaking down sugar. With the support of ...
Style: emotional, sentimental, inspirational, touching, serious ...
Audience: family outing
Plot: medical, race against time, family drama, cure, human spirit, hopes, against the odds, family problems, unlikely partners, doctors and patients, child illness, family in crisis ...
Time: 21st century
Place: usa, portland oregon
⇓ similarity ⇓
17%
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