Best movies like Lightning Bug

There are monsters standing in his way.

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Lightning Bug Starring Bret Harrison, Laura Prepon, Kevin Gage, Ashley Laurence, and more. If you liked Lightning Bug then you may also like: Virgin, We Were the Mulvaneys, Woman Thou Art Loosed, Joe the King, The Tenth Circle 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.

In this drama thriller set in the South, a young boy named Green (Bret Harrison) longs to escape his unhappy life but feels trapped in his hometown. A gifted special-effects makeup artist, Green has big dreams of working in Hollywood. But the boy's personal demons -- a drunken, abusive stepfather, a group of religious zealots out to destroy his work and the love of a girl who prefers small-town life -- may stand in the way of his dreams.

selected filters: Sort: Default

You may filter the list of movies on this page for a more refined, personalized selection of movies.

Still not sure what to watch click the recommend buttun below to get a movie recommendation selected from all the movies on this list

Know any good movies to watch like Lightning Bug 2004. With a similar plot or stoyline. Suggest it.
5.1 / 10 2003 Drama
suggested by: redcarpet

Virgin

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

We Were the Mulvaneys

Based on the novel by the same name, We Were the Mulvaneys is a sensitive portrayal of one family's journey as they face conflict, fear, tragedy and ultimately, themselves.

Woman Thou Art Loosed

An adaptation of Bishop T.D. Jakes' self-help novel, chronciling a woman's struggle to come to terms with her legacy of abuse, addiction and poverty.

Joe the King

A destitute 14-year-old struggles to keep his life together despite harsh abuse at his mother's hands, harsher abuse at his father's, and a growing separation from his slightly older brother.

The Tenth Circle

A family's well-kept secrets are exposed when the daughter accuses her ex-boyfriend of rape.

6.8 / 10 2010 Drama
suggested by: user76rldkaaqv

Sins of the Mother

Shay is a young African-American college student whom is forced to take a year off from school to return to her hometown where she struggles with her anger and insecurity when she's forced to confront her alcoholic mother, Nona, whom is currently in AA and a churchgoer, over her entire childhood of abuse and neglect which Shay is both unwilling and unable to let go of.

A Delicate Balance

In their nice Connecticut home, Agnes and Tobias have grown used to the imperfection and fragility of their marriage. Quietly nursing their grief over the death of their son, they get by well enough together. Agnes' boozy sister wanders in and out, and they allow anxiety-stricken friends to move into an upstairs room. But, when their daughter, Julia, shows up announcing her fourth divorce, long-repressed emotions come to the surface.

Georgia Rule

Georgia Rule follows a rebellious, uncontrollable teenager who is hauled off by her dysfunctional mother to spend the summer with her grandmother. Her journey will lead all three women to revelations of buried family secrets and an understanding that - regardless what happens - the ties that bind can never be broken.

Bullies

When the peaceful Morris family move to a small town and buy the town grocery store, they run afoul of the Cullen family. The Cullen's have been bullying the town's folk for years, and now they are harassing the Morris family every chance they get. Matt meanwhile meets and starts seeing a lot of Becky who also likes him. Unfortunately her last name is Cullen, and when the rest of the family finds out about their relationship, they decide to get even, and their harassment is elevated to vicious assault.

Independence Day

Mary Ann Taylor loves the comforts of her hometown in Mercury, Texas. She has a steady job as a waitress in her father's diner, yet she can't help but feel unfulfilled by a life of pouring coffee and grilling hamburgers. Mary Ann's real passion is photography, but pursuing her dream of becoming a photographer means leaving Mercury behind.

Long Day's Journey Into Night

Over the course of one day in August 1912, the family of retired actor James Tyrone grapples with the morphine addiction of his wife Mary, the illness of their youngest son Edmund and the alcoholism and debauchery of their older son Jamie. As day turns into night, guilt, anger, despair, and regret threaten to destroy the family.

5.8 / 10 2010 Drama
suggested by: cinephile

Putty Hill

Friends and family of Cory, a young man who has died of an overdose, gather at a Baltimore-area karaoke bar for his wake and compare stories about him. Gradually, as it becomes clear that there are many holes in their recollections about Cory, they fill in the blanks by talking about things that reveal aspects of their own lives. Among those mourning him and searching for meaning are his cousin Jenny, his sister Zoe and his brother James.

She's So Lovely

After being released from a psychiatric institution, a man tries to redeem himself in the eyes of his now-ex wife from the events that led up to his incarceration.

7.1 / 10 2005 Drama
suggested by: ecofriendly

Swimmers

After an accident in a small Maryland fishing town, 11-year-old Emma begins to question the nature of the adults around her.

Touch

Down-and-out former preacher Bill Hill witnesses stranger Juvenal save a woman from her abusive husband by defusing the latter's anger — and ending his wife's blindness. Determined to profit from Juvenal's mystical powers, Bill asks an old friend, Lynn Faulkner, to sneak into the Alcoholics Anonymous facility where Juvenal works as a counselor, but she finds herself falling for the healer.

Return to Peyton Place

Residents of the small town of Peyton Place aren't pleased when they realize they're the characters in local writer Allison MacKenzie's controversial first novel. A sequel to the hit 1957 film.

Main Street

From the once thriving tobacco warehouses, to the current run-down and closed shops of Five Points, a diverse group of residents and their respective life changes when outsider Gus Leroy brings something new and potentially dangerous into their quiet town.

