Movies like Last Summer (1981)
The best movies like Last Summer (1981) are Rip Girls (2000), Iron Jawed Angels (2004) and You Cast A Spell On Me (2015). If Last Summer hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Last Summer
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Secret Life of Bees (2008)7.5/10 from 603 votes
- NewestLeft-Handed Girl (2025)Released 2025
- In ChineseThe Golden Lotus (1974)Also in Chinese
Rip Girls (2000)
A teen-age girl and her father come to an island on Hawaii, they find a closer relationship to each other and think about changing the island. During her adventures, Sydney finds friends, a new hobby with her fantastic photography, and the truth about her mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIron Jawed Angels (2004)
Defiant young activists take the women's suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYou Cast A Spell On Me (2015)
Despite agreeing to an arranged marriage to a childhood friend, a successful businessman tries to track down a beautiful woman that he met at a Halloween party.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019)
Nancy Drew, a smart high schooler with a penchant for keen observation and deduction, stumbles upon the haunting of a local home. A bit of an outsider struggling to fit into her new surroundings, Nancy and her pals set out to solve the mystery, make new friends, and establish their place in the community
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOur Kind of Traitor (2016)
A young Oxford academic and his attorney girlfriend holiday in Morocco. They bump into a Russian millionaire who owns a peninsula and a diamond watch. He wants a game of tennis. What else he wants propels the lovers on a tortuous journey to the City of London and its unholy alliance with Britain's intelligence establishment, to Paris and the Alps.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPetals on the Wind (2014)
This sequel to Flowers in the Attic picks up 10 years after Cathy, Chris and Carrie managed to escape Foxworth Hall.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisErin Brockovich (2000)
A twice-divorced mother of three who sees an injustice, takes on the bad guy and wins -- with a little help from her push-up bra. Erin goes to work for an attorney and comes across medical records describing illnesses clustered in one nearby town. She starts investigating and soon exposes a monumental cover-up.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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
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 thisHe Said, She Said (1991)
Womanising, right-wing Dan Hanson and quiet, liberal Lorie Bryer work for the Baltimore Sun. Rivals for the job of new writer of a vacant column, the paper ends up instead printing their very different opinions alongside each other, which leads to a similarly combative local TV show. At the same time their initial indifference to each other looks like it may evolve into something more romantic.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Secret Life of Bees (2008)
Set in South Carolina in 1964, this is the tale of Lily Owens a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother. To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father, Lily flees with Rosaleen, her caregiver and only friend, to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother's past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Golden Lotus (1974)
Golden Lotus is based, in part, on Jin Ping Mei, a famous erotic novel of ancient China. Li Han-Hsiang adapted part of the story into this film, which starts with Hsi Men Ching, a successful merchant, wooing Pan Chin Lien, the beautiful wife of one of the townspeople.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHi, Mom (2021)
Devastated after her mom's serious accident and grief-stricken because she hasn't become the daughter she wanted to be for her mother, a Chinese woman finds herself transported back in time to the year 1981, where she meets her younger mother before she was her mom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLeft-Handed Girl (2025)
A mother and her two daughters move to Taipei to open a noodle stand at a vibrant night market, but family secrets and tradition test their fresh start.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Brilliant Career (1979)
A young woman who is determined to maintain her independence finds herself at odds with her family who wants her to tame her wild side and get married.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIntroducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999)
An acclaimed stage performer, Dorothy still struggled with the challenge of her color, in a time that wouldn't let some stars in by the front door. Yet against the odds she beat out many more famous rivals for the role of "Carmen Jones", becoming the first black woman ever nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award. Marriages and affairs would break her heart, but her heart was strong. Seductive and easily seduced, she was born to be a star - with all the glory and all the pain of being loved, abused, cheated, glorified, undermined and undefeated. Here was a woman who wouldn't wait in the wings. Halle Berry stars as Dorothy Dandrige.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMansfield Park (1999)
Fanny Price is sent to live with her wealthy relatives, the Bertrams, where she is treated poorly by most except her cousin Edmund. Her life is complicated by the arrival of the worldly Mary and Henry Crawford.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJust Before I Go (2015)
Ted Morgan has been treading water for most of his life. After his wife leaves him, Ted realizes he has nothing left to live for. Summoning the courage for one last act, Ted decides to go home and face the people he feels are responsible for creating the shell of a person he has become. But life is tricky. The more determined Ted is to confront his demons, to get closure, and to withdraw from his family, the more Ted is yanked into the chaos of their lives. So, when Ted Morgan decides to kill himself, he finds a reason to live.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Last Summer?
The closest matches to Last Summer are Rip Girls (2000), Iron Jawed Angels (2004) and You Cast A Spell On Me (2015). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Last Summer?
Start with Rip Girls (2000), the closest match to Last Summer.
What is the highest-rated movie like Last Summer?
The Secret Life of Bees (2008), rated 7.5/10 by 603 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Last Summer?
Left-Handed Girl (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like Last Summer?
Yes: The Golden Lotus (1974), Hi, Mom (2021) and Left-Handed Girl (2025).
How are movies similar to Last Summer chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Last Summer, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.