Movies Like Soul Surfer (2011)

Soul Surfer is a 2011 drama, family film from Sean McNamara with a MovieMagicScore of 7.0/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Riding Giants and Barbie in A Mermaid Tale.

Drama Family

Riding Giants

2004

Riding Giants is story about big wave surfers who have become heroes and legends in their sport. Directed by the skateboard guru Stacy Peralta.

7.6

MagicScore

Barbie in A Mermaid Tale

2010

Barbie stars as Merliah, a surfer who learns a shocking secret: she's a mermaid! She and her dolphin friend set out for an undersea adventure to rescue her mother, the queen of Oceana.

7.2

MagicScore

The Shallows

2016

While surfing on a secluded beach, Nancy finds herself in the feeding grounds of a great white shark. Though stranded only 200 yards from shore, survival proves to be the ultimate test of wills, requiring all of her ingenuity, resourcefulness, and fortitude.

6.3

MagicScore

Blue Crush

2002

Nothing gets between Anne Marie and her board. Living in a beach shack with three roommates, she is up before dawn every morning to conquer the waves and count the days until the Pipe Masters competition. Having transplanted herself to Hawaii with no one's blessing but her own, Anne Marie finds all she needs in the adrenaline-charged surf scene - until pro quarterback Matt Tollman comes along...

6.0

MagicScore

The Beach

2000

Twenty-something Richard travels to Thailand and finds himself in possession of a strange map. Rumours state that it leads to a solitary beach paradise, a tropical bliss - excited and intrigued, he sets out to find it.

6.5

MagicScore

The Surfer

2025

A man returns to the idyllic beach of his childhood to surf with his son. When he is humiliated by a group of locals, the man is drawn into a conflict that keeps rising and pushes him to his breaking point.

5.8

MagicScore

The Endless Summer

1966

Bruce Brown's The Endless Summer is one of the first and most influential surf movies of all time. The film documents American surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August as they travel the world during California’s winter (which, back in 1965 was off-season for surfing) in search of the perfect wave and ultimately, an endless summer.

7.1

MagicScore

Barbie in A Mermaid Tale 2

2012

Surf's up for Barbie as she returns as Merliah, the fun and fashionable surfing champion who's also a magical mermaid princess! In this exciting sea-quel, Merliah makes a splash when she heads to Australia for the ultimate surfing competition. When the evil mermaid Eris escapes from her whirlpool with plans to take over the throne of Oceana, Merliah and her sea friends dive in to stop her. It's a fresh new adventure where Merliah learns that anything is possible and she really can have the best of both worlds!

7.0

MagicScore

Dangerous Animals

2025

A savvy and free-spirited surfer is abducted by a shark-obsessed serial killer. Held captive on his boat, she must figure out how to escape before he carries out a ritualistic feeding to the sharks below.

6.5

MagicScore

#10

Flirting with Forty

2008

A divorcee has a passionate affair with a much younger surfing instructor in Hawaii.

5.2

MagicScore

#11

National Lampoon Presents: Endless Bummer

2009

From National Lampoon, the masters of raunchy comedy, comes a summer tale of beers, babes, and bros! In the surf town of Ventura, California, JD's surf board is stolen by a surfer from Los Angeles...a crime that cannot go unpunished. Gathering his friends and the local surf hero, Mike Mooney, they take a road trip to LA to get the surfboard back, then return to Ventura for the wildest summer party ever!

5.0

MagicScore

#12

Jaws

1975

When the seaside community of Amity finds itself under attack by a dangerous great white shark, the town's chief of police, a young marine biologist, and a grizzled shark hunter embark on a desperate quest to kill the beast before it strikes again.

7.7

MagicScore

#13

Fireproof

2008

A heroic fire captain values dedication and service to others above all else, but the most important partnership in his life, his marriage, is about to go up in smoke.

7.7

MagicScore

#14

River

2016

In the south of Laos, an American volunteer doctor becomes a fugitive after he intervenes in the sexual assault of a young woman. When the assailant's body is pulled from the Mekong River, things quickly spiral out of control.

5.8

MagicScore

#15

Courageous

2011

Law enforcement officers Adam Mitchell, Nathan Hayes, and their partners stand up to the worst the streets have to offer with confidence and focus. Yet at the end of the day, they face a challenge that none of them are truly prepared to tackle: fatherhood. They know that God desires to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, but their children are beginning to drift further and further away from them. When tragedy hits home, these men are left wrestling with their hopes, their fears, their faith, and their fathering. Can a newfound urgency help these dads draw closer to God... and to their children?

7.6

MagicScore

#16

A Prayer Before Dawn

2018

The amazing true story of Billy Moore, an English boxer incarcerated in Thailand’s most notorious prison. Thrown into a world of drugs and violence, he finds his best chance to escape is to fight his way out in prison Muay Thai tournaments.

6.7

MagicScore

#17

Swamp Shark

2011

Open on gorgeous swamplands of the Atchafalaya Basin in the summer. Lots of beautiful teens are at the beach the weekend before Gator Fest. That night an animal smuggling deal goes wrong and a large sea creature escapes into a swampy backwoods river. At the McDaniel's "Gator Shack" restaurant, a local, Jackson is drunk, and gets mangled to bits. The town sheriff blames the carnage on the McDaniel's "escaped" pack of gators and tries hauling them off to jail. Rachel McDaniel, head of the family, claims to have seen the fin of a shark! Rachel and her family, along with the help of a mysterious stranger, Charlie, take on the Swampshark and the law to clear their names, save Rachel's kid sister Krystal and prevent the unwitting folks at the upcoming Gator Fest from being torn to shreds by a beast the likes of which no one has ever seen!

4.0

MagicScore

#18

Hawaiian Holiday

1937

Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto experience all that Hawaii has to offer. Donald tries hula dancing, Pluto explores the beach and Goofy takes up surfing!

6.7

MagicScore

#19

BlacKkKlansman

2018

Colorado Springs, late 1970s. Ron Stallworth, an African American police officer, and Flip Zimmerman, his Jewish colleague, run an undercover operation to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan.

7.5

MagicScore

#20

12 Days of Terror

2004

July of 1916 was a time of record heat, a polio epidemic, and a World War in Europe. But beachgoers in New Jersey are threatened by a even greater terror: a shark that has suddenly developed a taste for human flesh. Starting July 1st and lasting over a period of 12 days, the unidentified shark kills four people and seriously injures a fifth before the attacks stop, and threatens New Jersey's thriving tourist industry. Based on true events, and one of the inspirations behind Peter Benchley's Jaws.

5.4

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Soul Surfer?

The top films similar to Soul Surfer by MovieMagicScore are Riding Giants (7.6), Barbie in A Mermaid Tale (7.2), The Shallows (6.3). Each shares drama/family themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Soul Surfer worth watching?

Soul Surfer holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.0/10 from 1,211 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is Soul Surfer?

Soul Surfer (2011) is a drama, family film directed by Sean McNamara, starring AnnaSophia Robb, Helen Hunt, Dennis Quaid.

Where can I find more recommendations like Soul Surfer?

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 Riding Giants Movies like Barbie in A Mermaid Tale Movies like The Shallows Movies like Blue Crush Movies like The Beach Movies like The Surfer

About movies like Soul Surfer

This ranked list pairs Soul Surfer (2011), a drama and family film from Sean McNamara, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of AnnaSophia Robb 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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