Movies like The Light We Left Behind (2026)
The best movies like The Light We Left Behind (2026) are Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between (2022), The Best of Me (2014) and Love Everlasting (2016). If The Light We Left Behind hooked you with its romance and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLife in a Year (2020)8.2/10 from 2,027 votes
- NewestRedwood Diaries (2026)Released 2026
- In SpanishAll That We Never Were (2026)Also in Spanish
Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between (2022)
Clare and Aidan make a pact to break up before college — no regrets, no broken hearts. But will one epic goodbye date offer them a last chance at love?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Best of Me (2014)
A pair of former high school sweethearts reunite after many years when they return to visit their small hometown.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLove Everlasting (2016)
Bridger is a young outsider who's always wanted more. He and his mother flee an abusive home, eventually finding a small town in the middle of nowhere. Once there, Bridger finds true acceptance with another misfit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLife in a Year (2020)
A 17 year old finds out that his girlfriend is dying, so he sets out to give her an entire life, in the last year she has left.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisEndless Love (2014)
A privileged girl and a charismatic boy's instant desire sparks a love affair made only more reckless by parents trying to keep them apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNot Easily Broken (2009)
A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPurple Hearts (2022)
An aspiring musician agrees to a marriage of convenience with a soon-to-deploy Marine, but a tragedy soon turns their fake relationship all too real.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAll That We Never Were (2026)
19-year-old Leah navigates a coming-of-age journey in the wake of a tragic car accident that claims her parents. Relocated to a coastal town under the care of her brother’s best friend Axel, Leah grapples with grief, haunting nightmares and a fractured sense of self.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMoonlight Mile (2002)
As he copes with the death of his fiancee along with her parents, a young man must figure out what he wants out of life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Heart Knows (2025)
After a heart transplant, Manuel feels a personality shift and explores his donor's life, leading him to meet the widowed Vale and her community.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCharlie St. Cloud (2010)
Accomplished sailor Charlie St. Cloud has the adoration of his mother Claire and his little brother Sam, as well as a college scholarship that will lead him far from his sleepy Pacific Northwest hometown. But his bright future is cut short when tragedy strikes and takes his dreams with it. After high school classmate Tess returns home unexpectedly, Charlie grows torn between honoring a promise he made four years earlier and moving forward with newfound love. As he finds the courage to let go of the past for good, Charlie discovers the soul most worth saving is his own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMemories of My Melancholy Whores (2011)
To celebrate his 90th birthday, an old single journalist, Sabio, wants something special from Rosa Cabarcas’s brothel: an intense night of love with a virgin teenager. The madam finds him the ideal young woman, Delgadina, a factory worker, who is selling her virginity to support her family. When he sees Delgadina sleeping angelically, he loses interest in pure pleasure and falls in love with her. That love was not meant to be true, but fate changes, and that hope is born of an opportunity for unbridled love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDot the I (2003)
A fiery Spanish woman is about to marry a kind British man when she meets a Brazilian actor who ignites in her a flame of lust she can't ignore.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnonymously Yours (2021)
After an accidental text message turns into a digital friendship, Vale and Alex start crushing on each other without realizing they've met in real life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Vanishing of Sidney Hall (2018)
Over the course of 12 years, and three stages of life, Sidney Hall falls in love, writes the book of a generation and then disappears without a trace.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRacing with the Moon (1984)
In a small coastal California town, Henry and Nicky are pals from blue collar families with only a short time before they ship off to World War II. Henry begins romancing new-to-town Caddie Winger, believing her to be wealthy. Mischievous and irresponsible, Nicky gets into trouble which forces the other two to become involved, testing their relationship, as well as the friendship between the boys.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNobody Has to Know (2022)
After a stroke and no memories from his past, Phil encounters Millie who inhabits a desert part of Isle of Lewis. She will shortly entrust him with his deepest secret : they were in love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
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 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 thisI Am David (2003)
A 12-year-old boy manages to flee a Communist concentration camp on his own, through sheer will and determination. All he has in his possession is a loaf of bread, a letter to deliver to someone in Denmark, and a compass to help get him there.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDevon (2024)
A recently widowed single mother, struggling to raise her depressed son alone, finds hope when her son’s best friend asks him out.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Millennium Actress (2002)
Documentary filmmaker Genya Tachibana has tracked down the legendary actress Chiyoko Fujiwara, who mysteriously vanished at the height of her career. When he presents her with a key she had lost and thought was gone forever, the filmmaker could not have imagined that it would not only unlock the long-held secrets of Chiyoko’s life... but also his own.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisI am the Secret in Your Heart (2024)
In school, Wang Hsiao-hsia and her childhood friend Yuzu are seen as a couple, but Hsiao-hsia secretly longs for the transfer student Cheng Yih. Cheng Yih, admired for his exceptional grades, talent, and fighting skills, captivates her heart. Despite her poor academic performance, Hsiao-hsia tries various methods to win his affection, but nothing works. Unbeknownst to her, Cheng Yih harbors feelings for Hsiao-hsia as well. Meanwhile, Yuzu, fiercely protective of Hsiao-hsia, is wary of anyone trying to get close to her. As summer arrives, a fragrant first love begins to bloom among the three of them, reminiscent of lemongrass.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Of Kisses and Capes (2023)
Isi and Finn are planning their first time together. This becomes a complicated undertaking, not only because of their physical disabilities and it threatens to derail their relationship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009)
When Miley Stewart (aka pop-star Hannah Montana) gets too caught up in the superstar celebrity lifestyle, her dad decides it's time for a total change of scenery. But sweet niblets! Miley must trade in all the glitz and glamour of Hollywood for some ol' blue jeans on the family farm in Tennessee, and question if she can be both Miley Stewart and Hannah Montana.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRedwood Diaries (2026)
When strange entries begin appearing in her diary written in handwriting that isn't hers, new student Evie Quinn is pulled into a chilling mystery as the messages reveal secrets, predict impossible events, and point toward a truth someone has desperately tried to bury.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Sabotaging the Squad (2023)
Missy discovers the coveted role she's scored as head coach of her daughter's cheer squad comes with a deadly price.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The King's Necklace (2011)
Once upon a time, there was a queen who decided to return a sacred necklace that belonged to one of her ancestors. This necklace, she believes, will bring balance and prosperity to her people. Once upon a time, there was a scientist dedicated to ecosystem conservation who works to reintroduce wolves into the country. Once upon a time, there was a young orphan raised with a lion who refuses to be parted from him. This is the story of three homecomings that fate will bring together in an adventure spanning France and Gabon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Kasper & Sophie (2022)
Guilt-ridden teenager Kasper is willing to do anything to make things right again with his girlfriend.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bravetown (2015)
After an accidental drug overdose, a talented teenage DJ goes to live with his estranged father in a small Army town, where he gets to the bottom of his own pain and learns empathy for others.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Light We Left Behind?
The closest matches to The Light We Left Behind are Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between (2022), The Best of Me (2014) and Love Everlasting (2016). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Light We Left Behind?
Start with Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between (2022), the closest match to The Light We Left Behind.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Light We Left Behind?
Life in a Year (2020), rated 8.2/10 by 2,027 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Light We Left Behind?
Redwood Diaries (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like The Light We Left Behind?
Yes: All That We Never Were (2026), The Heart Knows (2025) and Memories of My Melancholy Whores (2011).
How are movies similar to The Light We Left Behind chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Light We Left Behind, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.