Movies like The Bitter Waters (1956)
The best movies like The Bitter Waters (1956) are Skin (2009), The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972) and Love You to Death (2019). If The Bitter Waters hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
The Bitter Waters
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDecalogue I (1989)8.1/10 from 277 votes
- NewestGoodbye June (2025)Released 2025
Skin (2009)
Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972)
Middle-aged widow Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her daughters Ruth and Matilda are struggling to survive in a society they barely understand. Beatrice dreams of opening an elegant tea room but does not have the wherewithal to achieve her lofty goal. Epileptic Ruth is a rebellious adolescent, while shy but highly intelligent and idealistic Matilda seeks solace in her pets and school projects, including one designed to show how small amounts of radium affect marigolds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLove You to Death (2019)
Inspired by a true story, this film tells the shocking tale of a mother and daughter who are nothing like they seem, their tumultuous relationship ending in a brutal murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTigertail (2020)
A man reflects on the lost love of his youth and his long-ago journey from Taiwan to America as he begins to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisLove, Once and Always (2018)
When Lucy’s childhood sweetheart plans to tear down the Gilded Age estate and replace it with a golf course, Lucy fights to preserve the historic mansion at all costs. As Lucy and Duncan set out to find a compromise, they learn that embracing the past may be the key to protecting the future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHead Full of Honey (2018)
A young girl tries to help her grandfather, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, navigate his increasing forgetfulness, and ends up going on a remarkable adventure with him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Neighbors' Window (2019)
The story of a middle-aged woman with small children whose life is shaken up when two free-spirited twenty-somethings move in across the street.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNaked as We Came (2013)
After an unexpected phone call, Laura and her brother Elliot rush to their family’s country estate to find their mother, Lilly, gravely ill and living with a handsome young stranger named Ted. Estranged for some time, their mother’s condition sets Laura and Elliot on a path to realizing where their own lives have gone wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisGoodbye June (2025)
Four siblings' lives change drastically when their ailing mother takes a turn for the worse over the holiday season.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Nest (2020)
Rory is an ambitious entrepreneur who brings his American wife and kids to his native country, England, to explore new business opportunities. After abandoning the sanctuary of their safe American suburban surroundings, the family is plunged into the despair of an archaic '80s Britain and their unaffordable new life in an English manor house threatens to destroy the family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (2004)
The story of golf icon and legend, Bobby Jones, who retired from competition at the tender age of 28.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAnuja (2024)
When a brilliant nine-year-old working in a sweatshop gets a chance to attend school, she must make a difficult choice for her and her sister's future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEleanor the Great (2025)
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Christmas Shoes (2002)
Two separate stories mesh - in the first, a young music teacher, Maggie Andrews, begins dying of a heart condition and her son Nathan tries to get a pair of Christmas shoes for her before she dies. In the second, lawyer Robert Layton and his wife Kate are slowly drifting apart and the matter comes to a head during Christmas when Kate takes over for Maggie for the school choir.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHungry Hearts (2015)
The relationship of a couple who meet by chance in New York City is put to the test when they encounter a life or death circumstance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFast Girls (2012)
A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVanya on 42nd Street (1994)
An uninterrupted rehearsal of Chekhov's 'Uncle Vanya' plays out by a company of actors. The setting: their run-down theater with an unusable stage and crumbling ceiling. The play is shown act by act with the briefest of breaks to move props or for refreshments. The lack of costumes, real props and scenery is soon forgotten.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCurfew (2012)
At the lowest point of his life, Richie gets a call from his estranged sister asking him to look after his nine-year old niece, Sophia, for a few hours.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCasebusters (1986)
Jamie and Allie are amateur sleuths whose grandfather runs a small security business. One afternoon, while digging around on their own, they accidentally stumble onto a major case.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Countercrime (1968)
Murder is involved when an intruder is found in a large department store just after it closes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
A Matter of Diamonds (1968)
Riley Walker arrives at an Italian villa with an injured hand; he had cut his hand whilst attempting to get into the neighbouring villa belonging to his aunt. He introduces himself to the residents and stays until his aunt, Mrs Panzack, returns. Speaking to his aunt it is revealed that the visit was a ruse to meet the occupants of the house and in particular Maggie Brown, who is in possession of some diamonds they are interested in.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Claire (1956)
A doctor's second wife is tormented by the presence of his pet cat, which reminds her of the fact that she was involved in her husband's first wife's drowning.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Evening Primrose (1966)
A man becomes part of a secret society of people who live in a department store and quickly falls in love with their leader’s young maid.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Road to Edinburgh (1954)
Feisty reporter Joan insists on driving to her next assignment in Edinburgh solo. Along the way she has a flat tire and a passerby lends a hand, she in kind offers him a lift. As she finds out more information about him she starts making assumptions and her fears rise.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
And One Was Loyal (TBA)
Joan now a prominent artist meets the man who rescued her from a brutal and traumatized existence with a savage husband in the jungle. In flashback we see what happened.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Decalogue I (1989)
Krzysztof, a semantics professor and computer hobbyist, is raising his young son, Paweł, to look to science for answers, while Irena, Paweł’s aunt, lives a life rooted in faith. Over the course of one day, both adults are forced to question their belief systems.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisDecalogue III (1989)
It’s Christmas Eve, and Ewa has plotted to pass the hours until morning with her former lover Janusz, a family man, by making him believe her husband has gone missing. During this night of recklessness and lies, the pair grapple with choices made when their affair was discovered three years ago, and with the value of their present lives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDecalogue V (1989)
Jacek, an angry drifter, murders a taxi driver, brutally and without motive. His case is assigned to Piotr, an idealistic young lawyer who is morally opposed to the death penalty, and their interactions take on an emotional honesty that throws into stark relief for Piotr the injustice of killing of any kind.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like this
Like The Bitter Waters and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Bitter Waters?
The closest matches to The Bitter Waters are Skin (2009), The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972) and Love You to Death (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Bitter Waters?
Start with Skin (2009), the closest match to The Bitter Waters.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Bitter Waters?
Decalogue I (1989), rated 8.1/10 by 277 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Bitter Waters?
Goodbye June (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Bitter Waters?
Yes: Skin (2009), The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972) and Love You to Death (2019).
How are movies similar to The Bitter Waters chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Bitter Waters, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.