Movies like Sweet Dreams (2023)
The best movies like Sweet Dreams (2023) are William Tell (2025), The East (2021) and Oranges and Sunshine (2010). If Sweet Dreams hooked you with its drama and history, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBroken (2012)6.9/10 from 306 votes
- NewestThe Bluff (2026)Released 2026
William Tell (2025)
The narrative unfolds in the 14th Century, when the European nations vie for supremacy within the Holy Roman Empire. The ambitious Austrian Empire, desiring more land, invades neighbouring Switzerland, a serene and pastoral nation. Protagonist William Tell, a formerly peaceful hunter, finds himself forced to take action as his family and homeland come under threat from the oppressive Austrian King and his ruthless warlords.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe East (2021)
A young Dutch soldier deployed to suppress post-WWII independence efforts in the Netherlands’ colony of Indonesia finds himself torn between duty and conscience when he joins an increasingly ruthless commander’s elite squad.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOranges and Sunshine (2010)
The story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham, who uncovers one of the most significant social scandals in recent times – the forced migration of children from the United Kingdom to Australia and other Commonwealth countries. Almost singlehandedly, Margaret reunited thousands of families, brought authorities to account and worldwide attention to an extraordinary miscarriage of justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher (2022)
At the turn of the 19th century, Pugilism was the sport of kings and a gifted young boxer fought his way to becoming champion of England.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Shepherd (2006)
Edward Wilson, the only witness to his father's suicide and member of the Skull and Bones Society while a student at Yale, is a morally upright young man who values honor and discretion, qualities that help him to be recruited for a career in the newly founded OSS. His dedication to his work does not come without a price though, leading him to sacrifice his ideals and eventually his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBuffalo Boys (2018)
Betrayed by the Dutch colonial forces, Arana manages to escape along with his nephews Jamar and Suwo, the newborn sons of Hamza, one of the last Indonesian sultans fighting against foreign tyranny. In 1860, after wandering for years on the plains of the American Wild West, Arana and the two brothers return to Indonesia to avenge their dead loved ones and punish the evil man who caused their misfortune.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInheritance (2020)
The patriarch of a wealthy and powerful family suddenly passes away, leaving his wife and daughter with a shocking secret inheritance that threatens to unravel and destroy their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bluff (2026)
When her tranquil life on a remote island is shattered by the return of her vengeful former captain, a skilled ex-pirate must confront her bloody past and unleash her deadly talents to save her family from a ruthless siege.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLakeview Terrace (2008)
A young interracial couple has just moved into their California dream home when they become the target of their next-door neighbor, who disapproves of their relationship. A tightly wound LAPD officer has appointed himself the watchdog of the neighborhood. His nightly foot patrols and overly watchful eyes bring comfort to some, but he becomes increasingly aggressive to the newlyweds. These persistent intrusions into their lives cause the couple to fight back.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBroken (2012)
Three suburban English families' lives intertwine with tragic consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisAround the Bend (2004)
A tale of four generations of men, all of whom have had their offspring at a young age: a great-grandfather, a grandfather, a father in his twenties and a son who is about 7 years old. When the oldest member passes away, the trio heads out on the road together in the Southwest to search out an old family secret that connects to their past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAmerican Son (2019)
Time passes and tension mounts in a Florida police station as an estranged interracial couple awaits news of their missing teenage son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRomper Stomper (1992)
Nazi skinheads in Melbourne take out their anger on local Vietnamese, who are seen as threatening racial purity. Finally the Vietnamese have had enough and confront the skinheads in an all-out confrontation, sending the skinheads running. A woman who is prone to epileptic seizures joins the skins' merry band, and helps them on their run from justice, but is her affliction also a sign of impurity?
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 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 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 thisThe Devil's Double (2011)
A chilling vision of the House of Saddam Hussein comes to life through the eyes of the man who was forced to become the double of Hussein's sadistic son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLawn Dogs (1997)
In the affluent, gated community of Camelot Gardens, bored wives indiscriminately sleep around while their unwitting husbands try desperately to climb the social ladder. Trent, a 21-year-old outsider who mows the neighborhood lawns, quietly observes the infidelities and hypocrisies of this overly privileged society. When Devon, a 10-year-old daughter from one family, forges a friendship with Trent, things suddenly get very complicated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005)
Jack Slavin is an environmentalist with a heart condition who lives with his daughter, Rose, on an isolated island. While Jack fights against developers who wish to build in the area, he also craves more contact with other people. When he invites his girlfriend, Kathleen, and her sons, Rodney and Thaddius, to move in, Rose is upset. The complicated family dynamics makes things difficult for everyone in the house.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCa-Bau-Kan (2002)
Determined to discover her roots, a young woman travels to Indonesia and pieces together her parents' unconventional love story.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Azu (2013)
1780, a group of slaves flee from a sugar cane hacienda. As they are pursued by Don Manuel Aguirre, obsessed landowner who has fixed his eyes on Azu, the beautiful slave with an ancestral destiny.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history & drama
Buddy (2015)
A young man agrees to support his ex lover during an HIV test. What starts out as an awkward reunion, soon becomes something more tender. Is there still hope for reconciliation?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Footsteps (2022)
In Footsteps, Fiona Tan creates connections between personal stories and the world around us. The footage shows children at play and Dutch windmills, but above all people engaged in heavy physical labour in the countryside and in factories. In a fascinating juxtaposition, she combines these images with excerpts from letters she received from her father just after she moved to the Netherlands in the late 1980s. Through his education in Indonesia, Tan’s father knew a lot about the Netherlands without ever having visited the country. In the letters, he meanders seamlessly between personal news and world events, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
Microhabitat (2018)
Miso lives from day to day by housekeeping. Cigarettes and whiskey are the two things that get her through the day. As cigarette prices and rent start to rise, Miso decides to give up her house for cigarettes and whiskey, leading her to couch surf with old friends while reconsidering her place in life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAashiqui (1990)
Rahul and Anu Verghese meet on the same day, while both are held by the police on charges of creating a disturbance, and running away respectively. They meet again, and love happens. Rahul helps Anu to be independent, and seek a job. Then Anu is discovered by a talent agent to be a model, which she accepts. Rahul wants to marry Anu, but first must establish himself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Merantau (2009)
In Minangkabau, West Sumatera, Yuda a skilled practitioner of Silat Harimau is in the final preparations to begin his "Merantau" a century's old rites-of-passage to be carried out by the community's young men that will see him leave the comforts of his idyllic farming village and make a name for himself in the bustling city of Jakarta.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love (1995)
An adventurous love story between two young women of different social and economic backgrounds who find themselves going through all the typical struggles of a new romance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSiti Madosi Gusti (2018)
In the midst of the condition of her family full of problems, whether problems about the father or the economic conditions in her home, Her mother cry and calling name of God loudly for help on their suffering. But Siti, the child, looked confused. At this moment she still wonders who actually is called God?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Nostalgi (2020)
A few years after the outbreak of a virus that endangers the human race. War, pillaging, and arsonry occurred, nearly wiping out humanity. But Dirman continues to fight for survival, though the memories of the past will always continue to haunt him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Sweet Dreams and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Sweet Dreams?
The closest matches to Sweet Dreams are William Tell (2025), The East (2021) and Oranges and Sunshine (2010). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Sweet Dreams?
Start with William Tell (2025), the closest match to Sweet Dreams.
What is the highest-rated movie like Sweet Dreams?
Broken (2012), rated 6.9/10 by 306 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Sweet Dreams?
The Bluff (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Sweet Dreams chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Sweet Dreams, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.