Movies like The Magic Lantern (1903)
The best movies like The Magic Lantern (1903) are The Red Spectre (1907), Un Chien Andalou (1929) and Bogus (1996). If The Magic Lantern hooked you with its fantasy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMinions & Monsters (2026)7.5/10 from 1,384 votes
- NewestMinions & Monsters (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchThe Red Spectre (1907)Also in French
The Red Spectre (1907)
A demonic magician attempts to perform his act in a strange grotto, but is confronted by a Good Spirit who opposes him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUn Chien Andalou (1929)
Un Chien Andalou is an European avant-garde surrealist film, a collaboration between director Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBogus (1996)
Recently orphaned, a young boy is taken in by his godmother who is shocked to realize that she can see the boy's imaginary friend: a flamboyant, French magician named Bogus.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisOne Hundred and One Nights (1995)
Monsieur Cinema, a hundred years old, lives alone in a large villa. His memories fade away, so he engages a young woman to tell him stories about all the movies ever made.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnder the Sea: A Descendants Story (2018)
Mal emerges from the shadows of a mystical forest onto a dark coastline where she crosses paths with Dizzy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe '?' Motorist (1906)
A magical glowing white motorcar ignores policemen, drives up buildings, flies through outer space, and can transform into a horse and carriage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrincess Nicotine (1909)
A smoker falls asleep, and two mischievious fairies play with his pipe. He discovers this, and imprisons them in a cigar box. He removes a flower from the box, which contains a fairy smoking a cigarette. Next, he leaves briefly while his smoking paraphenalia clears itself from the table and the flower reassembles itself into a cigar. He lights the cigar, then breaks a bottle containing the fairy, who interacts with him in various ways reeling from his cigar smoke, building a bonfire that he extinguishes, etc.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisCirque du Soleil: Worlds Away (2012)
An original story featuring performances by Cirque du Soleil. A young woman is entranced by an Aerialist. When they fall into the dreamlike world of Cirque du Soleil and are separated, they travel through the different tent worlds trying to find each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Kingdom of the Fairies (1903)
At the royal court, a prince is presenting the princess whom he is pledged to marry when a witch suddenly appears. Though driven off, the witch soon returns, summons some of her servants, and carries off the princess. A rescue party is quickly organized, but the unfortunate captive has been taken to a strange, forbidding realm, from where it will be impossible to rescue her without some special help.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSketch (2025)
When a young girl’s sketchbook falls into a strange pond, her drawings come to life—chaotic, real, and on the loose. As the town descends into chaos, her family must reunite and stop the monsters they never meant to unleash.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLe manoir du diable (1896)
In a medieval castle, a dark magician thought to be Mephistopheles conjures up a series of bizarre creatures and events in order to torment a pair of interloping cavaliers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMarvel One-Shot: All Hail the King (2014)
A documentary filmmaker interviews the now-famous Trevor Slattery from behind bars.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMythica: A Quest for Heroes (2014)
Stuck in a life of indentured servitude, Marek dreams of becoming a wizard. When she meets the beautiful priestess Teela in need of help, she offers her assistance and provides a motley troupe. Together they go in search of Teela's sister, who was kidnapped by a wild ogre.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisMinions & Monsters (2026)
This is the rambunctious, ridiculous and totally true story of how the Minions conquered Hollywood, became movie stars, lost everything, unleashed monsters onto the world and then banded together to try and save the planet from the mayhem they had just created.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDestino (2003)
Short film to a song of love lost and rediscovered, a woman sees and undergoes surreal transformations. Her lover's face melts off, she dons a dress from the shadow of a bell and becomes a dandelion, ants crawl out of a hand and become Frenchmen riding bicycles. Not to mention the turtles with faces on their backs that collide to form a ballerina, or the bizarre baseball game.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Boy Who Cried Werewolf (2010)
A Californian family inherits a castle in Romania. This is especially exciting to the son, who is obsessed with monsters. And he is not disappointed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDC Showcase: The Phantom Stranger (2020)
