Movies like The Shift (2024)
The best movies like The Shift (2024) are Hounddog (2008), The Girl in the Book (2015) and From Straight A's to XXX (2017). If The Shift hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedWhat Maisie Knew (2013)7.1/10 from 465 votes
- NewestOne Last Shot (2026)Released 2026
Hounddog (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 thisThe Girl in the Book (2015)
The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisFrom Straight A's to XXX (2017)
When a change of circumstances leaves Miriam unable to pay her college tuition, she makes a surprising decision: to start performing in adult films, using the pseudonym Belle Knox. Miriam lies to her family and her friends at school, keeping her double life a secret. But soon rumours spread and Miriam becomes the subject of vicious online attacks and unwanted attention. Miriam fights back: she talks to the media, saying her new line of work empowers her as a feminist. But her confident stand has unintended consequences. Miriam is shunned by her conservative family and her colleagues in the adult film world. One impulsive decision has quickly spiralled out of control - and Miriam's problems are just beginning.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisCall Me Crazy: A Five Film (2013)
A psychotherapist helps a law student cope with schizophrenia in one of five interconnected tales dealing with mental illness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRogue Agent (2022)
Conman Robert Freegard poses as an undercover MI5 agent and kidnaps countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt, until the woman who fell for him brings him to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnuja (2024)
When a brilliant nine-year-old working in a sweatshop gets a chance to attend school, she must make a difficult choice for her and her sister's future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGirl in the Box (2016)
The true story of 20-year-old Colleen Stan, a hitchhiking woman abducted by a young couple and held captive for seven years, during which time she's tortured and forced to live as a slave to her captors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEleanor the Great (2025)
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Neighbor (2022)
A nightmarish evening unfolds for neighbors David and Robert when they accidentally hit a woman on her bike and flee the scene. While David is increasingly plagued by feelings of guilt, Robert shows no remorse and becomes overbearing and possessive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Congress (2013)
An aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job, though the consequences of her decision affect her in ways she didn't consider.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat Maisie Knew (2013)
In New York City, six-year-old Maisie is caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle between her self-absorbed parents—an aging rock singer mother and a distracted art dealer father. As both quickly marry new partners to strengthen their legal standing, Maisie is shuttled back and forth in an endless game of emotional point-scoring. Yet amid the chaos and upheaval, Maisie begins to find true comfort and affection in her new step-parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKisses (2008)
Two kids, Dylan and Kylie, run away from home on Christmas Day and spend a night of magic and terror on the streets of inner-city Dublin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisBastard Out of Carolina (1996)
A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Believe in Unicorns (2015)
Feeling awkward and isolated, an imaginative and strong-willed teenage girl runs away from home with an older punk rock drifter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEmbattled (2020)
The eldest son of a ruthlessly tough MMA champion must fight his way out of the abusive cycle his father has continued.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Together Now (2020)
An optimistic, talented teen clings to a huge secret: she's homeless and living on a school bus. When tragedy strikes, can she learn to accept a helping hand?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHomeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story (2003)
Based on a true story. Liz Murray is a young girl who is taken care of by her loving, but drug-addicted parents. Liz becomes homeless at 15 and after a tragedy comes upon her, she begins her work to finish high school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFast Girls (2012)
A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWon't Back Down (2012)
Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDaydreaming So Vividly About Our Spanish Holidays (2022)
Hungry for sun, light and warmth, a group of teenagers embark on a dream trip to the Balearic Islands.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Promised Land: A Musical (1987)
To find out whether he has any talent, Danny, a Hollywood actor going nowhere fast, sets off in pursuit of Irving J. Schwartz, the greatest agent in the world. In a frenzy of musical numbers and disguises, Danny makes his way through the promised land toward discovery of who he is and what it takes to be an actor
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Uncertain (2009)
Anson, our 11-year old protagonist, is driven on an open-field road and slowly wakes up to realize he does not know where he is or where he is being taken to. Only until he speaks with a stranger in the middle of a prairie does he recall his life-altering decision, caused by the social aggressions he's suffered at school.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
To Zombie... Or Not to Zombie (2024)
A Hamlet-inspired tale of two sisters running their late mother's business. When one sister has a run-in with her (presumed to be dead) mother, chaos ensues.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Lost Isolation (2022)
A depressed man finds himself in a silent nightmare of self-reflection.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Prime Time of Your Life (2021)
A phone call turns an evening at home into a nightmare.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Longevity Peach (2017)
A little girl's parents have to go overseas for work, so she is sent to stay with her grandmother for that period. The grandmother only speaks Teochew, which the little girl can neither speak not understand, so the initial generational and linguistic gaps result in friction and misunderstanding, until an accident unexpectedly brings the whole extended family closer together, and the child bonds with both her grandmother and her parents.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Mind Games (2024)
After suffering a head injury during training, aspiring footballer Jordan traverses his own mind and memory in order to rediscover his passions and fix his broken relationship with his Coach Father.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
One Last Shot (2026)
June and her friends give everything they've got to complete a movie for her college application project.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Brother Mary (2021)
To understand a mysterious man in a Victorian gown who sings praises to God on the streets of contemporary Vancouver, we meet the people who claim to be closest to him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like The Shift and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Shift?
The closest matches to The Shift are Hounddog (2008), The Girl in the Book (2015) and From Straight A's to XXX (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Shift?
Start with Hounddog (2008), the closest match to The Shift.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Shift?
What Maisie Knew (2013), rated 7.1/10 by 465 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Shift?
One Last Shot (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Shift chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Shift, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.