Movies like Merry-Go-Round (1923)
The best movies like Merry-Go-Round (1923) are Flamingo Road (1949), Lovely, Still (2009) and Before Sunrise (1995). If Merry-Go-Round hooked you with its drama and romance, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBefore Sunrise (1995)8.0/10 from 4,966 votes
- NewestBaby Udon (2026)Released 2026
Flamingo Road (1949)
A stranded carnival dancer takes on a corrupt political boss when she marries into small-town society.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLovely, Still (2009)
A holiday fable that tells the story of an elderly man discovering love for the first time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBefore Sunrise (1995)
An unexpected meeting on a train leads two travelers to spend an evening wandering through Vienna. As the night unfolds, they share stories and conversations about life and love, exploring new ideas while a quiet intimacy grows between them, knowing it may be their only night together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSalome (1953)
In the reign of emperor Tiberius, Gallilean prophet John the Baptist preaches against King Herod and Queen Herodias. The latter wants John dead, but Herod fears to harm him due to a prophecy. Enter beautiful Princess Salome, Herod's long-absent stepdaughter. Herodias sees the king's dawning lust for Salome as her means of bending him to her will. But Salome and her lover Claudius are–contrary to Scripture–nearing conversion to the new religion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Secret: Dare to Dream (2020)
A widow with three children hires a handyman to fix her house during a major storm. When not doing home repairs, he shares his philosophy of believing in the power of the universe to deliver what we want.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
To ensure a full profitable season, circus manager Brad Braden engages The Great Sebastian, though this moves his girlfriend Holly from her hard-won center trapeze spot. Holly and Sebastian begin a dangerous one-upmanship duel in the ring, while he pursues her on the ground.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKitty Foyle (1940)
A hard-working, white-collar girl falls in love with a young socialite, but meets with his family's disapproval.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Lost Husband (2020)
Trying to put her life back together after the death of her husband, Libby and her children move to her estranged Aunt's goat farm in central Texas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Magic of Ordinary Days (2005)
Pregnant out of wedlock, an educated young woman is pressured by her father into an arranged marriage with a lonely farmer in this drama set during WWII.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Valentine's Match (2020)
Fired from her job as a reality TV host, Natalie returns home for Valentine's Day, only to find herself running the town festival's auction with her ex-fiancé thanks to two scheming mothers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlood and Sand (1941)
Bullfighter Juan Gallardo falls for socialite Dona Sol, turning from the faithful Carmen who nevertheless stands by her man as he continues to face real danger in the bullring.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStrangers When We Meet (1960)
A suburban architect loves his wife but is bored with his marriage and with his work, so he takes up with the neglected, married beauty who lives down the street.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrapeze (1956)
A pair of men try to perform the dangerous "triple" in their trapeze act. Problems arise when the duo is made into a trio following the addition of a sexy female performer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPeter Ibbetson (1935)
When his mother dies, young Peter Ibbetson leaves Paris and his best friend, Mary, behind to live with a severe uncle in England. Years later, Peter is an architect with little time for women, until he begins a project with the Duke and Duchess of Towers. When Peter and the duchess become great friends, she reveals that she is Mary — but the duke soon suspects his wife of infidelity and challenges Peter to a duel, threatening the pair's second chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Sleeping Dictionary (2003)
In the 1930s, British officer John Truscott journeys to a remote village in colonial Malaysia to educate and Westernize the local Iban population. There, he's introduced to the lovely Selima. In keeping with tradition, Selima is assigned to sleep with Truscott and teach him the native language and customs. But when they fall in love, both colonists and natives object to their plans to marry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlesh and the Devil (1926)
When lifelong best friends Leo and Ulrich return home after completing their military training, Leo meets the stunning Felicitas at a railway station and is mesmerized by her beauty. A scandal follows, for which Leo is sent away. Returning home three years later, he discovers that much has changed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPersuasion (2007)
Anne Elliot was once in love with Frederick Wentworth, a commander in the Royal Navy who was rejected by her snobby parents eight years ago. When the family hits hard times and are forced to rent out their mansion to his brother-in-law, Frederick returns as a captain - but will he remember Anne?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLove Finds You in Valentine (2016)
