Movies like Whale Fall (2021)
The best movies like Whale Fall (2021) are Fifty Shades Darker (2017), Effie Gray (2014) and Free Willy 3: The Rescue (1997). If Whale Fall hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Hating Game (2021)7.3/10 from 1,276 votes
- NewestLove Me Love Me (2026)Released 2026
Fifty Shades Darker (2017)
When a wounded Christian Grey tries to entice a cautious Ana Steele back into his life, she demands a new arrangement before she will give him another chance. As the two begin to build trust and find stability, shadowy figures from Christian’s past start to circle the couple, determined to destroy their hopes for a future together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEffie Gray (2014)
A look at the mysterious relationship between Victorian art critic John Ruskin and his teenage bride Effie Gray.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFree Willy 3: The Rescue (1997)
Willy the whale is back, this time threatened by illegal whalers making money off sushi. Jesse, now 16, has taken a job on an orca-researching ship, along with old friend Randolph and a sarcastic scientist, Drew. On the whaler's ship is captain John Wesley and his son, Max, who isn't really pleased about his father's job, but doesn't have the gut to say so. Along the way, Willy reunites with Jesse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFree Willy 2: The Adventure Home (1995)
Jesse becomes reunited with Willy three years after the whale's jump to freedom as the teenager tries to rescue the killer whale and other orcas from an oil spill.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisOde to Joy (2019)
Charlie suffers from a serious disease that causes acute narcolepsy whenever he is happy. Although he develops a variety of techniques to deny himself pleasure and deal with his sleep issues, they’re put to the test when he falls in love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Me Love Me (2026)
After her brother's death, June moves to Milan for a fresh start, finding comfort in Will, the perfect honor student at her new international school. But when his troubled best friend James—hiding a dangerous life in clandestine MMA fights—sparks a rivalry that quickly turns into irresistible attraction, June must choose between safety and a love that upends everything she thought she wanted.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHe Died with a Felafel in His Hand (2001)
A search for love, meaning and bathroom solitude. Danny goes through a series of shared housing experiences in a succession of cities on the east coast of Australia. Together these vignettes form a narrative that is surprisingly reflective.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCharlie St. Cloud (2010)
Accomplished sailor Charlie St. Cloud has the adoration of his mother Claire and his little brother Sam, as well as a college scholarship that will lead him far from his sleepy Pacific Northwest hometown. But his bright future is cut short when tragedy strikes and takes his dreams with it. After high school classmate Tess returns home unexpectedly, Charlie grows torn between honoring a promise he made four years earlier and moving forward with newfound love. As he finds the courage to let go of the past for good, Charlie discovers the soul most worth saving is his own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLaggies (2014)
Overeducated and underemployed, 28 year old Megan is in the throes of a quarterlife crisis. Squarely into adulthood with no career prospects, no particular motivation to think about her future and no one to relate to, Megan is comfortable lagging a few steps behind - while her friends check off milestones and celebrate their new grown-up status. When her high-school sweetheart proposes, Megan panics and- given an unexpected opportunity to escape for a week - hides out in the home of her new friend, 16-year old Annika and Annika's world-weary single dad Craig.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPersuasion (2007)
Anne Elliot was once in love with Frederick Wentworth, a commander in the Royal Navy who was rejected by her snobby parents eight years ago. When the family hits hard times and are forced to rent out their mansion to his brother-in-law, Frederick returns as a captain - but will he remember Anne?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll of You (2025)
Laura and Simon have been best friends since college. Over the years, they've realized their bond is more than platonic. Can they—and should they—risk everything to explore a love that has existed all along?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Jane Austen Book Club (2007)
Six Californians start a club to discuss the works of Jane Austen. As they delve into Austen's literature, the club members find themselves dealing with life experiences that parallel the themes of the books they are reading.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlmost Friends (2017)
A man in his mid-20s, still living at home with his mother and stepfather, puts all his eggs in one basket: the girl who works at his local coffee shop. The problem is, she has a serious boyfriend. As they become closer, the line between friendship and intimacy is blurred, and the situation forces both to examine where they are in their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Lonely Guy (1984)
A writer for a greeting card company learns the true meaning of loneliness when he comes home to find his girlfriend in bed with another man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFifty Shades Freed (2018)
Believing they have left behind shadowy figures from their past, newlyweds Christian and Ana fully embrace an inextricable connection and shared life of luxury. But just as she steps into her role as Mrs. Grey and he relaxes into an unfamiliar stability, new threats could jeopardize their happy ending before it even begins.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDrinking Buddies (2013)
Weekend trips, office parties, late night conversations, drinking on the job, marriage pressure, biological clocks, holding eye contact a second too long… you know what makes the line between “friends” and “more than friends” really blurry? Beer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThink Like a Man (2012)
The balance of power in four couples’ relationships is upset when the women start using the advice in Steve Harvey’s book, Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man, to get more of what they want from their men. When the men realize that the women have gotten a hold of their relationship “playbook,” they decide that the best defense is a good offense and come up with a plan to use this information to their advantage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hating Game (2021)
Resolving to achieve professional success without compromising her ethics, Lucy embarks on a ruthless game of one-upmanship against cold and efficient nemesis Joshua, a rivalry that is complicated by her growing attraction to him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAfter Ever Happy (2022)
As a shocking truth about a couple's families emerges, the two lovers discover they are not so different from each other. Tessa is no longer the sweet, simple, good girl she was when she met Hardin — any more than he is the cruel, moody boy she fell so hard for.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Time Traveler's Wife (2009)
Due to a genetic disorder, handsome librarian Henry DeTamble involuntarily zips through time, appearing at various moments in the life of his true love, the beautiful artist Clare Abshire.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Whale Fall?
The closest matches to Whale Fall are Fifty Shades Darker (2017), Effie Gray (2014) and Free Willy 3: The Rescue (1997). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Whale Fall?
Start with Fifty Shades Darker (2017), the closest match to Whale Fall.
What is the highest-rated movie like Whale Fall?
The Hating Game (2021), rated 7.3/10 by 1,276 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Whale Fall?
Love Me Love Me (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Whale Fall?
Yes: Fifty Shades Darker (2017), Effie Gray (2014) and Free Willy 3: The Rescue (1997).
How are movies similar to Whale Fall chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Whale Fall, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.