Movies like Once (1981)
The best movies like Once (1981) are The Face of Love (2013), Our Souls at Night (2017) and All That Heaven Allows (1955). If Once hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Once
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Secret: Dare to Dream (2020)7.4/10 from 700 votes
- NewestLove Me Love Me (2026)Released 2026
The Face of Love (2013)
A widow falls for a guy who bears a striking resemblance to her late husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOur Souls at Night (2017)
Addie Moore and Louis Waters, a widow and widower, have lived next to each other for years. The pair have almost no relationship, but that all changes when Addie tries to make a connection with her neighbour.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll That Heaven Allows (1955)
Two different social classes collide when Cary Scott, a wealthy upper-class widow, falls in love with her much younger and down-to-earth gardener, prompting disapproval and criticism from her children and country club friends.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSafe Haven (2013)
A young woman with a mysterious past lands in Southport, North Carolina where her bond with a widower forces her to confront the dark secret that haunts her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWilson (2017)
Middle-aged and divorced, Wilson finds himself lonely, smug, and obsessed with his past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHarvest Love (2017)
A young widow and her nine year-old son spend a week at her family’s pear farm in Washington state, where they both fall in love with small town farm life, and she falls for the guy who has been managing the farm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStanley & Iris (1990)
An illiterate cook at a company cafeteria tries for the attention of a newly widowed woman. As they get to know one another, she discovers his inability to read. When he is fired, she takes on trying to teach him to read in her kitchen each night.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEmma. (2020)
In 1800s England, a well-meaning but selfish young woman meddles in the love lives of her friends.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTumbledown (2016)
A young woman struggles to move on with her life after the death of her husband, an acclaimed folk singer, when a brash New York writer forces her to confront her loss and the ambiguous circumstances of his death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Home of Our Own (1993)
In 1960s Los Angeles an energetic widow and her six children try to make a dream of theirs come true: to have a home of their own. They leave L.A. and head for the countryside, all the while facing numerous difficulties and obstacles during their journey.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLady Macbeth (2016)
Rural England, 1865. Katherine, suffocated by her loveless marriage to a bitter man and restrained by his father's tyranny, unleashes an irresistible force within her, so powerful that she will stop at nothing to get what she wants.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Me Love Me (2026)
After her brother's death, June moves to Milan for a fresh start, finding comfort in Will, the perfect honor student at her new international school. But when his troubled best friend James—hiding a dangerous life in clandestine MMA fights—sparks a rivalry that quickly turns into irresistible attraction, June must choose between safety and a love that upends everything she thought she wanted.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTim (1979)
Handsome but backward gardener Tim Melville has a new woman in his life. She is Mary, his widowed employer, a woman who had given up on love until she had found Tim. At first they are friends. But soon they become lovers, as Mary, drawn to Tim's innocence and magnetism, begins to teach him all about life - and love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnder the Tuscan Sun (2003)
Frances Mayes, a 35-year-old professor and writer from San Francisco, decides to take a tour of Tuscany following a difficult divorce. After impulsively buying a run-down villa in the Italian countryside, she begins to piece her life back together in unexpected ways.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWatching the Detectives (2007)
Neil, a self-proclaimed film geek and owner of Gumshoe video, has always been content to live vicariously through his favorite films noir. But when he meets Violet, a real-life femme fatale, his mundane world gets turned upside down and the line between reality and the movies quickly begins to blur.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPersuasion (2022)
Living with her snobby family on the brink of bankruptcy, Anne Elliot is an unconforming woman with modern sensibilities. When Frederick Wentworth - the dashing one she once sent away - crashes back into her life, Anne must choose between putting the past behind her or listening to her heart when it comes to second chances.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFar from Heaven (2002)
In 1950s Connecticut, a housewife's life is upended by a marital crisis and mounting racial tensions in society.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBurnt Offerings (1976)
A family moves into a large old mansion in the countryside which seems to have a mysterious and sinister power over its new residents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Idea of You (2024)
40-year-old single mom Solène begins an unexpected romance with 24-year-old Hayes Campbell, the lead singer of August Moon, the hottest boy band on the planet. As they begin a whirlwind romance, it isn't long before Hayes' superstar status poses unavoidable challenges to their relationship, and Solène soon discovers that life in the glare of his spotlight might be more than she bargained for.
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 Once?
The closest matches to Once are The Face of Love (2013), Our Souls at Night (2017) and All That Heaven Allows (1955). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Once?
Start with The Face of Love (2013), the closest match to Once.
What is the highest-rated movie like Once?
The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020), rated 7.4/10 by 700 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Once?
Love Me Love Me (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Once?
Yes: The Face of Love (2013), Our Souls at Night (2017) and All That Heaven Allows (1955).
How are movies similar to Once chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Once, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.