Movies like Afterlife (1978)
The best movies like Afterlife (1978) are It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012), The Book of Life (2014) and Ice Age (2002). If Afterlife hooked you with its animation, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act (2026)8.8/10 from 312 votes
- NewestCreation (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchThe Girl Who Cried Pearls (2025)Also in French
It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012)
Bill struggles to put together his shattered psyche.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Book of Life (2014)
The journey of Manolo, a young man who is torn between fulfilling the expectations of his family and following his heart. Before choosing which path to follow, he embarks on an incredible adventure that spans fantastical worlds where he must face his greatest fears.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIce Age (2002)
Manny the mammoth, Sid the loquacious sloth, and Diego the sabre-toothed tiger go on a comical quest to return a human baby back to his father, across a world on the brink of an ice age.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWaking Life (2001)
Waking Life is about a young man in a persistent lucid dream-like state. The film follows its protagonist as he initially observes and later participates in philosophical discussions that weave together issues like reality, free will, our relationships with others, and the meaning of life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisParaNorman (2012)
In the town of Blithe Hollow, Norman Babcock can speak to the dead, but no one other than his eccentric new friend believes his ability is real. One day, Norman's eccentric uncle tells him of a ritual he must perform to protect the town from a curse cast by a witch centuries ago.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMemoir of a Snail (2024)
Forcibly separated from her twin brother when they are orphaned, a melancholic misfit learns how to find confidence within herself amid the clutter of misfortunes and everyday life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisWorld of Tomorrow (2015)
A little girl is taken on a mind-bending tour of her distant future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Simpsons: O C'mon All Ye Faithful (2024)
The residents of Springfield search for Christmas cheer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act (2026)
With Caine gone and the circus dark, the cast are left with only the mistakes and traumas of their pasts to keep them company. As the prospect of eternity closes in around them, they discover the truth about the Digital Circus and its history. Will they come to terms with what they uncover, or will they make... the other choice? Also, presumably at some point someone says something funny, because this ending can’t be THAT depressing, can it? A theatrical screening of episode 8 and the all new, hour-long episode 9.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisVertiginous (2026)
Jacques goes to his friend Bruno's house to tell him some big news: the entire human race is living in a simulation...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe House (2022)
Across different eras, a poor family, an anxious developer and a fed-up landlady become tied to the same mysterious house in this animated dark comedy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart (2014)
Jack is born with his heart frozen solid on the coldest day in history. A wise midwife saves him by replacing it with a cuckoo clock. Now Jack must abide by three rules to keep his mechanical heart safe: never touch the clock's hands, master his anger, and never fall in love. He tries his best, but when he meets a girl named Acacia he falls in love, threatening the delicate balance of his artificial heart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSita Sings the Blues (2008)
Utilizing the 1920s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw, the epic Indian tale of exiled prince Ramayana and his bride Sita is mirrored by a spurned woman's contemporary personal life, and light-hearted but knowledgeable discussion of historical background by a trio of Indian shadow puppets.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIf Anything Happens I Love You (2020)
Grieving parents journey through an emotional void as they mourn the loss of a child after a tragic school shooting.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIgor (2008)
A cliché hunchbacked evil scientist's assistant aspires to become a scientist himself, much to the displeasure of the rest of the evil science community.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnomalisa (2015)
An inspirational speaker becomes reinvigorated after meeting a lively woman who shakes up his mundane existence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKaena: The Prophecy (2003)
Compelled by a mysterious force, Kaena, a rebellious, high-spirited teenage girl will defy the High Priest and her people's ancestral beliefs to take the perilous journey through the Axis and discover what dark secrets lie beyond the clouds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeavy Traffic (1973)
A white dropout struggles to become a cartoonist and filmmaker, drawing inspiration from the harsh, gritty world around him. Still sharing his rundown apartment with his middle-aged parents, an oafish slob of an Italian father and a ditzy nutcase of a Jewish mother, he's ridiculed and looked down upon by his friends, hypocrites who run with violent gangs and the Italian Mafia, and a shallow Black girl who makes her living downtown with the pimps and pushers. The cartoonist gets a chance to pitch a film idea to a movie mogul, but the story proves too outrageous: a far-future Earth, depleted by war and pollution, where a mutant antihero challenges and kills God.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Secret of NIMH (1982)
A widowed field mouse must move her family -- including an ailing son -- to escape a farmer's plow. Aided by a crow and a pack of superintelligent, escaped lab rats, the brave mother struggles to transplant her home to firmer ground.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMonte Adrion (2018)
The mythical mountain of Monte Adrion (Biokovo) shows us pictures from your life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Artificial Intelligence, 2023 (2024)
Composed entirely of AI-generated visuals and providing an abstract representation of the evolution of AI video, processed entirely through a VCR.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
The Twelve Tasks of Asterix (1976)
Asterix and Obelix depart on an adventure to complete twelve impossible tasks to prove to Caesar that they are as strong as the Gods. You'll roar with laughter as they outwit, outrun, and generally outrage the very people who are trying to prove them "only human".
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRhythm (1934)
A comfortable rhythm composed of light and shadow. Director Ogino-style absolute movie which freely manipulates geometric figures.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Creation (2026)
The Hungarian word "alkotás" (artwork) has a dual meaning – it can refer both to the process of creation and to the finished artwork. The film tells the story of how a canvas comes alive, how playful, abstract forms are created, each one carrying its own human narrative.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
If the stars were to light up (2025)
In a hot, deserted neighborhood on the outskirts of the city, three kids and a dog rest in the shade of a tree. The deep, drowsy hum of siesta is in the air, but the calm is broken by small cracks in the everyday routine. Suddenly a strange light floods everything, and time seems to shatter.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Amber Tale (2026)
When fisherman Kastytis hauls in a fateful catch, he stirs the ire of the gods — yet destiny leads him to Jūratė, the sea goddess who loves him beyond divine law. Their forbidden bond awakens Thunder’s wrath, shattering her amber palace, but not their love - from its tears, Baltic amber is born.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Legend of Crystania: The Motion Picture (1995)
Ashram, desperate to find a home for his people, is tricked into selling his soul. 300 years later, Pirotesse's devotion to her king remains unshaken. In the sacred world of Crystania, amidst a civil war waged by shape-changing warriors, she searches for her beloved Ashram. She meets Redon, a young prince obsessed with avenging his murdered parents. Together, they confront Ashram's captor Barbas.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Afterlife?
The closest matches to Afterlife are It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012), The Book of Life (2014) and Ice Age (2002). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Afterlife?
Start with It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012), the closest match to Afterlife.
What is the highest-rated movie like Afterlife?
The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act (2026), rated 8.8/10 by 312 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Afterlife?
Creation (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like Afterlife?
Yes: The Girl Who Cried Pearls (2025), Vertiginous (2026) and Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart (2014).
How are movies similar to Afterlife chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Afterlife, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.