Best movies like Circus Days

Carrie Snyder is a prostitute, who is forced out of the fictional southern town of Crebillon, after forming a friendship with a young boy named Paul, whose dying mother is unable to protest against her son visiting such a woman. After Carrie has left town Paul runs away from his abusive father, and meets a girl named Lady who has run away from a burning trainwreck, not wanting to go back to the people she was with. Carrie comes back for Paul and ends up taking Paul and Lady to New York with her.

A troubled young man discovers that he has a knack for writing when a counselor encourages him to pursue a literary career.

Nicholas Nickleby, a young boy in search of a better life, struggles to save his family and friends from the abusive exploitation of his coldheartedly grasping uncle.

Chanticleer is a foolhardy farm rooster who believes his crows can actually make the sun come up and shine. When the sun rises one morning without Chanticleer's crow, he leaves the farm in disgrace and runs off to become a rock 'n' roll singer. But in his absence, a sinister, sunshine-hating owl prepares to take over.

In Scotland in 1752, seventeen-year-old David Balfour is cheated out of his birthright by his evil uncle Ebenezer.

A young man cares for his younger sisters after their mother is imprisoned for murdering their abusive father. When he strikes up an affair with a married woman, long-dormant family secrets bubble to the surface.

An eccentric mountain man on the run from the local sheriff recalls the mysterious events that brought him to his present fugitive state.

A journalist must make a decision to flee with her two children from her abusive ex-husband or kill him before he kills her.

Angered at stern Uncle Daniel, Toby Tyler runs away from his foster home to join the circus, where he soon befriends Mr. Stubbs, the frisky chimpanzee. However, the circus isn't all fun and games when the evil candy vendor, Harry Tupper, convinces Toby that his Aunt Olive and Uncle Daniel don't love him or want him back. Toby resigns himself to circus life, but when he finally realizes that Tupper lied to him, and that his aunt and uncle truly love him, Toby happily returns home once again.

An extraordinary young girl discovers her superpower and summons the remarkable courage, against all odds, to help others change their stories, whilst also taking charge of her own destiny. Standing up for what's right, she's met with miraculous results.

Musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, a classic tale of an orphan who runs away from the workhouse and joins up with a group of boys headed by the Artful Dodger and trained to be pickpockets by master thief Fagin.

Abandoned by her family, Kya raises herself all alone in the marshes outside of her small town. When her former boyfriend is found dead, Kya is instantly branded by the local townspeople and law enforcement as the prime suspect for his murder.

An unhappy, self-centered woman runs off with her sister's husband, wreaking havoc and ruining the lives of those around her.

A teenage girl named Nancy runs away from home to escape an abusive relationship. She is befriended by a couple on a camping trip, however, their trip turns deadly when the group is attacked by a Satanic cult hellbent on murder and ritualistic sacrifice.

Wisecracking, gum-chewing 12-year-old Gilly is well known in the foster system. Totally unmanageable, she has stayed with more families than she can remember and has outwitted them all. After all, how can she settle down when her real mother, the beautiful and glamourous Courtney, might be out there waiting for her? When Gilly is sent to live with the Trotters, the weirdest family yet, she isn’t planning to stick around. But cheerful, affectionate Maime Trotter isn’t giving up on Gilly just yet...

Annie, left orphaned after the death of her mother, goes to live in an orphanage where she tells her fellow orphans stories of ghosts and goblins. The matron of the orphanage finds Annie's closest relative, the abusive Uncle Thomp. Her uncle who puts her to hard work doing hard labor on his farm, belittling her all the while. Big Dave, a neighbor and tough cow-poke sees this and comes to her aid. Dave becomes her protector. Eventually Annie goes to live with Squire Goode and his large family. There, she entertains the children of the household with her stories, but sees her abusive aunt and uncle as her chief tormentors. She tells stories of how the goblins will take away the children if they are not good. Each story she tells is illustrated. War breaks out and Dave, who Annie adores, enlists. Uncle Thomp, hearing that Dave has been killed in action, takes pleasure in telling Annie the news. Broken-hearted, Annie falls ill and dies in bed, surrounded by family.

