Entertainment
21 Movies To Stream If You're Obsessed With 'This Is Us' & Need A Good Cry
Tuesday nights at 10 P.M., you can bet that everyone you know and their parents are sitting in front of the television watching This Is Us. The hit family drama, now in its second season, is a bonafide phenomenon, known for it's uncanny ability to make you laugh, cry, and then cry some more. But, alas, there's only so much This Is Us fans can watch, and that's why this list of 21 movies to stream if you love This Is Us is so necessary.
Only 31 episodes of This Is Us have aired, which in marathoning terms translates to roughly three to four days. But even a die-hard fan can't just watch those 31 episodes on a loop. For one thing, humans are physically incapable of producing that many tears. For another, it's just never going to be enough. So, in favor of giving your red, puffy eyes a break from crying and giving you a new family or drama to get invested in, these 21 movies are here for you. Running the gambit from family drama to romantic comedy and coming-of-age, each of these films share a few key themes with This Is Us, making them a perfect compliment to the show. Nothing can truly replace a night with the Pearsons, but these movies for This Is Us fans are just about as close as fans can to get.
1'Definitely Maybe' — Netflix
A time-jumping love story complete with an adorable father-daughter pair? Definitely Maybe is basically the romantic comedy version of This Is Us, only with less tears.
Watch if: you like a good love story and don't feel like sobbing.
2'Moonlight' — Amazon Prime
It would be easy to think that the only thing Moonlight has in common with This Is Us is that it's told over multiple time periods and features three actors playing the same character as he grows up. But the movie also shares similar themes of self-acceptance and reckoning with the past.
Watch if: Randall, Kevin, and Kate are your favorite characters, and you love to feel all the emotions.
3'America's Sweethearts' — Netflix
America's Sweethearts has everything a Kevin fan could want: sibling drama, unrequited love, and disenchantment with Hollywood.
Watch if: you get a kick out of Kevin's Hollywood misadventures.
4'Boyhood' — Netflix
Boyhood, the groundbreaking film that was shot in short installments over more than a decade allowing for its star to grow up on film, is truly the closest thing fans will ever get to a This Is Us movie.
Watch if: you love watching the Pearson kids grow up.
5'Saved!' — Amazon Prime
Saved! isn't really like This Is Us thematically, but it features one of Mandy Moore's absolute best performances, so it's a must.
Watch if: you think Mandy Moore is the most underrated performer on This Is Us.
6'License to Wed' — Netflix
Another Mandy Moore gem, the romantic comedy License to Wed has the same gooey, perfect couple center as This Is Us.
Watch if: you're a sucker for a good wedding.
7'Lion' — Netflix
Based on a true story, Lion follow's one boy's journey as he gets separated from his mother in India as a boy and ends up adopted by an Australian family. It's also guaranteed to make you cry as much as the entire first season of This Is Us.
Watch if: Randall's relationship with his father melted your cold, cold heart.
8'Collateral Beauty' — HBO
At its heart, especially in Season 2, This Is Us is about family and it's about grief, two things also at the center of Collateral Beauty, a Will Smith tear-jerker about a man struggling to recover from the death of his daughter.
Watch if: you'll never be over Jack's death.
9'The Big Sick' — Amazon Prime
Nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars, The Big Sick is a family drama disguised as a romantic comedy. If you enjoy good, emotional storytelling, you'll love The Big Sick.
Watch if: you just want all the Pearsons to find happiness.
10'The Last Five Years' — Netflix
The Last Five Years tells the story of a young couple as they fall in love, get married, and then grow apart. Oh, it's also a musical.
Watch if: you've ever watched Jack and Rebecca fighting and thought, "I wish they'd start singing right now."
11'Finding Neverland' — HBO
Finding Neverland is a fictional telling of the inspiration behind Peter Pan, but the real heart of it lies in the story of a dying widow and her young sons. I'm tearing up just thinking about it.
Watch if: a) you can still stomach Johnny Depp, and b) if you want to cry like a baby.
12'The Hours' — HBO
No, The Hours isn't a family drama like This Is Us, but it is about women and their role both in a family and outside of it, something This Is Us is very familiar with.
Watch if: you love Rebecca Pearson with all your heart.
13'The Pursuit of Happyness' — Netflix
The Pursuit of Happyness is the father-son tear-jerker fans of This Is Us deserve, full of ups and downs, soul-crushing moments, and adorable kid wisdoms.
Watch if: Randall's relationships with Jack and William both hit you right in the feels.
14'Landline' — Amazon Prime
Landline is, in essence, about the changing relationships between siblings and their parents as they grow older. In other words: it's This Is Us, but only the adult parts.
Watch if: you relate to Kate's relationship with Rebecca.
15'Sliding Doors' — Amazon Prime
Sliding Doors brings to life to scenarios: one if protagonist Helen catches a train, one if she doesn't. Her life diverges on two separate paths, bringing up questions of love and fate.
Watch if: you think Jack and Rebecca were destined to be together.
16'Manchester By The Sea' — Amazon Prime
Grief is front and center in the Oscar-winning drama Manchester By The Sea. The movie is about a man who finds himself forced to confront a tragic past when his brother dies, leaving him custody of his teenage nephew.
Watch if: a) you can still watch Casey Affleck, and b) you just want to give Kevin Pearson a hug.
17'Creed' — Amazon Prime
Sylvester Stallone guest starred on This Is Us, so it's only fair one of his films lands on the list. Creed, a new take on the famous Rocky franchise, features Stallone at his best and delves into the same father-son themes present in This Is Us.
Watch if: Randall and William are your everything.
18'My Sister's Keeper' — HBO
There's nothing that will guarantee sobbing quite like a movie about a kid with cancer. My Sister's Keeper is about a family grappling with the terminal illness of their teenage daughter, and the sister that's always been by her side.
Watch if: you love crying.
19'Wonderstruck' — Amazon Prime
Wonderstruck tells two parallel stories of young children searching for family in New York.
Watch if: Little Randall and Teen Randall are your favorite characters.
20'Real Women Have Curves' — HBO'
In Real Women Have Curves, high school senior Ana learns how to break free from her mother's control, follow her dreams, and, most importantly, accept her body despite her mother's disapproval.
Watch if: you are Kate.
21'Loving' — HBO
If there's a movie relationship that rivals the love of Jack and Rebecca, it's Loving. The Pearsons might be a shinning example of true love, but the Lovings literally shifted how the United States views marriage and love.
Watch if: you think Jack and Rebecca are #Goals.
Now, none of these movies will tell you how Jack died, but they might take your mind off of the mystery, at least for a little while.