Movies like Confession: A Chronicle of Alienation (1989)
The best movies like Confession: A Chronicle of Alienation (1989) are Less Than Zero (1987), Trainspotting (1996) and A Million Little Pieces (2019). If Confession: A Chronicle of Alienation hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedTrainspotting (1996)8.0/10 from 10,834 votes
- NewestUrchin (2025)Released 2025
Less Than Zero (1987)
A college freshman returns to Los Angeles for Christmas at his ex-girlfriend's request, but discovers that his former best friend has an out-of-control drug habit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrainspotting (1996)
Heroin addict Mark Renton stumbles through bad ideas and sobriety attempts with his unreliable friends --Sick Boy, Begbie, Spud and Tommy. He also has an underage girlfriend, Diane, along for the ride. After cleaning up and moving from Edinburgh to London, Mark finds he can't escape the life he left behind as Begbie and Sick Boy come knocking.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisA Million Little Pieces (2019)
A young drug-addled writer approaching the bottom of his descent submits to two months of agonizing detox at a treatment center in Minnesota.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Outrun (2024)
Fresh out of rehab, Rona returns to the Orkney Islands—a place both wild and beautiful, right off the Scottish coast. Now 29 and after more than a decade of living life on the edge in London, where she both found and lost love, Rona attempts to come to terms with her troubled past. As she reconnects with the dramatic landscape where she grew up, memories of her traumatic childhood merge with more recent challenging events that have set her on the path to recovery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMore (1969)
A German student, Stefan, now finished with his studies, hitchhikes to Paris. There he meets a free-spirited American girl, Estelle, who he follows to Ibiza. The two begin a sad and dark path into heroin addiction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPostcards from the Edge (1990)
A substance-addicted actress tries to look on the bright side even as she's forced to move back in with her mother to avoid unemployment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeaven Knows What (2015)
A young heroin addict roams the streets of New York to panhandle and get her next fix, while her unstable boyfriend drifts in and out of her life at random.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeautiful Boy (2018)
After he and his first wife separate, journalist David Sheff struggles to help their teenage son, who goes from experimenting with drugs to becoming devastatingly addicted to methamphetamine.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLittle Vera (1988)
Vera is a troubled teenager fresh out of school feeling trapped in her provincial port town during the turbulent times of perestroika. Her days and nights are filled with drinking, sex, and family dysfunction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Doors (1991)
The story of the famous and influential 1960s rock band and its lead singer and composer, Jim Morrison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJesus' Son (2000)
A young man turns from drug addiction and petty crime to a life redeemed by a discovery of compassion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUrchin (2025)
Mike, a rough sleeper in London, is trapped in a cycle of self-destruction as he attempts to turn his life around. Along the way, he encounters unexpected chances for a fresh start.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCandy (2006)
A poet falls in love with an art student, who gravitates to his bohemian lifestyle — and his love of heroin. Hooked as much on one another as they are on the drug, their relationship alternates between states of oblivion, self-destruction, and despair.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisQueer (2024)
In 1950s Mexico City, William Lee, an American ex-pat in his late forties, leads a solitary life amidst a small American community. However, the arrival in town of Eugene Allerton, a young student, stirs William into finally establishing a meaningful connection with someone.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPermanent Midnight (1998)
Juggling increasing career success and a growing heroin habit, a television comedy writer attempts to go down a path of improvement.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisFear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
Raoul Duke and his attorney Dr. Gonzo drive a red convertible across the Mojave desert to Las Vegas with a suitcase full of drugs to cover a motorcycle race. As their consumption of drugs increases at an alarming rate, the stoned duo trash their hotel room and fear legal repercussions. Duke begins to drive back to L.A., but after an odd run-in with a cop, he returns to Sin City and continues his wild drug binge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKill the Messenger (2014)
A reporter becomes the target of a vicious smear campaign that drives him to the point of suicide after he exposes the CIA's role in arming Contra rebels in Nicaragua and importing cocaine into California. Based on the true story of journalist Gary Webb.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTarget Number One (2020)
Ex heroin junkie, Daniel Léger, gets involved in a drug deal with the wrong people for the wrong reasons. When the deal goes sour, Daniel gets thrown into a Thai prison and slapped with a 100-year sentence. While he tries to survive his Bangkok incarceration, the news of his conviction captures the attention of Globe and Mail journalist Victor Malarek, who decides to go after the shady undercover cops responsible for wrongly accusing Daniel.
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 thisCobain: Montage of Heck (2015)
Hailed as one of the most innovative and intimate documentaries of all time, experience Kurt Cobain like never before in the only ever fully authorized portrait of the famed music icon. Academy Award nominated filmmaker Brett Morgen expertly blends Cobain's personal archive of art, music, never seen before movies, animation and revelatory interviews from his family and closest friends.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Confession: A Chronicle of Alienation?
The closest matches to Confession: A Chronicle of Alienation are Less Than Zero (1987), Trainspotting (1996) and A Million Little Pieces (2019). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Confession: A Chronicle of Alienation?
Start with Less Than Zero (1987), the closest match to Confession: A Chronicle of Alienation.
What is the highest-rated movie like Confession: A Chronicle of Alienation?
Trainspotting (1996), rated 8.0/10 by 10,834 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Confession: A Chronicle of Alienation?
Urchin (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Confession: A Chronicle of Alienation chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Confession: A Chronicle of Alienation, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.