Best movies like America

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like America Starring Philip Johnson, Rosie O'Donnell, Ruby Dee, Jade Yorker, and more. If you liked America then you may also like: The Unloved, Virgin, When Andrew Came Home, White Oleander, Return to Innocence and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

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In "America," Dr. Maureen Brennan, a psychiatrist at a youth treatment center, encounters her newest patient, a bi-racial boy named America. Through their sessions, Dr. Brennan helps America come to terms with his roller-coaster life, which began when he was taken by authorities from his crack-addicted mother, and placed into foster care as an infant. The short time of stability in his life occurred when America lived with Mrs. Harper, the elderly nanny to one of his foster families. Later reunited with his mother, she soon abandons America and he is again placed into foster care. Lagging behind in school and full of anger, America retreats further away from society after years of sexual abuse. After attempting suicide, America is placed in a treatment center where Dr. Brennan helps him open up about his painful past and discover the support and courage he needs to get his life back on track.

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The Unloved

Lucy is eleven years old. Having been neglected by her estranged mother and father, she is placed in a children's home. Through her eyes, we follow her struggle to cope with the system; her only saving being her self-belief and certainty that she is being watched over and protected by the holy spirit.

5.1 / 10 2003 Drama
suggested by: empath

Virgin

When a teenager finds herself pregnant, with no memory of having had sex, she determines that she is carrying the child of God.

When Andrew Came Home

A mother searches for five years to find her kidnapped son in this fact-based drama. Unexpectedly the boy is found, but the reunion is not as she hoped. She now has to deal with five years of abuse that the boy suffered at the hands of his kidnappers.

White Oleander

A teenager journeys through a series of foster homes after her mother goes to prison for committing a crime of passion.

Return to Innocence

A searing legal drama that centers on a highly credentialed child psychologist whose life is shattered when he's accused of sexually assaulting a young boy he's been treating.

Stalked at 17

When 17 year old Angela fell for Chad, he promised to love her forever. When she got pregnant with his child, he promised to take care of them both. When she realized he was deceptive and abusive, he promised to change. When she wanted to leave, he made one final promise: to hunt her down and kill her if she ever took his child away.

The Secret Life of Zoey

Marcia always thought her overachieving daughter Zoey was the dream child. But then she discovers that her perfect teen has a not-so-perfect drug addiction. Marcia and her ex-husband go through plenty of denial as their daughter spirals out of control. It's a true-to-life tale that parents and their kids should watch together.

Too Young to Be a Dad

When 15-year-old Matt Freeman gets his girlfriend, Francesca, pregnant, her family decides to put the unborn baby up for adoption. Matt agrees to the decision, but begins to rethink it. This movie is taken from the father's point of view.

Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story

Based on a true story. Liz Murray is a young girl who is taken care of by her loving, but drug-addicted parents. Liz becomes homeless at 15 and after a tragedy comes upon her, she begins her work to finish high school.

The Hand that Rocks the Cradle

A suburban family chooses seemingly sweet Peyton Flanders as their newborn's nanny. Only much later does the infant's mother, Claire Bartel, realize Peyton's true intentions -- to destroy Claire and replace her in the family. The nail-biting suspense builds quickly in this chilling psychological thriller about deception and bitter revenge.

Fifteen and Pregnant

Based on a true story, 15 year old Tina Spangler discovers she is pregnant. Her choices are abortion, adoption, or a lonely, exhausting life as a single parent. Abandoned by her boyfriend, she turns to her mother. Tina discovers although it has torn her world apart, her pregnancy could re-unite her shattered family and help her find her true purpose in life.

Invisible Child

A nanny is hired by a troubled mother and finds herself fighting to hold together the entire family when she realizes the woman has an imaginary daughter.

Gimme Shelter

After running away from her abusive mother, a streetwise teen seeks refuge with her father, but he rejects her when he learns that she's pregnant.

Gracie's Choice

For as long as she can remember, 16 year-old Gracie has been raising her four siblings, each of whom has a different, absent father and their mother is on the fast track to self-destruction. When these children's lives are about to be pulled apart, Gracie will have to do the impossible and make the ultimate sacrifices to keep her family together.

The Greatest

Teenagers Rose and Bennett were in love, and then a car crash claimed Bennett's life. He left behind a grieving mother, father and younger brother, and Rose was left all alone. She has no family to turn to for support, so when she finds out she's pregnant, she winds up at the Brewer's door. She needs their help, and although they can't quite admit it, they each need her so they can begin to heal.