Jess joins her friends at a party in a dilapidated mansion hosted by the mysterious Seth. When odd things begin to happen to Jess and her friends, the Phantom Stranger intervenes to save her from a dreary fate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnastasia: Once Upon a Time (2020)
Anastasia Romanov escapes through a portal when her family is threatened by Vladimir Lenin, and she finds herself in the year 1988, befriended by a young American girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisPrincess (2008)
A reclusive princess and a directionless young man embark on a quest to save the world's mythical creatures from becoming extinct.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHansel and Gretel (1983)
Tim Burton's reimagined classic combines live action and stop motion, making for a creepy adventure into the woods. It is known for having aired only once on Disney Channel, on Halloween Night in 1983.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack Angel (1980)
A knight returns home from the Crusades to find his village devastated by disease and his family gone. He roams the forest searching for them, until he finds a mysterious maiden who is being held prisoner by a black knight. In order to free her, he must confront her captor.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Voyager 1 (2024)
Under the supervision of the tyrannous ruler Supremo, a fleet of aliens responsible for the creation of the universe conduct their daily work around the Milky Way. Among them is a curious alien called Melius, who dreams of leaving their weary job as a star polisher to explore distant planets. When the space probe ‘Voyager 1’ crashes into their ship, Melius sees their chance of escaping using the probe’s coordinates for planet Earth. What follows is an adventure full of extraordinary surprises and new friends, where our hero will be forced to choose between duty and love, their teachings and beliefs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
This May Be the End (2022)
An experimental silent film made with a team of three. Humanity is being wiped out and the last people left are friends May and Pearl. The main themes of the film are friendship that gives strength and hope, as well as current concern for the future of humans and our nature. Could we start over or was this it?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Dante's Inferno (1911)
A two-reel adaptation of Dante Alighieri's Inferno from the Divine Comedy by Helios Film. It is less well-known than the five-reel feature produced the same year by Milano Films, but it was released earlier in 1911.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Puff, the Magic Dragon (1978)
Jackie is a boy who is so trapped by his fears and doubts that he could not communicate with anyone. Then, a magic dragon named Puff comes to help Jackie by taking his soul force on a wonderous voyage to his island of Honah Lee. Along the way, they have adventures that nurture Jackie's imagination and courage in unorthodox ways.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
The Call of Cthulhu (2006)
A dying professor leaves his great-nephew a collection of documents pertaining to the Cthulhu Cult. The nephew begins to learn why the study of the cult so fascinated his grandfather. Bit-by-bit he begins piecing together the dread implications of his grandfather's inquiries, and soon he takes on investigating the Cthulhu cult as a crusade of his own.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Blue Room (2014)
A man wakes up in a blue room. He's stuck and he can't escape. A window is his only connection to the outer world. It filters the reality in a very mysterious way.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
The Infernal Cauldron (1903)
A green-skinned demon places a woman and two courtiers into a flaming cauldron.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fairylogue and Radio-Plays (1908)
L. Frank Baum would appear in a white suit and present his live actors, slide shows and films as a live travelogue presentation of his popular fantasies. Highlights include Dorothy being swept to Oz in various ways, such as with back-projection tornadoes and storms in a chicken coop. Lack of financial backing forced the show to fold after appearing in only two cities, despite being a critical and commercial success. This film is lost.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Cups of Coffee (1959)
Filmic exercise by Verhoeven
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Like The Magic Lantern and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Magic Lantern?
The closest matches to The Magic Lantern are The Red Spectre (1907), Un Chien Andalou (1929) and Bogus (1996). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Magic Lantern?
Start with The Red Spectre (1907), the closest match to The Magic Lantern.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Magic Lantern?
Minions & Monsters (2026), rated 7.5/10 by 1,384 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Magic Lantern?
Minions & Monsters (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like The Magic Lantern?
Yes: The Red Spectre (1907), Un Chien Andalou (1929) and One Hundred and One Nights (1995).
How are movies similar to The Magic Lantern chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Magic Lantern, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.