Kennedy Blaine, a Californian girl, inherits a ranch in the small town of Valentine in Nebraska. Before she sells the property, she decides to spend the summer in her house and learn more about her family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThey Won't Believe Me (1947)
On trial for murdering his girlfriend, philandering stockbroker Larry Ballentine takes the stand to claim his innocence and describe the actual, but improbable sounding, sequence of events that led to her death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMayerling (1968)
Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria clashes with his father, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, over implementing progressive policies for their country. Rudolf soon feels he is a man born at the wrong time in a country that doesn't realize the need for social reform. The Prince of Wales, later to become Britain's King Edward VII, provides comic relief. Rudolf finds refuge from a loveless marriage with Princess Stéphanie by taking a mistress, Baroness Maria Vetsera. Their untimely demise at Mayerling, the imperial family's hunting lodge, is cloaked in mystery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBaby Udon (2026)
Fanny Kondoh, a young Indonesian woman, falls in love with Hajime Kondoh, a Japanese man who comes to Indonesia for work. After getting married, Fanny and Hajime begin building a life together, embracing both its joys and challenges. As they struggle to fulfill their dream of having a child, they are faced with one heartbreaking trial after another, testing the strength of their love, especially when Hajime is diagnosed with cancer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Ellipsis (2018)
In the middle of a crowded city the paths of two strangers, a man and a woman, collide. This accidental, chance occurrence sets in motion a chain of events that sees the two strangers embark on a night of adventure and connection that challenges their separate lives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967)
Bizarre tale of sex, betrayal, and perversion at a military post.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFriends (1971)
Paul, a rich English boy, and Michelle, an orphaned French girl, run away from home to a remote beach. Living on their own, their friendship grows into love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
The Quiet Man (1952)
An American man returns to the village of his birth in Ireland, where he finds love and conflict.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFrankie and Johnny (1991)
When Johnny is released from prison following a forgery charge, he quickly lands a job as a short-order cook at a New York diner. Following a brief fling with waitress Cora, he develops an attraction for Cora's friend and fellow waitress Frankie. While Frankie resists Johnny's charms initially, she eventually relents when her best friend, Tim, persuades her to give Johnny a chance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChasing the Night (2023)
It's Wednesday night in South London. Fatimah and Leon, two successful Black Brits, are coming to what should be the end of a good evening at a pop-up restaurant, except neither quite seems ready for the night to end. So they continue. A taxi ride into the heart of the city sees them hop around from place to place, crossing paths with friendly strangers as they meander through a night they wish could last forever, if only to avoid the inevitable conversation that awaits them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Otra Vez (2023)
Two young people, Álex and Casandra, coincide at a party to celebrate the end of high school. After a large conversation, emerges a connection between them that ends up revealing the past and the future that unite them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Angel (2007)
Edwardian England. A precocious girl from a poor background with aspirations to being a novelist finds herself swept to fame and fortune when her tasteless romances hit the best seller lists. Her life changes in unexpected ways when she encounters an aristocratic brother and sister, both of whom have cultural ambitions, and both of whom fall in love with her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisKuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998)
Per her mother's last wish, an 8 year old girl sets out to reunite her father with his college best friend who was in love with him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Merry-Go-Round?
The closest matches to Merry-Go-Round are Flamingo Road (1949), Lovely, Still (2009) and Before Sunrise (1995). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Merry-Go-Round?
Start with Flamingo Road (1949), the closest match to Merry-Go-Round.
What is the highest-rated movie like Merry-Go-Round?
Before Sunrise (1995), rated 8.0/10 by 4,966 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Merry-Go-Round?
Baby Udon (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Merry-Go-Round?
Yes: Flamingo Road (1949), Lovely, Still (2009) and Before Sunrise (1995).
How are movies similar to Merry-Go-Round chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Merry-Go-Round, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.