Movies Like Local Hero (1983)

Local Hero is a 1983 comedy, drama film from Bill Forsyth with a MovieMagicScore of 6.8/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with There Will Be Blood and The Wages of Fear.

Comedy Drama

There Will Be Blood

2007

Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview, moves to oil-rich California. Using his son to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday suspects Plainview's motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives.

8.1

MagicScore

The Wages of Fear

1953

In a run-down South American town, four men are paid to drive trucks loaded with nitroglycerin into the jungle through to the oil field. Friendships are tested and rivalries develop as they embark upon the perilous journey.

8.0

MagicScore

Fleisch ist mein Gemüse

2008

Heinz Strunk, plagued by crater-like skin rashes, lives with his sick mother in Hamburg-Harburg in the 1980s. As a saxophonist, he tours the North German lowlands with the dance combo "Tiffanys". In this bizarre universe of Korn, Klaus & Klaus and Koteletts, bandleader Gurki teaches him how to deliver cheerful, upbeat music. To escape the vicious circle of shooting festivals and village weddings, Heinz wants to start a solo career and become a hit producer...

5.5

MagicScore

Antonia's Line

1995

After World War II, Antonia and her daughter, Danielle, go back to their Dutch hometown, where Antonia's late mother has bestowed a small farm upon her. There, Antonia settles down and joins a tightly-knit but unusual community. Those around her include quirky friend Crooked Finger, would-be suitor Bas and, eventually for Antonia, a granddaughter and great-granddaughter who help create a strong family of empowered women.

6.9

MagicScore

Luna Papa

1999

The unborn child of Mamlakat is telling her story. She is 17, beautiful and vivacious, and dreaming secretly of becoming an actress. She lives with her father and brother in a small village in Central Asia. One night she is seduced by an actor from a travelling troupe, who poses as a friend of Tom Cruise, and gets her pregnant. She tries to abort, but her father and brother become determined to find the seducer, setting in motion a cascade of comic adventures.

6.2

MagicScore

The Winter Guest

1997

It's winter in a small Scottish village near the sea, and multiple lives intersect in a day. Frances has just lost her husband to an early death, so her mother, Elspeth, travels to Frances' house to reconnect with her daughter and grandson, Alex. Meanwhile, old women Chloe and Lily go to a funeral, youngsters Sam and Tom cut class, and Alex gets a crush on tomboy Nita.

6.4

MagicScore

Where Is The Friend's House?

1987

An 8-year-old boy must return his friend's notebook he took by mistake, lest his friend be punished by expulsion from school.

7.9

MagicScore

Brother of Sleep

1995

In the beginning of the 19th century, Johannes Elias Alder is born in a small village in the Austrian mountains. While growing up he is considered strange by the other villagers and discovers his love of music, especially rebuilding and playing the organ at the village church. After experiencing an "acoustic wonder", his eye color changes and he can hear even the most subtle sounds.

6.6

MagicScore

Towelhead

2008

A young Arab-American girl struggles with her sexual obsession, a bigoted Army reservist, and her strict father during the Gulf War.

6.2

MagicScore

#10

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

2005

Cheese-loving eccentric Wallace and his cunning canine pal, Gromit, investigate a mystery in Nick Park's animated adventure, in which the lovable inventor and his intrepid pup run a business ridding the town of garden pests. Using only humane methods that turn their home into a halfway house for evicted vermin, the pair stumble upon a mystery involving a voracious vegetarian monster that threatens to ruin the annual veggie-growing contest.

7.1

MagicScore

#11

Full Metal Village

2007

The film describes the microcosmos of the small village Wacken and shows the clash of the cultures, before and during the biggest heavy metal festival in Europe.

6.7

MagicScore

#12

Fantomas vs. Scotland Yard

1967

In the third and final episode of the trilogy, Fantômas imposes a head tax on the rich, threatening to kill those who do not comply.

6.7

MagicScore

#13

The Lost Boys

1987

When an unsuspecting town newcomer is drawn to local blood fiends, the Frog brothers and other unlikely heroes gear up to rescue him.

7.1

MagicScore

#14

Superman and the Mole Men

1951

Reporters Clark Kent and Lois Lane arrive in the small town of Silsby to witness the drilling of the world's deepest oil well. The drill, however, has penetrated the underground home of a race of small, furry people who then come to the surface at night to look around. The fact that they glow in the dark scares the townfolk, who form a mob, led by the vicious Luke Benson, intent on killing the strange people. Only Superman has a chance to prevent this tragedy.

5.3

MagicScore

#15

Has Anybody Seen My Gal?

1952

When a 1920s millionaire tests the fiber of his Vermont family, a young lady and her boyfriend feel the repercussions.

6.7

MagicScore

#16

The Sweet Hereafter

1997

A small mountain community in Canada is devastated when a school bus accident leaves more than a dozen of its children dead. A big-city lawyer arrives to help the survivors' and victims' families prepare a class-action suit, but his efforts only seem to push the townspeople further apart. At the same time, one teenage survivor of the accident has to reckon with the loss of innocence brought about by a different kind of damage.

6.9

MagicScore

#17

The River and Death

1954

A useless and bloody vendetta has been going on for ages between two families in this Mexican village. Men, sons, have killed each other for generations, for a so-called conception of honor in a revenge that never ends since it is also triggered by people of the village. Now, today, there are only two sons left, one in each family. One has become a doctor in the big city and his culture is modern. The other last one - of the other family - hasn't left the village and is waiting for the doctor to come "home" as he plans to kill him, to settle this war on this matter of honor once and for all. And the people of the village want blood.

6.4

MagicScore

#18

Let Us Prey

2014

Rachel, a rookie cop, is about to begin her first night shift in a neglected police station in a Scottish, backwater town. The kind of place where the tide has gone out and stranded a motley bunch of the aimless, the forgotten, the bitter-and-twisted who all think that, really, they deserve to be somewhere else. They all think they're there by accident and that, with a little luck, life is going to get better. Wrong, on both counts. Six is about to arrive - and All Hell Will Break Loose!

5.7

MagicScore

#19

When Evil Lurks

2023

Residents of a small rural town discover that a demon is about to be born among them. They desperately try to escape before the evil is born, but it may be too late.

7.2

MagicScore

#20

Under an Arctic Sky

2017

Six fearless surfers travel to the north coast of Iceland to ride waves unlike anything they've ever experienced, captured with high-tech cameras.

7.5

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Local Hero?

The top films similar to Local Hero by MovieMagicScore are There Will Be Blood (8.1), The Wages of Fear (8.0), Fleisch ist mein Gemüse (5.5). Each shares comedy/drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Local Hero worth watching?

Local Hero holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.8/10 from 392 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Local Hero?

Local Hero (1983) is a comedy, drama film directed by Bill Forsyth, starring Burt Lancaster, Peter Riegert, Denis Lawson.

Where can I find more recommendations like Local Hero?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more comedy recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like There Will Be Blood Movies like The Wages of Fear Movies like Fleisch ist mein Gemüse Movies like Antonia's Line Movies like Luna Papa Movies like The Winter Guest

About movies like Local Hero

This ranked list pairs Local Hero (1983), a comedy and drama film from Bill Forsyth, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Burt Lancaster take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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