Movies like Waste Days (2014)
The best movies like Waste Days (2014) are The Short History of the Long Road (2019), The Heiresses (2018) and Gigi & Nate (2022). If Waste Days hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPrayers for the Stolen (2021)7.6/10 from 202 votes
- NewestYou, Fireworks, and Our Promise (2026)Released 2026
- In SpanishThe Heiresses (2018)Also in Spanish
The 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 Heiresses (2018)
After her girlfriend is imprisoned on fraud charges, Chela is forced to face a new reality. Driving for the first time in years, she begins to provide a local taxi service to a group of elderly wealthy ladies. As Chela settles into her new life, she encounters the much younger Angy, forging a fresh and invigorating new connection.
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 thisI Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977)
A disturbed and institutionalized 16-year-old girl struggles between fantasy and reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLady Driver (2020)
When a rebellious teen embarks on a solo summer journey to connect with her roots, she finds herself in a new world, geared up for the ride of her life, and discovers she had the drive in her all along.
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 thisEl Chicano (2019)
A pair of twin brothers from East L.A. choose to live their lives differently and end up on opposite sides of the law.
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 thisDear Zoe (2022)
Tess enlists her biological father – a lovable slacker from the wrong side of the tracks – and the charming juvenile delinquent next door to help her come to grips with the death of her little sister.
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 thisHomeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story (2003)
Based on a true story. Liz Murray is a young girl who is taken care of by her loving, but drug-addicted parents. Liz becomes homeless at 15 and after a tragedy comes upon her, she begins her work to finish high school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlue Chips (1994)
Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future are secretly being paid by boosters. This practice is forbidden in the college game, but Pete is desperate and has pressures from all around.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrayers for the Stolen (2021)
Ana and her two best friends, Maria and Paula, navigate life in their oppressive countryside village. Whilst their families struggle in the poppy fields harvesting opium, the girls try to grow alongside the creeping terror of their cartel oppressors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNothing in Return (2015)
One summer, Dario flees the hellish environment of his home. Luismi, unconditional friend, a poor devil with pretensions of winning, and Antonia, an old woman who collects abandoned his motorcar furniture, become his new family. Three generations living together in a city too big to be alone.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Together Now (2020)
An optimistic, talented teen clings to a huge secret: she's homeless and living on a school bus. When tragedy strikes, can she learn to accept a helping hand?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMemories of a Teenager (2019)
After the suicide of his best friend and the fire of a local dance called Cromañón, including recitals, illegal parties in an abandoned warehouse and high school, a year passes by in the life of Zabo who writes everything he feels and lives in his blog, "Memories of a teenager".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe King of Havana (2015)
Recently escaped from reformatory, Reinaldo struggles to get by in the streets of Havana in the late 90s, one of the worst decades for Cuban society. Hopes, disillusionment, rum, good humor and above all hunger, accompany him in his wanderings, until he meets Magda and Yunisleidy, survivors like himself. In one or the other's arms, he will try to escape the material and moral misery surrounding him, living love, passion, tenderness and uninhibited sex to the limit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 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 thisBattle of the Year (2013)
A down-on-his-luck coach is hired to prepare a team of the best American dancers for an international tournament that attracts all the best crews from around the world, but the Americans haven't won in fifteen years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYou, Fireworks, and Our Promise (2026)
The coming-of-age romance is set during the Nagaoka Festival Grand Fireworks Show, one of Japan's three major fireworks shows that draws several hundred thousand visitors to Niigata Prefecture every year. What connects Makoto (a Tokyo high school boy without social skills or self-confidence) and Aki (a popular high school girl and class president with beauty and talent) is a drawing of a fireworks display. At the mercy of the drawing's mystery and fate itself, the two have to make a choice in a limited amount of time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bambi (1942)
Bambi's tale unfolds from season to season as the young prince of the forest learns about life, love, and friends.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBattle Royale (2000)
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOff the Road (2013)
Paul, fourteen, neglects his studies to spend all his time on his moped, to the consternation of his parents.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
DRAWN OUT (2025)
On the eve of leaving for college, Randy discovers that the childhood drawings she's long forgotten are not quite ready to let her go. When her imaginary friends come to life, they pull her into a surreal final adventure through her own home, one that forces her to confront buried memories, unresolved guilt, and the fear she's been avoiding. As fantasy and reality collide, Randy must decide whether to run from her past or face it head-on, learning that growing up doesn't mean leaving every part of yourself behind.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Crescendo (TBA)
As the end-of-year concert approaches, Théa, a young student pianist at a conservatory, finds herself losing all her nerve due to her fascination with one of her elders, Cécile.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Homebreaker (2015)
Eelis is skipping classes, mom and dad are on the verge of divorce, sister has yet another boyfriend. The life of a little boy is in its turning point.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
A Green Lighter (TBA)
After a brief but intense relationship with a rootless young man, a quiet woman must confront the unsettling realization that she has lost her sense of self.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Dense on the Sea (2000)
Constant Wegman (Benja Bruijning), a 14 year old boy, raised by his grandmother (Carry Tefsen) in Zeedijk, Amsterdam. She is the owner of a cafe-hotel “De Rode Laars” (“The Red Boots”). The dreaming Constant runs away from this world of drunkards, gamblers, fighters by writing poems. His grandmother wants him to take control of the cafe. Then Constant secretly subscribes to a national poem writing competition: a new Vondel is born!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
One Summer (2025)
„Ein Sommer“ tells the story of a young girl who is afraid to live the life she wishes for. As she gets to know the new girl in town, she reflects on all the things she would have loved to have done and is forced to face her fears.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Waste Days?
The closest matches to Waste Days are The Short History of the Long Road (2019), The Heiresses (2018) and Gigi & Nate (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Waste Days?
Start with The Short History of the Long Road (2019), the closest match to Waste Days.
What is the highest-rated movie like Waste Days?
Prayers for the Stolen (2021), rated 7.6/10 by 202 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Waste Days?
You, Fireworks, and Our Promise (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like Waste Days?
Yes: The Heiresses (2018), Prayers for the Stolen (2021) and Nothing in Return (2015).
How are movies similar to Waste Days chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Waste Days, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.