House of Cards

When Ruth Matthews's husband is killed in a fall at an archaeological dig, her daughter Sally handles her father's death in a very odd manner. As Sally's condition worsens, Ruth takes her to see Jake, an expert in childhood autism. Jake attempts to bring Sally out of her mental disarray through traditional therapy methods, but Ruth takes a different route. She risks her own sanity by attempting to enter her daughter's mind and make sense of the seemingly bizarre things that Sally does, including building a wondrous house of cards

Loverboy

A neglected daughter becomes a possessive mother in an emotional journey into the heart and mind of a woman who loved too much.

Manic

Follows the fate of Lyle, a violent adolescent who, in lieu of prison, is placed in a juvenile mental institution where he encounters a group of equally troubled teens. This motley crew - abused, sexually confused, violent, and yet hanging on by their grit and anger - becomes Lyle's last lifeline as he fights to find meaning in a world that seems to defy understanding.

Mockingbird Don't Sing

The tragic true story of one of the worst cases of child abuse ever documented (in which a girl was locked in a room without social contact for nearly thirteen years) and what happened when she was finally rescued.

Short Term 12

Grace, a compassionate young supervisor at a foster care facility, helps at-risk teens. But when a new charge dredges up memories of her own troubled past, Grace's tough exterior begins eroding.

Smile

Introduced to a volunteer opportunity with the Doctor's Gift Program, Katie (Mika Boorem) signs up for a trip to China, where she meets Lin (Yi Ding), a girl with whom she shares a birthday. Lin has a facial deformity that discourages her from ever showing her face, but her friendship with Katie helps her start to see life in a new way.

Song for a Raggy Boy

William Franklin is a teacher who was born in Ireland and moved to the United States only to repatriate in 1939 after his leftist political views cause him to lose his job. Franklin becomes the first non-cleric instructor at St. Jude's, a school for wayward boys run by Brother John, who is a firm believer in strong discipline.

The Unsaid

A doctor dealing with the aftermath of his son's death tries to help a troubled young man.

Crutch

An autobiographical film taken from the experiences of writer-director Rob Moretti, CRUTCH is a coming-of-age tale about a young man's struggle with family problems and substance abuse. Behind a facade of suburban middle class perfection, David's home life is falling apart. As he tries to cope with the impossible situation, the troubled and impressionable teenager falls under the spell of Kenny, a georgous, thirty-something, has-been actor turned theatre coach. When Kenny's "support" escalates into seduction, David slowly decends into an abyss of drinking and drug addition from which he must escape if he is to survive. CRUTCH is a dramatic tale of the confusion of youth and the difficulties in finding oneself.

Next of Kin

Twenty-three-year old Peter Foster is an only child who lives at home, where he constantly hears his parents arguing. Because Peter does nothing all day, the family goes to a clinic where a therapist videotapes them. After Peter watches his tape, he views the tape of a troubled Armenian family, who gave their only son away for adoption when they arrived in Canada. Peter decides to visit this family, and he pretends to be their son, Bedros Deryan. The Deryan family welcomes him with open arms, and Peter tries to patch up the poor relationship between George Deryan and his daughter Azah.

Absent

Documentary on the social pandemic of fatherlessness afflicting today's societies.

Children of Darkness

A significant number of American children and teenagers - from all social backgrounds - suffer from mental disorders, schizophrenia, autism and emotional problems, leading them to isolation from society while treating their issues in mental health facilities. But there's no end in sight for those young individuals when they face obstacles and mistreatment in inadequate places under the supervision of careless and inexperienced professionals. The documentary follows some of those public mental institutions and another private center dealing with troubled kids and reveals what's wrong with their procedures, and the irreparable harm they cause in those patients.

Green Chimneys

Green Chimneys follows three young boys living at Green Chimneys, a residential treatment center for children with emotional, behavioral, social and learning challenges.

Levitation

Sarah Paulson stars as a pregnant teenager who searches for her biological mother, with the help of a guardian angel.

4.0 / 10 2003 Drama TV Movie
suggested by: silver screen

A Long Way Home

Family members struggle to heal their emotional wounds after an incident of sexual abuse.

A Father for Brittany

Keith and Kim Lussier are a childless couple who are given custody of a 3-month-old foster child, Brittany. However, tragedy strikes when Kim dies of cancer in the middle of the adoption process, leaving Keith to fight for Brittany's custody alone.

Dancing In The Dark

Anna Forbes suffers an attack and sexual abuse by her father-in-law. But when she overcomes her fear and tells her husband Mark what happened he does not believe her, choosing instead to believe his father who denies everything. As Anna becomes increasingly desperate to be believed and her actions become more erratic, Mark has her committed to a mental institution for psychiatric treatment.

