Movies like The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work (2020)
The best movies like The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work (2020) are Thread of Lies (2014), Idol Seungha's R-Rated Film Shooting (2021) and Miracle: Letters to the President (2021). If The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)7.4/10 from 1,709 votes
- NewestBEYOND SIGHT (2025)Released 2025
- In KoreanThread of Lies (2014)Also in Korean
Thread of Lies (2014)
Cheon-ji's unexpected suicide causes her mother Hyeon-sook and older sister Man-ji to be moved into another apartment. Tracking down clues from school, Man-ji discovers that Cheon-ji's best friend Hwa-yeon is behind everything.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIdol Seungha's R-Rated Film Shooting (2021)
Film producer Na-eun and director Yeong-tae are on the verge of shelving out cash for an adult film production. They're too busy blaming each other for the messed-up filming. Before another filming begins, Na-eun suggests Yeong-tae to become an actor himself and practice filming. Na-eun leads the shy Yeong-tae very skillfully. How far will the practice go...?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiracle: Letters to the President (2021)
Dreaming of making a way station for his sister and the villagers who have no choice but to commute along the dangerous train tracks every day, Joon-kyung sends many letters to the President, but with no reply. Ra-hee, who has a crush on Joon-kyung, does everything she can to help him meet the President.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEl Chicano (2019)
A pair of twin brothers from East L.A. choose to live their lives differently and end up on opposite sides of the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHigh Society (2018)
The story of the journey of married couple up the social latter. The husband is professor at Seoul National University who is running for the National Assembly, and his wife is a painter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHello (2022)
An emotionally unavailable flight attendant meets a potential love interest and later finds out that her "perfect guy" has ulterior motives. As the clock ticks down on New Year's Eve, she must fight to keep her murdered ex-boyfriend's secrets or find herself dead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLady Driver (2020)
When a rebellious teen embarks on a solo summer journey to connect with her roots, she finds herself in a new world, geared up for the ride of her life, and discovers she had the drive in her all along.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Kindness of Strangers (2019)
Clara and her two sons escape from her abusive husband with little more than their car and plan to start over in New York. After the car towed away, the family meets Alice, who gets them into an emergency shelter. While stealing food at a Russian restaurant called ‘Winter Palace’, Clara meets Marc, who has been given the chance to help the old eatery regain its former glory. The ‘Winter Palace’ soon becomes a place of unexpected encounters between people who are all undergoing some sort of crisis and whom fate has now brought together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEveryone Is There (2020)
Soo Yeon decides to commit suicide to end the bullying she goes through at school, when a savior appears. A woman punishes the bullies on behalf of Soo Yeon and saves her from the reality of hell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCome Sunday (2018)
Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Young One (1960)
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTrue Colors (1991)
Two law school friends find themselves at odds when one becomes a Justice Department lawyer and the other goes into politics.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this1 Chance 2 Dance (2014)
When a 17-year old aspiring dancer is uprooted in her high school senior year, she finds herself divided between two boys, and she will have one last shot at making her dream a reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Day and a Night (2020)
While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLorelei (2020)
A man is released from prison after 15 years. He reunites with his high school girlfriend, now a single mother of three. What follows is a lyrical take on love, regret and second chances.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Nest (2020)
Rory is an ambitious entrepreneur who brings his American wife and kids to his native country, England, to explore new business opportunities. After abandoning the sanctuary of their safe American suburban surroundings, the family is plunged into the despair of an archaic '80s Britain and their unaffordable new life in an English manor house threatens to destroy the family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisF.I.S.T. (1978)
Johnny Kovak joins the Teamsters trade-union in a local chapter in the 1930s and works his way up in the organization. As he climbs higher and higher his methods become more ruthless and finally senator Madison starts a campaign to find the truth about the alleged connections with the Mob.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHardball (2001)
An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (1996)
A dramatization of the life of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (Don Cheadle), with a lot of factual based occurrences. A reformed junkie returns from prison to clean up his act and devote the rest of his life to the young kids of Harlem. 1996 was the 25th anniversary of the first tournament named after him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCecilia (1954)
Teenage Cecilia comes from a working class family. She lives with her mother, three brothers, and alcoholic father. Cecilia finds emotional relief and security with Tore, an older girl at her school.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)
A down-on-his-luck crab fisherman embarks on a journey to get a young man with Down syndrome to a professional wrestling school in rural North Carolina and away from the retirement home where he’s lived for the past two and a half years.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisColossal Youth (2018)
When his dream girl returns to school a hopeless romantic teen tries to win her heart, until he hits rock bottom and realizes his true love has been there all along.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Light in the Piazza: Live from Lincoln Center (2006)
In the summer of 1953, Margaret Johnson, the wife of an American businessman, is touring Italy with her daughter, Clara. While sightseeing, Clara—a beautiful, surprisingly childish young woman—loses her hat in a sudden gust. As if guided by an unseen hand, the hat lands at the feet of Fabrizio Naccarelli, a handsome Florentine, who returns it to Clara. This brief episode, charged with coincidence and fate, sparks an immediate and intense romance between Clara and Fabrizio. Margaret, extremely protective of her daughter, attempts to keep Clara and Fabrizio apart.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Te lo leggo negli occhi (1966)
A girl from a country village goes to town and falls in love with a songwriter struggling for success. Soon however their life-paths go different ways and they split. Only for a short time naturally : a song he writes will help them to reunite.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
A Woman of the North (1999)
Young Dutch widow Emilie travels to a seaside resort in Italy, where she falls in love with Italian officer Aldo. Meanwhile, her deceased husband's assistant Hugo plans to propose to her as soon as the period of mourning is over.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Buy (2021)
A touching, at the same time funny and sad story of love and separation, which fit into one broadcast of the program "Shop on the couch". What is it – a vivid cross-section of modern trends or an old-as-the-world history of the relationship between a man and a woman? He is not ambitious enough, she is not romantic enough, and, of course, there is someone third between them. A story of one love, sold in the "Shop on the couch" for the price of one sweater.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Lottery (2022)
A husband and wife have won the lottery, but they can't spend the money. Every time they make a purchase, they get hurt.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
BEYOND SIGHT (2025)
In Beyond Sight, Dália is a teenager desperate to belong, even if it means adopting the cruel prejudices of her toxic group of friends. But when an unexpected accident leaves her blind, Dália finds herself on the other side of the judgment she once inflicted. Struggling to adapt, she crosses paths with a mysterious doctor who offers her a chance to regain her sight—through an experimental substance that promises not just vision, but a transformation into her best self: Zoe.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work?
The closest matches to The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work are Thread of Lies (2014), Idol Seungha's R-Rated Film Shooting (2021) and Miracle: Letters to the President (2021). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work?
Start with Thread of Lies (2014), the closest match to The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work?
The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019), rated 7.4/10 by 1,709 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work?
BEYOND SIGHT (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Korean movies like The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work?
Yes: Thread of Lies (2014), Idol Seungha's R-Rated Film Shooting (2021) and Miracle: Letters to the President (2021).
How are movies similar to The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.