20 movies like Where the Spirit Lives, ordered by similarity : Lady Bird(2017), Song for a Raggy Boy(2003), Lore(2012), The Joy Luck Club(1993), So Big(1924), Children of Heaven(1997), Confessions(2010), The Browning Version(1994), The Escape(2017), American Wrestler: The Wizard(2016), Take a Giant Step(1959), A Pin for the Butterfly(1994) ...
Drama
Canada
1989
97 Minutes
Michelle St. John Ann-Marie MacDonald David Hemblen Clayton Julian Heather Hess Ron White Chapelle Jaffe Patricia Collins
young girl native teacher mother grandmother priest melodramatic emotional canada woods school abduction culture clash native people education captivity escape underdog transformation 1930s
A young Native Canadian (First Nations person) fights to keep her culture and identity when she is abducted to a residential school.
Comedy, Drama
USA
2017
94 Minutes
Saoirse Ronan Laurie Metcalf Timothée Chalamet Lucas Hedges Tracy Letts Odeya Rush Jake McDorman Beanie Feldstein Lois Smith Stephen McKinley Henderson Jordan Rodrigues
mother daughter teenager high-school student best friend teacher father moving uplifting playful california high school catholic school sacramento, calif. family home university united states prom mother/daughter relationship coming of age
In 2002, an artistically inclined seventeen-year-old girl comes of age in Sacramento, California.
Drama
Ireland|UK|Denmark|Spain
2003
98 Minutes
Aidan Quinn Iain Glen Marc Warren Dudley Sutton Alan Devlin Stuart Graham John Travers Chris Newman
school principal schoolboy schoolteacher prefect irishman teacher friend rival bully intense sad emotional endearing ireland school teaching school abuse sadism courage
The true story of a single teacher's courage to stand up against an untouchable prefect's sadistic disciplinary regime and other abuse in a Catholic Reformatory and Industrial School in 1939 Ireland.
Drama, War
Australia|Germany|UK
2012
109 Minutes
Mika Nilson Seidel Ursina Lardi Hans-Jochen Wagner Sven Pippig Philip Wiegratz Katrin Pollitt Hendrik Arnst Claudia Geisler Saskia Rosendahl Nele Trebs André Frid
nazi father mother daughter sibling grandmother emotional melodramatic brooding intense profound disturbing germany concentration camp river bridge train world war ii nazi collaboration siblings
As the Allies sweep across Germany, Lore leads her siblings on a journey that exposes them to the truth of their parents' beliefs. An encounter with a mysterious refugee forces Lore to rely on a person she has always been taught to hate.
Drama
USA|China
1993
138 Minutes
Rosalind Chao Tamlyn Tomita France Nuyen Vivian Wu Andrew McCarthy Kieu Chinh Tsai Chin Lisa Lu Ming-Na Lauren Tom Chao-Li-Chi
mother grandmother daughter immigrant heartwarming touching emotional china san francisco house family history mother/daughter relationship immigration generational divide cross-cultural romance culture clash growing up sacrifice forbidden love transformation
The life histories of four Asian women and their daughters reflect and guide each other.
Drama
USA
1924
90 Minutes
Colleen Moore Joseph De Grasse John Bowers Ben Lyon Wallace Beery Gladys Brockwell Jean Hersholt Charlotte Merriam Dot Farley Ford Sterling Frankie Darro
mother farmer son husband married woman teacher melodramatic emotional illinois farm high school mother/son relationship farming struggle affair determination poverty rise sacrifice transformation
Drama
1997
88 Minutes
Reza Naji Amir Farrokh Hashemian Bahare Seddiqi Fereshte Sarabandi Nafise Jafar-Mohammadi Kamal Mir Karimi Behzad Rafiee Dariush Mokhtari Moahammad-Hasan Hosseinian Masume Dair Kambiz Peykarnegar
young boy young girl father mother schoolgirl teacher emotional touching tehran, iran school market street family home poverty education family growing up quest 1990s
Two fearful children (Amir Farrokh Hashemian, Bahare Seddiqi) look for a pair of missing shoes, then try to get another pair before their parents discover the loss.
Drama
Japan
2010
106 Minutes
Takako Matsu Masaki Okada Yoshino Kimura Kaoru Fujiwara Kai Inowaki Hotaru Nomoto Mana Ashida Sora Iwata Daichi Izumi Karin Katô Takuya Kusakawa
mother grieving mother murderer murder victim student teacher dark intense gripping suspenseful chilling emotional japan school house murder confession psychopath investigation revenge
A psychological thriller of a grieving mother turned cold-blooded avenger with a twisty master plan to pay back those who were responsible for her daughter's death.
Drama
UK
1994
97 Minutes
Albert Finney Greta Scacchi Matthew Modine Julian Sands Michael Gambon Ben Silverstone Maryam d'Abo Jim Sturgess
husband wife teacher lover student schoolboy schoolteacher gripping engaging school england boarding school marriage career failed marriage affair education retirement transformation discovery
On the verge of forced resignation, a strict old-fashioned teacher rethinks his life.
Drama
UK
2017
101 Minutes
Gemma Arterton Dominic Cooper Jalil Lespert Frances Barber Marthe Keller
mother father child teacher depressed person friend solemn tense emotional disheartening moving london house train station school yard depression escape marriage family
An ordinary woman makes an extraordinary decision which will change her life forever.
