If you are searching for movies like Doing Life, you are probably looking for emotional stories about second chances, difficult pasts, family, and people trying to rebuild their lives after incarceration. Luckily, there are plenty of movies like Doing Life that explore redemption, forgiveness, parenthood, and the complicated process of starting over.
Some focus on former prisoners adjusting to freedom, while others explore how one person’s past continues to affect the people around them. From heartfelt family dramas to powerful stories about rehabilitation, these films bring fresh perspectives to similar themes. So, if movies like Doing Life are what you are after, these 15 picks are well worth adding to your watchlist.
15 Movies Like Doing Life to Watch If You Love Emotional Redemption Stories
1. Reminders of Him (2026)
After serving time in prison, Kenna returns to her hometown hoping to reconnect with her young daughter. As she faces resistance from the people protecting the child, she develops a complicated relationship with Ledger, forcing both of them to confront the past and consider forgiveness. Its connection to Doing Life comes through Kenna’s struggle to regain a place in her daughter’s life while dealing with a community questioning whether she deserves another chance.
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IMDb: 6.3 | Where to Watch: Prime Video
2. Sing Sing (2024)
Divine G is imprisoned for a crime he says he did not commit and finds purpose through a theater program at Sing Sing prison. Performing alongside fellow inmates gives him and the other men an opportunity to discover creativity, friendship, and hope beyond incarceration. Fans tracking down movies like Doing Life will appreciate how this film highlights the human side of prison, showing how creativity and vulnerability help people look forward.
IMDb: 7.6 | Where to Watch: Prime Video
3. Straw (2025)
A hardworking single mother struggling to care for her ill daughter finds herself pushed to a breaking point. When a series of crushing setbacks drives her to extreme measures, she must fight tooth and nail for her survival and her child’s future. It strongly aligns with the heart of Doing Life, offering an urgent, raw depiction of a mother’s resilience when life offers no safety net.
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IMDb: 6.5 | Where to Watch: Netflix
4. Palmer (2021)
After serving 12 years in prison, former high-school football star Eddie Palmer returns to his hometown and struggles to rebuild his life. He unexpectedly becomes a father figure to a young boy, forming a bond that gives him hope for a new future. For anyone seeking movies like Doing Life, this delivers a similar emotional core through an inmate navigating life after prison and fighting to become someone a child can truly trust.
IMDb: 7.3 | Where to Watch: Apple TV
5. The Unforgivable (2021)
After serving a lengthy prison sentence, Ruth Slater is released and attempts to rebuild her life. She searches for her younger sister while confronting a society that continues to judge her for the crime that sent her away. The strongest Doing Life connection is Ruth’s struggle to reconnect with family while discovering that release from behind bars does not instantly erase the consequences of the past.
IMDb: 7.2 | Where to Watch: Netflix
6. A Thousand and One (2023)
After serving time in prison, Inez rescues her six-year-old son, Terry, from the foster-care system and brings him home to Harlem. As she struggles to build a stable life for him, their relationship is shaped by poverty, family secrets, and the changing city around them. The Doing Life connection is especially strong through Inez’s fierce determination to become a dependable parent and provide the stability she could not offer before.
IMDb: 6.9 | Where to Watch: Netflix
7. Labor Day (2013)
A lonely single mother and her teenage son give shelter to an escaped convict over a holiday weekend. As they spend time together, the unexpected visitor becomes increasingly important to the family, while his troubled past continues to threaten their fragile new connection. The film echoes the spirit of movies like Doing Life by asking how someone with a criminal background can form genuine connections and build an unexpected family bond.
IMDb: 6.9 | Where to Watch: Netflix
8. Blue Bayou (2021)
Antonio LeBlanc, a Korean-born man raised in Louisiana, discovers that he could be deported despite building a family and an honest life in America. As he fights to stay with his wife and stepdaughter, his past legal troubles threaten everything he has worked to protect. It fits right alongside movies like Doing Life, centering on a parent fighting against systemic circumstances to protect his home and family.
IMDb: 7.1 | Where to Watch: Netflix
9. Wild Rose (2018)
Rose-Lynn Harlan, a young mother and aspiring country singer, dreams of leaving Glasgow for Nashville to pursue a music career. After being released from prison, she struggles to balance her ambitions with her responsibilities as a mother while trying to rebuild her life. Like Doing Life, it follows a woman trying to move beyond incarceration without abandoning the children who depend on her.
IMDb: 7.1 | Where to Watch: Netflix
10. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
Fonny is falsely accused of a crime and imprisoned while his fiancée, Tish, is pregnant with their first child. Tish and her family fight to prove his innocence while trying to preserve their love and prepare for the baby’s arrival. Like Doing Life, the story shows how incarceration affects an entire family, with unconditional loyalty becoming essential as two parents fight to protect their future.
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IMDb: 7.1 | Where to Watch: Prime Video
11. The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)
A motorcycle stunt rider turns to crime to provide for his young son, setting off a chain of events that affects his family for years. The consequences of his choices eventually connect two fathers and their sons across generations. Like Doing Life, the film examines how one person’s choices reshape an entire household, focusing on fatherhood, remorse, and the generational ripples of crime.
IMDb: 7.3 | Where to Watch: Peacock
12. The Mustang (2019)
Roman Coleman, a violent inmate serving a long prison sentence, is given a chance to participate in a rehabilitation program training wild mustangs. His difficult relationship with one horse helps him confront his anger and begin changing his life. The Doing Life connection comes through Roman’s slow rehabilitation, as he gradually learns to take accountability rather than letting his past dictate his remaining years.
IMDb: 6.8 | Where to Watch: Prime Video
13. Adopt a Highway (2019)
After spending nearly two decades in prison, Russell Millings is released and struggles to adjust to a world that has completely changed. When he discovers an abandoned baby, the unexpected responsibility gives him a reason to reconnect with society and seek a new purpose. It rounds out this selection of movies like Doing Life by showing how caring for a vulnerable child can give a former inmate a true second chance.
IMDb: 6.3 | Where to Watch: Prime Video
14. Down in the Delta (1998)
Loretta, a struggling mother dealing with difficult circumstances, is sent with her children to live with relatives in Mississippi. The experience reconnects her with family and helps her confront her past while discovering a possible path toward healing and a better life. Its similarity to Doing Life comes through Loretta’s hard-fought transition toward stability, with strong family support helping her overcome destructive habits.
IMDb: 6.9 | Where to Watch: Prime Video
15. Monster’s Ball (2001)
Hank, a prison officer who has spent years working on death row, becomes involved with Leticia, the widow of an executed prisoner. Their unexpected relationship forces both to confront grief, prejudice, guilt, and the possibility of finding redemption. Much like the narrative arc in Doing Life, it focuses on morally complicated characters shaped by hardship who find a chance to heal through an unlikely relationship.
IMDb: 7.0 | Where to Watch: Prime Video
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What makes these stories hit so close to home is how honest they are about the climb back up. Second chances rarely come wrapped in neat bows, and real redemption usually asks you to face everything you spent years running from. If Doing Life struck a chord, queue these up, keep a box of tissues close by, and settle in for some unforgettable performances about what it really takes to rebuild a life from the ground up.