Movies like Primal Scenes (1980)
The best movies like Primal Scenes (1980) are Goltzius & the Pelican Company (2012), Bettie Page Reveals All (2013) and I Want Your Sex (2026). If Primal Scenes hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBasic Instinct (1992)7.0/10 from 4,629 votes
- NewestI Want Your Sex (2026)Released 2026
Goltzius & the Pelican Company (2012)
Hendrik Goltzius, a late-16th-century Dutch printer and engraver of erotic prints, seduces the Margrave of Alsace into paying for a printing press to make and publish illustrated books.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBettie Page Reveals All (2013)
The world's greatest pin-up model and cult icon, Bettie Page, recounts the true story of how her free expression overcame government witch-hunts to help launch America's sexual revolution. When she saw the film The Notorious Bettie Page, produced by HBO in 2006, the main person concerned reacted unequivocally: “Lies! Lies!” In a long interview recorded shortly before her death, the woman who entered the collective unconscious as the ultimate pin-up gave her version of events to director Mark Mori. In a gravelly voice, Bettie Page tells her own story and lifts the veil on areas often hidden by images that have made so many men and women fantasize since the 1950s: her abused childhood, an eclipse that lasted forty years, her mental illness. Through testimonies and unpublished archives, this documentary brings back to life a body and a face endlessly declined before our eyes, just as Bettie wanted: “I would like people to remember me as I was in the photos.”
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Want Your Sex (2026)
When a naive young man becomes the sexual muse for a renowned and provocative artist, his dream job quickly turns dangerous as he is drawn into an obsessive world of power, betrayal, and murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Perfect Ending (2012)
This intimate drama follows Rebecca, a woman who has kept her sexuality a secret from her friends but chooses to reveal it to a stranger. While Rebecca's revelations may not yield the results she expects, a perfect ending is still in reach.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Little Death (2014)
A comedy film that looks into the loosely connected lives of people with strange sexual fantasies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Duke of Burgundy (2015)
Day in and day out, lovers Cynthia and Evelyn enact an elaborate sadomasochistic fantasy as mistress and maid. But as their ritual of domination and submission begins to turn stale, Cynthia yearns for something more conventional, while Evelyn tries to push their taboos even further.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNine 1/2 Weeks (1986)
An erotic story about a woman, the assistant of an art gallery, who gets involved in an impersonal affair with a man. She barely knows about his life, only about the sex games they play, so the relationship begins to get complicated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZerophilia (2005)
Luke, a young man insecure about his masculinity, discovers he's a Zerophiliac, with the ability to change sex at will. Join Luke as he journeys into the extraordinary world of Zerophilia where so many crazy questions arise, only one question matters: "Whom do you love?"
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisElegy (2008)
Cultural critic David Kepesh finds his life -- which he indicates is a state of "emancipated manhood" -- thrown into tragic disarray by Consuela Castillo, a well-mannered student who awakens a sense of sexual possessiveness in her teacher.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisX (2011)
A veteran call girl and a runaway prostitute witness a murder which sends them on an out-of-control roller coaster ride through the twilight zone of sex-for-sale.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNymphomaniac: Vol. II (2013)
The continuation of Joe's sexually dictated life delves into the darker aspects of her adult life and what led to her being in Seligman's care.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNude (2017)
NUDE explores perceptions of nudity in art by chronicling the creative process of photographer David Bellemere as he's commissioned by NU Muses founder Steve Shaw to shoot a fine art calendar of nude photographs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSomeone Like You... (2001)
Jane Goodale has everything going for her. She's a producer on a popular daytime talk show, and is in a hot romance with the show's dashing executive producer Ray. But when the relationship goes terribly awry, Jane begins an extensive study of the male animal, including her womanizing roommate Eddie. Jane puts her studies and romantic misadventure to use as a pseudonymous sex columnist -- and becomes a sensation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHallam Foe (2007)
Hallam's talent for spying on people reveals his darkest fears-and his most peculiar desires. Driven to expose the true cause of his mother's death, he instead finds himself searching the rooftops of the city for love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMadonna: Truth or Dare (1991)
From the rains of Japan, through threats of arrest for 'public indecency' in Canada, and a birthday tribute to her father in Detroit, this documentary follows Madonna on her 1990 'Blond Ambition' concert tour. Filmed in black and white, with the concert pieces in glittering MTV color, it is an intimate look at the work of the icon, from a prayer circle before each performance to bed games with the dance troupe afterwards.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Notorious Bettie Page (2006)
Bettie Page grew up in a conservative religious family in Tennessee and became a photo model sensation in 1950s New York. Bettie's legendary pin-up photos made her the target of a Senate investigation into pornography, and transformed her into an erotic icon who continues to enthrall fans to this day.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGypsy (1962)
Gypsy's mother Rose dreams of a life in show business for her daughters, but Louise becomes a huge burlesque star. Stage musical loosely based on the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisManiac (2012)
As he helps a young artist with her upcoming exhibition, the owner of a mannequin shop's deadly, suppressed desires come to the surface.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWorking Girls (1987)
A lesbian college graduate, trying to bankroll her own photography business, works as a high-priced New York City escort.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBasic Instinct (1992)
Catherine, a novelist with an insatiable sexual appetite, becomes a prime suspect when her boyfriend is brutally murdered -- a crime she had described in her latest story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSisters! (2011)
Sisters! follows the work of Southall Black Sisters (SBS). It foregrounds the ongoing activism of the organisation and the daily challenges faced when fighting for social and political change.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Private Parts (1997)
The life and career of shock-jock superstar Howard Stern is recounted from his humble beginnings to his view from the top. Possessing a desire to be an on-air personality since childhood, Stern meanders through the radio world, always with his supportive wife, Alison, by his side. Landing a gig in Washington, D.C., Stern meets Robin Quivers, who will become his long-time partner in crime. When the two move to New York, they face the wrath of NBC executives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKinsey (2004)
Kinsey is a portrait of researcher Alfred Kinsey, driven to uncover the most private secrets of a nation. What begins for Kinsey as a scientific endeavor soon takes on an intensely personal relevance, ultimately becoming an unexpected journey into the mystery of human behavior.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRecrudescence or (To Kill an Undying Being) (TBA)
‘Recrudescence’ takes place in a gothic, dystopian reality wherein a patriarchal judiciary removes the anger of women within whom it is deemed excessive. This is the case for Audrey, a writer of philosophy. But when Audrey’s husband tries to capitalise on her state, her anger returns in an unusual form...
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Jinn (2018)
Summer is a carefree teenage girl whose world is turned upside down when her mother abruptly converts to Islam and becomes a different person. At first resistant to the faith, she begins to reevaluate her identity after becoming attracted to a Muslim classmate, crossing the thin line between physical desire and piety.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
To Catch a Glimpse (1997)
A film that delves into director Jean Carlomusto's family history by trying to find out if the rumors about her grandmother's death -- trying to rid herself of an unwanted pregnancy in 1939 -- are true.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Primal Scenes?
The closest matches to Primal Scenes are Goltzius & the Pelican Company (2012), Bettie Page Reveals All (2013) and I Want Your Sex (2026). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Primal Scenes?
Start with Goltzius & the Pelican Company (2012), the closest match to Primal Scenes.
What is the highest-rated movie like Primal Scenes?
Basic Instinct (1992), rated 7.0/10 by 4,629 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Primal Scenes?
I Want Your Sex (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Primal Scenes?
Yes: Goltzius & the Pelican Company (2012), Bettie Page Reveals All (2013) and I Want Your Sex (2026).
How are movies similar to Primal Scenes chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Primal Scenes, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.