Drama
USA
2016
117 Minutes
Jon Voight William Fichtner Lia Marie Johnson George Kosturos Kevin G. Schmidt Gabriel Basso Shannon Collis Courtney Hope Turner Nicholas Guilak
high-school student wrestler hero school principal team member coach emotional engaging heartwarming inspiring moving touching small town california high school gym school bus wrestling new school new town
In 1980, a teenage boy escapes the unrest in Iran only to face more hostility in America, due to the hostage crisis. Determined to fit in, he joins the school's floundering wrestling team.
Drama
USA
1959
100 Minutes
Johnny Nash Estelle Hemsley Ruby Dee Frederick O'Neal Ellen Holly Paulene Myers Beah Richards Royce Wallace Frances Foster Delmar Erickson Dee Pollak
african-american teenager grandmother housekeeper mother classmate prostitute emotional brooding engaging powerful high school family home bar apartment teen angst racial tension culture clash rebellion grandparent/child relationship fitting in
A black high school senior struggles with becoming a man, and living in a middle class white neighborhood in the late 1950s U.S. In protest of the paternalistic views of the Civil War ... See full summary »
Drama
Czech Republic|UK
1994
113 Minutes
Joan Plowright Ian Bannen Hugh Laurie Imogen Stubbs Ian Hogg Florence Hoath
young girl mother uncle grandmother grandfather disheartening emotional czechoslovakia parade apartment building kitchen school factory communism totalitarianism acting family poetry political unrest escape
7-year-old Marushka grows up in 1950s Prague, raised more by her relatives than her society-building mother.
Drama
USA
1931
86 Minutes
Wallace Beery Jackie Cooper Irene Rich Roscoe Ates Edward Brophy Hale Hamilton Jesse Scott Marcia Mae Jones
boxer son mother stepfather horse emotional heartwarming moving melodramatic mexico boxing ring tijuana father/son relationship boxing redemption alcoholism separation mother/son relationship love fall
An alcoholic ex-boxer struggles to provide a good living for his son.
Drama
USA
1963
102 Minutes
Burt Lancaster Judy Garland Gena Rowlands Steven Hill Bruce Ritchey Gloria McGehee Paul Stewart Lawrence Tierney Elizabeth Wilson Barbara Pepper John Marley
teacher principal mentally challenged son mother father melodramatic emotional mental institution family home mental retardation parenthood education growing up transformation 1960s
Psychologist Dr. Matthew Clark is the head of the Crawthorne State Training Institute, one of the first boarding schools for developmentally challenged children. Dr. Clark is sympathetic ... See full summary »
Comedy, Drama
Australia
1987
104 Minutes
Judy Davis Jan Adele Claudia Karvan Colin Friels John Clayton Frankie J. Holden Monica Trapaga Mark Hembrow
mother daughter grandmother teen girl singer drifter touching emotional dark new south wales, australia town seaside trailer park beach alcoholism mother/daughter relationship estrangement abandoned child reunion secret past
Story about a backup singer for an Elvis impersonator who re-enters her past when she leaves a tour in a small town and finds her daughter in a mobile home park.
Other, Drama
Italy
2011
90 Minutes
Timothy Spall Brenda Blethyn Celia Imrie Mel Smith Joseph Phillips Jassa Ahluwalia Elijah Baker Janet Dibley Ellie Greenwood Angus Harrison
boy son mother brother teacher emotional heartwarming mushy tender uplifting england hospital school church street house mother/son relationship dreams angels christmas
The life of medieval author Christine de Pizan (Amanda Sandrelli).
Drama
USA
1972
105 Minutes
Cicely Tyson Paul Winfield Kevin Hooks Carmen Mathews Taj Mahal James Best Yvonne Jarrell Eric Hooks Sylvia `Kuumba' Williams Janet MacLachlan Teddy Airhart
son father mother dog teacher sad inspiring louisiana household small town poverty racism hope education chain gangs growing up transformation quest 1930s
The oldest son of a loving and strong family of black sharecroppers comes of age in the Depression-era South after his father is imprisoned for stealing food.
Comedy, Drama
Italy
2003
106 Minutes
Alice Teghil Sergio Castellitto Margherita Buy Carolina Iaquaniello Federica Sbrenna Claudio Amendola Galatea Ranzi Flavio Bucci Antonio Carnevale Paola Tiziana Cruciani Silvio Vannucci
teacher father mother young girl friend government official engaging spirited witty touching small town rome high school shopping mall cemetery rally father/daughter relationship new school friendship politics
Caterina, forced to leave her small town at the age of thirteen, faces the complications of living in the big metropoly of Rome.
Comedy, Drama
USA
2002
93 Minutes
America Ferrera Lupe Ontiveros Ingrid Oliu George Lopez Brian Sites Jorge Cervera Jr. Felipe de Alba Soledad St. Hilaire Lourdes Perez Jose Gerardo Zamora Jr. Manuel Edgar Lujan
student seamstress teacher grandmother mother latina inspiring moving los angeles workshop house high school education self-esteem virginity tradition family dysfunction race relations discovery growing up
In East Los Angeles, an 18-year-old struggles between her ambitions of going to college and the desires of her domineering mother for her to get married, have children, and oversee the small, rundown family-owned textile factory.
Comedy, Drama
France
1974
123 Minutes
Martin Loeb Ingrid Caven Jacqueline Dufranne Vincent Testanière Roger Rizzi Anne Stroka
boy mother mother's boyfriend grandmother friend girl endearing calm tender striking south of france paris apartment school bicycle shop coming of age adolescence desire loneliness family
A study of minor events in the adolescence of a boy growing up in small towns. Daniel lives with his grandmother and, after one year of high school, has to go to live with his mother in the... See full summary »