Movies Like As I Lay Dying (2013)

As I Lay Dying is a 2013 drama film from James Franco with a MovieMagicScore of 5.2/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Mississippi Masala.

Drama

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

1958

An alcoholic ex-football player drinks his days away, having failed to come to terms with his sexuality and his real feelings for his football buddy who died after an ambiguous accident. His wife is crucified by her desperation to make him desire her: but he resists the affections of his wife. His reunion with his father—who is dying of cancer—jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.

7.6

MagicScore

Mississippi Masala

1991

Years after her Indian family was forced to flee their home in Uganda, twentysomething Mina finds herself helping to run a motel in the faraway land of Mississippi. It's there that a passionate romance with the charming Black carpet cleaner Demetrius challenges the prejudices of their conservative families and exposes the rifts between the region's Indian and African American communities.

6.4

MagicScore

The Cabin in the Cotton

1932

Sharecropper's son Marvin tries to help his community overcome poverty and ignorance.

6.3

MagicScore

The Flim-Flam Man

1967

Mordecai Jones, a silver-tongued swindler and self-proclaimed “M.B.S., C.S., D.D.—Master of Back-Stabbing, Cork-Screwing and Double-Dealing,” has made a career out of charming and cheating his way through life. Played with devilish charm by George C. Scott, Jones takes on a new protégé in Curley, a wide-eyed Army deserter eager for direction. Together, they crisscross the backroads of the rural South, pulling off a string of homespun cons while staying one step ahead of a relentless local sheriff. Along the way, Curley falls for Bonnie Lee Packard, a rebellious heiress who joins their misadventures. But as the scams grow riskier, Curley begins to wonder whether a life of flimflam is worth the price. With its colorful characters, offbeat humor, and standout performance by Scott, The Flim-Flam Man is a rollicking Southern caper about cons, conscience, and unlikely camaraderie.

7.0

MagicScore

The Holy Innocents

1984

Somewhere in the spanish country, in the 60s. Paco and his wife Régula are very poor. They work as tenant farmers for a very wealthy landowner. They have 3 children. One is backward. The others can not got to school because the master "needs" their work. When Regula's brother is fired from where he has worked for 61 years, he settles down at their little place... An attack against the archaism of the spanish country of the 60s.

7.8

MagicScore

In the Heat of the Night

1967

African-American Philadelphia police detective Virgil Tibbs is arrested on suspicion of murder by Bill Gillespie, the racist police chief of tiny Sparta, Mississippi. After Tibbs proves not only his own innocence but that of another man, he joins forces with Gillespie to track down the real killer. Their investigation takes them through every social level of the town, with Tibbs making enemies as well as unlikely friends as he hunts for the truth.

7.6

MagicScore

Small Town Gay Bar

2007

The story of community in the Deep South that is forced to deal with the struggles of ignorance, hypocrisy and oppression.

6.0

MagicScore

Desperation Road

2023

Ex-con Russell Gaines is attempting to rebuild his life with the help of his father, Mitchell. However, the arrival of Maben sends his new life into chaos, leading the pair to go on the run - as their violent pasts catch up to them, the pair must learn to trust each other if they hope to live out the rest of their days.

6.7

MagicScore

Withnail & I

1987

Two out-of-work actors -- the anxious, luckless Marwood and his acerbic, alcoholic friend, Withnail -- spend their days drifting between their squalid flat, the unemployment office and the pub. When they take a holiday "by mistake" at the country house of Withnail's flamboyantly gay uncle, Monty, they encounter the unpleasant side of the English countryside: tedium, terrifying locals and torrential rain.

7.3

MagicScore

#10

Five Fingers for Marseilles

2018

Years ago, the young Five Fingers fought for the rural town of Marseilles against brutal police oppression. Now, after fleeing in disgrace, Tau, one of them, returns to Marseilles, seeking only a peaceful life. When he finds the town under new threat, he must reluctantly fight to free it.

5.7

MagicScore

#11

Lute: Forge On or Die

1987

In Spain of the 1960s, a poor family of quinquis - a nomadic ethnic group with a tradition as old as that of the gypsises of Spain but with even more obscure origins - have a nomadic life marked by poverty. The son, Eleuterio Sánchez Rodriguez, nicknamed "El Lute", steals some chickens and is condemned to six months in jail. El Lute moves to the slum outskirts of Madrid with his common law wife, Chelo, starting an itinerant life as a peddler of pots and pans and living in a quinqui shantytown. He gradually embarks upon as life of petty criminality, eventually participating in the theft of a jewelry store during which a bystander is killed.

5.7

MagicScore

#12

The Green Mile

1999

A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the cell block's head guard, Paul Edgecomb, recognizes Coffey's miraculous gift, he tries desperately to help stave off the condemned man's execution.

8.5

MagicScore

#13

Fried Green Tomatoes

1991

Amidst her own personality crisis, a southern housewife meets an outgoing old woman who tells her the story of Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison, two young women who experienced hardships and love in 1920s Whistle Stop, Alabama.

7.7

MagicScore

#14

East of Eden

1955

In the Salinas Valley in and around World War I, Cal Trask feels he must compete against overwhelming odds with his brother for the love of their father. Cal is frustrated at every turn, from his reaction to the war, how to get ahead in business and in life, and how to relate to his estranged mother.

7.5

MagicScore

#15

The Color Purple

2023

A decades-spanning tale of love and resilience and of one woman's journey to independence. Celie faces many hardships in her life, but ultimately finds extraordinary strength and hope in the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood.

7.0

MagicScore

#16

All the King's Men

1949

A man of humble beginnings and honest intentions rises to power by nefarious means. Along for the wild ride are an earnest reporter, a heretofore classy society girl, and a too-clever-for-her-own-good political flack.

7.0

MagicScore

#17

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

1974

In February, 1962, as the civil rights movement reaches Bayonne, Louisiana, a New York journalist arrives to interview Jane Pittman, who has just turned 110. She tells him her story dating back to her earliest memories before slavery ended. In between the chapters of her life, the present-day struggles of Blacks in Bayonne, urged on by Jimmy, are dramatized.

6.6

MagicScore

#18

Wise Blood

1979

A Southerner--young, poor, ambitious but uneducated--determines to become something in the world. He decides that the best way to do that is to become a preacher and start up his own church.

6.3

MagicScore

#19

The Neon Bible

1995

During a train ride, a teenager recalls his upbringing in 1940s small-town Georgia and the events that have led to this point.

6.0

MagicScore

#20

Beautiful Creatures

2013

Ethan Wate just wants to get to know Lena Duchannes better, but unbeknownst to him, Lena has strange powers. As Lena's 16th birthday approaches she might decide her fate, to be good or evil. A choice which will impact her relationship forever.

6.0

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like As I Lay Dying?

The top films similar to As I Lay Dying by MovieMagicScore are Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (7.6), Mississippi Masala (6.4), The Cabin in the Cotton (6.3). Each shares drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is As I Lay Dying worth watching?

As I Lay Dying holds a MovieMagicScore of 5.2/10 from 82 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is As I Lay Dying?

As I Lay Dying (2013) is a drama film directed by James Franco, starring James Franco, Danny McBride, Logan Marshall-Green.

Where can I find more recommendations like As I Lay Dying?

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

Keep exploring

Movies like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Movies like Mississippi Masala Movies like The Cabin in the Cotton Movies like The Flim-Flam Man Movies like The Holy Innocents Movies like In the Heat of the Night

About movies like As I Lay Dying

This ranked list pairs As I Lay Dying (2013), a drama film from James Franco, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of James Franco 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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