Movies like The Pretender (1915)
The best movies like The Pretender (1915) are Omaha (2025), Won't Back Down (2012) and Salomé (2013). If The Pretender hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
The Pretender
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Good Neighbor (2022)6.7/10 from 215 votes
- NewestOmaha (2025)Released 2025
Omaha (2025)
A young girl and her brother are awoken by their father and loaded into the car on an early morning in 2008. As they road trip across the American West, she discovers the truth about their seemingly spontaneous journey.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWon't Back Down (2012)
Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.
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 thisImperial Dreams (2014)
A 21-year-old reformed gangster's devotion to his family and his future is put to the test when he is released from prison and returns to his old stomping grounds in Watts, Los Angeles.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 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 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 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 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 thisThe Last Bus (2021)
Widower Tom, on the recent passing of his wife Mary, uses his free bus pass to travel the length of Britain from John O'Groats in Caithness to Land's End in Cornwall, their shared birthplace, using only local buses. It's an incident-fuelled nostalgia trip and his encounters with local people make him a media phenomenon. Tom is totally unaware and to his surprise on arrival at Land’s End he’s greeted as a celebrity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAdopt a Highway (2019)
Russ Millings has just been released from prison after serving 21 years for a 3rd strike conviction for possessing an ounce of marijuana. As he tries to adapt to a world he doesn’t recognize – including trying to learn how to use the internet – he finds an abandoned baby in a dumpster behind the fast food restaurant where he works as a dishwasher. Unsure of what to do, and caught between impulses of kindness and panic, Russ soon realizes this could be his chance at redemption.
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 thisAll Day and a Night (2020)
While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoly Lands (2019)
When lapsed Jew and former cardiologist Harry suddenly decides to spend his retirement as a pig farmer in Nazareth, Israel, the move deeply shocks his family and his new neighbours. Back in New York, Harry’s ex-wife Monica is trying to manage the lives of their adult children, Annabelle and David, as well as her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisLorelei (2020)
A man is released from prison after 15 years. He reunites with his high school girlfriend, now a single mother of three. What follows is a lyrical take on love, regret and second chances.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCome Sunday (2018)
Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Short History of the Long Road (2019)
Nola grew up living in a van with her father, Clint—two nomads against the world. When tragedy strikes, Nola must confront the reality of life on the road alone, learning to own her grief, her past, and her new destination.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisO.G. (2018)
Louis Menkins is five weeks away from being released after 26 years in prison. He is faced with the decision to put his own release at risk in order to protect a young man named Beecher from growing gang controversies.
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 The Pretender and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Pretender?
The closest matches to The Pretender are Omaha (2025), Won't Back Down (2012) and Salomé (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Pretender?
Start with Omaha (2025), the closest match to The Pretender.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Pretender?
The Good Neighbor (2022), rated 6.7/10 by 215 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Pretender?
Omaha (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Pretender?
Yes: Omaha (2025), Won't Back Down (2012) and Salomé (2013).
How are movies similar to The Pretender chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Pretender, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.