In The Water Man, a young boy goes on a quest. His mission? To find a mysterious figure named The Water Man, one he hopes will have the magical healing powers to cure his ailing mom. Starring big name actors like Rosario Dawson and Mario Bello, The Water Man is a satisfying family entertainer. If you are in the mood for more movies like The Water Man, we have 5 from the same genre. Please note that there are not a lot of movies very similar to The Water Man. We can only suggest movies that have a similar theme to what you enjoyed, one about caring for people or trying to save them.
Before we get into our list, are you a fan of adventure movies? We wrote up some great similar movie recommendations for recent releases in the genre. Here are movies like Voyagers, movies like Raya and the Last Dragon and movies similar to Chaos Walking.
5 Adventure Drama Family Movies like The Water Man
1. The Shape of Water (2017)
In The Shape of Water, Sally Hawkins is Elisa Esposito. Elisa is a janitor at a highly secretive government research facility. By accident, she discovers that a team is studying an amphibious alien creature with human like tendencies. Appalled by the way the creature is tortured in the name of research, Elisa secretly begins to help it.
But, along the way, she forms a unique bond with the creature. The movie was up for 13 Oscars and won 4. Directed by Guillermo del Toro, the movie features his signature style of a very cinematic representation of the creature. If you liked The Water Man for the adventure and compassion, this is a movie that will definitely check off in your list!
The Shape of Water won the Oscar for Best Motion Picture of the Year in 2018. It also won Guillermo an Oscar for Best Achievement in Directing. The other two Oscars were for musical score and production design.
The Shape of Water has a 7.3 rating at IMDB, with close to 400,000 ratings.
3. The Healer (2016)
A troubled young man by chance discovers that he has a magical power to heal. Elected as the ‘Chosen One’ by his villagers, he doesn’t quite know how to put his powers to good use. Showing him the way is a sweet and lovely teenage girl diagnosed with terminal cancer. The movie is a mixed bag when it comes to what genre you can put it in. It’s definitely a family movie but it has a bit of romance, comedy and drama in it.
If you liked the underlying healer theme in The Water Man, The Healer will make for a satisfying watch. There’s no adventure or fantasy though. Just real people, barring one healer with magical powers.
2 . The Green Mile (1999)
In The Green Mile, John Coffey (Late Michael Clarke Duncan (RIP)) is a gigantic imprisoned convict who has magical healing powers. A gentle giant, John claims he is innocent of the heinous crime he is accused of, of murdering two little girls. But, despite being incarcerated for a crime he did not commit, John is generous with his healing, helping the prison guards and the people the prison guards secretly take him to, for healing sessions.
But, John Coffey is on death row. The movie builds around John’s gift being put to use, as his day of reckoning looms closer and closer.
The Green Mile easily has the best rating on this list of movies like The Water Man. It comes in at 8.6 on IMDB, with well over a million votes. It stars Tom Hanks in the co-lead, as a empathetic but dutiful prison guard.
4. Night at the Museum (2006)
Ok, so Night at the Museum doesn’t have a lot of similarities when it comes to the plot you enjoyed in The Water Man. But, it is a very entertaining adventure family comedy. Ben Stiller works the night shift at the Museum. Only he knows that all the creatures and characters in the museum come alive at night. But, come sun-up, they are back to being statues and wall mounts. But then, one night, an ancient curse is broken open, wrecking havoc in the museum.
Larry (Ben Stiller) has just the night to restore order in the museum. A wild adventure movie with fantastic special effects. Features dinosaurs, ex-presidents, monkeys, Hun warriors and more!
And, if you like this movie, there are 3 fun sequels to do some great binge watching!
5. The Girl Who Believes in Miracles (2021)
Sorry, we can’t find a streaming service offering this movie at the moment
In The Water Man, the protagonist goes in search of a man with healing powers. In this movie, a young girl invokes a magical power to heal people of their suffering. But, her fame comes at a cost. A cost so dear that the miracle healer herself could lose her life. But, can her family save her? A good movie to watch if you are a person of faith. This is a recent movie and we wrote a post on more movies like The Girl Who Believes in Miracles here. There are 6 movie suggestions there, including The Green Mile, which we have recommended here again.
So, that’s our short list of movies like The Water Man. We know there’s only 5 movies here but The Water Man is such a unique movie. If you have better or new suggestions, please let us know with a comment below! We will be very excited to publish it for others to read and enjoy some quality movie watching!