Movies like Manila by Night (1980)
The best movies like Manila by Night (1980) are Manila in the Claws of Light (1975), Insiang (1976) and Exotica (1994). If Manila by Night hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLilya 4-ever (2002)7.6/10 from 712 votes
- NewestLes Misérables (2026)Released 2026
Manila in the Claws of Light (1975)
Julio, a young fisherman from a provincial village, descends into social alienation as he arrives in Manila to search for his loved one.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInsiang (1976)
A story about the life of a young girl living with her mother in the slums of Manila, which becomes unbearable when her mother's young boyfriend moves in with them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisExotica (1994)
In the upscale Toronto strip club Exotica, dancer Christina is visited nightly by the obsessive Francis, a depressed tax auditor. Her ex-boyfriend, the club's MC, Eric, still jealously pines for her even as he introduces her onstage, but Eric is having his own relationship problems with the club's female owner. Thomas, a mysterious pet-shop owner, is about to become unexpectedly involved in their lives.
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 thisEnter the Void (2010)
This psychedelic tour of life after death is seen entirely from the point of view of Oscar, a young American drug dealer and addict living in Tokyo with his prostitute sister, Linda. When Oscar is killed by police during a bust gone bad, his spirit journeys from the past -- where he sees his parents before their deaths -- to the present -- where he witnesses his own autopsy -- and then to the future, where he looks out for his sister from beyond the grave.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMetro Manila (2013)
Looking for a brighter future in metropolitan Manila, Oscar Ramirez and his family leave their miserable life in the rice terraces of Banaue, in the northern Philippines. In the sweltering capital, where all kind of perils lurk in every corner, Oscar catches a lucky break when he is offered a steady work for an armored truck company and the senior officer Ong takes him under his wing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMean Streets (1973)
A small-time hood must choose from among love, friendship and the chance to rise within the mob.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSalomé (2013)
After the lewd and frenetic Dance of the Seven Veils, and with the solemn pledge from the very lips of Herod himself that she could have whatever her heart desires up to half his kingdom, wanton and proud young Salomé comes before her king with an unreasonable demand. Beguiled by John the Baptist, and then scorned for the sake of his god, lascivious Salomé—encouraged by her mother, the vindictive, Herodias—commands that John be executed and his head delivered on a silver platter.
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 thisCrissCross (1992)
A 12-year-old boy comes of age in 1969 Key West against the backdrop of the Apollo moon landing, when he begins to sell cocaine so his mother can stop stripping.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisÒlòtūré (2019)
In Lagos, Nigeria, young, naive Nigerian journalist Òlòtūré goes undercover to expose the shady underworld of human trafficking. Unused to this brutal environment, crawling with ruthless traders and pimps, Òlòtūré finds warmth and friendship with Blessing, Linda and Beauty, the prostitutes she lives with. However, she gets drawn into their lifestyle and finds it difficult to cope. In her quest to uncover the truth, she pays the ultimate price - one that takes her to the verge of no return.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSkin Trade (2014)
After his family is killed by a Serbian gangster with international interests. NYC detective Nick goes to S.E. Asia and teams up with a Thai detective to get revenge and destroy the syndicates human trafficking network.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFaces (1968)
Middle-aged suburban husband Richard abruptly tells his wife, Maria, that he wants a divorce. As Richard takes up with a younger woman, Maria enjoys a night on the town with her friends and meets a younger man. As the couple and those around them confront a seemingly futile search for what they've lost -- love, excitement, passion -- this classic American independent film explores themes of aging and alienation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAdulthood (2008)
After serving six years for killing his schoolmate, a young man learns that someone is out for revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBand of the Hand (1986)
An Indian Vietnam veteran trains five street punks in the Everglades to fight vice in Miami.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Poker House (2008)
Agnes and her two sisters struggle through a day in a home overrun by gamblers, thieves, and johns.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOnly God Forgives (2013)
Julian, who runs a Thai boxing club as a front organization for his family's drug smuggling operation, is forced by his mother Crystal to find and kill the individual responsible for his brother's recent death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisSaint Jack (1979)
