Movies like Despair (2003)
The best movies like Despair (2003) are Fast Girls (2012), Home Run (2013) and Jungleland (2020). If Despair hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Despair
Quick picks
- Highest ratedGhost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)7.4/10 from 1,503 votes
- NewestEleanor the Great (2025)Released 2025
Fast 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 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 · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJungleland (2020)
Stanley manages his boxer brother Lion but when a devastating loss in the ring leaves the pair in debt, an opportunity to recoup the cash leads to a series of misadventures that threaten to break the bond between them.
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 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 thisHands of Stone (2016)
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Young One (1960)
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCardboard Boxer (2016)
Gentle and broken, a homeless man fights others on video for money but soon finds comfort in an unlikely friend and the lost diary of a young girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAbove the Rim (1994)
Story of a promising high school basketball star and his relationships with two brothers, one a drug dealer and the other a former basketball star fallen on hard times and now employed as a security guard.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 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 thisJawbone (2017)
A former youth boxing champion, Jimmy McCabe is a man in search of hope but looking in all the wrong places. When he hits rock bottom he turns to his childhood boxing club and the only family he has left: gym owner Bill corner man Eddie and promoter Joe. Back in training, years after anyone thought he was a contender, he risks his life, as he tries to stand tall and regain his place in the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlood Ties (2013)
Two brothers, on either side of the law, face off over organized crime in Brooklyn during the 1970s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmateur (2018)
14-year-old basketball phenom Terron Forte has to navigate the under-the-table world of amateur athletics when he is recruited to an elite NCAA prep school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMindwalk (1991)
On the French island of Mont Saint-Michel, Jack, a failed presidential candidate, Tom, a poet and Sonia, a physicist, engage in an intellectual conversation about politics, philosophy and life over the course of a single day.
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 thisResurrecting the Champ (2007)
Up-and-coming sports reporter rescues a homeless man ("Champ") only to discover that he is, in fact, a boxing legend believed to have passed away. What begins as an opportunity to resurrect Champ's story and escape the shadow of his father's success becomes a personal journey as the ambitious reporter reexamines his own life and his relationship with his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEleanor the Great (2025)
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisViolent Saturday (1955)
Three men case a small town very carefully, with plans to rob the bank on the upcoming Saturday, which turns violent and deadly.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrue Colors (1991)
Two law school friends find themselves at odds when one becomes a Justice Department lawyer and the other goes into politics.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI'll Follow You Down (2013)
After the disappearance of a young scientist on a business trip, his son and wife struggle to cope, only to make a bizarre discovery years later – one that may bring him home.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPinball: The Man Who Saved the Game (2023)
The dramatic comedy is based on the true story of writer and pinball wizard Roger Sharpe, chronicling his journey to overturn New York City’s 35-year ban on pinball.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGhost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
A Black hitman who models after the samurai of old finds himself targeted for death by the mob.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBad Timing (1982)
Nancy Savoca’s second student film follows two twelve-year olds, Bobby (Joey D’Arelli) and Denise (Kelly Cinnante) who run away to Hollywood. They land at an open mic night in a New Jersey bar where Bobby’s aunt and uncle (once aspiring actors) lay out the realities of life as a working actor. The film was inspired by performers Savoca met while making her first student film, most notably William DaPrato. Filled with wry humor and quiet revelations about the pursuit of artistic dreams, Bad Timing also features Marianne Leone and the on-screen debut of future Academy Award winner Chris Cooper.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Vodka 7 (2012)
Three simultaneous stories take place in a New Jersey bar.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Deceptions (1985)
Twin sisters -- one a European jet-setter, the other an unhappy New Jersey housewife -- impulsively decide to swap lives and identities for a week, with unforseen results.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Safe Passage (1994)
Recently estranged from her husband, and mother of seven sons, Mag Singer stands poised to pursue a whole new way of life. But when one of her children is involved in an explosion while on duty in the Middle East, Mag must rexamine everything she cherishes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Many Saints of Newark (2021)
Young Anthony Soprano is growing up in one of the most tumultuous eras in Newark, N.J., history, becoming a man just as rival gangsters start to rise up and challenge the all-powerful DiMeo crime family. Caught up in the changing times is the uncle he idolizes, Dickie Moltisanti, whose influence over his nephew will help shape the impressionable teenager into the all-powerful mob boss, Tony Soprano.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLianna (1983)
Lianna's life is a succession of domestic errands and boring faculty parties, however her heaviest cross to bear is dealing with her waning marriage to Dick. In order to find intellectual stimulus, Lianna takes a college extension child-psychology course taught by Ruth. When Lianna catches Dick having an affair with a young coed, she finds comfort and eventually true love in the arms of Ruth. However, this comes with a price as everything in her life is turned upside down.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Freeheld (2015)
New Jersey car mechanic Stacie Andree and her police detective girlfriend Laurel Hester both battle to secure Hester's pension benefits after she was diagnosed with a terminal illness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Despair?
The closest matches to Despair are Fast Girls (2012), Home Run (2013) and Jungleland (2020). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Despair?
Start with Fast Girls (2012), the closest match to Despair.
What is the highest-rated movie like Despair?
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), rated 7.4/10 by 1,503 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Despair?
Eleanor the Great (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Despair?
Yes: Fast Girls (2012), Home Run (2013) and Jungleland (2020).
How are movies similar to Despair chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Despair, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.