Movies like Birthday Cake (2022)
The best movies like Birthday Cake (2022) are Reservation Road (2007), Eleanor the Great (2025) and Things We Lost in the Fire (2007). If Birthday Cake 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 Elephant Man (1980)8.1/10 from 4,128 votes
- NewestStill Life (2026)Released 2026
Reservation Road (2007)
Two fathers' lives intersect when one of them is involved in a terrible and sudden hit-and-run car accident that leaves the other's son dead. In response, the two men react in unexpected ways as a reckoning looms in the near future.
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 thisThings We Lost in the Fire (2007)
A recent widow invites her husband's troubled best friend to live with her and her two children. As he gradually turns his life around, he helps the family cope and confront their loss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGoodbye June (2025)
Four siblings' lives change drastically when their ailing mother takes a turn for the worse over the holiday season.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIf Anything Happens I Love You (2020)
Grieving parents journey through an emotional void as they mourn the loss of a child after a tragic school shooting.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlack or White (2015)
A grieving widower is drawn into a custody battle over his granddaughter, whom he helped raise her entire life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRabbit Hole (2010)
Life for a happy couple is turned upside down after their young son dies in an accident.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlashbacks of a Fool (2008)
An aging Hollywood star, Joe Scott, lives a life of narcissistic hedonism, observed by his laconic personal assistant, Ophelia. The death of his childhood best friend, Boots, takes our protagonist, and the movie, into an extended flashback to a sea-side town in 1970s Britain.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMr. Church (2016)
A unique friendship develops when a little girl and her dying mother inherit a cook - Mr. Church. What begins as an arrangement that should only last six months, instead spans fifteen years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Safety of Objects (2002)
In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them (2014)
A New York couple's relationship is tested after the loss of their child. This film is the wide-released combination of the original two :him and :her volumes that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Truth About Emanuel (2013)
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKiller's Kiss (1955)
Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisThe Locket (1946)
A dark personal secret drives a young woman to use every man she encounters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParallel (2024)
Grief-stricken after the loss of her child, Vanessa takes refuge at a lake house only to be met with an aberration of herself from a parallel universe and realizes the multiverse gates hold the key to releasing her grief or trapping her forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStrange Weather (2016)
Years after her son's suicide, a woman longs to confront both the past and a friend of his who took his business idea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBirth (2004)
It took Anna 10 years to recover from the death of her husband, Sean, but now she's on the verge of marrying her boyfriend, Joseph, and finally moving on. However, on the night of her engagement party, a young boy named Sean turns up, saying he is her dead husband reincarnated. At first she ignores the child, but his knowledge of her former husband's life is uncanny, leading her to believe that he might be telling the truth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPuncture (2011)
Based on a true story. Mike Weiss (Chris Evans) is a brilliant but self-destructive Houston attorney whose drug addiction threatens to destroy his career. When he and his law partner Paul Danziger (Mark Kassen) take on a case involving a nurse injured by a contaminated needle, they uncover a $130 billion medical supply monopoly that has been blocking a life-saving safety
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStolen (2009)
A detective becomes obsessed with solving a child's 50-year-old murder, uncovering striking similarities between the case and his son's disappearance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisStill Life (2026)
After their son is stillborn at 24 weeks, Jess navigates an unexpected form of motherhood marked by silent milestones and uncomfortable social encounters, while Max struggles to hold their family together through grief.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
A Van Full of Beagles (TBA)
A short film uncovering the reality of UK animal testing through one woman’s heart-breaking journey.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Into the Fire (2005)
Into the Fire follows the story of Walter Hartwig, a lieutenant in the New York City Harbor Unit, who finally comes to terms with grief and what is really important about this life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Jacob's Ladder (1990)
After returning home from the Vietnam War, veteran Jacob Singer struggles to maintain his sanity. Plagued by hallucinations and flashbacks, Singer rapidly falls apart as the world and people around him morph and twist into disturbing images. His girlfriend, Jezzie, and ex-wife, Sarah, try to help, but to little avail. Even Singer's chiropractor friend, Louis, fails to reach him as he descends into madness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Elephant Man (1980)
A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisIn the Bedroom (2001)
Summertime on the coast of Maine, "In the Bedroom" centers on the inner dynamics of a family in transition. Matt Fowler is a doctor practicing in his native Maine and is married to New York born Ruth Fowler, a music teacher. His son is involved in a love affair with a local single mother. As the beauty of Maine's brief and fleeting summer comes to an end, these characters find themselves in the midst of unimaginable tragedy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIt's a Nice Night (2022)
Ollie’s best friend, Bunny, is moving away. As they spend what feels like their very last day together, reminiscing on the past and reliving their childhoods, they get caught in a cycle of arguments and prolonged silences. With Bunny’s help, Ollie slowly grasps what it means to move on.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Solaris (2002)
A troubled psychologist is sent to investigate the crew of an isolated research station orbiting a bizarre planet.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGriefcake (2022)
A bittersweet comedy-drama about a cake-loving family bereft at the death of their expert baker mum. When daughter Pippa picks up the wooden spoon she's hindered by her culinary incompetence - until an encounter with a family friend reveals a surprising secret.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
H Is for Hawk (2025)
After losing her beloved father, Helen finds herself saved by an unlikely friendship with a stubborn hawk named Mabel. Through the bond, Helen rediscovers the beauty of being alive.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Birthday Cake and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Birthday Cake?
The closest matches to Birthday Cake are Reservation Road (2007), Eleanor the Great (2025) and Things We Lost in the Fire (2007). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Birthday Cake?
Start with Reservation Road (2007), the closest match to Birthday Cake.
What is the highest-rated movie like Birthday Cake?
The Elephant Man (1980), rated 8.1/10 by 4,128 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Birthday Cake?
Still Life (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Birthday Cake?
Yes: Reservation Road (2007), Eleanor the Great (2025) and Things We Lost in the Fire (2007).
How are movies similar to Birthday Cake chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Birthday Cake, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.