Movies Like Ben Is Back (2018)

Ben Is Back is a 2018 drama film from Peter Hedges with a MovieMagicScore of 6.6/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Easter Sunday and Being Charlie.

Drama

Easter Sunday

2022

Comedian and actor Joe Valencia returns home for an Easter celebration with his riotous, bickering, eating, drinking, laughing, loving family, in this love letter to the Filipino-American community.

5.7

MagicScore

Being Charlie

2015

Charlie is a troublesome 18-year-old who breaks out of a youth drug treatment clinic, but when he returns home to Los Angeles, he's given an intervention by his parents and forced to go to an adult rehab. There, he meets a beautiful but troubled girl, Eva, and is forced to battle with drugs, elusive love and divided parents.

6.1

MagicScore

Trainspotting

1996

Heroin addict Mark Renton stumbles through bad ideas and sobriety attempts with his unreliable friends --Sick Boy, Begbie, Spud and Tommy. He also has an underage girlfriend, Diane, along for the ride. After cleaning up and moving from Edinburgh to London, Mark finds he can't escape the life he left behind as Begbie and Sick Boy come knocking.

8.0

MagicScore

Hillbilly Elegy

2020

An urgent phone call pulls a Yale Law student back to his Ohio hometown, where he reflects on three generations of family history and his own future.

6.7

MagicScore

The Iron Giant

1999

In the small town of Rockwell, Maine in October 1957, a giant metal machine befriends a nine-year-old boy and ultimately finds its humanity by unselfishly saving people from their own fears and prejudices.

8.0

MagicScore

Transit

2012

Nate takes his family for a camping trip to reconnect. When they pull off at a rest stop, a gang of thieves hides their stash from an armored car robbery among the family belongings. They soon find themselves on the run and the gang will stop at nothing to get their money back.

5.7

MagicScore

One Fine Day

1996

Melanie Parker, an architect and mother of Sammy, and Jack Taylor, a newspaper columnist and father of Maggie, are both divorced. They meet one morning when overwhelmed Jack is left unexpectedly with Maggie and forgets that Melanie was to take her to school. As a result, both children miss their school field trip and are stuck with the parents. The two adults project their negative stereotypes of ex-spouses on each other, but end up needing to rely on each other to watch the children as each must save his job. Humor is added by Sammy's propensity for lodging objects in his nose and Maggie's tendency to wander.

6.4

MagicScore

Jeff, Who Lives at Home

2012

Dispatched from his basement room on an errand for his mother, slacker Jeff might discover his destiny (finally) when he spends the day with his brother as he tracks his possibly adulterous wife.

6.2

MagicScore

A Good Person

2023

Allison's life falls apart following her involvement in a fatal accident. The unlikely relationship she forms with her would-be father-in-law helps her live a life worth living.

7.1

MagicScore

#10

All Is Forgiven

2007

A father and daughter are reunited some 11 years after the father's drug addiction tore the family apart.

6.5

MagicScore

#11

A Wife's Nightmare

2014

Liz, just returned home after a mental breakdown, has to welcome a relative stranger into her home when Caitlin, a young, vivacious woman, claims to be her husband's daughter.

6.1

MagicScore

#12

Days of the Bagnold Summer

2020

Sue works in a library. Daniel eats crisps and listens to Metallica. This was the summer Daniel was due to spend with his father and his father's new wife in Florida. But when they cancel his trip at the last minute, Sue and Daniel suddenly face the prospect of six long weeks together.

6.0

MagicScore

#13

High on Crack Street: Lost Lives in Lowell

1995

Documents 18 months in the lives of three crack addicts in Lowell, Massachusetts.

6.7

MagicScore

#14

Beautiful Boy

2018

After he and his first wife separate, journalist David Sheff struggles to help their teenage son, who goes from experimenting with drugs to becoming devastatingly addicted to methamphetamine.

7.6

MagicScore

#15

Postcards from the Edge

1990

A substance-addicted actress tries to look on the bright side even as she's forced to move back in with her mother to avoid unemployment.

6.6

MagicScore

#16

Rachel Getting Married

2008

A young woman who has been in and out from rehab for the past 10 years returns home for the weekend for her sister's wedding.

6.3

MagicScore

#17

28 Days

2000

After getting into a car accident while drunk on the day of her sister's wedding, Gwen Cummings is given a choice between prison or a rehab center. She chooses rehab, but is extremely resistant to taking part in any of the treatment programs they have to offer, refusing to admit that she has an alcohol addiction.

6.2

MagicScore

#18

A Million Little Pieces

2019

A young drug-addled writer approaching the bottom of his descent submits to two months of agonizing detox at a treatment center in Minnesota.

6.1

MagicScore

#19

Columbus

2017

When a renowned architecture scholar falls suddenly ill during a speaking tour, his son Jin finds himself stranded in Columbus, Indiana - a small Midwestern city celebrated for its many significant modernist buildings. Jin strikes up a friendship with Casey, a young architecture enthusiast who works at the local library.

7.1

MagicScore

#20

Amy

2015

A documentary on the life of Amy Winehouse, the immensely talented yet doomed songstress. We see her from her teen years, where she already showed her singing abilities, to her finding success and then her downward spiral into alcoholism and drugs.

7.6

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Ben Is Back?

The top films similar to Ben Is Back by MovieMagicScore are Easter Sunday (5.7), Being Charlie (6.1), Trainspotting (8.0). Each shares drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Ben Is Back worth watching?

Ben Is Back holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.6/10 from 943 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Ben Is Back?

Ben Is Back (2018) is a drama film directed by Peter Hedges, starring Julia Roberts, Lucas Hedges, Courtney B. Vance.

Where can I find more recommendations like Ben Is Back?

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 Easter Sunday Movies like Being Charlie Movies like Trainspotting Movies like Hillbilly Elegy Movies like The Iron Giant Movies like Transit

About movies like Ben Is Back

This ranked list pairs Ben Is Back (2018), a drama film from Peter Hedges, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Julia Roberts 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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