Empire of Dirt

Like many Native families, Lena Mahikan grew up in the cycle of abuse. Her father, a residential school survivor, was an alcoholic until he killed himself when Lena was 10. Her mother, only 14 years her senior, turned to the slots. By the time Lena was 15, she was pregnant and, before giving birth, was kicked to the curb by her mom. The cycle continues and Lena is now watching helplessly as her own daughter, Peeka, spirals out of control, landing herself in the hospital following a drug overdose. As a final attempt at survival, Lena decides to return home and face her own mother and a past she’s desperate to escape.

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.

All You Need

When her parents announce their divorce, Beth begins to uncover the hidden truths behind all of the rest of her families lives. Seeing that so many people struggle with keeping things in order, she seeks to take a more active role in her own life, making important changes for a better future.

An Angel Named Billy

Mark Anderson, a recent stroke victim who is frail and weak. Also, his best friend Thomas, a classic over the hill drag queen desperate for love and happiness. Mark and Thomas have a master plan, to find Mark's son, James Anderson the love of his life once and for all.

5.0 / 10 2006 Drama
suggested by: user703t0nkvf2j

Open Window

The engagment between a struggling photographer and an assistant professor is marred by an act of violence.

Say Nothing

Housewife Grace Needham (Nastassja Kinski) has a one-night stand with Julian Grant (William Baldwin), who then becomes obsessed with sinking her marriage to husband Matt (Hart Bochner). The twist here is that Julian is a millionaire global powerbroker, and Matt works for him! It's a titanic battle of testosterone as the guys duke it out while Grace simmers angrily.

Terror in the Family

Fifteen-year-old Deena Marten wants the same freedom every teenager craves. But when she can't have her way, her rebellious temperament erupts in violence. Her parents, Cynthia and Todd, fear her new boyfriend, Garret, 17, is the cause. Distraught, Stephanie turns to alcohol, and Todd escapes in his work. They're unaware their Boy Scout son Adam, 13, sips from a vodka bottle hidden in his bedroom. And the problems in this dysfunctional family continue to worsen.

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.

How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer

Three generations of women in a Mexican American family experience sexual awakenings over the course of a summer.

6.1 / 10 2012 Drama
suggested by: user279ssq2xch4

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.

Carry Me Home

A widow named Harriet and her two children Carrie and Brian are living in rural New York in 1947 and are still recovering from the death of Harriet's husband killed in World War II. Carrie is a tomboy and hangs around with boys and they have their own clubhouse. Carrie and her friends make mischief and taunt their mentally challenged neighbor Charlie by stealing one of his puppies. Harriet meets a man named Bernard and begin a courtship, but Carrie is furious that her mother is dating Bernard and wants it to stop. The jealousy and anger of Carrie raises to a fever pitch when Carrie and her friends destroy their neighbor Mr. Grizzle's garden and pour sugar into his tractor. Grizzle then takes Charlie's other puppies away from him and then Grizzle's barn is destroyed by fire. Carrie learns it's time for her to grow up and make amends with her mother and her neighbors for the grief and pain she caused them.

6.5 / 10 2012 Drama
suggested by: user1441tz3zbae

Low Tide

A 12-year-old boy and his single mother live separate lives. The boy spends his days alone while his mother works and goes out with her friends. The boy’s solitude is both a source of freedom and a cause for grief. His explorations slowly bring to light the dark contrast between the rules of society and the laws of nature. And before long, the delicate balance of his inner world becomes shattered by unforeseen events.

Milwaukee, Minnesota

Having lived his entire life under the watchful eye of his overbearing mother, Albert must fend for himself when an unidentified automobile suddenly kills her. Free for the first time, Albert quickly responds to the bait dangling in front of him, putting his aggressors against one another in a race for his trust. Using his skills that make him a gifted fisherman, Albert turns the tables on his seemingly doomed fate, capturing the heart of the woman most eager to deceive him, and fooling the man most intent on destroying him.

Affluenza

An aspiring young photographer finds himself caught up in a heady world of money, sex, and privilege when he moves to wealthy Long Island in the summer of 2008.

9.0 / 10 2001 Drama TV Movie
suggested by: user564k78i88aa

Amy & Isabelle

In 1971, in the small town of Shirley Falls, in Maine, the odd and lonely secretary Isabelle Goodrow raises her teenager daughter Amy alone. She has only two friends in her job among her gossiper colleagues. When her overprotected daughter is seduced by her mathematic teacher Peter Robertson, the world of Isabelle falls apart. She becomes lost and loses her confidence on Amy, spoiling their relationship. Their bond gets tied again when Isabelle discloses her inner secrets from the past to Amy.

6.6 / 10 1984 Drama
suggested by: user149woaud4mj

The Stone Boy

12-year-old Arnold Hillerman and his 17-year-old brother Eugene live with their family on a farm in Montana. In an accident, Eugene is killed by Arnold's gun. Isolated from emotions he cannot comprehend, Arnold now has to come to terms with his grieving family - including his father, mother, hostile uncle, and grandfather - while his family has to come to terms with Arnold.

7.0 / 10 1997
suggested by: user649pxxa1h6h

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)

Gospel of Deceit

Emily, a preacher's wife, is as faithful a spouse as they come — until her hubby, Ted, takes in a handsome drifter who's down on his luck. (Red flag!) Emily finds herself drawn to this sexy wanderer, and it doesn't take long for the pair to begin a steamy affair — right under unsuspecting Ted's nose. When a guilt-ridden Emily eventually tries to call it quits, the real drama begins!

More custom members lists

Sort results by:

X close
Default
Clear filters
...