Movies like Second Act
The best movies like Second Act (2023) are L.A. Without a Map (1999), A California Christmas: City Lights (2021) and Which Brings Me to You (2023). If Second Act hooked you with its drama and romance, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLife in a Year (2020)8.2/10 from 2,023 votes
- NewestIs This Thing On? (2025)Released 2025
L.A. Without a Map (1999)
An aspiring Hollywood actress, on a visit to a charming North England town, has a brief fling with the town undertaker, who also writes obituaries for the local paper. Returning home, where she works as a waitress at a Japanese restaurant, she tells everyone about the handsome "writer" she met on her trip. Unfortunately, he decides to follow her back to Hollywood, setting up the expected light romantic comedy with asides as the newcomer gains experience about the goings on in Hollywood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisA California Christmas: City Lights (2021)
Follows Callie and Joseph one year after they fell in love, now running a dairy farm and winery, but their romance is threatened when business and family obligations call Joseph back to the city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhich Brings Me to You (2023)
Two romantic burnouts, Jane and Will, are immediately drawn to each other at a mutual friend’s wedding. After a disastrous hookup in the coatroom, the two spend the next 24 hours together, trading candid confessions of messy histories and heartbreak, on the off chance that this fling might be the real thing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRosaline (2022)
Left heartbroken after Romeo begins to pursue her cousin Juliet, Rosaline schemes to foil the famous romance and win back her guy in this comedic twist of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIrreplaceable You (2018)
A stunning cancer diagnosis spurs Abbie to seek a future girlfriend for fiancé and childhood sweetheart Sam, who's clueless when it comes to dating.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Met a Girl (2020)
An aspiring musician struggling with schizophrenia falls for a mysterious woman who may be all in his head. When she suddenly vanishes, he takes off on a cross-country journey across Australia to find her, forcing his long-suffering brother to chase after him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove in Taipei (2023)
A young American woman is sent by her parents to a cultural immersion program in Taipei where she begins a new journey of self-discovery and romance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHappiness for Beginners (2023)
At a crossroads after her divorce, a schoolteacher ventures toward a fresh start in life — and love — when she signs up for a grueling group hiking trip.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wedding Photographer (2009)
When the factory in Molkom shuts down, Robin leaves his beloved hometown to try his luck in Stockholm as a wedding photographer. This experience changes not merely his outlook on life but also his hairstyle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGrace (2018)
A famous writer begins suffering from a crippling case of writer's block. His agent sends him a strange, belligerent woman to be his new assistant, hoping the change will inspire him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAuthor! Author! (1982)
A broadway playwright is burning the candle at both ends. He is dealing with pressure from a production nearing premiere, a wife who is leaving him, and 5 children 4 of which belong to her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Sarah (2020)
A young woman wishes to fulfill her mother's dream of opening her own bakery in Notting Hill, London. To do this, she enlists the help of an old friend and her grandma.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPersuasion (2022)
Living with her snobby family on the brink of bankruptcy, Anne Elliot is an unconforming woman with modern sensibilities. When Frederick Wentworth - the dashing one she once sent away - crashes back into her life, Anne must choose between putting the past behind her or listening to her heart when it comes to second chances.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisQuartet (2012)
Cissy, Reggie, and Wilf are in a home for retired musicians. Every year, there is a concert to celebrate Composer Giuseppe Verdi's birthday and they take part. Jean, who used to be married to Reggie, arrives at the home and disrupts their equilibrium. She still acts like a diva, but she refuses to sing. Still, the show must go on, and it does.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA California Christmas (2020)
With his carefree lifestyle on the line, a wealthy charmer poses as a ranch hand to get a hardworking farmer to sell her family’s land before Christmas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIs This Thing On? (2025)
As their marriage quietly unravels, Alex faces middle age and an impending divorce, seeking new purpose in the New York comedy scene while Tess confronts the sacrifices she made for their family—forcing them to navigate co-parenting, identity, and whether love can take a new form.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNot Easily Broken (2009)
A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlind (2017)
A novelist is blinded in a car crash that killed his wife and several years later rediscovers his passion for life and writing when he embarks on an affair with the neglected wife of an indicted businessman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLife in a Year (2020)
A 17 year old finds out that his girlfriend is dying, so he sets out to give her an entire life, in the last year she has left.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Right Kind of Wrong (2013)
A stubborn idealist spies a bride on her way to her wedding and immediately falls in love with her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Second Act?
The closest matches to Second Act are L.A. Without a Map (1999), A California Christmas: City Lights (2021) and Which Brings Me to You (2023). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Second Act?
Start with L.A. Without a Map (1999), the closest match to Second Act.
What is the highest-rated movie like Second Act?
Life in a Year (2020), rated 8.2/10 by 2,023 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Second Act?
Is This Thing On? (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Second Act chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Second Act, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.