Movies like Death Cleaning (2023)
The best movies like Death Cleaning (2023) are Jules (2023), Linoleum (2023) and Swan Song (2021). If Death Cleaning hooked you with its drama and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFinch (2021)7.8/10 from 4,284 votes
- NewestAfterburn (2025)Released 2025
Jules (2023)
A flying saucer lands in the backyard of an elderly suburbanite with memory problems, who forms a bond with the scared alien inside.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLinoleum (2023)
When the host of a failing children’s science show tries to fulfill his childhood dream of becoming an astronaut by building a rocket ship in his garage, a series of bizarre events occur that cause him to question his own reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSwan Song (2021)
In the near future, Cameron Turner is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Presented with an experimental solution to shield his wife and son from grief, he grapples with altering their fate in this thought-provoking exploration of love, loss, and sacrifice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Zero Theorem (2013)
A computer hacker's goal to discover the reason for human existence continually finds his work interrupted thanks to the Management; this time, they send a teenager and lusty love interest to distract him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
David, a robotic boy—the first of his kind programmed to love—is adopted as a test case by a Cybertronics employee and his wife. Though he gradually becomes their child, a series of unexpected circumstances make this life impossible for David.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTHX 1138 (1971)
People in the future live in a totalitarian society. A technician named THX 1138 lives a mundane life between work and taking a controlled consumption of drugs that the government uses to make puppets out of people. As THX is without drugs for the first time he has feelings for a woman and they start a secret relationship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFinch (2021)
On a post-apocalyptic Earth, a robot, built to protect the life of his dying creator's beloved dog, learns about life, love, friendship, and what it means to be human.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCloud Atlas (2012)
A set of six nested stories spanning time between the 19th century and a distant post-apocalyptic future. Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Action, mystery and romance weave through the story as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future. Based on the award winning novel by David Mitchell. Directed by Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark Star (1974)
A group of scientists are sent on a mission to destroy unstable planets. Twenty years into their mission, they have to battle their alien mascot as well as a "sensitive" and intelligent bombing device that starts to question the meaning of its existence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDrive (1997)
A prototype enhanced human, on the run from Chinese-hired hit men, hooks up with a dread-locked bystander, and the two of them elude their pursuers narrowly each time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSleeper (1973)
Miles Monroe, a clarinet-playing health food store proprietor, is revived out of cryostasis 200 years into a future world in order to help rebels fight an oppressive government regime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEnemy Mine (1985)
A soldier from Earth crashlands on an alien world after sustaining battle damage. Eventually he encounters another survivor, but from the enemy species he was fighting; they band together to survive on this hostile world. In the end the human finds himself caring for his enemy in a completely unexpected way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisArchive (2020)
2038: George Almore is working on a true human-equivalent AI, and his latest prototype is almost ready. This sensitive phase is also the riskiest as he has a goal that must be hidden at all costs—being reunited with his dead wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
Thomas Jerome Newton is an alien who has come to Earth in search of water to save his home planet. Aided by lawyer Oliver Farnsworth, Thomas uses his knowledge of advanced technology to create profitable inventions. While developing a method to transport water, Thomas meets Mary-Lou, a quiet hotel clerk, and begins to fall in love with her. Just as he is ready to leave Earth, Thomas is intercepted by the U.S. government, and his entire plan is threatened.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEuropa Report (2013)
A crew travels to Europa, Jupiter’s icy moon, to investigate signs of life in its subsurface ocean, but disaster cuts them off from Earth, leading to a tense and dangerous exploration.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLast and First Men (2020)
As the end approaches inexorably, the last humans, living millions of years into the future, send a message to the humanity of the present that is both a plea for help and a warning, but also an epic tale of evolution, decline and hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRobot & Frank (2012)
