Movies like Wisdom of the Whale (2024)
The best movies like Wisdom of the Whale (2024) are About Dry Grasses (2023), A Tale of Three Sisters (2019) and Bastard Out of Carolina (1996). If Wisdom of the Whale hooked you with its drama, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPaper Lives (2021)8.0/10 from 426 votes
- NewestYellow Letters (2026)Released 2026
About Dry Grasses (2023)
A young art teacher hopes to be transferred to Istanbul after completing his mandatory duty in a remote village school in Anatolia. After accusations of inappropriate contact with a student surface, his hopes of escape fade and he descends further into an existential crisis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Tale of Three Sisters (2019)
A stagnant and gloomy village in the 1980s. Reyhan, Nurhan, and Havva, three sisters were sent to town as 'besleme' (foster child and maid). Since they fail their foster parents for different reasons, they are sent back to their father's house in their poor village. Deprived of their dreams of a better life, they try to hold on to each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBastard Out of Carolina (1996)
A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSibel (2019)
25-year-old Sibel lives with her father and sister in a secluded village in the mountains of Turkey’s Black Sea region. Sibel is a mute, but she communicates by using the ancestral whistled language of the area.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSomething Useful (2017)
A chance meeting on a train in the Turkish countryside leads two women to a journey that shows them the importance of setting a path for one's life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Young One (1960)
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisİstanbul Tales (2005)
Five interconnected stories set in modern-day Istanbul based on the fairytales Snow White, Cinderella, Pied Piper, Sleeping Beauty and Little Red Riding Hood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this40 Acres (2025)
Hailey Freeman and her family are the last descendants of African American farmers who settled in rural Canada after the Civil War. In a famine-decimated near future, they now struggle to safeguard their farm, as they make one last stand against a vicious militia hell-bent on taking their 40 Acres.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPaper Lives (2021)
In the streets of Istanbul, ailing waste warehouse worker Mehmet takes a small boy under his wing and must soon confront his own traumatic childhood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisI Saw the Sun (2009)
In the southeast region of Turkey, the Kurdish family of Altun lives in a small mountainside village plagued by a 25-year war that makes their daily lives a hellish struggle. As the war intensifies, the family is forced to migrate west to the city of Istanbul.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYellow Letters (2026)
The marriage of Derya and Aziz is under pressure after losing their jobs because of state arbitrariness and moving to Istanbul to live with Aziz's parents. They and their 13-year-old daughter Ezgi have to redefine their way of life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Truth About Emanuel (2013)
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Neighbor (2022)
A nightmarish evening unfolds for neighbors David and Robert when they accidentally hit a woman on her bike and flee the scene. While David is increasingly plagued by feelings of guilt, Robert shows no remorse and becomes overbearing and possessive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLight It Up (1999)
On a winter day in a southside Queens high school, events collide and six students are suddenly in an armed standoff with the NYPD. At the school, classrooms freeze, teachers come and go, resources are scant.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
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 · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhite Angel (2007)
The film is a love story. However, it is not a story about the love between two people, but rather a story about the love and affection that a group of people feel for life and for each other. The film depicts all kinds of love, from east to west, from schoolchildren to villagers, from young to old, in both an emotional and humorous way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMindwalk (1991)
On the French island of Mont Saint-Michel, Jack, a failed presidential candidate, Tom, a poet and Sonia, a physicist, engage in an intellectual conversation about politics, philosophy and life over the course of a single day.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSergio (2020)
A sweeping drama set in the chaotic aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq, where the life of top UN diplomat Brazilian Sérgio Vieira de Mello hangs in the balance during the most treacherous mission of his career.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInside (2012)
Muharrem faces his life, thoughts, and inner darkness at a party he does not want to attend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe House on Carroll Street (1988)
A reporter, fired after refusing to give names to a 1951 House Un-American Activities Committee, takes a part-time job as companion to an old lady. While working she overhears a noisy argument in the neighboring house, being conducted largely in German and involving her HUAC prosecutor. She begins to investigate, enlisting the help of the FBI Agent initially detailed to surveil her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Wisdom of the Whale?
The closest matches to Wisdom of the Whale are About Dry Grasses (2023), A Tale of Three Sisters (2019) and Bastard Out of Carolina (1996). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Wisdom of the Whale?
Start with About Dry Grasses (2023), the closest match to Wisdom of the Whale.
What is the highest-rated movie like Wisdom of the Whale?
Paper Lives (2021), rated 8.0/10 by 426 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Wisdom of the Whale?
Yellow Letters (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Wisdom of the Whale chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Wisdom of the Whale, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.