The Baby Formula

Two adventurous women in love are desperate to have their own biological child. They take a chance on an experimental scientific process and make sperm from their own stem cells. Pregnant with humor and unexpected twists, their journey ultimately confirms that all life is a gift and all families are crazy.

Hurt

There are terrible things happening in the desert...unexplainable, frightening things. Tragic, inexplicable incidents… ever since she arrived.

Hidden Love

A psychiatrist tries to help a suicidal woman who despises her grown daughter.

Future Weather

Abandoned by her dreamer single mom, a teenage loner becomes obsessed with ecological disaster, forcing her and her grandmother, a functioning alcoholic, to rethink their futures.

Paper Covers Rock

Samantha is recovering from a suicide attempt and ready for a fresh start in life. She has to fight for the custody of her daughter.

The Best Little Girl in the World

Casey Powell is a teenage girl who is secretly suffering from anorexia nervosa, a mental and physical illness of deliberately starving herself or self-inducing vomiting, because of her inability to cope with family stress and because of social pressures.

A Place for Annie

Baby Annie is HIV positive and has been left in the clinic by her drug addicted mother. To prevent that she's deported to a home where they'd just wait for her to die, nurse Susan takes charge of Annie at her home. Two years later she plans too adopt her -- but suddenly Annie's mother reappears and demands her back. And under the law, Susan, as foster-mother, has no claim to the child.

...First Do No Harm

When Lori Reimuller learns that her young son Robbie has epilepsy, she first trusts the judgment of the hospital staff in how best to bring it under control. As Robbie's health slides radically downhill, however, she becomes frustrated and desperate, and so does her own research into the existing literature on treatments. When she decides to try an alternative treatment called the Ketogenic Diet, devised long ago by a doctor from Johns Hopkins, she is met with narrow-minded resistance from Robbie's doctor, who is prepared to take legal action to prevent Lori from removing him from the hospital.

4.0 / 10 1994 Drama
suggested by: user360yqc2sjs8

Cries from the Heart

Michael, a young autistic boy who has trouble with verbalization but a real talent for technology, uses a computer to plead for help after being molested at his school.

An Unexpected Family

When Ruth Whitney abandons her two children with her sister Barbara is left to take care of them, at first none of them like it but soon they grow to like each other. Then over a year later Ruth comes back saying she wants her kids and Barbara goes to court to fight for custody.

Sybil

A true story of a young woman whose abusive childhood results in her developing a multiple personality disorder.

Hello Sister, Goodbye Life

A college student must take care of her 7-year-old half sister after the death of their parents.

Something About Amelia

Counseling helps family deal with the discovery that their child was sexually abused by the closest relative.

The Pregnancy Project

The Pregnancy project tells the real story of Gaby Rodriguez, a seventeen-year-old who attended a Washington state high-school and made her senior school project the treatment of pregnant teenagers by pretending to be pregnant.

Taken Away

A corrupt politician covers up his daughter Vicky's pregnancy by forcing her to give the baby up for adoption. The newborn is adopted by a loving couple unable to have children, but a year later Vicky, now in college, realizes she was forced into signing the papers and really wants her daughter back. After sneaking into the adoption agency to find out who the adoptive parents are, she takes them to court to fight for custody.

7.1 / 10 2013 Drama
suggested by: user86792hpqhk5

Not Today

Caden Welles is living life as large as any 20-year-old could dream … until his eyes are opened to a world few Americans know still exists: a thriving human-trafficking trade. Spurred by a true purpose, an unlikely new friendship, and the prayers of his mother and girlfriend, Caden begins an unlikely search to rescue a young girl.

Zelly and Me

A young orphan who lives with her grandmother in a large Virginian home infatuates herself with the voices of Joan d'Arc. Her French nanny seeks out the help of a rich suitor to take her and the orphan away when she realizes that the grandmother cannot offer the orphan the love that she needs.

Home Before Dark

It's 1963 in rural Massachusetts, and Nora James has the usual worries of an eleven year-old girl:lipstick, first crushes, staying out of trouble at school...not easy when your teacher is the elderly Sister Concilia. And even harder when your parents are struggling to heal from an almost unbearable loss. Then tragedy strikes another Massachusetts family, the Kennedys, and shatters the fragile bonds holding the James family together, Nora, sent to live with her brittle Aunt Rose, soon learns who she is, what she wants, and what she must do to achieve it. She makes a decision that is both cruel and courageous. Nora's choice unlocks the way to what amounts to the rescue of her family. (Maureen Foley, writer/director of the film)

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