Jack Flowers is an American hustler trying to make his fortune in 1970s Singapore in small time pimping. His dreams of building a fortune by running a brothel himself and returning to the States is materialized when he is offered the opportunity by the CIA to run a brothel for the R&R activities of U.S. soldiers on leave in Singapore.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpartan (2004)
U.S. government agent Scott is assigned to rescue the daughter of a high-ranking government official. As willing as he is to bend the rules to get things done, though, Scott is shocked to find that others are willing to go even further to protect a political career.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll These Days When I'm Foreign (2013)
Two northeastern brothers live and work as waiters in Baixada Fluminense. The duo tries to balance themselves in an underworld permeated by financial difficulties, prostitution and urban violence. Antônio feels out of place.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Naked Lunch (1991)
Blank-faced bug killer Bill Lee and his dead-eyed wife, Joan, like to get high on Bill's pest poisons while lounging with Beat poet pals. After meeting the devilish Dr. Benway, Bill gets a drug made from a centipede. Upon indulging, he accidentally kills Joan, takes orders from his typewriter-turned-cockroach, ends up in a constantly mutating Mediterranean city and learns that his hip friends have published his work -- which he doesn't remember writing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUphill Love (2015)
Pablo is a young man going through a crisis of love. His best friend decides to take him to reunion party; there he encounters Daniela, the great love in his adolescence. In the middle of the party he tries conquer her heart, but discovers a reality that he did not expect of her: she is dedicated to the oldest trade in the world
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Queen of Underworld (1991)
Popular Hong Kong actress Amy Yip plays Sister Har -- a seminal figure in 1960s and '70s Hong Kong nightlife -- in this biographical film that follows the scenester's rise and fall from the upper echelons of society to the glamour and excess of Hong Kong's teeming underworld. A truly fascinating portrait of the allure and excess that were part of the fabric of Asia's favorite playground.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
May We Chat (2014)
Three troubled young girls will do anything to escape their stifling lives - even if it means turning to drugs and prostitution. Set in the generation of smartphones and web 2.0, the technology may have made communication easier than ever, but cautionary tales of misunderstood youths remain as relevant as they were two decades ago.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Spun (2003)
Over the course of three days, Ross, a college dropout addicted to crystal-meth, encounters a variety of oddball folks – including a stripper named Nikki and her boyfriend, the local meth producer, The Cook – but all he really wants to do is hook up with his ex-girlfriend, Amy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLes Misérables (2026)
After enduring 19 years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread, Jean Valjean emerges a hardened man. He seeks redemption by reinventing himself as a respected dignitary under a new identity. He promises Fantine, a dying factory worker, to rescue and protect her daughter Cosette, who is being exploited and mistreated by the deceitful Thénardier family. As Valjean raises Cosette as his own, he is relentlessly pursued by Inspector Javert. Admist the social unrest shaking France, the fates of Valjean, Cosette, her lover Marius, and Javert become intertwined in a turbulent, revolutionary Paris. Through struggles, sacrifices, and a deep yearning for justice, Valjean strives to complete his journey of redemption and offer Cosette a future of love and freedom.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)
Terrence McDonagh is a New Orleans Police sergeant, who receives a medal and a promotion to lieutenant for heroism during Hurricane Katrina. Due to his heroic act, McDonagh injures his back and becomes addicted to prescription pain medication. He then finds himself involved with a drug dealer who is suspected of murdering a family of African immigrants.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLilya 4-ever (2002)
In a struggling post-Soviet community, Lilya a teenage girl is abandoned when her mother moves to the United States with her boyfriend. Facing neglect and poverty, she meets Andrei, who offers her a job in Sweden, giving her hope for a better life — and a journey that will change everything.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChandni Bar (2001)
The gritty life of the Mumbai underworld, including prostitution, dance bars and gun crime.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Manila by Night and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Manila by Night?
The closest matches to Manila by Night are Manila in the Claws of Light (1975), Insiang (1976) and Exotica (1994). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Manila by Night?
Start with Manila in the Claws of Light (1975), the closest match to Manila by Night.
What is the highest-rated movie like Manila by Night?
Lilya 4-ever (2002), rated 7.6/10 by 712 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Manila by Night?
Les Misérables (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Manila by Night chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Manila by Night, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.