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Movies like The World We Left (2023)

The best movies like The World We Left (2023) are I Can't Think Straight (2008), A Perfect Ending (2012) and Elena Undone (2010). If The World We Left hooked you with its romance and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. I Can't Think Straight (2008)

    Tala, a London-based Palestinian, is preparing for her elaborate Middle Eastern wedding when she meets Leyla, a young British Indian woman who is dating her best friend. Spirited Christian Tala and shy Muslim Leyla could not be more different from each other, but the attraction is immediate and goes deeper than friendship. But Tala is not ready to accept the implications of the choice her heart has made for her and escapes back to Jordan, while Leyla tries to move on with her new-found life, to the shock of her tradition-loving parents. As Tala's wedding day approaches, simmering tensions come to boiling point and the pressure mounts for Tala to be true to herself.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  2. A Perfect Ending (2012)

    This intimate drama follows Rebecca, a woman who has kept her sexuality a secret from her friends but chooses to reveal it to a stranger. While Rebecca's revelations may not yield the results she expects, a perfect ending is still in reach.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  3. Elena Undone (2010)

    The wife of a pastor who preaches against homosexuality embarks on an affair with a female writer.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  4. Time Is Up (2021)

    Vivien, an accomplished student with a passion for physics, and Roy, a troubled young man, are involved in an accident that forces them to reclaim their lives one minute at the time.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  5. Newness (2017)

    In contemporary Los Angeles, two millennials navigating a social media–driven hookup culture begin a relationship that pushes both emotional and physical boundaries.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  6. Camp Belvidere (2014)

    Camp Belvidere is a lesbian romance set in the 1950s about the coming of age of Camp Leader Rose and her forbidden encounter with Nurse Gin. It depicts the journey and evolution of a friendship into a romance between two women when their rapport would have been unlikely.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  7. Blue Jay (2016)

    Meeting by chance when they return to their tiny California hometown, two former high-school sweethearts reflect on their shared past.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  8. Akron (2015)

    Benny, a college freshman at the University of Akron, Ohio meets and falls for fellow freshman Christopher at a football game. With the support of their families and friends they embark on a new relationship. But a tragic event in the past involving their mothers soon comes to light and threatens to tear them apart.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  9. Not Easily Broken (2009)

    A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  10. Fire with Fire (1986)

    A tough, street-smart kid serving a sentence in a state youth reformatory meets a beautiful, innocent girl studying at a nearby convent. When forbidden love blossoms between them, they must fight the prison authorities, their parents and the law.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  11. My Policeman (2022)

    In the late 1990s, the arrival of elderly invalid Patrick into Marion and Tom’s home triggers the exploration of seismic events from 40 years previous: the passionate relationship between Tom and Patrick at a time when homosexuality was illegal.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  12. The Fugitive Kind (1960)

    Val Xavier, a drifter of obscure origins, arrives at a small town and gets a job in a store run by Lady Torrence. Her husband, Jabe M. Torrance, is dying of cancer. Val is pursued by Carol Cutere, the enigmatic local tramp-of-good-family.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  13. 1 Mile To You (2017)

    After a teenager's friends die in an accident, he finds running allows him to remember them perfectly. Running, however, also brings him notoriety. He is caught between keeping the past alive and making new memories in the present.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  14. Really Love (2020)

    A rising black painter tries to break into a competitive art world while balancing an unexpected romance with an ambitious law student.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  15. The Object of My Affection (1998)

    A pregnant New York social worker begins to develop romantic feelings for her gay best friend, and decides she'd rather raise her child with him, much to the dismay of her overbearing boyfriend.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance

  16. Departure (2016)

    An English mother and her teenage son spend a week preparing the sale of their remote holiday house in the South of France. Fifteen-year-old Elliot struggles with his dawning sexuality and an increasing alienation from his mother, Beatrice. She in turn is confronted by the realisation that her marriage to his father, Philip, has grown loveless and the life she knows is coming to an end. When an enigmatic local teenager, Clément, quietly enters their lives, both mother and son are compelled to confront their desires and, finally, each other.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  17. The World Unseen (2007)

    A drama centered on two women who engage in a dangerous relationship during South Africa's apartheid era.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  18. Gabriel's Inferno: Part III (2020)

    The final part of the film adaption of the erotic romance novel Gabriel's Inferno written by an anonymous Canadian author under the pen name Sylvain Reynard.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  19. Behind the Candelabra (2013)

    Based on the autobiographical novel, the tempestuous 6-year relationship between Liberace and his (much younger) lover, Scott Thorson, is recounted.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  20. Purple Hearts (2022)

    An aspiring musician agrees to a marriage of convenience with a soon-to-deploy Marine, but a tragedy soon turns their fake relationship all too real.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  21. Shabbat Dinner (2012)

    Shabbat Dinner is boring as usual for William Shore. His mother has invited two crazy hippies and their son and is doing her best to show off, his father is drunk and berating their oddball guests, and he doesn't have much in common with their son Virgo. That is, until Virgo tells him that he has just come out as gay.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance

  22. Pandora's Box (1929)

    The rise and inevitable fall of an amoral but naive young woman whose insouciant eroticism inspires lust and violence in those around her.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  23. Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1931)

    On the South Pacific island of Bora Bora, a young couple's love is threatened when the tribal chief declares the girl a sacred virgin.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  24. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

    It's the hope that sustains the spirit of every GI: the dream of the day when he will finally return home. For three WWII veterans, the day has arrived. But for each man, the dream is about to become a nightmare.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  25. B.Selvi & Daughters (2020)

    B. Selvi & Daughters is the story of Selvi, a 50-year old woman in Chennai, India who is trying to get her fledgling online saree store off the ground. Like any Good Indian Mother, Selvi gave up her career aspirations for family life, and left all major decisions to her husband. Now, a year after his death, Selvi has taken her hobby of selling sarees door-to-door to the next level via Whatsapp, and is struggling with the confidence to build it into a real business. When Kavitha - Selvi's fiercely independent, idealistic daughter comes home for Pongal - she discovers her mother's secret with pleasant surprise, and runs an ad for the sari business without consulting her. Now, with close to a hundred orders to fulfill overnight, Selvi is overwhelmed. Can she do this? Is she capable of handling a business on her own? She needs to take the plunge in order to find out.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  26. Somewhat Agree (2004)

    Jérémie has a job recruiting subjects for testing. He'd rather recruit Rodrigue for something else entirely.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance

  27. Caught Red Handed (2009)

    An ambivalent meeting between two friends. Classmates Victor and Amanda meet at a cafe in Stockholm one afternoon before Christmas to study for an exam. Amanda wants to talk about what they read, but Victor steers the conversation into something completely different, and suddenly they both run the risk of losing their face.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  28. Butterflies Do Not Drink Coffee (2009)

    Pierre is a very shy man in his sixties, with no family or friends and who just retired. What will he do now?

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  29. Dead Man (1995)

    On the run after committing murder, an accountant encounters a strange Native American man who prepares him for his journey into the spiritual world.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  30. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

    An alien and a robot land on Earth after World War II and tell mankind to be peaceful or face destruction.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this

Like The World We Left and something else?

Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies like The World We Left?

The closest matches to The World We Left are I Can't Think Straight (2008), A Perfect Ending (2012) and Elena Undone (2010). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after The World We Left?

Start with I Can't Think Straight (2008), the closest match to The World We Left.

What is the highest-rated movie like The World We Left?

Gabriel's Inferno: Part III (2020), rated 8.3/10 by 1,097 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like The World We Left?

My Policeman (2022) is the most recent release on this list.

How are movies similar to The World We Left chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The World We Left, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.

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