Oscar, a young boy, commits a noble murder and is forced to runaway from his rural hometown, leaving behind his best friend, Loux. He escapes to the nearest city, where he is inducted into a gang of child street thieves. His innocence slips away as he is introduced to love, murder, and corruption. 15 years later, he has forgotten his past and become the leader of this band of lost children. When Loux moves to the city in search of work, she takes a job with a struggling private investigator. Stumbling upon Oscar's missing child report, she takes it upon herself to find the boy who saved her life.

When his wife stops writing to him and his letters are returned unanswered, Dan becomes extremely concerned about her welfare. He returns home but is only able to meet with her briefly before she is found murdered. Dan is the obvious suspect but has only 36 hours to find out who murdered her. In so doing he uncovers a shocking catalogue of his wife's past affairs and an identity that he knew nothing about.

A runaway teenage girl and a drifter rob a bank, hit the road to elude the Texas Rangers and find love on the run.

Mike Milo, a one-time rodeo star and washed-up horse breeder, takes a job from an ex-boss to bring the man's young son home from Mexico.

Gus is a seven-year-old uncle who struggles with the responsibility placed upon him when his nephew Tom comes to spend the summer holidays with his family.

The two friends Sarah and Amy runs an art gallery in a small town in New England. They share not only the art gallery, but also the longing for true love. Sarah's Uncle Lowell from Mexico pays a unexpected visit. This will be the start of an adventure that will take Sarah and Amy through the drug cartels and the CIA spies, to a passionate encounter with two seductive, also dangerous men.

The story of Sugar Sugar, a troubled runaway and her descent into the London underworld.

A young woman runs away from an abusive home and pre-arranged marriage only to be frustrated in her attempts to find happiness with a handsome engineer.

A dull statistician changes his life after winning a pile of money after successfully determining the number of beans in a barrel. He decides to do something novel with the prize and ends up buying a barrel factory. He encounters trouble when the nearby pickle factory is threatened by a shyster attempting to close it.

The first screen adaptation of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel to star a black man in the title role.

Steve runs away from home, having argued with his father, and hides in a slate mine where his friend Paul finds him and brings him back. However, on returning to their village the two boys find the place completely deserted. Or so they think.

An American family moves in to the Canterville Chase, a London mansion that has been haunted by ghost Sir Simon De Canterville for 300 years.

Rory and Cobby are unlikely partners thrown together for a heist. But when it goes awry, they team up to outrun police, backward bureaucrats, and a vengeful crime boss.

In an interview at age 84, Chuck Jones (1912-2000) talks about his life, particularly his childhood: he describes an adventurous uncle; his mother, who never said no; his father, a critical and abusive man who had his uses; Chuck's going to art school and studying the human body; success as an animator; and, old age. As he talks, we also see clips from his work, we watch him draw, and simple animation illustrates parts of his story. He talks about growing up on Sunset Boulevard, going to the beach, his enjoyment of Mark Twain, his mother's loving creativity, the connection of his personality to some of his cartoon characters, and the joy of being alive.

A lonely teenager runs away from home, bringing his abusive stepfather's girlfriend with him.

A Colombian woman moves to Miami to marry an ambitious politician, in an attempt to leave her troubled past behind.

The Hayworth family lives in a Quaker territory in up-state New York. The matriarch, Emily runs the local bank. Years before, she and her family took in troubled, young Jimmy Flood to protect him from his abusive father. Though one of Emily's grown daughters, Janet feels she did not belong in the quiet, devoutly religious community and left the Quakers, Emily believed that her family ties stayed strong. Real trouble comes to the family when Jimmy Flood returns to the house after busting out of prison with the help of Digby and Lester, and he takes Emily's family hostage in exchange for $4 million. If Emily fails to secure the money in time, her entire family will lose their lives. Determined to resolve the potentially deadly conflict in a peaceful manner, Emily calls an emergency meeting of the town friends to work out a solution and save her family.

Cosmo (Reese Scholtz), a South African pianist falls in love with Sakeena (Reena Anjali), a British Muslim ballerina, who is being forced into an arranged marriage by her abusive radicalized Uncle Jehandar (Umit Ulgen).

When his aging mob boss is whacked, Charlie Swift, a loyal friend and hired gun, will stop at nothing to bring down the new crew coming up that took him out.