Movies like sex, lies, and videotape (1989)
The best movies like sex, lies, and videotape (1989) are Walk on the Wild Side (1962), Nymphomaniac: Vol. I (2013) and Alone With Her (2006). If sex, lies, and videotape hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSteel Magnolias (1989)7.2/10 from 781 votes
- NewestThe Assessment (2025)Released 2025
Walk on the Wild Side (1962)
At a 1930s New Orleans bordello, Hallie is the main attraction for both clients and the shrewd madam. The arrival of Dove Linkhorn, her lovesick sweetheart from three years ago, disrupts the normal and triggers a chain of events involving a number of people, including the young woman he travelled with, who is now the Doll House's newest employee.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNymphomaniac: Vol. I (2013)
A man named Seligman finds a fainted wounded woman in an alley and he brings her home. She tells him that her name is Joe and that she is nymphomaniac. Joe tells her life and sexual experiences with hundreds of men since she was a young teenager while Seligman tells about his hobbies, such as fly fishing, reading about Fibonacci numbers or listening to organ music.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlone With Her (2006)
The harrowing story of a disturbed young man's attempts to win the affections of an unsuspecting young woman. When Doug first sees Amy, he instantly falls for her and begins to watch her every move, going so far as to set up spy cameras in her apartment. However, as his fascination grows into obsession he's no longer satisfied with just watching.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAuto Focus (2002)
A successful TV star during the 1960s, former "Hogan's Heroes" actor Bob Crane projects a wholesome family-man image, but this front masks his persona as a sex addict who records and photographs his many encounters with women, often with the help of his seedy friend, John Henry Carpenter. This biographical drama reveals how Crane's double life takes its toll on him and his family, and ultimately contributes to his death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKinsey (2004)
Kinsey is a portrait of researcher Alfred Kinsey, driven to uncover the most private secrets of a nation. What begins for Kinsey as a scientific endeavor soon takes on an intensely personal relevance, ultimately becoming an unexpected journey into the mystery of human behavior.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShame (2011)
Brandon, a thirty-something man living in New York, eludes intimacy with women but feeds his deepest desires with a compulsive addiction to sex. When his younger sister temporarily moves into his apartment, stirring up bitter memories of their shared painful past, Brandon's life, like his fragile mind, gets out of control.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Only Living Boy in New York (2017)
When a young man learns that his overbearing father is having an affair, he tries to stop it, only to be seduced by the older woman as well.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPretty Baby (1978)
In 1917 New Orleans, a 12-year-old girl is raised in a brothel by her prostitute mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Crush (1993)
A precocious and obsessive teenager develops a crush on a naive writer with harrowing consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrimes of Passion (1984)
Fashion designer Joanna Crane leads a double life. By night she is China Blue, a prostitute who's attracted the attention of a sexually frustrated private detective, and a psychopathic priest in possession of a murderous sex toy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Love Song for Bobby Long (2004)
A headstrong young woman returns to New Orleans after the death of her estranged mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLooking for Mr. Goodbar (1977)
A short, unhappy affair with a married man leads a dedicated schoolteacher into the alcohol-and-drug fueled underworld of singles’ bars, where she begins to engage in a pattern of dangerous sexual activity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004)
Young Jeremiah lives in a stable environment with loving foster parents until the day his troubled mother, Sarah, returns to claim him. Jeremiah becomes swept up in his mother's dangerous world of drugs, seedy hotels, strip joints and revolving lovers. Salvation comes in the form of the boy's ultrareligious grandparents, but soon Jeremiah's mother returns. Maternal love binds the pair together on the road until Sarah's desperate and depraved lifestyle finally consumes her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisCutter's Way (1981)
Alex Cutter is a boozy, belligerent and deeply cynical Vietnam veteran whose encounter with a landmine during the war has left him minus an eye, a leg and an arm. When his drifter playboy friend Richard Bone is falsely accused of murder, Cutter sets out for revenge in his own inimitable style.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDream Lover (1994)
Not long after they cross paths at an art gallery, architect Ray Reardon and hypnotically sensual Lena are married with children. But as strange incidents occur, Ray begins to realize he may not really know the woman he married.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRambling Rose (1991)
In the Deep South of the 1930s, Rose is taken in by the Hillyer family to serve as housemaid so that she can avoid falling into a life of prostitution. Her appearence and personality is such that all men fall for her, and she knows it. She can't help herself from getting into trouble with men.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeep Water (2022)
