Movies like Motive
The best movies like Motive are Wonderstruck (2017), The Two Faces of January (2014) and Bad Sister (2015). If Motive hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Motive
Quick picks
- Highest ratedTampopo (1985)7.8/10 from 469 votes
- NewestLove Me Love Me (2026)Released 2026
Wonderstruck (2017)
The story of a young boy in the Midwest is told simultaneously with a tale about a young girl in New York from fifty years ago as they both seek the same mysterious connection.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Two Faces of January (2014)
After he kills a detective, a con artist and his wife must trust a potentially dangerous stranger to help them get out of Greece.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisBad Sister (2015)
As a top student at St. Adeline's Catholic Boarding School, Zoe senses that something is not quite right about the school's new nun-- a sense proven to be true when it is revealed the "good' nun is an imposter with a fatal attraction to Zoe's brother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau (2014)
The story of the insane scandals related to the remake of “Island of Dr. Moreau” —originally a novel by H. G. Wells—, which was brought to the big screen in 1996. How director Richard Stanley spent four years developing the project just to find an abrupt end to his work while leading actor Marlon Brando pulled the strings in the shadows. Now for the first time, the living key players recount what really happened and why it all went so spectacularly wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Words (2012)
The Words follows young writer Rory Jansen who finally achieves long sought after literary success after publishing the next great American novel. There's only one catch - he didn't write it. As the past comes back to haunt him and his literary star continues to rise, Jansen is forced to confront the steep price that must be paid for stealing another man's work, and for placing ambition and success above life's most fundamental three words.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSafe Haven (2013)
A young woman with a mysterious past lands in Southport, North Carolina where her bond with a widower forces her to confront the dark secret that haunts her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRuggles of Red Gap (1935)
In this comedy of an Englishman stranded in a sea of barbaric Americans, Marmaduke Ruggles – a gentleman's gentleman and butler to an Earl – is lost in a poker game to an uncouth American cattle baron. Ruggles' life is turned upside down as he's taken to the USA, is gradually assimilated into American life, accidentally becomes a local celebrity, and falls in love along the way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLove Me Love Me (2026)
After her brother's death, June moves to Milan for a fresh start, finding comfort in Will, the perfect honor student at her new international school. But when his troubled best friend James—hiding a dangerous life in clandestine MMA fights—sparks a rivalry that quickly turns into irresistible attraction, June must choose between safety and a love that upends everything she thought she wanted.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Fault: London (2025)
18-year-old Noah moves from America to London, with her mother who's recently fallen in love with William, a wealthy British businessman. Noah meets William’s son, bad-boy Nick, and soon discovers there is an attraction between them neither can avoid. As Noah spends the summer adjusting to her new life, her devastating past will catch up with her while falling in love for the first time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInferno (2016)
After waking up in a hospital with amnesia, professor Robert Langdon and a doctor must race against time to foil a deadly global plot.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCornered (1945)
A World War II veteran hunts down the Nazi collaborators who killed his wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll of My Heart: Inn Love (2017)
Brian and Jenny are preparing for the grand opening of their bed and breakfast, Emily's Country Inn, when a big storm hits Buck County. Brian agrees to go back to Wall Street to boost their funds, while Jenny scrambles to keep the opening on track.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDinner Rush (2000)
One unlucky evening, Louis Cropa, a part-time bookmaker, discovers that his restaurant has become a hotbed of conflicting characters. In addition to having to please a whiny food critic, Louis must fend off a hostile takeover from a pair of gangsters, to whom his sous-chef is in debt. Further, Louis has an argument with his son, the star chef, whose culinary creativity has brought success to the business.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOldboy (2013)
A man has only three and a half days and limited resources to discover why he was imprisoned in a nondescript room for 20 years without any explanation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWinged Creatures (2009)
A psychotic man opens fire in a diner, murdering numerous people before killing himself. The survivors struggle in different ways following this horrendous event: a doctor doubts his own instincts and elects to use an experimental medical procedure on his wife, while a gambler believes he's on a lucky streak. A waitress begins engaging in promiscuous sex, and a young girl whose father is among the dead gains unexpected fame.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Matchmaker's Playbook (2018)
After a career-ending accident, former NFL recruit Ian Hunter is back on campus, and he's putting his extensive skills with women to work as one of the masterminds behind a successful and secretive dating service. But when Blake Olson requests the services of Wingmen, Inc., Ian may have landed his most hopeless client yet. As Blake begins the transformation from hot mess to smokin' hot, Ian realizes he's in danger of breaking his cardinal rule....
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies 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
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFirst Match (2018)
Hardened by years in foster care, a teenage girl from Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood decides that wrestling boys is the only way back to her estranged father.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Golden Apron (2025)
A mockumentary that follows the 5 main contestants of The Golden Apron contest, a competition in search of "the greatest home chef in America", being held by a nefarious food manufacturing company with their own corporate agenda.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Wedding Rule (2023)
Former childhood friends are bequeathed a restaurant where they met as teens on one condition: they must be married to claim the inheritance. Both single, the race is on to find the "one" but sometimes it can be right in front of you.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Mildred Pierce (1945)
A hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful restaurant business to support her spoiled daughter.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFrankie and Johnny (1991)
When Johnny is released from prison following a forgery charge, he quickly lands a job as a short-order cook at a New York diner. Following a brief fling with waitress Cora, he develops an attraction for Cora's friend and fellow waitress Frankie. While Frankie resists Johnny's charms initially, she eventually relents when her best friend, Tim, persuades her to give Johnny a chance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Reservations (2007)
Master chef Kate Armstrong runs her life and her kitchen with intimidating intensity. However, a recipe for disaster may be in the works when she becomes the guardian of her young niece while crossing forks with the brash sous-chef who just joined her staff. Though romance blooms in the face of rivalry, Kate needs to look outside the kitchen to find true happiness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMostly Martha (2001)
Martha is a single woman who lives for one passion: cooking. The head chef at a chic restaurant, Martha has no time for anything - or anyone - else. But Martha's solitary life is shaken when a fateful accident brings her sister's eight-year-old daughter, Lina, to her doorstep.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTampopo (1985)
In this humorous paean to the joys of food, a pair of truck drivers happen onto a decrepit roadside shop selling ramen noodles. The widowed owner, Tampopo, begs them to help her turn her establishment into a paragon of the "art of noodle-soup making". Interspersed are satirical vignettes about the importance of food to different aspects of human life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Absent-Minded Waiter (1977)
Bernie Cates requests the services of the most absent-minded waiter he's ever seen, who pours water before setting the glasses, endlessly repeats questions, brings wrong orders, and ruins everything- but the bill.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Kamome Diner (2006)
On a quiet street in Helsinki, Sachie has opened a diner featuring rice balls. For a month she has no customers. Then, in short order, she has her first customer, meets Midori, a gangly Japanese tourist, and invites her to stay with her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCharon (2021)
"Charon" follows a restaurant owner (Jason Shidiskis) and his wife (Liesl Cruz) going through their daily lives while expecting a child when the unexpected occurs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Motive?
The closest matches to Motive are Wonderstruck (2017), The Two Faces of January (2014) and Bad Sister (2015). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Motive?
Start with Wonderstruck (2017), the closest match to Motive.
What is the highest-rated movie like Motive?
Tampopo (1985), rated 7.8/10 by 469 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Motive?
Love Me Love Me (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Motive?
Yes: Wonderstruck (2017), The Two Faces of January (2014) and Bad Sister (2015).
How are movies similar to Motive chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Motive, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.