Movies like Playing with Fire (1916)
The best movies like Playing with Fire (1916) are The Visit (1964), What Maisie Knew (2013) and Hounddog (2008). If Playing with Fire hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedWhat Maisie Knew (2013)7.1/10 from 466 votes
- NewestEleanor the Great (2025)Released 2025
The Visit (1964)
Carla Zachanassian had a child by Serge Miller as a teenager. When Serge refused to marry her, she was driven out of town. By her own wit and cunning, she has returned as a multi-millionaire for a visit. The town lays out the red carpet expecting big things from Carla, only to learn that her sole purpose is to see Serge Miller killed...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhat Maisie Knew (2013)
In New York City, six-year-old Maisie is caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle between her self-absorbed parents—an aging rock singer mother and a distracted art dealer father. As both quickly marry new partners to strengthen their legal standing, Maisie is shuttled back and forth in an endless game of emotional point-scoring. Yet amid the chaos and upheaval, Maisie begins to find true comfort and affection in her new step-parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisSalomé (2013)
After the lewd and frenetic Dance of the Seven Veils, and with the solemn pledge from the very lips of Herod himself that she could have whatever her heart desires up to half his kingdom, wanton and proud young Salomé comes before her king with an unreasonable demand. Beguiled by John the Baptist, and then scorned for the sake of his god, lascivious Salomé—encouraged by her mother, the vindictive, Herodias—commands that John be executed and his head delivered on a silver platter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Safety of Objects (2002)
In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHands of Stone (2016)
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHelen (2009)
On the outside, Helen has it all – a loving family and a successful career – but when her suppressed mental illness resurfaces, the world crumbles around her. Crippled by depression, Helen finds solace through her friendship with Mathilda, a kindred spirit struggling with bipolar disorder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHardball (2001)
An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisSkin (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 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 thisHome Run (2013)
A pro ball player with a substance abuse problem is forced into rehab in his hometown, finding new hope when he gets honest about his checkered past, and takes on coaching duties for a misfit Little League team
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Girl in the Book (2015)
The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisNational Theatre Live: Hamlet (2015)
As a country arms itself for war, a family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father's death but paralyzed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisEffie Gray (2014)
A look at the mysterious relationship between Victorian art critic John Ruskin and his teenage bride Effie Gray.
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 thisSleep, My Love (1948)
A woman wakes up in the middle of the night on board a train, but she can't remember how she got there. Danger and suspense ensue.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGigi & Nate (2022)
A young man with a bright future suffers a near-fatal accident and recreates his new life with the help of an unlikely animal friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStrange Weather (2016)
Years after her son's suicide, a woman longs to confront both the past and a friend of his who took his business idea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAn Adventure in Hearts (1919)
American agent Captain Dieppe gets involved in the affairs of lonely Count Fieramondi in Northern Italy. Dieppe, hired to help the count reconcile with his wife who has gone to Rome to pay off gambling debts mistakenly falls in love with her cousin, Lucia, who is impersonating her. After Dieppe retrieves evidence of the debts and the real identities are revealed, he makes a final sacrifice to ensure the count and countess can reunite.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Street of Sin (1928)
"Basher Bill," a retired prizefighter turned criminal, pretends to reform by joining a Salvation Army shelter in London run by a pious wraith named Elizabeth. Attracted to Elizabeth (although he is engaged to a street girl named Annie), Bill confesses to a bank robbery, has a spiritual revelation, and decides to go straight. His cast-off sweetheart reports him to the police; then, contrite, she warns Bill of the impending danger. Bill is captured immediately, but he escapes and sacrifices his life to save Elizabeth and the Salvation Army nursery when the rest of the gang use them as a human barricade against the police.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
A Heart in Pawn (1919)
Toyama wants to go to college in America but his alcoholic father won't supply the funds. He gets the money to go, however, from Sada, whom he has married in secret. But Sada has a secret of her own -- she told Toyama that she got the money from a relative, but the truth is that she has signed up to do a four-year stint as a Geisha girl.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Double Speed (1920)
Auto racer Speed Carr enters a marathon race across the United States, from New York to Los Angeles. He encounters numerous obstacles not related to the race and must switch identities and vehicles before he can finish.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Snob (1924)
Two schoolteachers, married for love, are parted by the husband's obsessive desire for wealth and social position.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Mystery of the Black Domino (1931)
"The Mystery of the Black Domino" was the first film directed in Brazil by a woman, the pioneer Cleo de Verberena. Marcos and Virgílio are medical students and share the same room. At the end of the first night of carnaval, Marcos finds the corpse of a woman, dressed as a black domino, inside the closet and accuses Virgílio of murder. Virgílio defends himself by saying that that was Cleo, wife of Commander Fernando Almeida, and that he found her in the corso asking for help, but Marcos questions Virgílio about the veracity of the story. Lost Film.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Franchise (1916)
When Gilbert Warren discovers his law partner Arthur Fenton making crooked deals, he severs their relationship and opens an office of his own. Louise Talcott, daughter of Colonel Talcott, is loved by both. She favors Warren. Out of jealousy, when Warren leaves town, Fenton schemes to blacken his name. Warren is appointed to vet the street railway franchise. When Fenton hears of this, he reports to Colonel Talcott and the Mayor that Warren is a grafter. The Colonel floats a deal to test Warren and finds him honest. Later, the Colonel and the Mayor apologize to Warren as he embraces Louise.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Citizens All (1916)
Estranged after an argument, music teacher Johann Wagner and fencing master Henri Dupin attempt to separate their engaged children, Karl and Elsie. Seeking new quarters, they come to the same boarding house unbeknownst to each other. Thus reunited, Karl and Elsie determine to marry. Following the advice of their landlady Mrs. Flannigan they elope and are wed. The two old fathers remain at odds with each other and the couple until one day Mrs. Flannigan comes with the good news, a child has been born to the young house of Wagner. All is forgiven and reunited Grandfather Wagner and Grandfather Dupin leave arm in arm for the clerk's office to become US citizens.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Trail of the Thief (1916)
Detective Martin Gale, tough with criminals but awkward with women, secretly loves Dorothy Baird, a clever operative at the agency he manages. He gives her a small revolver engraved with his name as a token. Dorothy is assigned to cover a party for a society debutante, where she meets James Vallon, a popular and wealthy young man, and they are attracted to each other. While he flirts with her a valuable necklace goes missing and as Dorothy digs deeper into the incident she begins to suspect Vallon is involved.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Come Again Smith (1919)
Joe Smith Jr., the son of a millionaire, is challenged by his father to earn his own living instead of depending on his father's money. One year later Joe is broke, dirty, homeless and hanging out with other derelicts on a New York City park bench. A chance meeting with businessman Ned Stervens results in Joe being invited to stay in Stevens' house for a week, to make Stevens' point to his acquaintance Frank Overton---a shady stockbroker--that given a chance, even a tramp like Joe can better himself. Joe finds himself in love with Stevens' sister Lucy and unwittingly becomes party to a scheme by Overton to swindle Lucy out of her money.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Playing with Fire and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Playing with Fire?
The closest matches to Playing with Fire are The Visit (1964), What Maisie Knew (2013) and Hounddog (2008). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Playing with Fire?
Start with The Visit (1964), the closest match to Playing with Fire.
What is the highest-rated movie like Playing with Fire?
What Maisie Knew (2013), rated 7.1/10 by 466 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Playing with Fire?
Eleanor the Great (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Playing with Fire?
Yes: The Visit (1964), What Maisie Knew (2013) and Hounddog (2008).
How are movies similar to Playing with Fire chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Playing with Fire, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.