Movies like Expectations
The best movies like Expectations are Great Expectations (2012), Great Expectations (1998) and Pretty Woman (1990). If Expectations hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Expectations
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCitizen Kane (1941)8.0/10 from 6,337 votes
- NewestThe Map That Leads to You (2025)Released 2025
Great Expectations (2012)
Orphan Pip discovers through lawyer Mr. Jaggers that a mysterious benefactor wishes to ensure that he becomes a gentleman. Reunited with his childhood patron, Miss Havisham, and his first love, the beautiful but emotionally cold Estella, he discovers that the elderly spinster has gone mad from having been left at the altar as a young woman, and has made her charge into a warped, unfeeling heartbreaker.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGreat Expectations (1998)
Loosely based on the Charles Dickens' classic novel, "Great Expectations" is a sensual tale of a young man's unforgettable passage into manhood, and the three individuals who will undeniably change his life forever. Through the surprising interactions of these vivid characters, "Great Expectations" takes a unique and contemporary look at life's great coincidences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPretty Woman (1990)
Vivian is a carefree, streetwise diamond in the rough when she meets sophisticated billionaire Edward in a chance encounter that turns into a week-long business arrangement. But Vivian's energetic spirit challenges Edward's no-nonsense approach to life, and soon they are teaching each other – and falling in love!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Distinguished Gentleman (1992)
A Florida con man uses the recent death of the long time Congressman from his district, who he just happens to share a last name with, to get elected to his version of paradise, the U.S. Congress, where the money flows from lobbyists.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Map That Leads to You (2025)
Heather is a young woman traveling Europe with friends before starting her perfectly planned life. A chance meeting with Jack sparks an unexpected romance that leads to deep emotional discovery. As secrets and life choices test their bond, her path changes forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Birthday Wish (2017)
A woman expecting to get engaged on her all-important 30th birthday gets a different surprise after she makes her birthday wish: a glimpse into her future – which doesn’t resemble anything she’s ever imagined for herself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Freshman (1990)
After a film student gets his belongings stolen, he meets a mobster bearing a startling resemblance to a certain cinematic godfather. Soon, he finds himself caught up in a caper involving endangered species and fine dining.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Bramble House Christmas (2017)
While settling his father’s estate, Finn Conrad becomes suspicious as to why the man left a nurse $100,000. His dad knew her for less than two months before he died. Just before Christmas, Finn wants what to reclaim what he considers his family’s money, going undercover to investigate the bed and breakfast the nurse has recently taken over. When Finn meets Willa, he discovers she’s not a conniving gold digger at all, but a woman in need who put the money to good use. When she discovers his true identity, will it keep Willa from ever trusting him again?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHateship Loveship (2014)
A shy caretaker believes that the father of her teenage charge is falling in love with her, unaware that she is actually the victim of the girl's prank.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisLove by Chance (2016)
Claire, an ambitious pastry chef, is busy running her new restaurant, but her meddling mom is preoccupied with her lack of love life. Without her knowledge, Claire’s mother finds her the perfect man, but when Claire finds out it wasn’t fate that brought them together, it could ruin the relationship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Adjustment Bureau (2011)
A man glimpses the future Fate has planned for him – and chooses to fight for his own destiny. Battling the powerful Adjustment Bureau across, under and through the streets of New York, he risks his destined greatness to be with the only woman he's ever loved.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGood Deeds (2012)
For all his life, wealthy businessman Wesley Deeds has done what's expected of him and has settled into a predictable routine. His scripted life begins to change, however, when he meets Lindsey Wakefield, a struggling single mother who works as a night janitor for his corporation and has just been evicted. He offers to help Lindsey get back on her feet and, though he's already engaged, romantic sparks begin to fly. Suddenly, he finds himself torn between what is expected of him and what he really wants.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIndiscreet (1958)
Anna Kalman is an accomplished actress who has given up hope of finding the man of her dreams. While talking about this subject with her sister, in walks Philip Adams and she realizes that this is the charming, smart, and handsome man she has been waiting for.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAs Luck Would Have It (2021)
When Lindsey travels to Ireland to acquire land that is perfect for a resort, she decides to enter the town's matchmaking festival to prove her investment—and win over a handsome local.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTiMER (2009)
When implanted in a person's wrist, a TiMER counts down to the day the wearer finds true love. But Oona O'Leary faces the rare dilemma of a blank TiMER. Her soul mate - whoever and wherever he is - has yet to have a TiMER implanted. Staring down the barrel of thirty and tired of waiting for her would-be life partner to get off the dime, Oona breaks her own rules and falls for Mikey, a charming and inappropriately young supermarket clerk with a countdown of four months.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisElectric Dreams (1984)
Miles Harding buys a state-of-the-art computer that starts expressing conscious thought and emotion after an interaction with spilled champagne. Things begin getting out of hand when both Miles and Edgar, the computer, fall in love with beautiful neighbor Madeline Robistat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSliding Doors (1998)
Helen, a London ad executive, is fired from her job and rushes out to catch a train, but, as she runs down, her life suddenly splits off. In one version she catches the train; in the second, she misses it. Her whole life changes in that one second, and the rest of the film depicts what happens in each scenario.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Kiss Before Christmas (2021)
Ethan, always the nice guy, wakes up in a new reality at Christmas. Initially, he is enthralled with his new life but soon realizes that it's not what he thought it would be.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCitizen Kane (1941)
Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Choice (2016)
Travis and Gabby first meet as neighbors in a small coastal town and wind up in a relationship that is tested by life's most defining events.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Expectations?
The closest matches to Expectations are Great Expectations (2012), Great Expectations (1998) and Pretty Woman (1990). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Expectations?
Start with Great Expectations (2012), the closest match to Expectations.
What is the highest-rated movie like Expectations?
Citizen Kane (1941), rated 8.0/10 by 6,337 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Expectations?
The Map That Leads to You (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Expectations?
Yes: Great Expectations (2012), Great Expectations (1998) and Pretty Woman (1990).
How are movies similar to Expectations chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Expectations, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.