Movies like An Ephemeral Life (2006)
The best movies like An Ephemeral Life (2006) are Bread and Roses (2000), One, Two, Three (1961) and Repo Men (2010). If An Ephemeral Life hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDogville (2003)7.7/10 from 2,827 votes
- NewestNo Other Choice (2025)Released 2025
- In KoreanNo Other Choice (2025)Also in Korean
Bread and Roses (2000)
In Los Angeles, undocumented Mexican immigrant Maya finds work as a janitor through her sister, Rosa. However, as both work non-union, conditions are grim. After enduring abuse from her superiors, Maya is open to the pro-union rhetoric offered by organiser Sam Shapiro. Rosa, meanwhile, is far less interested in clashing with management, given the needs of her family, and a rift forms between the sisters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne, Two, Three (1961)
In Cold War-era West Berlin, American Coca-Cola executive C.R. 'Mac' MacNamara is tasked with playing babysitter to his boss' spoiled 17-year-old daughter Scarlett, who proves more difficult than anticipated when she reveals that she is pregnant by a Communist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRepo Men (2010)
In the future, medical technology has advanced to the point where people can buy artificial organs to extend their lives. But if they default on payments, an organization known as the Union sends agents to repossess the organs. Remy is one of the best agents in the business, but when he becomes the recipient of an artificial heart, he finds himself in the same dire straits as his many victims.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisImagine That (2009)
A financial executive who can't stop his career downspiral is invited into his daughter's imaginary world, where solutions to his problems await.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSympathy for the Devil (2023)
After being forced to drive a mysterious passenger at gunpoint, a man finds himself in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse where it becomes clear that not everything is as it seems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisNo Other Choice (2025)
After being laid off and humiliated by a ruthless job market, a veteran paper mill manager descends into violence in a desperate bid to reclaim his dignity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDisaster Holiday (2024)
A workaholic dad, trying to win over his kids, heads to the coast of Durban for a big work meeting — under the guise of a family road trip vacation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSeobok (2021)
Ex intelligence agent Ki-heon is tasked with safely transporting Seo Bok, the first ever human clone, who holds the secret of eternal life. Several forces try to take control of Seo Bok to serve their own agendas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSweet November (2001)
Nelson is a man devoted to his advertising career in San Francisco. One day, while taking a driving test at the DMV, he meets Sara. She is very different from the other women in his life. Nelson causes her to miss out on taking the test and later that day she tracks him down. One thing leads to another and Nelson ends up living with her through a November that will change his life forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlex of Venice (2015)
After her stay-at-home husband leaves her, a workaholic lawyer finds that she is not completely up to the tasks of caring for her young son, ailing father and household all by herself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Phoenician Scheme (2025)
Wealthy businessman Zsa-zsa Korda appoints his only daughter, a nun, as sole heir to his estate. As Korda embarks on a new enterprise, they soon become the target of scheming tycoons, foreign terrorists, and determined assassins.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRiff-Raff (1991)
Stevie, fresh from prison in Scotland, finds a job on a London construction site. Working conditions are poor and most of the men are working under aliases, due to immigration status and to not conflict with unemployment. Some help Stevie secure housing, squatting in a council estate. Then Stevie meets Susan, from Ireland, an aspiring singer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDogville (2003)
A woman on the run from the mob is reluctantly accepted in a small Colorado community in exchange for labor, but when a search visits the town, she learns that their support has a price.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSpecial Delivery (2022)
A black-market cabbie drives criminals at breakneck speeds until she is left in charge of a fugitive's son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Shift (2023)
Following a tense encounter with a mysterious stranger with otherworldly powers, a man finds himself banished to a parallel, tyrannical Earth, where he fights to get back to the woman he loves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTales of the Black Freighter (2009)
A mariner survives an attack from the dreaded pirates of the Black Freighter, but his struggle to return home to warn it has a horrific cost.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNorma Rae (1979)
Norma Rae is a southern textile worker employed in a factory with intolerable working conditions. This concern about the situation gives her the gumption to be the key associate to a visiting labor union organizer. Together, they undertake the difficult, and possibly dangerous, struggle to unionize her factory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this25th Hour (2002)
On the eve of a seven-year prison sentence, a New York drug dealer spends his final day of freedom confronting his past, his relationships, and the choices that led to his downfall in a city still reeling from 9/11.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll or Nothing (2002)
Penny works at a supermarket and Phil is a gentle taxi-driver. Penny’s love for Phil has run dry and they lead joyless lives with their two children, Rachel, a cleaner, and Rory, who is unemployed and aggressive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThey Drive by Night (1940)
Joe and Paul Fabrini are Wildcat, or independent, truck drivers who have their own small one-truck business. The Fabrini boys constantly battle distributors, rivals and loan collectors, while trying to make a success of their transport company.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like An Ephemeral Life?
The closest matches to An Ephemeral Life are Bread and Roses (2000), One, Two, Three (1961) and Repo Men (2010). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after An Ephemeral Life?
Start with Bread and Roses (2000), the closest match to An Ephemeral Life.
What is the highest-rated movie like An Ephemeral Life?
Dogville (2003), rated 7.7/10 by 2,827 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like An Ephemeral Life?
No Other Choice (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Korean movies like An Ephemeral Life?
Yes: No Other Choice (2025), Seobok (2021) and Special Delivery (2022).
How are movies similar to An Ephemeral Life chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside An Ephemeral Life, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.