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Children of Heaven poster

Movies that feel likeChildren of Heaven (1997)

Zohre's shoes are gone; her older brother Ali lost them. They are poor, there are no shoes for Zohre until they come up with an idea: they will share one pair of shoes. School awaits.

If you loved Children of Heaven, the closest films we have are The White Balloon (1995), Storm Boy (1977) and A Little Princess (1995). All three share Children of Heaven's contemplative and warm feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Journey of Natty Gann (1985).

🍅 83% Rotten Tomatoes★ 8.2 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Majid Majidicontemplativewarmcozy
10 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Disney Plus · Criterion Channel

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See it on the Mood Map

If Children of Heaven hit the spot, these will too

The White Balloon poster
The White Balloon
1995 · dir. Jafar Panahi
🍅 83%★ 7.6drama · family

Contemplative and warm in the same breath

Several people try to take advantage of a little girl's innocence to hustle money her mom gave to her to buy a goldfish with.

Storm Boy poster
Storm Boy
1977 · dir. Henri Safran
★ 6.9drama · family

Both lean on comfort more than on drama

The difference: 20 years apart, and the 1970s show

Mike is a lonely Australian boy living in a coastal wilderness with his reclusive father. In search of friendship he encounters an Aboriginal native loner and the two form a bond in the care of orphaned pelicans.

A Little Princess poster
A Little Princess
1995 · dir. Alfonso Cuarón
🍅 97%★ 7.6drama · family · fantasy

Contemplative family in both cases

The difference: Sits closer to fantasy than Children of Heaven does

When her father enlists to fight for the British in WWI, young Sara Crewe goes to New York to attend the same boarding school her late mother attended. She soon clashes with the severe headmistress, Miss Minchin, who attempts to stifle Sara's creativity and sense of self-worth.

The Secret Garden poster
The Secret Garden
1993 · dir. Agnieszka Holland
🍅 89%★ 7.3drama · family · fantasy

Warm drama, and it commits to that

A young British girl born and reared in India loses her neglectful parents in an earthquake. She is returned to England to live at her uncle's castle. Her uncle is very distant due to the loss of his wife ten years before. Neglected once again, she begins exploring the estate and discovers a garden that has been locked and forgotten. Aided by one of the servants' boys, she begins restoring the garden, and eventually discovers some other secrets of the manor.

Still Walking poster
Still Walking
2008 · dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda
🍅 100%★ 7.9drama · family

Family with a pulse of comfort, in both cases

A family gathers together for a commemorative ritual whose nature only gradually becomes clear.

Wonder poster
Wonder
2017 · dir. Stephen Chbosky
🍅 86%★ 7.9family · dramaRent or buy

Drama built on stillness, twice over

The story of August Pullman – a boy with facial differences – who enters fifth grade, attending a mainstream elementary school for the first time.

The Journey of Natty Gann poster
The Journey of Natty Gann
1985 · dir. Jeremy Kagan
🍅 91%★ 7adventure · family · dramaDisney+

Family built on warmth, twice over

America is in the depths of the Great Depression. Families drift apart when faraway jobs beckon. A courageous young girl confronts overwhelming odds when she embarks on a cross-country search for her father. During her odyssey, she forms a close bond with two diverse traveling companions: a magnificent, protective wolf, and a hardened drifter.

Fly Away Home poster
Fly Away Home
1996 · dir. Carroll Ballard
🍅 87%★ 6.9adventure · drama · family

The shared currency is comfort

Amy is only 13 years old when her mother is killed. She goes to Canada to live with her father, an eccentric inventor whom she barely knows. Amy is miserable in her new life... until she discovers a nest of goose eggs that were abandoned when a local forest was torn down. The eggs hatch and Amy becomes "Mama Goose". When winter comes, Amy and her dad must find a way to lead the birds South.

The Wind Will Carry Us poster
The Wind Will Carry Us
1999 · dir. Abbas Kiarostami
🍅 97%★ 7.4drama

Drama of the same temperament

The difference: Easier on the warmth than Children of Heaven

Irreverent city engineer Behzad comes to a rural Kurdish village in Iran to keep vigil for a dying relative. In the meanwhile the film follows his efforts to fit in with the local community and how he changes his own attitudes as a result.

When Marnie Was There poster
When Marnie Was There
2014 · dir. Hiromasa Yonebayashi
🍅 92%★ 7.6animation · drama · familyMax

Family in the same key

Upon being sent to live with relatives in the countryside due to an illness, an emotionally distant adolescent girl becomes obsessed with an abandoned mansion and infatuated with a girl who lives there - a girl who may or may not be real.

Bridge to Terabithia poster
Bridge to Terabithia
2007 · dir. Gábor Csupó
🍅 85%★ 7.2adventure · drama · familyDisney+

Common ground: brothers and sisters

Jesse Aarons trained all summer to become the fastest runner in school. So he's very upset when newcomer Leslie Burke outruns him and everyone else. Despite this and other differences including that she's rich, he's poor, she's a city girl, and he's a country boy the two become fast friends. Together they create Terabithia, a land of monsters, trolls, ogres, and giants where they rule as king and queen.

The Black Stallion poster
The Black Stallion
1979 · dir. Carroll Ballard
🍅 90%★ 7.4family · adventure

Both are family through and through

While traveling with his father, young Alec becomes fascinated by a mysterious Arabian stallion that is brought on board and stabled in the ship he is sailing on. When it tragically sinks both he and the horse survive only to be stranded on a deserted island. He befriends it, so when finally rescued both return to his home where they soon meet Henry Dailey, a once successful trainer. Together they begin training the horse to race against the fastest ones in the world.

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The best-reviewed films that share Children of Heaven’s defining feeling.