Movies Like Boys Town (1938)

Boys Town is a 1938 drama film from Norman Taurog with a MovieMagicScore of 6.7/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Nebraska and A Royal Affair.

Drama

Nebraska

2013

An aging, booze-addled father takes a trip from Montana to Nebraska with his estranged son in order to claim what he believes to be a million-dollar sweepstakes prize.

7.4

MagicScore

A Royal Affair

2012

A young queen falls in love with her physician, and they start a revolution that changes their nation forever.

7.4

MagicScore

Justice, My Foot!

1992

An unscrupulous lawyer with an equally eccentric kung-fu sidekick wife tries to bring justice to the court.

6.7

MagicScore

Frances Ferguson

2019

Frances Ferguson is discontent. Like a lot of us, she does a bit of “acting out” and pays the price —an arrest, a trial, incarceration. And then a new identity, one that’s not terribly comfortable.

6.0

MagicScore

Balls Out: Gary the Tennis Coach

2009

An overenthusiastic high-school maintenance man attempts to lead an unlikely group of misfits to the Nebraska state tennis championship in Balls Out: The Gary Houseman Story? director Danny Leiner's underdog sports comedy. American Pie star Seann William Scott stars as the ambitious janitor who believes he has what it takes to coach the winning team.

5.1

MagicScore

The Chorus

2004

In 1940s France, a new teacher at a school for disruptive boys gives hope and inspiration.

7.7

MagicScore

The Holdovers

2023

A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam.

7.6

MagicScore

Goodbye, Mr. Chips

1939

A shy British teacher looks back nostalgically at his long career, taking note of the people who touched his life.

7.4

MagicScore

You Are Not Alone

1978

Young teenager Bo is too sensitive for the hothouse atmosphere of a boarding school run by a cold, unfeeling would-be man of the cloth. Lonely and scared, he finds a soulmate in the headmaster's son Kim with whom he forms a bond of friendship... that slowly grows into something more.

7.4

MagicScore

#10

Evil

2003

Stockholm, in the 1950s. Erik is expelled from the local school for getting into one brawl too many. To protect Erik from his violent stepfather’s reaction to his expulsion, Erik's mother arranges for Erik to spend a year at Stjärnsberg Boarding School, the only school willing to accept him. This is Erik's last chance to graduate to Upper School and he promises his mother, for his and her sake, to do all he can to stay out of trouble.

7.3

MagicScore

#11

if....

1968

In an English boys' boarding school, social hierarchy reigns supreme and power remains in the hands of distanced and ineffectual teachers and callously vicious prefects in the Upper Sixth. Three Lower Sixth students, Wallace, Johnny and leader Mick Travis decide on a shocking course of action to redress the balance of privilege once and for all.

7.1

MagicScore

#12

Dorm

2006

When 12-year-old Ton transfers to an all-boys boarding school, he's taunted by his peers and terrified by their tales about the ghosts that inhabit the school. Ton is utterly miserable until he befriends a mysterious fellow pupil.

6.5

MagicScore

#13

Boys Don't Cry

1999

A young transgender man explores his gender identity and searches for love in rural Nebraska.

7.4

MagicScore

#14

Election

1999

Tracy Flick is running unopposed for this year’s high school student election. But Jim McAllister has a different plan. Partly to establish a more democratic election, and partly to satisfy some deep personal anger toward Tracy, Jim talks football player Paul Metzler to run for president as well.

6.9

MagicScore

#15

The Indian Runner

1991

Two brothers cannot overcome their opposite perceptions of life. One brother sees and feels bad in everyone and everything, subsequently he is violent, antisocial and unable to appreciate or enjoy the good things which his brother desperately tries to point out to him.

6.5

MagicScore

#16

Take Me to the River

2015

A naive California teen plans to remain above the fray at his Nebraskan family reunion, but a strange encounter places him at the center of a long-buried family secret.

6.4

MagicScore

#17

Peacock

2010

A minor train accident in rural Nebraska gradually unveils a mystery involving the town's reclusive bank clerk.

6.1

MagicScore

#18

Diabolique

1955

The cruel and abusive headmaster of a boarding school, Michel Delassalle, is murdered by an unlikely duo -- his meek wife and the mistress he brazenly flaunts. The women become increasingly unhinged by a series of odd occurrences after Delassalle's corpse mysteriously disappears.

7.9

MagicScore

#19

Snack Shack

2024

Inseparable best friends AJ and Moose decide to run the local pool's snack shack after their plan to sell home-brewed beer goes down the drain. Things take a turn when they meet Brooke, an effortlessly cool lifeguard who puts their big plans, and friendship, at risk.

7.2

MagicScore

#20

Lover, Stalker, Killer

2024

In this twisting documentary, a mechanic tries online dating for the first time and meets a woman who takes romantic obsession to a deadly extreme.

6.8

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Boys Town?

The top films similar to Boys Town by MovieMagicScore are Nebraska (7.4), A Royal Affair (7.4), Justice, My Foot! (6.7). Each shares drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Boys Town worth watching?

Boys Town holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.7/10 from 95 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Boys Town?

Boys Town (1938) is a drama film directed by Norman Taurog, starring Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney, Henry Hull.

Where can I find more recommendations like Boys Town?

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 Nebraska Movies like A Royal Affair Movies like Justice, My Foot!Movies like Frances Ferguson Movies like Balls Out: Gary the Tennis Coach Movies like The Chorus

About movies like Boys Town

This ranked list pairs Boys Town (1938), a drama film from Norman Taurog, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Spencer Tracy 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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