Movies like Backlights
The best movies like Backlights are Dear Eleanor (2016), The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More (2024) and Therapy Done Right (2026). If Backlights hooked you with its comedy and adventure, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedWild Tales (2014)7.9/10 from 3,938 votes
- NewestTherapy Done Right (2026)Released 2026
- In SpanishTherapy Done Right (2026)Also in Spanish
Dear Eleanor (2016)
Two teenage girls travel across the U.S. in 1962, during the chaos of the Cuban missile crisis, in search of Eleanor Roosevelt.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More (2024)
Four tales unfold in Wes Anderson's anthology of short films adapted from Roald Dahl's beloved stories, "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar", "The Swan", "The Rat Catcher", and "Poison."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTherapy Done Right (2026)
A psychoanalyst who's lost faith in traditional therapy crosses every boundary to help a blocked novelist in this cutting Argentine dark comedy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWoman Times Seven (1967)
Seven mini-stories of adultery: a widow misbehaves at her husband's funeral, a wife turns to streetwalking for revenge, a prudish girl surprises, a neglected wife vies for her husband's attention, a fight over a dress, a death pact, and a detective revealed as a jealous husband's spy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOfficial Competition (2021)
When a billionaire entrepreneur impulsively decides to create an iconic movie, he demands the best. Renowned filmmaker Lola Cuevas is recruited to mastermind this ambitious endeavour. Completing the all-star team are two actors with massive talent but even bigger egos: Hollywood heartthrob Félix Rivero and radical theatre actor Iván Torres. Both are legends, but not exactly best friends. Through a series of increasingly eccentric trials set by Lola, Félix and Iván must confront not only each other but also their own legacies. Who will be left when the cameras finally start rolling?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe People Upstairs (2020)
Julio and Ana have been together for more than fifteen years. They have become a couple who no longer look at nor touch one another, and who have made daily fighting the essence of their relationship. This evening, Ana has invited their upstairs neighbors to come round, Salva and Laura, a couple younger than them, pleasant and friendly, but whose noises are now an annoyance for Julio and Ana... or perhaps a stimulus? The upstairs neighbors will make them an unusual and surprising proposal which will turn the evening into an exaggerated and cathartic experience for all four.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInseparables (2016)
Felipe a wealthy businessman who has been quadriplegic, due to an accident, is looking for a therapeutic assistant. There are several highly qualified, but he decides to take the assistant of his gardener, Tito who has decided to resign.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisReal 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.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWild Oats (2016)
Everything changes for Eva when she receives an insurance settlement check accidentally made out for $5,000,000 instead of the expected $50,000. She and her best friend take the money and head out for the adventure of a lifetime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisO. Henry's Full House (1952)
Five O. Henry stories, each separate. The primary one from the critics' acclaim was "The Cop and the Anthem". Soapy tells fellow bum Horace that he is going to get arrested so he can spend the winter in a nice jail cell. He fails. He can't even accost a woman; she turns out to be a streetwalker. The other stories are "The Clarion Call", "The Last Leaf", "The Ransom of Red Chief", and "The Gift of the Magi".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn the Soup (1992)
An aspiring young filmmaker gets involved with an eccentric gangster for the financing of his first film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCQ (2001)
A young filmmaker in 1960s Paris juggles directing a cheesy sci-fi debacle, directing his own personal art film, coping with his crumbling relationship with his girlfriend, and a new-found infatuation with the sci-fi film's starlet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Ton of Luck (2006)
The story, based on true events occurred in Colombia en May 2003, tells the dreams and adventures of Porras, Venegas, Lloreda and Perlaza, four of the 147 soldiers that were in a company of the anti-guerrilla "Destroyer" battalion. It begun when these soldiers found in the middle of the jungle, during a rescue mission, 46 million dollars inside a FARC "guaca". Instead of give it to the Government, they take it all for themselves instead. They desperate when realize that they're completely isolated because the bridge, the only way to return to civilization, has been blown up. Everything's ironic, almost surreal: These soldiers don't have food, water, or toilet paper, but they sleep on their dollar-ful bags. This discovery will change their lives forever, and will allow them to have everything they've dreamt about: some authority, power and respect, others help their families and have a no-longer poor life. Their big challenge: return to civilization and make their dreams come true.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWild Tales (2014)
