Movies like Upon Waking (2024)
The best movies like Upon Waking (2024) are Life in a Year (2020), Blind (2017) and Nine Lives (2005). If Upon Waking hooked you with its drama and romance, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks
- Highest ratedGabriel's Inferno (2020)8.4/10 from 2,485 votes
- NewestGabriel's Redemption: Part I (2023)Released 2023
Life in a Year (2020)
A 17 year old finds out that his girlfriend is dying, so he sets out to give her an entire life, in the last year she has left.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBlind (2017)
A novelist is blinded in a car crash that killed his wife and several years later rediscovers his passion for life and writing when he embarks on an affair with the neglected wife of an indicted businessman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNine Lives (2005)
Captives of the very relationships that define and sustain them, nine women resiliently meet the travails and disappointments of life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFire 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 thisTime 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 thisMaria's Lovers (1984)
A World War II prisoner returns home to his childhood sweetheart. However, back home, he discovers that he has to compete to win her love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNot 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 thisAshes in the Snow (2018)
The coming-of-age tale of 16-year-old Lina Vilkas who is deported to Siberia amid Stalin's reign of terror in the Baltic region during WWII. An aspiring artist, she secretly documents her harrowing journey with her drawings.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNewness (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 thisHello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between (2022)
Clare and Aidan make a pact to break up before college — no regrets, no broken hearts. But will one epic goodbye date offer them a last chance at love?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGabriel's Inferno (2020)
An intriguing and sinful exploration of seduction, forbidden love, and redemption, Gabriel's Inferno is a captivating and wildly passionate tale of one man's escape from his own personal hell as he tries to earn the impossible--forgiveness and love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGabriel's Redemption: Part I (2023)
After leaving his prestigious post at the University of Toronto, Gabriel embarks on a new journey with Julia, and he is eager to become a father. However, Gabriel's idyllic vision is jeopardized when Julia's intensive program becomes all consuming. When Julia is granted a prestigious opportunity to deliver an academic lecture at Oxford, Gabriel challenges her about the subject of her presentation, which clashes with his own research. In Oxford, their past resurfaces, including an old nemesis determined to humiliate Julia and expose one of Gabriel's well-guarded secrets. Emotions run high, alliances are tested, and the couple must confront the shadows of their shared history in a battle for love, truth, and redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGabriel'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 thisDirt Music (2020)
Georgie is slowly suffocating in a loveless marriage to fishing tycoon Jim Buckridge. Handsome poacher Lu is an irresistible symbol of the excitement she craves. A passionate affair follows that reveals the dark secrets in Lu’s past and forces him to take flight into the blistering heat of the outback. Georgie follows, determined to find him and bring him back.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOn the Edge (2001)
A suicidal young man is committed to a Dublin psychiatric hospital where he meets new friends who greatly influence his life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTwin Falls Idaho (1999)
Francis and Blake Falls are Siamese twins who live in a neat little room in a rundown hotel. While sharing some organs, Blake is always fit and Francis is very sickly. Into their world comes a young lady, who turns their world upside down. She gets involved with Blake, and convinces the two to attend a Halloween party, where they can pass themselves off as wearing a costume. Eventually Francis becomes really ill, and they have to be separated. They then face the physical and mental strains that come from their proposed separation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSylvie's Love (2020)
When a young woman meets an aspiring saxophonist in her father’s record shop in 1950s Harlem, their love ignites a sweeping romance that transcends changing times, geography, and professional success.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Ring of Endless Light (2002)
When 15-year-old Vicky Austin, her sister Suzy and little brother Rob visit their grandfather on Seven Bay Island, Vicky faces several unexpected challenges. Her beloved grandfather, retired Reverend Eaton, seems to be seriously ill, but tries to pretend that nothing is wrong. Vicky met the rich but emotionally troubled Zachary Gray the previous summer, and he reappears to renew the acquaintance. Another boy, 17-year-old Adam Eddington, recruits Vicky to help him with a research project, working with a dolphin called Basil. Vicky discovers she can communicate telepathically with the dolphin and his mate - and possibly with Adam as well
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDot the I (2003)
A fiery Spanish woman is about to marry a kind British man when she meets a Brazilian actor who ignites in her a flame of lust she can't ignore.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like Upon Waking and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Upon Waking?
The closest matches to Upon Waking are Life in a Year (2020), Blind (2017) and Nine Lives (2005). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Upon Waking?
Start with Life in a Year (2020), the closest match to Upon Waking.
What is the highest-rated movie like Upon Waking?
Gabriel's Inferno (2020), rated 8.4/10 by 2,485 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Upon Waking?
Gabriel's Redemption: Part I (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Upon Waking?
Yes: Life in a Year (2020), Blind (2017) and Nine Lives (2005).
How are movies similar to Upon Waking chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Upon Waking, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.



















