Movies like The Friend (2023)
The best movies like The Friend (2023) are The Challenger (2015), Mighty Joe Young (1998) and Rock Dog (2016). If The Friend hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSoul (2020)8.1/10 from 11,905 votes
- NewestLove of Your Life (2026)Released 2026
The Challenger (2015)
A legendary trainer comes out of retirement to help an underdog boxer fight his way to a better life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisMighty Joe Young (1998)
As a child living in Africa, Jill Young saw her mother killed while protecting wild gorillas from poachers led by Andrei Strasser. Now an adult, Jill cares for an orphaned gorilla named Joe -- who, due to a genetic anomaly, is 15 feet tall. When Gregg O'Hara arrives from California and sees the animal, he convinces Jill that Joe would be safest at his wildlife refuge. But Strasser follows them to the U.S., intent on capturing Joe for himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRock Dog (2016)
When a radio falls from the sky into the hands of a wide-eyed Tibetan Mastiff, he leaves home to fulfill his dream of becoming a musician, setting into motion a series of completely unexpected events.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClean (2004)
After she ends up in prison and loses custody of her son, a woman struggles to assimilate outside her former life and remain clean long enough to regain custody of her son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIf Only (2004)
After his impetuous musician girlfriend, Samantha, dies in an accident shortly after they had a fight (and nearly broke up), Ian Wyndham, a grief-stricken British businessman living in London gets a chance to relive the day all over again, in the hope of changing the events that led up to her getting killed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSoul (2020)
Joe Gardner is a middle school teacher with a love for jazz music. After a successful audition at the Half Note Club, he suddenly gets into an accident that separates his soul from his body and is transported to the You Seminar, a center in which souls develop and gain passions before being transported to a newborn child. Joe must enlist help from the other souls-in-training, like 22, a soul who has spent eons in the You Seminar, in order to get back to Earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisJames and the Giant Peach (1996)
When the young orphan boy James spills a magic bag of crocodile tongues, he finds himself in possession of a giant peach that flies him away to strange lands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAbominable (2019)
A group of misfits encounter a young Yeti named Everest, and they set off to reunite the magical creature with his family on the mountain of his namesake.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHummingbird (2013)
Homeless and on the run from a military court martial, a damaged ex-special forces soldier navigating London's criminal underworld seizes an opportunity to assume another man's identity, transforming into an avenging angel in the process.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisForever My Girl (2018)
Years after leaving his fiancée at the altar to pursue fame and fortune, country music star Liam Page returns home hoping to win her back.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAlmost Famous (2000)
In 1973, a precocious 15-year-old aspiring rock journalist lands a dream assignment from Rolling Stone to tour with a rising rock band, embarking on a coming-of-age journey as he discovers the exhilarating and heartbreaking realities behind rock stardom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRent (2005)
In New York City's gritty East Village, a group of bohemians strive for success and acceptance while enduring the obstacles of poverty, illness and the AIDS epidemic.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClean (2022)
Tormented by a past life, garbage man Clean attempts a life of quiet redemption. But when his good intentions mark him a target of a local crime boss, Clean is forced to reconcile with the violence of his past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMārama (2026)
1859. When a young Māori woman is summoned from New Zealand to North Yorkshire, she uncovers her horrific colonial heritage and is compelled to confront and destroy the titled Englishman who devastated her family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRise of the Footsoldier (2007)
Carlton Leach rises from one of the most feared generals of the football terraces to becoming a member of a notorious gang of criminals who rampaged their way through London and Essex in the late '80s and early '90s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPremonition (2007)
A depressed housewife who learns her husband was killed in a car accident the day previously awakens the next morning to find him alive and well at home, and then awakens the day after to a world in which he is still dead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure (2003)
Being one of 101 takes its toll on Patch, who doesn't feel unique. When he's accidentally left behind on moving day, he meets his idol, Thunderbolt, who enlists him on a publicity campaign.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBob Marley: One Love (2024)
Jamaican singer-songwriter Bob Marley overcomes adversity to become the most famous reggae musician in the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove of Your Life (2026)
After a chance encounter sparks a sweeping romance, Maya's future is suddenly upended, sending her on an unexpected journey to love and live again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVicious (2025)
When Polly receives a mysterious box, it comes with one rule: place inside something she needs, something she hates, and something she loves. If she doesn’t obey, it will consume everything—and everyone—she’s ever known.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Friend?
The closest matches to The Friend are The Challenger (2015), Mighty Joe Young (1998) and Rock Dog (2016). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Friend?
Start with The Challenger (2015), the closest match to The Friend.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Friend?
Soul (2020), rated 8.1/10 by 11,905 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Friend?
Love of Your Life (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Friend?
Yes: The Challenger (2015), Mighty Joe Young (1998) and Rock Dog (2016).
How are movies similar to The Friend chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Friend, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.