Injustice and the demands of the world can cause stress for many people. Some of them, however, explode. This includes a waitress serving a grouchy loan shark, an altercation between two motorists, an ill-fated wedding reception, and a wealthy businessman who tries to buy his family out of trouble.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisOn Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024)
On an empty road in the middle of the night, Shula stumbles across the body of her uncle. As funeral proceedings begin around them, she and her cousins bring to light the buried secrets of their middle-class Zambian family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSmall Apartments (2012)
When a clumsy deadbeat accidentally kills his landlord, he must do everything in his power to hide the body, only to find that the distractions of lust, the death of his beloved brother, and a crew of misfit characters force him on a journey where a fortune awaits him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisCars Toon Mater's Tall Tales (2008)
Mater the tow truck travels from country to country as he retells his infamous but unbelievable stories.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVera and the Pleasure of Others (2024)
Seventeen-year-old Vera earns money by secretly renting out an apartment to teenagers seeking privacy, all while eavesdropping from behind a closed door. As she listens, her own desires awaken.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGloria (2013)
Gloria is a 58-year-old divorcée. Her children have all left home but she has no desire to spend her days and nights alone. Determined to defy old age and loneliness, she rushes headlong into a whirl of singles’ parties on the hunt for instant gratification – which only leads to repeated disappointment and enduring emptiness. But when Gloria meets Rodolfo, an ex-naval officer seven years her senior, she begins to imagine the possibility of a permanent relationship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNothing in Common (1986)
A successful advertising executive finds his freewheeling life crashing to a halt when his parents end their longtime marriage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisImelda (2014)
A year after the death of his paternal grandmother at the age of 101, filmmaker Martin Villeneuve brings her back to life using a special talent.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Wasteland (2021)
Follows the quiet day of a lonely young girl who tries to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & adventure
The Strategy of the Snail (1993)
A group of tenants facing eviction due to a city renovation unite to fight back, but as they clash with the landlord and his ruthless attorney, they each transform into the opposite of who they once were.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Joke (2010)
A bunch of friends are celebrating the birthday of one of them when they decide to play a joke on him. None of them could imagine the consequences that would befall them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Empire of the Sun (1987)
Jamie Graham, a privileged English boy, is living in Shanghai when the Japanese invade and force all foreigners into prison camps. Jamie is captured with an American sailor, who looks out for him while they are in the camp together. Even though he is separated from his parents and in a hostile environment, Jamie maintains his dignity and youthful spirit, providing a beacon of hope for the others held captive with him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisProfesoři za školou (1976)
Three stories from the school environment, mostly from the perspective of teachers. In the first story we see an unnecessarily strict teacher, in the middle one a sports career is glossed over, which causes a young teacher to leave his job. In the final story, on the other hand, an experienced high school teacher goes to teach in a rural school to gain inner peace.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Peeper, the Model and the Hypnotist (1972)
An anthology of tales from Hong Kong.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Breaking Pencils (2021)
Sep learns how to navigate high-school life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Cinema Ticket (1995)
A determined young boy living in a small village strives to obtain enough money to purchase a ticket to the cinema.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
A Walk to Remember (2002)
When the popular, restless Landon Carter is forced to participate in the school drama production, he falls in love with Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town's minister. Jamie has a "to-do" list for her life, as well as a very big secret she must keep from Landon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Backlights?
The closest matches to Backlights are Dear Eleanor (2016), The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More (2024) and Therapy Done Right (2026). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Backlights?
Start with Dear Eleanor (2016), the closest match to Backlights.
What is the highest-rated movie like Backlights?
Wild Tales (2014), rated 7.9/10 by 3,938 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Backlights?
Therapy Done Right (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like Backlights?
Yes: Therapy Done Right (2026), Official Competition (2021) and The People Upstairs (2020).
How are movies similar to Backlights chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Backlights, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.