Curmudgeonly old Frank lives by himself. His routine involves daily visits to his local library, where he has a twinkle in his eye for the librarian. His grown children are concerned about their father’s well-being and buy him a caretaker robot. Initially resistant to the idea, Frank soon appreciates the benefits of robotic support – like nutritious meals and a clean house – and eventually begins to treat his robot like a true companion. With his robot’s assistance, Frank’s passion for his old, unlawful profession is reignited, for better or worse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAfterburn (2025)
Set against the backdrop of a postapocalyptic Earth whose Eastern Hemisphere was destroyed by a massive solar flare, leaving what life remains mutated from radiation and fallout. The story revolves around a group of treasure hunters who extract such objects as the Mona Lisa, the Rosetta Stone and the Crown Jewels while facing rival hunters, mutants and pirates.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisK-PAX (2001)
Prot is a patient at a mental hospital who claims to be from a far away planet. His psychiatrist tries to help him, only to begin to doubt his own explanations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCannes Man (1996)
Film producer Sy Lerner makes a bet with a fellow film executive that he can turn any nobody into a star at the Cannes Film Festival. A New York cab driver who is visiting the festival is chosen as the test subject to settle the bet and Sy uses his skills of hype and manipulation to try and turn the cab driver named Frank into the talk of the town. Many celebrities make cameos throughout the film.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Diary of a Bad Lad (2010)
Frustrated filmmaker, Barry Lick, sets out to attempt to make a documentary about a local businessman who he believes is involved in property rackets, prostitution, pornography and the importation of large quantities of recreational drugs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
This is a Big Night for Ricky (2024)
Ricky Pherwinnikins is a young director who believes that his most recent film Punxsutawney Phil's Last Stand is going to be announced as the secret 11th Best Picture nominee during tonight's Oscar ceremony.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
The Falls (1982)
Told in the form of a mock documentary in 92 short parts, nineteen million people are left obsessed with birds and flight following a strange occurrence. A documentarian analyses the lives of all the survivors whose surnames begin with FALL to uncover the truth behind the event.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & comedy
Little Sister (1995)
After several years without contact, Martijn visits his sister Daantje, who just started to live on her own in Amsterdam. He tells her he is going to make a documentary from her life, and enters her home life with a video camera.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLATE NITE SAINTS (2020)
Best friends Michael and Christian navigate through the pacific northwest searching for beauty and miracles in unexpected places.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Bad Ben (2016)
Tom Riley thought he was getting the deal of a lifetime when he bought a house below market value at a Sheriff's sale. He invested every penny he had with the plan of flipping the home for a profit. Once he owned it, however, he noticed strange happenings, all of which were captured on 21 Surveillance Cameras located throughout the home inside and out. At first, he thought people were breaking in, but he soon realized he was dealing with something Paranormal.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Actress Apocalypse (2005)
This saucy mockumentary follows a first-time filmmaker with ambitions to make "the greatest movie ever made," a low-budget slasher boasting a Native American killer. The director knows buxom starlets are the key to his success. But when the ladies start disappearing one by one, his plan goes bust -- and he goes crazy. Indie rockers Space Probe Taurus provide the soundtrack to this unrated director's cut that leaves little to the imagination.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
My Friend the Polish Girl (2019)
A fiction-film told through a female documentarian's lens, as she manipulates the story of an unemployed Polish actress living in London.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Unlisted Owner (2014)
A group of six friends hear of a family of five murdered in a house close to where they will be camping for the night. Deciding to return to investigate would be the worst mistake of their fun filled night.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Death Cleaning?
The closest matches to Death Cleaning are Jules (2023), Linoleum (2023) and Swan Song (2021). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Death Cleaning?
Start with Jules (2023), the closest match to Death Cleaning.
What is the highest-rated movie like Death Cleaning?
Finch (2021), rated 7.8/10 by 4,284 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Death Cleaning?
Afterburn (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Death Cleaning?
Yes: Jules (2023), Linoleum (2023) and Swan Song (2021).
How are movies similar to Death Cleaning chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Death Cleaning, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.