Movies like The Return of the Prodigal Son (1967)
The best movies like The Return of the Prodigal Son (1967) are Adulterers (2016), The Ledge (2011) and The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017). If The Return of the Prodigal Son hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedControl (2007)7.5/10 from 989 votes
- NewestIt Could Have Been Me (2022)Released 2022
Adulterers (2016)
On a steamy New Orleans afternoon, Sam Deuprey decides to surprise his beautiful wife, Ashley, for their anniversary and comes home early. But Ashley is not alone in the bedroom. She and her lover, Damien are about to learn how far a jealous husband will go.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Ledge (2011)
A thriller in which a battle of philosophies between a fundamentalist Christian and an atheist who shares an apartment with a gay friend escalates into a lethal battle of wills.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
Dr. Steven Murphy is a renowned cardiovascular surgeon who presides over a spotless household with his wife and two children. Lurking at the margins of his idyllic suburban existence is Martin, a fatherless teen who insinuates himself into the doctor's life in gradually unsettling ways.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDream Lover (1994)
Not long after they cross paths at an art gallery, architect Ray Reardon and hypnotically sensual Lena are married with children. But as strange incidents occur, Ray begins to realize he may not really know the woman he married.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSleeping with the Enemy (1991)
A young woman fakes her own death in an attempt to escape her nightmarish marriage, but discovers it is impossible to elude her controlling husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFathers and Daughters (2015)
A Pulitzer-winning writer grapples with being a widower and father after a mental breakdown, while, 27 years later, his grown daughter struggles to forge connections of her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFaces (1968)
Middle-aged suburban husband Richard abruptly tells his wife, Maria, that he wants a divorce. As Richard takes up with a younger woman, Maria enjoys a night on the town with her friends and meets a younger man. As the couple and those around them confront a seemingly futile search for what they've lost -- love, excitement, passion -- this classic American independent film explores themes of aging and alienation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Bill of Divorcement (1932)
A World War I veteran returns home after fifteen years in an asylum and finds that everything has changed — his daughter is grown and about to marry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisButterfly on a Wheel (2007)
A sociopathic kidnapper methodically pushes a desperate pair of parents to their absolute breaking point.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWakefield (2017)
A man's nervous breakdown causes him to leave his wife and live in his attic for several months.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisControl (2007)
The story of Joy Division’s lead singer Ian Curtis, from his schoolboy days in 1973 to his suicide on the eve of the band's first American tour in 1980.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCrime of Passion (1956)
Kathy leaves the newspaper business to marry homicide detective Bill, but is frustrated by his lack of ambition and the banality of life in the suburbs. Her drive to advance Bill's career soon takes her down a dangerous path.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPersonal Velocity (2002)
In a series of three vignettes, three women in turn struggle to free themselves from the men who restrict their personal freedom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Sheltering Sky (1990)
An American couple drift toward emptiness in postwar North Africa.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this21 Grams (2003)
Paul Rivers, an ailing mathematician lovelessly married to an English émigré; Christina Peck, an upper-middle-class suburban housewife and mother of two girls; and Jack Jordan, a born-again ex-con, are brought together by a terrible accident that changes their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Double Life (1947)
A Shakespearian actor starring as Othello opposite his wife finds the character's jealous rage taking over his mind off-stage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnother Woman (1988)
Marion is a woman who has learned to shield herself from her emotions. She rents an apartment to work undisturbed on her new book, but by some acoustic anomaly she can hear all that is said in the next apartment in which a psychiatrist holds his office. When she hears a young woman tell that she finds it harder and harder to bear her life, Marion starts to reflect on her own life. After a series of events she comes to understand how her unemotional attitude towards the people around her affected them and herself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne & Two (2015)
In an isolated farmhouse, located in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by a mysterious wooden wall, Zac and Eva, two siblings gifted with extraordinary abilities, endure every day the wrath of their strict father while witnessing how a cruel sickness lurks their beloved mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAddicted (2014)
A gallerist risks her family and flourishing career when she enters into an affair with a talented painter and slowly loses control of her life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisShock (1946)
In this thriller, psychiatrist Dr. Cross kills his wife and expects to get away with murder, until he discovers that the slaying was observed by a next-door neighbor, Janet Stewart. As Janet attempts to convince her husband of the doctor's dastardly deed, Cross shows up to advise him that Janet is in dire need of some in-depth counseling.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Prince of Tides (1991)
A troubled Southern man talks to his suicidal sister's psychiatrist about their family history and falls in love with her (and New York City) in the process.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)
The turbulent personal and professional life of actor Peter Sellers (1925-1980), from his beginnings as a comic performer on BBC Radio to his huge success as one of the greatest film comedians of all time; an obsessive artist so dedicated to his work that neglected his loved ones and sacrificed part of his own personality to convincingly create that of his many memorable characters.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHappiness (1998)
The lives of several individuals intertwine as they go about their lives in their own unique ways, engaging in acts which society as a whole might find disturbing in a desperate search for human connection.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCrazy/Beautiful (2001)
At Pacific Palisades High, a poor Latino falls hard for a troubled girl from the affluent neighborhood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Taste of Others (2000)
Unpolished and ultra-pragmatic industrialist Jean-Jacques Castella reluctantly attends Racine's tragedy "Berenice" in order to see his niece play a bit part. He is taken with the play's strangely familiar-looking leading lady Clara Devaux. During the course of the show, Castella soon remembers that he once hired and then promptly fired the actress as an English language tutor. He immediately goes out and signs up for language lessons. Thinking that he is nothing but an ill-tempered philistine with bad taste, Clara rejects him until Castella charms her off her feet.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Clearing (2004)
When affluent executive Wayne Hayes is kidnapped by a disgruntled employee and held for ransom in a forest, Wayne’s wife is forced to reckon with the FBI agents as they negotiate with the kidnapper.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisIt Could Have Been Me (2022)
A career woman tries to find support for her ex-boyfriend from afar. A film exploring trauma, isolation, and frustration.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Tattoo Bar (2000)
Although she's still hung up on the man who broke her heart, club dancer Simona pledges to eradicate all memories of him by removing the tattoos he put on her body. Complicating matters is Mariel, the owner of a Barcelona tattoo shop whose obsession with Simona's undulating form leads him to steal the money to help her pay for the necessary laser treatments.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
When the Wind Blows (1986)
With the help of government-issued pamphlets, an elderly British couple build a shelter and prepare for an impending nuclear attack, unaware that times and the nature of war have changed from their romantic memories of World War II.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEye of the Needle (1981)
Great Britain, 1944, during World War II. Relentlessly pursued by several MI5 agents, Henry Faber the Needle, a ruthless German spy in possession of vital information about D-Day, takes refuge on Storm Island, an inhospitable, sparsely inhabited island off the coast of northern Scotland.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Return of the Prodigal Son?
The closest matches to The Return of the Prodigal Son are Adulterers (2016), The Ledge (2011) and The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Return of the Prodigal Son?
Start with Adulterers (2016), the closest match to The Return of the Prodigal Son.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Return of the Prodigal Son?
Control (2007), rated 7.5/10 by 989 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Return of the Prodigal Son?
It Could Have Been Me (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Return of the Prodigal Son chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Return of the Prodigal Son, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.