Movies Like The Watsons Go to Birmingham (2013)

The Watsons Go to Birmingham is a 2013 family, tv movie film from Kenny Leon with a MovieMagicScore of 7.0/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Selma and Forrest Gump.

Family TV Movie

Selma

2014

"Selma," as in Alabama, the place where segregation in the South was at its worst, leading to a march that ended in violence, forcing a famous statement by President Lyndon B. Johnson that ultimately led to the signing of the Voting Rights Act.

7.4

MagicScore

Forrest Gump

1994

A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.

8.5

MagicScore

Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment

1963

During a two-day period before and after the University of Alabama integration crisis, the film uses five camera crews to follow President John F. Kennedy, attorney general Robert F. Kennedy, Alabama governor George Wallace, deputy attorney general Nicholas Katzenbach and the students Vivian Malone and James Hood. As Wallace has promised to personally block the two black students from enrolling in the university, the JFK administration discusses the best way to react to it, without rousing the crowd or making Wallace a martyr for the segregationist cause. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 1999.

6.9

MagicScore

The Little Foxes

1941

In 1900, a clan attempts to strike a deal with a Chicago industrialist to get him to build cotton mills in their Deep South town.

7.5

MagicScore

The '60s

1999

The Herlihys are a working class family from Chicago whose three children take wildly divergent paths: Brian joins the Marines right out of High School and goes to Vietnam, Michael becomes involved in the civil rights movement and after campaigning for Bobby Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy becomes involved in radical politics, and Katie gets pregnant, moves to San Francisco and joins a hippie commune. Meanwhile, the Taylors are an African-American family living in the deep South. When Willie Taylor, a minister and civil rights organizer, is shot to death, his son Emmet moves to the city and eventually joins the Black Panthers, serving as a bodyguard for Fred Hampton.

6.0

MagicScore

Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

2021

During the same summer as Woodstock, over 300,000 people attended the Harlem Cultural Festival, celebrating African American music and culture, and promoting Black pride and unity. The footage from the festival sat in a basement, unseen for over 50 years, keeping this incredible event in America's history lost — until now.

7.6

MagicScore

The Butler

2013

A look at the life of Cecil Gaines, who served eight presidents as the White House's head butler from 1952 to 1986, and had a unique front-row seat as political and racial history was made.

7.3

MagicScore

Driving Miss Daisy

1989

The story of an old Jewish widow named Daisy Werthan and her relationship with her black chauffeur, Hoke. From an initial mere work relationship grew in 25 years a strong friendship between the two very different characters, in a time when those types of relationships were shunned.

7.2

MagicScore

Salvador

1986

In 1980, an American journalist covering the Salvadoran Civil War becomes entangled with both the leftist guerrilla groups and the right-wing military dictatorship while trying to rescue his girlfriend and her children.

7.0

MagicScore

#10

Hairspray

1988

'Pleasantly plump' teenager Tracy Turnblad achieves her dream of becoming a regular on the Corny Collins Dance Show. Now a teen hero, she starts using her fame to speak out for the causes she believes in, most of all integration. In doing so, she earns the wrath of the show's former star, Amber Von Tussle, as well as Amber's manipulative, pro-segregation parents. The rivalry comes to a head as Amber and Tracy vie for the title of Miss Auto Show 1963.

6.8

MagicScore

#11

Son of the South

2021

In civil rights era Montgomery, Alabama, Klansman's grandson Bob Zellner must choose which side of history to be on during the Movement. Defying his family and white Southern norms, he fought against social injustice, repression and violence to change the world around him

6.5

MagicScore

#12

LBJ

2017

The story of U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson from his young days in West Texas to the White House.

6.4

MagicScore

#13

Seberg

2019

An ambitious young FBI agent is assigned to investigate iconic actress Jean Seberg when she becomes embroiled in the tumultuous civil rights movement in late 1960s Los Angeles.

5.9

MagicScore

#14

The Incredibles

2004

Bob Parr has given up his superhero days to log in time as an insurance adjuster and raise his three children with his formerly heroic wife in suburbia. But when he receives a mysterious assignment, it's time to get back into costume.

7.7

MagicScore

#15

Follow That Bird

1985

Big Bird is sent to live far from Sesame Street by a pesky social worker, who thinks it would be better for him to live with other birds. Unhappy, Big Bird runs away from his foster home, prompting the rest of the Sesame Street gang to go on a cross-country journey to find him.

6.3

MagicScore

#16

Green Book

2018

Tony Lip, a bouncer in 1962, is hired to drive pianist Don Shirley on a tour through the Deep South in the days when African Americans, forced to find alternate accommodations and services due to segregation laws below the Mason-Dixon Line, relied on a guide called The Negro Motorist Green Book.

8.2

MagicScore

#17

Flipped

2010

When Juli meets Bryce in the second grade, she knows it's true love. After spending six years trying to convince Bryce the same, she's ready to give up - until he starts to reconsider.

8.0

MagicScore

#18

Captain Fantastic

2016

Deep in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a father devoted to raising his six kids with a rigorous physical and intellectual education is forced to leave his paradise and enter the world, beginning a journey that challenges his idea of what it means to be a parent.

7.9

MagicScore

#19

The Straight Story

1999

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 Wisconsin, while Alvin is stuck in Iowa with no car and no driver's license. Then he hits on the idea of making the trip on his old lawnmower, thus beginning a picturesque and at times deeply spiritual odyssey.

7.7

MagicScore

#20

Little Miss Sunshine

2006

A family loaded with quirky, colorful characters piles into an old van and road trips to California for little Olive to compete in a beauty pageant.

7.7

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The Watsons Go to Birmingham?

The top films similar to The Watsons Go to Birmingham by MovieMagicScore are Selma (7.4), Forrest Gump (8.5), Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (6.9). Each shares family/tv movie themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The Watsons Go to Birmingham worth watching?

The Watsons Go to Birmingham holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.0/10 from 26 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is The Watsons Go to Birmingham?

The Watsons Go to Birmingham (2013) is a family, tv movie film directed by Kenny Leon, starring Bryce Clyde Jenkins, Harrison Knight, Skai Jackson.

Where can I find more recommendations like The Watsons Go to Birmingham?

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

Keep exploring

Movies like Selma Movies like Forrest Gump Movies like Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment Movies like The Little Foxes Movies like The '60s Movies like Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

About movies like The Watsons Go to Birmingham

This ranked list pairs The Watsons Go to Birmingham (2013), a family and tv movie film from Kenny Leon, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Bryce Clyde Jenkins 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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