Movies like Ashes and embers (2023)
The best movies like Ashes and embers (2023) are The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), Maps to the Stars (2014) and Strange Weather (2016). If Ashes and embers hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedRequiem for a Dream (2000)8.0/10 from 11,482 votes
- NewestIs God Is (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchDogman (2023)Also in French
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
Three childhood friends, Martha, Walter and Sam, share a terrible secret. Over time, the ambitious Martha and the pusillanimous Walter have married. She is a cold businesswoman; he is the district attorney: a perfect combination to dominate the corrupt city of Iverstown at will. But the unexpected return of Sam, after years of absence, deeply disturbs the life of the odd couple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMaps to the Stars (2014)
Driven by an intense need for fame and validation, members of a dysfunctional Hollywood family chase celebrity, one another, and the relentless ghosts of their pasts. Their fragile ecosystem is disrupted by the arrival of Agatha, the scarred and estranged pyromaniac daughter.
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 thisDogman (2023)
A boy, bruised by life, finds his salvation through the love of his dogs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRequiem for a Dream (2000)
The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island residents are shattered when their addictions run deep.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Crush (1993)
A precocious and obsessive teenager develops a crush on a naive writer with harrowing consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBackdraft (1991)
Two feuding siblings carrying on a heroic family tradition as Chicago firefighters. But when a puzzling series of arson attacks is reported, they are forced to set aside their differences to solve the mystery surrounding these crimes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFathers and Daughters (2015)
A Pulitzer-winning writer grapples with being a widower and father after a mental breakdown, while, 27 years later, his grown daughter struggles to forge connections of her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Past (2013)
After four years apart, Ahmad returns to his wife Marie in Paris in order to progress their divorce. During his brief stay, he cannot help noticing the strained relationship between Marie and her daughter Lucie. As he attempts to improve matters between mother and daughter Ahmad unwittingly lifts the lid on a long buried secret...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisÉlisa (1995)
Marie has had a tough childhood ever since her mother Elisa committed suicide. She has spent most of her life in an orphanage and now makes a living as a small time criminal in Paris. Now she wants to unravel her past and find her father whom she blames for her mother's death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHelen (2009)
On the outside, Helen has it all – a loving family and a successful career – but when her suppressed mental illness resurfaces, the world crumbles around her. Crippled by depression, Helen finds solace through her friendship with Mathilda, a kindred spirit struggling with bipolar disorder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Deep End of the Ocean (1999)
A three-year-old boy disappears during his mother's high school reunion. Nine years later, by chance, he turns up in the town in which the family has just relocated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLuckiest Girl Alive (2022)
A successful woman in New York City finds her life upended when she is forced to confront a dark truth that threatens to unravel her meticulously crafted life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTigertail (2020)
A man reflects on the lost love of his youth and his long-ago journey from Taiwan to America as he begins to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHouria (2023)
A young woman who is passionate about ballet dancing and experiences a trauma, and then she meets other women who have experienced similar situations and they find a creative way to pursue their passion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Glass Castle (2017)
A young girl is raised in a dysfunctional family constantly on the run from the FBI. Living in poverty, she comes of age guided by her drunkard, ingenious father who distracts her with magical stories to keep her mind off the family's dire state, and her selfish, nonconformist mother who has no intention of raising a family, along with her younger brother and sister, and her other older sister. Together, they fend for each other as they mature in an unorthodox journey that is their family life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Glass House (2001)
When Ruby and Rhett's parents are killed in a car accident, their carefree teenage lives are suddenly shattered. Moving to an incredible house in Malibu with the Glasses', old friends of the family, seems to be the beginning of a new life for them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDad (1989)
A busy executive learns during a meeting that his mother may be dying and rushes home to her side. He ends up being his father's caretaker and becomes closer to him than ever before. Estranged from his own son, the executive comes to realize what has been missing in his own life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIs God Is (2026)
Two sisters embark on an epic quest for revenge, confronting a charged family history that pushes them to extraordinary lengths.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBlack Snake Moan (2006)
A God-fearing bluesman takes to a wild young woman who, as a victim of childhood sexual abuse, is looking everywhere for love, but never quite finding it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Family Upside Down (1978)
An elderly married couple find that as their physical and mental health deteriorates, they find themselves dependent more and more upon their grown children.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Dress Up (2022)
On the eve of her sister’s wedding, Karina brings her “best friend” home to meet the family. When the groom-to-be joins them, she is reminded of her family’s expectations and her queer anxieties begin to unravel in a film that blurs the line between fiction and reality.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Remember to Breathe (2022)
One day, Hiroko accidentally starts a small fire while she is cooking. Although it does not lead to a serious incident, it does result in her going to stay with her eldest daughter, Yuko, for whom Hiroko has never been the mother she wanted.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Divine Tragedy (2021)
A drug abusing alcoholic attempts to hide his addiction from those closest to him until he faces the hardest decision of his lifetime when tragedy strikes close to home.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Essas Coisas Que Queimam Devagar (2022)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Crosswords (2024)
The daily crosswords-and-coffee ritual, when difficult to decipher, revives the memories of a woman's household, materialized in the spaces of her residence, in a disarrangement of times and places.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Haru's Journey (2010)
Stuck in a fishing village in Hokkaido, Tadao's grand-daughter Haru is desperate to visit Tokyo, a trip Tadao is reluctant to make.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Nuclear Family (2020)
Jules, 18 years old, reluctantly spends his holidays in the naturist campsite of his childhood. He is torn between his attraction for the beautiful Karim, a seasonal worker on the textile beach, and the depression of his mother Adèle, who refuses to let him grow up.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Toni Erdmann (2016)
Convinced that his daughter has forgotten how to laugh, a father shows up unannounced while she's living abroad and bombards her with outrageous jokes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWelas Asih (2023)
Galuh, a young man facing a life dilemma. He wants to marry his beloved, but torn between love and his responsibility to his mother, he must make an important decision that will change his life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Ashes and embers?
The closest matches to Ashes and embers are The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), Maps to the Stars (2014) and Strange Weather (2016). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Ashes and embers?
Start with The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), the closest match to Ashes and embers.
What is the highest-rated movie like Ashes and embers?
Requiem for a Dream (2000), rated 8.0/10 by 11,482 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Ashes and embers?
Is God Is (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like Ashes and embers?
Yes: Dogman (2023), The Past (2013) and Élisa (1995).
How are movies similar to Ashes and embers chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Ashes and embers, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.