Movies like Helpless and Reckless (2012)
The best movies like Helpless and Reckless (2012) are The Eel (1997), The Visit (1964) and One Million Yen Girl (2008). If Helpless and Reckless hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCharm City Kings (2020)7.8/10 from 508 votes
- NewestEleanor the Great (2025)Released 2025
- In JapaneseThe Eel (1997)Also in Japanese
The Eel (1997)
A businessman kills his adulterous wife and is sent to prison. After his release, he opens a barbershop and meets new people, talking to almost no one except for an eel he befriended while in prison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Visit (1964)
Carla Zachanassian had a child by Serge Miller as a teenager. When Serge refused to marry her, she was driven out of town. By her own wit and cunning, she has returned as a multi-millionaire for a visit. The town lays out the red carpet expecting big things from Carla, only to learn that her sole purpose is to see Serge Miller killed...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOne Million Yen Girl (2008)
A 21-year-old girl is released from prison, only to deal with the neighborhood gossip about her and family conflicts. She decides to save one million yen, move to where no one knows her and keep repeating the process.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Dinner with Hervé (2018)
An unlikely friendship evolves over one wild night in LA between a struggling journalist and actor Hervé Villechaize, the world's most famous gun-toting dwarf, resulting in life-changing consequences for both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
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 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 thisThe Ballad of Narayama (1983)
In a small village in a valley everyone who reaches the age of 70 must leave the village and go to a certain mountain top to die. If anyone should refuse they would disgrace their family. Old Orin is 69. This winter it is her turn to go to the mountain. But first she must make sure that her eldest son Tatsuhei finds a wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Enforcer (2022)
A noir thriller set in Miami, the film follows an enforcer who discovers his femme fatale boss has branched out into cyber sex trafficking, putting a young runaway he’s befriended at risk. He sacrifices everything to save the young girl from the deadly organization he’s spent his life building.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInside I'm Dancing (2004)
Michael is a 24-year-old who has cerebral palsy and long-term resident of the Carrigmore Residential Home for the Disabled, run by the formidable Eileen. His life is transformed when the maverick Rory O'Shea moves in.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Pumpkin Eater (1964)
Jo, the mother of seven children, divorces her second husband in order to marry Jake, a successful but promiscuous screenwriter. Though they are physically and emotionally compatible, they are slowly torn apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cut (2025)
A retired boxer intends to return to the ring for one last shot at the title, but first he must make the weight. Holed up in a room in Las Vegas with an unscrupulous trainer, he embarks on an intensive and illegal weight-cutting program.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisImperial Dreams (2014)
A 21-year-old reformed gangster's devotion to his family and his future is put to the test when he is released from prison and returns to his old stomping grounds in Watts, Los Angeles.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEmbattled (2020)
The eldest son of a ruthlessly tough MMA champion must fight his way out of the abusive cycle his father has continued.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBrotherly Love (2015)
West Philadelphia basketball star Sergio Taylor deals with the pressures of fame while his brother and sister have their own issues with ambition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFast 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 thisCharm City Kings (2020)
Mouse desperately wants to join The Midnight Clique, the infamous Baltimore dirt bike riders who rule the summertime streets. When Midnight’s leader, Blax, takes 14-year-old Mouse under his wing, Mouse soon finds himself torn between the straight-and-narrow and a road filled with fast money and violence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Lords of Discipline (1983)
Will arrives for his last year at Military Academy, in the Deep South USA, in the 1960's. A black student, Pearce, has been accepted, for the first time and Will is asked to keep an eye out for the inevitable racism. The racists come in the form of The Ten, a secret group of the elite students. They want Pearce to leave on his own free will, but are prepared to torture him to make it 'his free will'. Will is forced to help Pearce and he is prepared to risk his own career to do so.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Ambiguous Focus (2017)
Torn by betrayal, Zhang Nan and Zhe must face the past and decide if their love can survive—or if it’s time to walk away for good.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
River's Edge (2018)
High schooler Haruna befriends loner Yamada, then is drawn into the tangled relationship between him, a model and the girl who loves him unreasonably.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this365 Days (2020)
A woman falls victim to a dominant mafia boss, who imprisons her and gives her one year to fall in love with him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAlbino (2016)
Yashima is a woman who works as a plumber. She is also uncomfortable with her own sexuality. One day she visits a home for a job and meets Kyu. Yashima senses Kyu's eyes watching her. They become intimate, but a dark secret is soon revealed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Uwakoi 2 (2014)
When he was a kid, Yukiteru lit candles and stared at the candlelights, but the candles fell down. A fire broke out and the whole house burned into ashes. Since that time, he has lived at the home of childhood friend Yuno. Yukiteru and Yuno are a couple known to everybody. Rena is a new transfer student in Yuno's class. She becomes interested in Yukiteru and one day they have an intimate encounter. This changes Yukiteru and his relationship with Yuno.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Untold Scandal (2003)
In late 1700s Korea, Lady Cho challenges the playboy Lord Jo-won into seducing and sleeping with her husband's coming young, virgin concubine. Lady Cho agrees to sleep with him if he succeeds.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSideways for Attention (2024)
In a self-destructive slide, college senior Chloe navigates a tightrope that won’t let her go.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Pieta (2012)
A loan shark is forced to reconsider his violent lifestyle after the arrival of a mysterious woman claiming to be his long-lost mother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHoffmann's Eyes (1993)
A retelling of E.T.A Hoffmann's gothic story "The Sandman" and the opera "Tales of Hoffmann", ever since childhood, Hoffmann has been haunted by The Sandman and believed that a visitor to his father was really The Sandman, while traveling to Veneice he encounters a strange glass vendor who reappears through out his life. This film was never completed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Role Play 2: Dongchim (2013)
Playwright Soo-yeon writes in a quiet villa. Soo-yeon lives isolated from the outside because of her father's pathological obsession. The father interferes excessively under the pretext of protecting his daughter Su-yeon from being stained by the corrupt world. Then one day, Hyun-woo, an aspiring actor, moves in between Su-yeon and her father. “I wonder how my dad will react if another man gets in between him and me.” Hyun-woo is the actor Soo-yeon hired to escape her father's obsession. That's how dangerous cohabitation begins.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Helpless and Reckless?
The closest matches to Helpless and Reckless are The Eel (1997), The Visit (1964) and One Million Yen Girl (2008). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Helpless and Reckless?
Start with The Eel (1997), the closest match to Helpless and Reckless.
What is the highest-rated movie like Helpless and Reckless?
Charm City Kings (2020), rated 7.8/10 by 508 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Helpless and Reckless?
Eleanor the Great (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Helpless and Reckless?
Yes: The Eel (1997), One Million Yen Girl (2008) and The Ballad of Narayama (1983).
How are movies similar to Helpless and Reckless chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Helpless and Reckless, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.