Movies Like Ordinary People (1980)

Ordinary People is a 1980 drama film from Robert Redford with a MovieMagicScore of 7.5/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Surrender, Dorothy and Teenage Kicks.

Drama

Surrender, Dorothy

2006

When her daughter Sara unexpectedly passes away, Natalie retreats to the summer home where she and Sara used to visit. Time with her best friends and some of Sara's friends help her deal with her loss.

5.1

MagicScore

Teenage Kicks

2016

Miklós is at the age when everything feels high-stakes. He is coming to terms with his own sexuality, and when his best friend Dan reveals that he has a new girlfriend, this puts an end to their plans to run away together.

5.8

MagicScore

The Man in the Glass Booth

1975

Arthur Goldman is a rich Jewish industrialist, living in luxury in a Manhattan high-rise. He banters with his assistant Charlie, often shocking him with his outrageousness and irreverent musings on aspects of Jewish life. Nonetheless, Charlie is astonished one day when Israeli secret agents burst in and arrest Goldman for being a Nazi war criminal. Whisked to Israel for trial, Goldman forces his accusers to face, not only his presumed guilt, but their own.

6.1

MagicScore

The Da Vinci Code

2006

A murder in Paris’ Louvre Museum and cryptic clues in some of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous paintings lead to the discovery of a religious mystery. For 2,000 years a secret society closely guards information that — should it come to light — could rock the very foundations of Christianity.

6.7

MagicScore

Twinless

2025

Two men who lost their respective twin brothers develop a growing friendship after meeting in a support group. However, both harbor long-hidden secrets that threaten to tear them apart.

7.3

MagicScore

The Prince of Tides

1991

A troubled Southern man talks to his suicidal sister's psychiatrist about their family history and falls in love with her (and New York City) in the process.

6.6

MagicScore

Antichrist

2009

A grieving couple retreats to their cabin 'Eden' in the woods, hoping to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. But nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse.

6.6

MagicScore

The Fall

2006

In a hospital on the outskirts of 1920s Los Angeles, an injured stuntman begins to tell a fellow patient, a little girl with a broken arm, a fantastic story about 5 mythical heroes. Thanks to his fractured state of mind and her vivid imagination, the line between fiction and reality starts to blur as the tale advances.

7.6

MagicScore

Companion

2025

During a weekend getaway at a secluded lakeside estate, a group of friends finds themselves entangled in a web of secrets, deception, and advanced technology. As tensions rise and loyalties are tested, they uncover unsettling truths about themselves and the world around them.

7.0

MagicScore

#10

Dear Evan Hansen

2021

Evan Hansen, a high schooler with social anxiety, unintentionally gets caught up in a lie after the family of a classmate who committed suicide mistakes one of Hansen’s letters for their son’s suicide note.

6.3

MagicScore

#11

Charlie Bartlett

2008

Awkward teenager Charlie Bartlett has trouble fitting in at a new high school. Charlie needs some friends fast, and decides that the best way to find them is to appoint himself the resident psychiatrist. He becomes one of the most popular guys in school by doling out advice and, occasionally, medication, to the student body.

6.7

MagicScore

#12

Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself

2002

The strange comedy film of two close brothers; one, Wilbur, who wants to kill himself, and the other, Harbour, who tries to prevent this. When their father dies leaving them his bookstore they meet a woman who makes their lives a bit better yet with a bit more trouble as well.

6.5

MagicScore

#13

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

2008

In 2001, Andrew Bagby, a medical resident, is murdered not long after breaking up with his girlfriend. Soon after, when she announces she's pregnant, one of Andrew's many close friends, Kurt Kuenne, begins this film, a gift to the child.

8.0

MagicScore

#14

Manchester by the Sea

2016

After his older brother passes away, Lee Chandler is forced to return home to care for his 16-year-old nephew. There he is compelled to deal with a tragic past that separated him from his family and the community where he was born and raised.

7.5

MagicScore

#15

The Iron Claw

2023

The true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers, who made history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s. Through tragedy and triumph, under the shadow of their domineering father and coach, the brothers seek larger-than-life immortality on the biggest stage in sports.

7.5

MagicScore

#16

Evil Dead Burn

2026

After her husband's abrupt death, Alice seeks solace with his remaining family — descendants of a leading researcher on demonic possession. As her in-laws transform one by one into creatures that feed on fear, she comes to discover that the vows she took in life survive even in death.

7.7

MagicScore

#17

A Single Man

2009

Set in Los Angeles in 1962, at the height of the Cuban missile crisis, is the story of a British college professor who dwells on the past and cannot see his future. We follow him through a single day, where a series of events and encounters ultimately lead him to decide if there is a meaning to life after the death of his long time partner, Jim.

7.3

MagicScore

#18

This Is Where I Leave You

2014

When their father passes away, four grown, world-weary siblings return to their childhood home and are requested -- with an admonition -- to stay there together for a week, along with their free-speaking mother and a collection of spouses, exes and might-have-beens. As the brothers and sisters re-examine their shared history and the status of each tattered relationship among those who know and love them best, they reconnect in hysterically funny and emotionally significant ways.

6.6

MagicScore

#19

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

2016

An American Ambassador is killed during an attack at a U.S. compound in Libya as a security team struggles to make sense out of the chaos.

7.3

MagicScore

#20

How to Train Your Dragon

2010

As the son of a Viking leader on the cusp of manhood, shy Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III faces a rite of passage: he must kill a dragon to prove his warrior mettle. But after downing a feared dragon, he realizes that he no longer wants to destroy it, and instead befriends the beast – which he names Toothless – much to the chagrin of his warrior father.

7.9

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Ordinary People?

The top films similar to Ordinary People by MovieMagicScore are Surrender, Dorothy (5.1), Teenage Kicks (5.8), The Man in the Glass Booth (6.1). Each shares drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Ordinary People worth watching?

Ordinary People holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.5/10 from 664 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is Ordinary People?

Ordinary People (1980) is a drama film directed by Robert Redford, starring Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch.

Where can I find more recommendations like Ordinary People?

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 Surrender, Dorothy Movies like Teenage Kicks Movies like The Man in the Glass Booth Movies like The Da Vinci Code Movies like Twinless Movies like The Prince of Tides

About movies like Ordinary People

This ranked list pairs Ordinary People (1980), a drama film from Robert Redford, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Donald Sutherland 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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