Movies like Waves (2023)
The best movies like Waves (2023) are A Kiss Before Dying (1956), The Girl in the Book (2015) and The Truth About Emanuel (2013). If Waves hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBefore I Fall (2017)7.0/10 from 3,608 votes
- NewestThe Bosses (2025)Released 2025
A Kiss Before Dying (1956)
A college student tries to get rich quick by wooing two wealthy sisters.
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 thisThe Truth About Emanuel (2013)
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisHello Sister, Goodbye Life (2006)
A college student must take care of her 7-year-old half sister after the death of their parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDC Showcase: Death (2019)
Vincent, an artist with unresolved inner demons, meets a mysterious girl who helps him come to terms with his creative legacy… and eventual death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 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 thisMan with No Past (2025)
Waking up in an unfamiliar city, a man with no memory must confront the mysteries of his own identity. However, his desperate search to uncover the past pits him against a powerful enemy, leading to a showdown that ultimately reveals the truth.
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 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 thisCall Me Crazy: A Five Film (2013)
A psychotherapist helps a law student cope with schizophrenia in one of five interconnected tales dealing with mental illness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBefore I Fall (2017)
Samantha Kingston has everything. Then, everything changes. After one fateful night, she wakes up with no future at all. Trapped into reliving the same day over and over, she begins to question just how perfect her life really was.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Enforcer (2022)
A noir thriller set in Miami, the film follows an enforcer who discovers his femme fatale boss has branched out into cyber sex trafficking, putting a young runaway he’s befriended at risk. He sacrifices everything to save the young girl from the deadly organization he’s spent his life building.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Dinner with Hervé (2018)
An unlikely friendship evolves over one wild night in LA between a struggling journalist and actor Hervé Villechaize, the world's most famous gun-toting dwarf, resulting in life-changing consequences for both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGracie (2007)
A teenager faces an uphill battle when she fights to give women the opportunity to play competitive soccer.
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 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 thisRogue Agent (2022)
Conman Robert Freegard poses as an undercover MI5 agent and kidnaps countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt, until the woman who fell for him brings him to justice.
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 thisMinor Inconvenience Man 2 (2024)
Minor Inconvenience Man finds himself in a tough spot in his life whilst also dealing with two new adversaries.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Being Macbeth (2023)
theater student tries to find inspiration for his new role and gets lost between reality and fiction
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Double Lines (2024)
As one of them is grappling with the possibility of an unplanned pregnancy, two cousins have a heart-to-heart about their family, their lives, and their futures.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Lockdown (2019)
Four teens get stuck in a bathroom during a lockdown.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Bosses (2025)
Mafia grunt Hubert is tasked with assassinating a rival boss. However, fate intervenes...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
FLATA (2024)
Ditched by her friend at a party, Dani is surrounded by strangers that she doesn't like. Among the crowd, she spots classmate Julia, loudly fighting with her boyfriend Paul.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Vacuum (2024)
Tom, a deaf teen, has to get out of his hearing "vacuum" bubble because of the war. He is standing before a decision that will impact the rest of his life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Pathways (2023)
A boy gets caught in a loop with his hallway doors
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Rock Paper Scissors (2024)
After a party, two girls are left to clean up the mess and face their feelings. One wants to talk, while the other doesn't. To decide their fate, they play a game of rock-paper-scissors. Will they come together and finally open up or will they continue to hide secrets and feelings?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Borderline (2024)
A small family has to evacuate their kibbutz due to war, but the grandfather is unwilling to leave.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Waves and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Waves?
The closest matches to Waves are A Kiss Before Dying (1956), The Girl in the Book (2015) and The Truth About Emanuel (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Waves?
Start with A Kiss Before Dying (1956), the closest match to Waves.
What is the highest-rated movie like Waves?
Before I Fall (2017), rated 7.0/10 by 3,608 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Waves?
The Bosses (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Waves chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Waves, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.