Movies like Water for Elephants: 20 to watch next
If you loved Water for Elephants (2011) — a drama and romance film directed by Francis Lawrence — these 20 movies are the closest matches.
The first picks are what fans of Water for Elephants most often go on to watch; the rest share its genres and themes like based on novel or book, elephant and clown. 3 of them are streaming in India right now — each entry shows where.
Where to watch Water for Elephants →·Get picks for your whole taste →
- 1
Me Before You 2016★ 7.9
Shares: Drama, Romance
Lou Clark, a directionless 26-year-old from the English countryside, takes a job at the local castle as a caregiver and companion to a wealthy young banker, Will Traynor. Wheelchair-bound from an accident two years prior, the once adventurous Will has all but given up — that is until Lou determines to show him that life is worth living.
Stream in India on MGM Plus Amazon Channel
- 2
The Greatest Show on Earth 1952★ 6.3
Shares: Drama, Romance
To ensure a full profitable season, circus manager Brad Braden engages The Great Sebastian, though this moves his girlfriend Holly from her hard-won center trapeze spot. Holly and Sebastian begin a dangerous one-upmanship duel in the ring, while he pursues her on the ground.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 3
It Ends with Us 2024★ 6.9
Shares: Drama, Romance
When a woman's first love suddenly reenters her life, her relationship with a charming, but abusive neurosurgeon is upended, and she realizes she must learn to rely on her own strength to make an impossible choice for her future.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 4
The Best of Me 2014★ 7.5
Shares: Drama, Romance
A pair of former high school sweethearts reunite after many years when they return to visit their small hometown.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 5
The Object of My Affection 1998★ 5.8
Shares: Drama, Romance
A pregnant New York social worker begins to develop romantic feelings for her gay best friend, and decides she'd rather raise her child with him, much to the dismay of her overbearing boyfriend.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 6
Great Expectations 2012★ 6.4
Shares: Drama, Romance
Orphan Pip discovers through lawyer Mr. Jaggers that a mysterious benefactor wishes to ensure that he becomes a gentleman. Reunited with his childhood patron, Miss Havisham, and his first love, the beautiful but emotionally cold Estella, he discovers that the elderly spinster has gone mad from having been left at the altar as a young woman, and has made her charge into a warped, unfeeling heartbreaker.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 7
Karen Kingsbury's Maggie's Christmas Miracle 2017★ 6.6
Shares: Romance, Drama
Maggie, a single mom has to balance between her career and her son, Jordan. Jordan finds a tutor named Casey to help him at school, and Casey becomes like a father figure. Will the three of them find happiness and love once again?
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 8
Blind 2017★ 6.1
Shares: Drama, Romance
A novelist is blinded in a car crash that killed his wife and several years later rediscovers his passion for life and writing when he embarks on an affair with the neglected wife of an indicted businessman.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 9
Fallen 2016★ 6.1
Shares: Drama, Romance
Lucinda Price is sent to a reform academy under the assumption that she has killed a boy. There, she meets two mysterious boys, Cam and Daniel, to whom she feels drawn to both. But as the love triangle unfurls, it is Daniel that Luce cannot keep herself away from, and things begin to take a darker turn when she finds out his true identity.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 10
Elephant Walk 1954★ 5.9
Shares: Romance, Drama
Colonial tea planter John Wiley, visiting England at the end of World War II, weds lovely English rose Ruth and takes her home to Elephant Walk, Ceylon, where the local elephants have a grudge against the plantation. Ruth's delight with the tropical wealth and luxury of her new home is tempered by isolation as the only white woman in the district; her husband's occasional imperious arrogance; a mutual physical attraction with plantation manager Dick Carver; and the hovering, ominous menace of the hostile elephants.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 11
The Plague Dogs 1982★ 7.8
Shares: Drama
Two dogs, Rowf and Snitter, struggle to survive in the countryside after escaping from an animal research laboratory. They're pursued by search parties and then the military after rumours spread that they could be carrying the bubonic plague.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 12
Far from the Madding Crowd 2015★ 7.0
Shares: Drama, Romance
In Victorian England, the independent and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene attracts three very different suitors: Gabriel Oak, a hardworking young sheep farmer; Frank Troy, a handsome and reckless Sergeant; and William Boldwood, a prosperous and mature bachelor.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 13
Blood and Sand 1941★ 6.5
Shares: Drama, Romance
Bullfighter Juan Gallardo falls for socialite Dona Sol, turning from the faithful Carmen who nevertheless stands by her man as he continues to face real danger in the bullring.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 14
Nine Lives 2005★ 6.1
Shares: Drama, Romance
Captives of the very relationships that define and sustain them, nine women resiliently meet the travails and disappointments of life.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 15
Saving Flora 2019★ 7.0
Shares: Drama
Flora is a circus elephant who can no longer perform her tricks. The night before she's scheduled to be euthanized, the circus owner's 14-year old daughter, Dawn, sneaks Flora from the circus. All that stands between them and the safety of the elephant preserve is two hundred kilometers of woods, one raging river, two elephant hunters and the fear of not making it.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 16
Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between 2022★ 6.1
Shares: Romance, Drama
Clare and Aidan make a pact to break up before college — no regrets, no broken hearts. But will one epic goodbye date offer them a last chance at love?
Stream in India on Netflix
- 17
Lady Chatterley's Lover 2015★ 6.3
Shares: Romance, Drama
An early-20th-century tale of love across class boundaries which tells the legendary and romantic story of Lady Chatterley’s affair with her gamekeeper. Jed Mercurio’s adaptation of DH Lawrence’s classic.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 18
The Way We Were 1973★ 7.0
Shares: Drama, Romance
Opposites attract when, during their college days, Katie Morosky, a politically active Jew, meets Hubbell Gardiner, a feckless WASP. Years later, in the wake of World War II, they meet once again and, despite their obvious differences, attempt to make their love for each other work.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 19
One Day 2011★ 7.4
Shares: Drama, Romance
After spending the night together on the eve of their college graduation, Dexter and Emma are shown each year on the same date to see where they are in their lives. They are sometimes together, and sometimes not.
Stream in India on JioHotstar
- 20
Borrowed Hearts 1997★ 6.5
Shares: Drama, Romance
Single mom Kathleen Russell (Roma Downey) and her daughter Zoey pretend to be Kathleen's boss's "family" so he can close a major business deal with the mysterious Mexican financier Javier Del Campo.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now