Movies like Butterfly (2025)
The best movies like Butterfly (2025) are The Most Precious of Cargoes (2024), The Swallows of Kabul (2019) and Funan (2019). If Butterfly hooked you with its animation and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLoving Vincent (2017)8.0/10 from 2,676 votes
- NewestIron Boy (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchThe Most Precious of Cargoes (2024)Also in French
The Most Precious of Cargoes (2024)
Once upon a time, a poor woodcutter and his wife lived in a great forest. Cold, hunger, poverty, and a war raging all around them meant their lives were very hard. One day, the woodcutter's wife rescues a baby. A baby girl thrown from one of the many trains that constantly pass through the forest. This baby, this "most precious of cargoes", will transform the lives of the poor woodcutter's wife and her husband, as well as those whose paths the child will cross—including the man who threw her from the train. And some will try to protect her, whatever the cost. Their story will reveal the worst and the best in the hearts of men.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Swallows of Kabul (2019)
Summer 1998—Kabul under Taliban rule. Zunaira and Mohsen are young and in love. Despite the daily violence and misery, they hope for a better future. One day, a foolish gesture causes life to take an irrevocable turn.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFunan (2019)
Cambodia, once the ancient kingdom of Funan, April 17th, 1975. The entire country falls under the tyranny of Angkar, the communist party of the Khmer Rouge. The cities are abandoned, the population is thrown to the roads and forced to walk towards an uncertain future…
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTehran Taboo (2017)
The lives of three strong-willed women and a young musician cross paths in Tehran’s schizophrenic society where sex, adultery, corruption, prostitution and drugs coexist with strict religious law. In this bustling modern metropolis, avoiding prohibition has become an everyday sport and breaking taboos can be a means of personal emancipation.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJosep (2020)
February 1939. Overwhelmed by the flood of Republicans fleeing Franco's dictatorship, the French government's solution consists in confining the Spanish refugees in concentration camps where they have no other choice than to build their own shelters, feed off the horses which have carried them out of their country, and die by the hundred for lack of hygiene and water... In one of these camps, two men, separated by barbwire, will become friends. One is a guard the other is Josep Bartoli (Barcelona 1910 - New York 1995), a cartoonist who fights against the Franco regime.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWindow Horses: The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming (2017)
A young Canadian poet with Chinese and Persian parents travels to Iran to perform at a poetry festival.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
In the Shadow of the Cypress (2023)
Living in a house by the sea with his daughter, a former captain who has post-traumatic stress disorder leads a tough and secluded life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
No Dogs or Italians Allowed (2023)
Early 20th century, in the Ughetto family's home village, Ughettera, Northern Italy. Life in the region had become very difficult and the Ughettos dreamed of a better life abroad. Legend has it that Luigi Ughetto crossed the Alps and started a new life in France, thus changing his beloved family's destiny forever. His grandson retraces their story.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFlee (2021)
Recounted mostly through animation to protect his identity, Amin looks back over his past as a child refugee from Afghanistan as he grapples with a secret he’s kept hidden for 20 years.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Windshield Wiper (2021)
Inside a cafe while smoking a whole pack of cigarettes, a man poses an ambitious question: "What is Love?". A collection of vignettes and situations will lead the man to the desired conclusion.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Girl Who Cried Pearls (2025)
A poor boy’s love for a girl whose tears turn to pearls leads him into a perilous bargain between love, greed, and survival.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIn Waves (2026)
In Los Angeles, shy teenager AJ meets Kristen, who lives for surfing; he loves skateboarding and drawing. They fall madly in love, and a happy future seems within reach. But everything changes when Kristen faces a sudden illness. Together, they face adversity, driven by the strength of their love, their friends, and their newly shared passion for surfing and the ocean.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhere Is Anne Frank (2021)
The film follows the journey of Kitty, the imaginary friend to whom Anne Frank dedicated her diary. A fiery teenager, Kitty wakes up in the near future in Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam and embarks on a journey to find Anne, who she believes is still alive, in today's Europe. While the young girl is shocked by the modern world, she also comes across Anne's legacy.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLoving Vincent (2017)
A young man arrives at the last hometown of painter Vincent van Gogh to deliver the troubled artist's final letter and ends up investigating his final days there.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisEthel & Ernest (2016)
This hand drawn animated film, based on the award winning graphic novel by Raymond Briggs, is an intimate and affectionate depiction of the life and times of his parents, two ordinary Londoners living through extraordinary events.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmerican Pop (1981)