A well-to-do husband who allows his wife to have affairs in order to avoid a divorce becomes a prime suspect in the disappearance of her lovers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisHeatwave (2022)
A woman's life takes an unexpected turn when she falls for her boss's wife. She must soon defend herself as she becomes entangled in a web of malice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Assessment (2025)
In a climate change-ravaged world, a utopian society optimizes life, including parenthood assessments. A successful couple faces scrutiny by an evaluator over seven days to determine their fitness for childbearing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLovelace (2013)
Story of Linda Lovelace, who is used and abused by the porn industry at the behest of her coercive husband, before taking control of her life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTigerland (2000)
A group of recruits go through Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Polk, Louisiana's infamous Tigerland, last stop before Vietnam for tens of thousands of young men in 1971.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBirth (2004)
It took Anna 10 years to recover from the death of her husband, Sean, but now she's on the verge of marrying her boyfriend, Joseph, and finally moving on. However, on the night of her engagement party, a young boy named Sean turns up, saying he is her dead husband reincarnated. At first she ignores the child, but his knowledge of her former husband's life is uncanny, leading her to believe that he might be telling the truth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cooler (2003)
Bernie works at a Las Vegas casino, where he uses his innate ability to bring about misfortune in those around him to jinx gamblers into losing. His imposing boss, Shelly Kaplow, is happy with the arrangement. But Bernie finds unexpected happiness when he begins dating attractive waitress Natalie Belisario.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrivate Parts (1997)
The life and career of shock-jock superstar Howard Stern is recounted from his humble beginnings to his view from the top. Possessing a desire to be an on-air personality since childhood, Stern meanders through the radio world, always with his supportive wife, Alison, by his side. Landing a gig in Washington, D.C., Stern meets Robin Quivers, who will become his long-time partner in crime. When the two move to New York, they face the wrath of NBC executives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBelizaire the Cajun (1986)
In 19th-century Louisiana's Cajun country, Belizaire is the informal spokesman for his citizens, who don't see eye to eye with local racists who wish to eradicate all Cajuns. Complicating matters is that Belizaire's former flame is now married to his biggest rival, an affluent landowner's son. Before he knows it, Belizaire is caught up in a web of murder, lies, and prejudice.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Tattoo Bar (2000)
Although she's still hung up on the man who broke her heart, club dancer Simona pledges to eradicate all memories of him by removing the tattoos he put on her body. Complicating matters is Mariel, the owner of a Barcelona tattoo shop whose obsession with Simona's undulating form leads him to steal the money to help her pay for the necessary laser treatments.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Naked Weapon (2002)
A mysterious woman, known as Madame M, kidnaps forty pre-teen girls and transports them to a remote island to train them as the most deadly assassins. CIA operative Jack Chen follows the case for 6 years with no leads, but when a series of assassinations begin to occur, Jack suspects that Madame M is back in business.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSteel Magnolias (1989)
A young beautician, newly arrived in a small Louisiana town, finds work at the local salon, where a small group of women share a close bond of friendship and welcome her into the fold.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHuman Traffic (1999)
For Jip, Lulu, Koop, Nina, and Moff, the dead-end jobs they endure during the week just kill the time until Friday night. That's when they cut very loose and get on the rollercoaster ride that takes them right through to Monday morning.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Woman in Flames (1983)
Eva, an upper-class housewife, frustratedly leaves her arrogant husband and decides to enter the call girl business. She lets Yvonne, a prostitute, teach her the basics and both set out for prey together, until Eva starts an affair with Chris, who turns out to be a call boy, as well. Consequently, she moves into his penthouse, large enough for both to offer their services separately.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like sex, lies, and videotape and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like sex, lies, and videotape?
The closest matches to sex, lies, and videotape are Walk on the Wild Side (1962), Nymphomaniac: Vol. I (2013) and Alone With Her (2006). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after sex, lies, and videotape?
Start with Walk on the Wild Side (1962), the closest match to sex, lies, and videotape.
What is the highest-rated movie like sex, lies, and videotape?
Steel Magnolias (1989), rated 7.2/10 by 781 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like sex, lies, and videotape?
The Assessment (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like sex, lies, and videotape?
Yes: Walk on the Wild Side (1962), Nymphomaniac: Vol. I (2013) and Alone With Her (2006).
How are movies similar to sex, lies, and videotape chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside sex, lies, and videotape, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.