Movies Like Lingua Franca (2020)

Lingua Franca is a 2020 drama film from Isabel Sandoval with a MovieMagicScore of 6.1/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Just Charlie and Appropriate Behavior.

Drama

Just Charlie

2017

Football star Charlie has the world at her feet. With a top club desperate to sign her, her future is seemingly mapped out. But the teenager sees only a nightmare. Raised as a boy, Charlie is torn between wanting to live up to her father's expectations and shedding this ill fitting skin.

7.0

MagicScore

Appropriate Behavior

2015

Shirin is struggling to become an ideal Persian daughter, politically correct bisexual and hip young Brooklynite but fails miserably in her attempt at all identities.

6.3

MagicScore

Dallas Buyers Club

2013

Loosely based on the true-life tale of Ron Woodroof, a drug-taking, women-loving, homophobic man who in 1986 was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and given thirty days to live.

7.9

MagicScore

Girl

2018

A promising teenage dancer enrolls at a prestigious ballet school while grappling with her gender dysphoria.

7.2

MagicScore

Law of Desire

1987

Pablo, a successful film director, disappointed in his relationship with his young lover, Juan, concentrates in a new project, a monologue starring his transgender sister, Tina. Antonio, an uptight young man, falls possessively in love with the director and in his passion would stop at nothing to obtain the object of his desire.

7.1

MagicScore

Transamerica

2005

A transgender woman takes an unexpected journey when she learns that she had a son, now a teenage runaway hustling on the streets of New York.

7.0

MagicScore

Tangerine

2015

It's Christmas Eve in Tinseltown and Sin-Dee is back on the block. Upon hearing that her pimp boyfriend hasn't been faithful during the 28 days she was locked up, the working girl and her best friend, Alexandra, embark on a mission to get to the bottom of the scandalous rumor. Their rip-roaring odyssey leads them through various subcultures of Los Angeles, including an Armenian family dealing with their own repercussions of infidelity.

6.9

MagicScore

Tamara

2016

The story of a lawyer's journey to overcome her fears and social boundaries in order to transition.

6.8

MagicScore

Anything's Possible

2022

Anything’s Possible is a delightfully modern Gen Z coming-of-age story that follows Kelsa, a confident high school girl who is trans, as she navigates through senior year. When her classmate Khal gets a crush on her, he musters up the courage to ask her out, despite the drama he knows it could cause. What transpires is a romance that showcases the joy, tenderness, and pain of young love.

5.7

MagicScore

#10

Gun Hill Road

2011

An ex-con returns home to the Bronx after three year in prison to discover his wife estranged and his teenage son exploring a sexual transformation that will put the fragile bonds of their family to the test.

5.7

MagicScore

#11

Undress Me

2012

Mikaela has undergone gender reassignment and is now a woman. One night at a bar, she meets a guy and takes him back to her place.

5.7

MagicScore

#12

The Night

2016

Martin moves around Buenos Aires at night, picking up guys, going to clubs, scoring drugs and having sex. Sometimes he’s paying and sometimes his trans sex-worker friend or another woman takes him along for a threesome.

4.2

MagicScore

#13

Will & Harper

2024

When Will Ferrell's good friend Harper comes out as a trans woman, they take a road trip to bond and reintroduce Harper to the country as her true self.

7.3

MagicScore

#14

The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson

2017

Describing herself as a 'street queen,' Johnson was a legendary fixture in New York City’s gay ghetto and a tireless voice for LGBT pride since the days of Stonewall, who along with fellow trans icon Sylvia Rivera, founded Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries (S.T.A.R.), a trans activist group based in the heart of NYC’s Greenwich Village. Her death in 1992 was declared a suicide by the NYPD, but friends never accepted that version of events. Structured as a whodunit, with activist Victoria Cruz cast as detective and audience surrogate, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson celebrates the lasting political legacy of Johnson, while seeking to finally solve the mystery of her unexplained death.

7.1

MagicScore

#15

In the Family

2017

The neurotic Fikret and tavern singer Solmaz, whose 21 year long relationships end on the same day, meet through a funny coincidence. When Solmaz's daughter Zeynep decides to marry her lover from Adana, the ever-fearful Fikret ends up having to play the role of his life. Intended at first to be kept in the family, the wedding becomes a much bigger event upon the insistence of the groom's relatives. Can our heroes come to terms with the traditional Adana family who carry guns and own a kebab restaurant chain, and see the wedding through without mishaps?

6.7

MagicScore

#16

Eating Out: Drama Camp

2011

Zack and Casey's relationship is in a slump, but things are about to change at Dick Dickey's Drama Camp. Zack meets gorgeous Benji, and when they get cast as lovers in a sexed-up version of The Taming of the Shrew, their self-restraint is put to the test. Will Zack and Casey's relationship last with Benji in the picture?

5.8

MagicScore

#17

Gender Revolution: A Journey with Katie Couric

2017

Katie Couric travels across the U.S. to talk with scientists, psychologists, activists, authors and families about the complex issue of gender.

5.7

MagicScore

#18

Me Before You

2016

Lou Clark, a directionless 26-year-old from the English countryside, takes a job at the local castle as a caregiver and companion to a wealthy young banker, Will Traynor. Wheelchair-bound from an accident two years prior, the once adventurous Will has all but given up — that is until Lou determines to show him that life is worth living.

7.9

MagicScore

#19

Close-Knit

2017

After being neglected by her mother, a little girl is taken in by her uncle and his transgender girlfriend, who create a loving home for her.

7.1

MagicScore

#20

A Kid Like Jake

2018

On the eve of the admissions cycle for New York City kindergartens, Alex and Greg Wheeler have high hopes for four-year-old Jake. The director of Jake's preschool encourages them to accentuate Jake's gender expansive behavior to help him stand out. As Alex and Greg navigate their roles as parents, a rift grows between them, one that forces them to confront their own concerns about what's best for Jake, and each other.

6.0

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Lingua Franca?

The top films similar to Lingua Franca by MovieMagicScore are Just Charlie (7.0), Appropriate Behavior (6.3), Dallas Buyers Club (7.9). Each shares drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Lingua Franca worth watching?

Lingua Franca holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.1/10 from 22 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Lingua Franca?

Lingua Franca (2020) is a drama film directed by Isabel Sandoval, starring Isabel Sandoval, Lynn Cohen, Eamon Farren.

Where can I find more recommendations like Lingua Franca?

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 Just Charlie Movies like Appropriate Behavior Movies like Dallas Buyers Club Movies like Girl Movies like Law of Desire Movies like Transamerica

About movies like Lingua Franca

This ranked list pairs Lingua Franca (2020), a drama film from Isabel Sandoval, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Isabel Sandoval 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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