The history of American popular music runs parallel with the history of a Russian Jewish immigrant family, with each male descendant possessing different musical abilities.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNYAD (2023)
Athlete Diana Nyad sets out at 60 to achieve a nearly impossible lifelong dream: to swim from Cuba to Florida across more than 100 miles of open ocean.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLight of the World (2025)
It's 30 AD and everyone is expectantly awaiting the coming Messiah. While Jesus isn't exactly what they imagined, there is something special about this man. Soon, John, James, Andrew, Peter, and others begin to follow Jesus on an unexpected adventure. This beautifully animated story of Jesus is told through the eyes of his beloved young friend, the Apostle John.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCanvas (2020)
After a heartbreaking loss, a grandfather struggling to reclaim his passion for painting finds the inspiration to create again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBilal: A New Breed of Hero (2016)
A thousand years ago, one boy with a dream of becoming a great warrior is abducted with his sister and taken to a land far away from home. Thrown into a world where greed and injustice rule all, Bilal finds the courage to raise his voice and make a change. Inspired by true events, this is a story of a real hero who earned his remembrance in time and history.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSgt. Stubby: An American Hero (2018)
The true story of the most decorated dog in American military history - Sgt. Stubby - and the enduring bonds he forged with his brothers-in-arms in the trenches of World War I.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & history
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Breadwinner (2017)
A headstrong young girl in Afghanistan, ruled by the Taliban, disguises herself as a boy in order to provide for her family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYoung Woman and the Sea (2024)
This is the extraordinary true story of Trudy Ederle, the first woman to successfully swim the English Channel. Through the steadfast support of her older sister and supportive trainers, she overcame adversity and the animosity of a patriarchal society to rise through the ranks of the Olympic swimming team and complete the 21-mile trek from France to England.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (1951)
The life and career of Erwin Rommel and his involvement in the plot to assassinate Hitler.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Lost My Body (2019)
A story of Naoufel, a young man who is in love with Gabrielle. In another part of town, a severed hand escapes from a dissection lab, determined to find its body again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Children of the Resistance (2026)
During the German occupation of World War II, François, Eusèbe, and Lisa, three courageous children, embark on a secret adventure: resisting the Nazis in the heart of France. Through sabotage, hidden messages, and perilous escapes, they carry out clandestine actions right under the enemy's nose. Daring and friendship are their only weapons in the fight against injustice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMatriculated (2003)
The human resistance works to convert a sentinel to their side. Part of the Animatrix collection of animated shorts set in the Matrix universe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKensuke's Kingdom (2024)
A young boy and his family set off on a sailing trip of a lifetime until a violent storm erupts, sweeping Michael and his dog overboard. After washing up on a remote island, terrified, they struggle to survive and adjust to life alone, One day, Michael discovers he is not alone when he is confronted by a mysterious Japanese man who has lived there secretly since World War II, angry that Michael has arrived. However, as dangerous invaders threaten their fragile island paradise, Michael and the old man, Kensuke, join forces to save their secret world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGlory Road (2006)
In 1966, Texas Western coach Don Haskins led the first all-black starting line-up for a college basketball team to the NCAA national championship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIron Boy (2026)
In rural France, 10-year-old Christophe tries to live up to his rigid and distant father on the family farm. But the young boy starts to lean over and collapse without warning — on the tractor, at school, at dinner... A doctor finds the solution: Christophe must wear an iron corset to keep himself upright. Forced to reinvent his life away from the farm, Christophe discovers a new passion for music, meets a new friend, and follows her into his first mischief. But will any of this really fix what is out of balance?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Butterfly?
The closest matches to Butterfly are The Most Precious of Cargoes (2024), The Swallows of Kabul (2019) and Funan (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Butterfly?
People who watched Butterfly most often go on to The Most Precious of Cargoes (2024), The Swallows of Kabul (2019) and Funan (2019).
What is the highest-rated movie like Butterfly?
Loving Vincent (2017), rated 8.0/10 by 2,676 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Butterfly?
Iron Boy (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like Butterfly?
Yes: The Most Precious of Cargoes (2024), The Swallows of Kabul (2019) and Funan (2019).
How are movies similar to Butterfly chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Butterfly, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.