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Movies like It Happened Just Before (2007)

The best movies like It Happened Just Before (2007) are The Poker House (2008), The Girl in the Book (2015) and Hounddog (2008). If It Happened Just Before hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. The Poker House (2008)

    Agnes and her two sisters struggle through a day in a home overrun by gamblers, thieves, and johns.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  2. The Girl in the Book (2015)

    The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

  3. Hounddog (2008)

    A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  4. Call 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 · both drama

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  5. The 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 · both drama

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  6. Iron 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 · both drama

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  7. Òlòtūré (2019)

    In Lagos, Nigeria, young, naive Nigerian journalist Òlòtūré goes undercover to expose the shady underworld of human trafficking. Unused to this brutal environment, crawling with ruthless traders and pimps, Òlòtūré finds warmth and friendship with Blessing, Linda and Beauty, the prostitutes she lives with. However, she gets drawn into their lifestyle and finds it difficult to cope. In her quest to uncover the truth, she pays the ultimate price - one that takes her to the verge of no return.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  8. The Trials of Cate McCall (2013)

    In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  9. 3 Days in Quiberon (2018)

    1981, Quiberon, a small village on the coast of Brittany, France. Hilde Fritsch arrives to visit her old friend who has retreated to a spa hotel to escape the daily pressures of her life. Her friend is world-famous star Romy Schneider, but together, they appear like two regular women who are just happy to be reunited. Yet it quickly becomes apparent that Hilde is supposed to offer the support the sensitive actress needs to be able to truly face her own demons.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  10. Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998)

    Young teen girl Xiu Xiu is sent away to a remote corner of the Sichuan steppes for manual labor in 1975 (sending young people to there was a part of Cultural Revolution in China). A year later, she agrees to go to even more remote spot with a Tibetan saddle tramp Lao Jin to learn horse herding.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  11. The Truth About Emanuel (2013)

    A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  12. Skin Trade (2014)

    After his family is killed by a Serbian gangster with international interests. NYC detective Nick goes to S.E. Asia and teams up with a Thai detective to get revenge and destroy the syndicates human trafficking network.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  13. Bastard 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 · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  14. Nothing Personal (2009)

    Alone in her empty flat, from her window Anne observes the people passing by who nervously snatch up the personal belongings and pieces of furniture she has put out on the pavement. Her final gesture of taking a ring off her finger signals she is leaving her previous life in Holland behind. She goes to Ireland, where she chooses to lead a solitary, wandering existence, striding through the austere landscapes of Connemara. During her travels, she discovers a house that is home to a hermit, Martin.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  15. Strange 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

  16. Cleveland Abduction (2015)

    A single mother becomes Ariel Castro's first kidnapping victim, and finds herself trapped in his home with two other women for 11 years.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  17. Eden (2013)

    After a night out with friends, Hyun Jae accepts a late night ride home from a young fire fighter. What begins as a night of promise quickly turns into a nightmare when she is abducted and imprisoned outside Las Vegas as a sex slave.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  18. Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2001)

    In New York City, the lives of a lawyer, an actuary, a house-cleaner, a professor, and the people around them intersect as they ponder order and happiness in the face of life's cold unpredictability.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  19. Sky (2016)

    A woman embarks on a journey alone across the United States after fleeing from her violent husband.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  20. Split (2016)

    The story of a young woman who takes an epic journey to claim her own darkness and sexuality so she can stop putting it into the hands of her abusive lover. When Inanna, a young actress, working as a stripper, becomes obsessed with a mask maker, she sacrifices parts of herself and her life, piece by piece, in order to win his love. At the same time she enters a mythic journey in the theater. One that forces her to face the many abuses endured by women around that world and that blurs her performance, her dreams and her real life and results in a provocative and powerful confrontation that frees her. -- from official website

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

  21. Monsoon Wedding (2001)

    A stressed father, a bride-to-be with a secret, a smitten event planner, and relatives from around the world create much ado about the preparations for an arranged marriage in India.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

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  22. Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)

    Agnès Varda eloquently captures Paris in the sixties with this real-time portrait of a singer set adrift in the city as she awaits test results of a biopsy. A chronicle of the minutes of one woman’s life, Cléo from 5 to 7 is a spirited mix of vivid vérité and melodrama, featuring a score by Michel Legrand and cameos by Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  23. Bend It Like Beckham (2002)

    Jess Bhamra, the daughter of a strict Indian couple in London, is not permitted to play organized soccer, even though she is 18. When Jess is playing for fun one day, her impressive skills are seen by Jules Paxton, who then convinces Jess to play for her semi-pro team. Jess uses elaborate excuses to hide her matches from her family while also dealing with her romantic feelings for her coach, Joe.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

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  24. 36 Fillette (1988)

    A 14-year-old pursues romance with a man while vacationing with her family in Switzerland.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  25. Balcony (2013)

    Jeton, a 10-year-old boy is sitting on the edge of a balcony on the 4th floor. Neighbours and passers-by, terrified by this situation, call the police and firefighters for help. But the situation quickly becomes unmanageable.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  26. Or (My Treasure) (2004)

    Or shoulders a lot: she's 17 or 18, a student, works evenings at a restaurant, recycles cans and bottles for cash, and tries to keep her mother Ruthie from returning to streetwalking in Tel Aviv. Ruthie calls Or "my treasure," but Ruthie is a burden. She's just out of hospital, weak, and Or has found her a job as a house cleaner. The call of the quick money on the street is tough for Ruthie to ignore. Or's emotions roil further when the mother of the youth she's in love with comes to the flat to warn her off. With love fading and Ruthie perhaps beyond help, Or's choices narrow.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  27. Away from Her (2007)

    Fiona and Grant have been married for nearly 50 years. They have to face the fact that Fiona’s absent-mindedness is a symptom of Alzheimer’s disease. She must go to a specialized nursing home, where she slowly forgets Grant and turns her affection to Aubrey, another patient in the home.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  28. Holy Lola (2004)

    The story of a young couple, Pierre and Geraldine, and their desire for a child, which leads them on a journey of initiation to Cambodia. On their difficult and transformative adventure, they must contend with obstructive authorities and the jealousies and mistrust of a small community of would-be adoptive parents.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  29. The Last Mistress (2007)

    Secrets, rumors and betrayals surround the upcoming marriage between a young dissolute man and virtuous woman of the French aristocracy.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  30. Anatomy of Hell (2004)

    A woman employs a gay man to spend four nights at her house to watch her when she's "unwatchable".

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

Like It Happened Just Before and something else?

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

Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies like It Happened Just Before?

The closest matches to It Happened Just Before are The Poker House (2008), The Girl in the Book (2015) and Hounddog (2008). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after It Happened Just Before?

Start with The Poker House (2008), the closest match to It Happened Just Before.

What is the highest-rated movie like It Happened Just Before?

Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962), rated 7.7/10 by 823 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like It Happened Just Before?

Òlòtūré (2019) is the most recent release on this list.

Are there German movies like It Happened Just Before?

Yes: 3 Days in Quiberon (2018).

How are movies similar to It Happened Just Before chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside It Happened Just Before, 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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