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Best Movies Like Nothing in Return

If you were moved by Nothing in Return, should consider this hand-picked list which questions the purpose and weight of our choices while grounding the story in targets the intellect with complex, multi-layered ideas. Carefully balances character depth with narrative flow makes this a perfect follow-up for your next session.

Mood Breakdown
Runtime Cluster

Standard feature-length experiences.

Viewer Fit

Best for fans of who appreciate concise storytelling.

Top Picks

Enemigos
7.7

Enemigos

2025

Chimo turns 18 years and comes from a humble and supportive family. Since childhood he was bullied and even today, while working multiple jobs and dreaming of starting his own business, he continues to face his bully: El Rubio. When Chimo has the opportunity for revenge, he never imagines what begins as an act of retaliation could turn into an unexpected friendship that'll change both their lives.

Sky High
6.1

Sky High

2020

A commentary on Spanish society dressed as a thriller about the misadventures of a gang of young petty criminals after the real estate crash.

Barrio
6.7

Barrio

1998

Bored 15-year-old school chums Rai Manu and Javi dream of sexual adventures and exotic resorts while the well-off population of Madrid flock to the beaches on a summer holiday. The youths hang around the concrete wasteland killing time by reading the sex classifieds and pushing their luck. They masturbate, thieve, fight with their families and get involved in a drug bust. Finally Rai, the most daring and restless of the trio - gets shot while trying to steal stereo gear from a car. Each adolescent faces a dreary home life but when they get together they enjoy each other's company to the full. The film is an engaging mixture of comedy drama and the pathos of life in a Madrid neighborhood.

Real Women Have Curves
6.1

Real Women Have Curves

2002

In East Los Angeles, an 18-year-old struggles between her ambitions of going to college and the desires of her domineering mother for her to get married, have children, and oversee the small, rundown family-owned textile factory.

LOL
6.1

LOL

2012

In a world connected by YouTube, iTunes, and Facebook, Lola and her friends navigate the peer pressures of high school romance and friendship while dodging their sometimes overbearing and confused parents. When Lola's mom, Anne, "accidentally" reads her teenage daughter's racy journal, she realizes just how wide their communication gap has grown.

The Short History of the Long Road
7.0

The Short History of the Long Road

2019

Nola grew up living in a van with her father, Clint—two nomads against the world. When tragedy strikes, Nola must confront the reality of life on the road alone, learning to own her grief, her past, and her new destination.

What Maisie Knew
7.1

What Maisie Knew

2013

In New York City, a young girl is caught in the middle of her parents' bitter custody battle.

7th & Union
7.6

7th & Union

2021

Ex-fighter Raymundo forms an unlikely bond with a disgruntled man whose life and relationship with his daughter are unraveling. The men join forces to win a fight that could very well save Raymundo, his wife and their child.

More Movies Like Nothing in Return

Bastard Out of Carolina
7.1

Bastard Out of Carolina

1996

A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance.

The Last Song
7.2

The Last Song

2010

A drama centered on a rebellious girl who is sent to a Southern beach town for the summer to stay with her father. Through their mutual love of music, the estranged duo learn to reconnect.

Landline
6.1

Landline

2017

A teenager living with her sister and parents in Manhattan during the 1990s discovers that her father is having an affair.

The Safety of Objects
6.4

The Safety of Objects

2002

In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.

Tortilla Soup
6.3

Tortilla Soup

2001

A Mexican-American master chef and father to three daughters has lost his taste for food but not for life.

Rip Girls
6.3

Rip Girls

2000

A teen-age girl and her father come to an island on Hawaii, they find a closer relationship to each other and think about changing the island. During her adventures, Sydney finds friends, a new hobby with her fantastic photography, and the truth about her mother.

Holy Lands
6.1

Holy Lands

2019

When lapsed Jew and former cardiologist Harry suddenly decides to spend his retirement as a pig farmer in Nazareth, Israel, the move deeply shocks his family and his new neighbours. Back in New York, Harry’s ex-wife Monica is trying to manage the lives of their adult children, Annabelle and David, as well as her own.

Restless
6.5

Restless

2011

Two outsiders, both shaped by the circumstances that have brought them together, forge a deep and lasting love.

Sundays
7.1

Sundays

2025

17-year-old Ainara is a student at a Catholic secondary school, and is about to take her final year exams and choose her future university course. To everyone’s surprise, this brilliant young girl announces to her family that she wants to take part in an induction period at a convent in order to embrace the religious life. Nobody was expecting this. While her father seems to be won over by his daughter’s aspirations, for Maite, Ainara’s aunt, this unexpected vocation is the manifestation of a deeper problem.

Family Romance, LLC
6.2

Family Romance, LLC

2019

Love is a business at Family Romance, a company that rents human stand-ins for any occasion. Founder Yuichi Ishii helps make his clients’ dreams come true. But when the mother of 12-year-old Mahiro hires Ishii to impersonate her missing father, the line between acting and reality threatens to blur.

Love Don't Co$t a Thing
7.6

Love Don't Co$t a Thing

2003

A high school outcast pays a cheerleader to pose as his girlfriend so he can be considered cool.

Tuesday
6.8

Tuesday

2024

A mother and her teenage daughter must confront Death when it arrives in the form of an astonishing talking bird.

Why These Movies Are Similar

These recommendations share core qualities with Nothing in Return (2015): Drama themes, similar narrative structure, and comparable emotional depth. NoBadPicks uses a combination of TMDB collaborative filtering, genre matching, and AI analysis to surface films most likely to resonate with fans of Nothing in Return.

See full details for Nothing in Return (2015)

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