Movies like Catalyst (2018)
The best movies like Catalyst (2018) are Mickey's Steam Roller (1934), Tin Toy (1988) and Inner Workings (2016). If Catalyst hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Catalyst
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPiper (2016)8.1/10 from 1,791 votes
- NewestSometimes I Think About Dying (2024)Released 2024
Mickey's Steam Roller (1934)
While streetworker Mickey romances Minnie, Mickey's nephews Morty and Ferdie take control of his steamroller and it's full speed ahead on a very destructive ride.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTin Toy (1988)
Babies are hardly monster-like, unless you're a toy. After escaping a drooling baby, Tinny realizes that he wants to be played with after all. But in the amount of time it takes him to discover this, the baby's attention moves on to other things only an infant could find interesting.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInner Workings (2016)
This is the story of the internal struggle between a man's Brain—a pragmatic protector who calculates his every move, and his Heart—a free-spirited adventurer who wants to let loose.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeing James Bond (2021)
Daniel Craig candidly reflects on his 15 year adventure as James Bond. Including never-before-seen archival footage from Casino Royale to the upcoming 25th film No Time To Die, Craig shares his personal memories in conversation with 007 producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShanghaied (1915)
A shipowner intends to scuttle his ship on its last voyage to get the insurance money. Charlie, a tramp in love with the owner's daughter, is grabbed by the captain and promises to help him shanghai some seamen. The daughter stows away to follow Charlie. Charlie assists in the galley and attempts to serve food during a gale.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Souvenir (2019)
A shy but ambitious film student falls into an intense, emotionally fraught relationship with a charismatic but untrustworthy older man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStarving in Suburbia (2014)
A 17-year-old dancer joins a "thinspiration" website and devotes herself to the almost religious glorification of "thin", until she becomes completely possessed by the dark world of anorexia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPerfect Day (1929)
Two families embark on a pleasant Sunday picnic but manage to run into a variety of issues with their temperamental automobile. Each incident requires repeated exits and reboardings by Laurel, Hardy, their wives and grouchy, gout-ridden Uncle Edgar.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGia (1998)
Gia Carangi meteorically rises to modeling fame in the late 1970s but becomes overconsumed by persistent loneliness and drug addiction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSometimes I Think About Dying (2024)
Fran likes to think about dying. It brings sensation to her quiet life. When she makes the new guy at work laugh, it leads to more: a date, a slice of pie, a conversation, a spark. The only thing standing in their way is Fran herself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTo the Bone (2017)
A young woman dealing with anorexia meets an unconventional doctor who challenges her to face her condition and embrace life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVery Nice, Very Nice (1961)
Arthur Lipsett's first film is an avant-garde blend of photography and sound. It looks behind the business-as-usual face we put on life and shows anxieties we want to forget. It is made of dozens of pictures that seem familiar, with fragments of speech heard in passing and, between times, a voice saying, "Very nice, very nice." The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPiper (2016)
A mother bird tries to teach her little one how to find food by herself. In the process, she encounters a traumatic experience that she must overcome in order to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisTerra das Canções de Ninar (1933)
A baby is transported to Lullaby Land, where pacifiers grow on trees, diapers, bottles, and potty chairs march on parade, and the gingham dog comes to life. He wanders into the "keep out" cave, full of things like scissors, knives, and fountain pens that are not for baby and begins smashing watches with hammers and playing with giant matches. The matches chase after him; baby escapes by riding a bar of soap across a pond, but the smoke from the matches turns into boogey-men. The benevolent sandman, dressed as a wizard, spots baby hiding and works his magic, bringing us back to the real nursery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJoe Versus the Volcano (1990)
Hypochondriac Joe Banks finds out he has six months to live, quits his dead end job, musters the courage to ask his co-worker out on a date, and is then hired to jump into a volcano by a mysterious visitor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThings We Lost in the Fire (2007)
A recent widow invites her husband's troubled best friend to live with her and her two children. As he gradually turns his life around, he helps the family cope and confront their loss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAutumn in New York (2000)
Will Keane, a Manhattan restaurateur, is content with his playboy lifestyle until he meets Charlotte Fielding, a free-spirited young woman. Together the pair pursue a passionate affair that forces them both to reevaluate what they want out of life, even as fate threatens to steal away their future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Short History of the Long Road (2019)
Nola grew up living in a van with her father, Clint—two nomads against the world. When tragedy strikes, Nola must confront the reality of life on the road alone, learning to own her grief, her past, and her new destination.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFrom Straight A's to XXX (2017)
When a change of circumstances leaves Miriam unable to pay her college tuition, she makes a surprising decision: to start performing in adult films, using the pseudonym Belle Knox. Miriam lies to her family and her friends at school, keeping her double life a secret. But soon rumours spread and Miriam becomes the subject of vicious online attacks and unwanted attention. Miriam fights back: she talks to the media, saying her new line of work empowers her as a feminist. But her confident stand has unintended consequences. Miriam is shunned by her conservative family and her colleagues in the adult film world. One impulsive decision has quickly spiralled out of control - and Miriam's problems are just beginning.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisKnee Deep In Music (1933)
A canned fish tycoon wants a smash hit song to sell his fish. Ruth Etting is the perfect singer - but can they find a song worthy of her?
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Zero Sum Theorem (TBA)
On the verge of a nervous breakdown, Adam has began to suspect something unusual about the world around him; it's all a simulation. As his sister Alice attempts to help him through his episode of poor mental health, can Adam separate paranoid delusions from reality or is there more at work than he realises.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Agreement (2017)
Se-young goes to an agreement with the woman her husband raped.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Paperwork Explosion (1967)
Mankind has devoted too much time, too much money and plenty of space on paperwork and more paperwork. In the 1960's, to remove all those obstacles and all that paper, and in order to make life easier, IBM has created a groundbreaking device - a machine that could improve office relations and operations. IBM, through Jim Henson's picture, presents the 'Magnetic Tape Selectric Typewriter', a machine that does the work while we do the thinking.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Bien parecidas (2021)
María allows Cecilia to dye her hair while they wait for Agustín's rehabilitation therapy to finish. This simple fact will change the way mother and daughter perceive their relationship and help them cope with the difficult time they are experiencing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Platelayer (1957)
A group of plate-layers are packing the stone-bed under the rail with their pickaxes. They swing their picks in a coordinated, rhythmic way, thereby creating a sequence of rings, when they hit the stones or the rail, which sounds almost as music. When a train passes by, they stand silent beside the rail for a while, and then start the rhythmic beats again.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Concertissimo (1968)
A short film on how militarism takes over art.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Presence (1965)
Two old men enter an abandoned synagogue, look at the decay around them, and pray.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Presence II (1978)
An exploration of a decaying synagogue.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Presence III (1986)
Two rabbis show the ruins of an abandoned synagogue to a group of primary school-age Jewish children, and stand by as the children dip bread in honey, drink wine, pray, and sing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Catalyst?
The closest matches to Catalyst are Mickey's Steam Roller (1934), Tin Toy (1988) and Inner Workings (2016). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Catalyst?
Start with Mickey's Steam Roller (1934), the closest match to Catalyst.
What is the highest-rated movie like Catalyst?
Piper (2016), rated 8.1/10 by 1,791 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Catalyst?
Sometimes I Think About Dying (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Catalyst?
Yes: Mickey's Steam Roller (1934), Tin Toy (1988) and Inner Workings (2016).
How are movies similar to Catalyst chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Catalyst, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.