Movies like Behind the Curtain
The best movies like Behind the Curtain are Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986), Madeline's Madeline (2018) and Rushmore (1998). If Behind the Curtain hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedRushmore (1998)7.4/10 from 2,857 votes
- NewestGhostlight (2024)Released 2024
Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986)
Eugene, a young teenage Jewish boy, recalls his memoirs of his time as an adolescent youth. He lives with his parents, his aunt, two cousins, and his brother, Stanley, whom he looks up to and admires. He goes through the hardships of puberty, sexual fantasy, and living the life of a poor boy in a crowded house.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMadeline's Madeline (2018)
Madeline has become an integral part of a prestigious physical theater troupe. When the workshop's ambitious director pushes the teenager to weave her rich interior world and troubled history with her mother into their collective art, the lines between performance and reality begin to blur. The resulting battle between imagination and appropriation rips out of the rehearsal space and through all three women's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisRushmore (1998)
When a beautiful first-grade teacher arrives at a prep school, she soon attracts the attention of an ambitious teenager named Max, who quickly falls in love with her. Max turns to the father of two of his schoolmates for advice on how to woo the teacher. However, the situation soon gets complicated when Max's new friend becomes involved with her, setting the two pals against one another in a war for her attention.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGhostlight (2024)
When melancholic construction worker Dan finds himself drifting from his wife and daughter, he discovers community and purpose in a local theater's production of Romeo and Juliet. As the drama onstage starts to mirror his own life, he and his family are forced to confront a personal loss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisQuartet (2012)
Cissy, Reggie, and Wilf are in a home for retired musicians. Every year, there is a concert to celebrate Composer Giuseppe Verdi's birthday and they take part. Jean, who used to be married to Reggie, arrives at the home and disrupts their equilibrium. She still acts like a diva, but she refuses to sing. Still, the show must go on, and it does.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Whales of August (1987)
Two aged sisters reflect on life and the past during a late summer day in Maine.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisClouds of Sils Maria (2014)
A veteran actress comes face-to-face with an uncomfortable reflection of herself when she agrees to take part in a revival of the play that launched her career 20 years earlier.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIs Anybody There? (2009)
A young boy who lives in an old folks' home strikes up a friendship with a retired magician.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlashbacks of a Fool (2008)
An aging Hollywood star, Joe Scott, lives a life of narcissistic hedonism, observed by his laconic personal assistant, Ophelia. The death of his childhood best friend, Boots, takes our protagonist, and the movie, into an extended flashback to a sea-side town in 1970s Britain.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Trip to Bountiful (1985)
Carrie Watts is living the twilight of her life trapped in an apartment in 1940s Houston, Texas with a controlling daughter-in-law and a hen-pecked son. Her fondest wish – just once before she dies – is to revisit Bountiful, the small Texas town of her youth which she still refers to as "home."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBirdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
A fading actor best known for his portrayal of a popular superhero attempts to mount a comeback by appearing in a Broadway play. As opening night approaches, his attempts to become more altruistic, rebuild his career, and reconnect with friends and family prove more difficult than expected.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMrs Palfrey at The Claremont (2005)
All but abandoned by her family in a London retirement hotel, an elderly woman strikes up a curious friendship with a young writer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Browning Version (1951)
Andrew Crocker-Harris has been forced from his position as the classics master at an English public school due to poor health. As he winds up his final term, he discovers not only that his wife, Millie, has been unfaithful to him with one of his fellow schoolmasters, but that the school's students and faculty have long disdained him. However, an unexpected act of kindness causes Crocker-Harris to re-evaluate his life's work.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJulia (1977)
At the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFinding Neverland (2004)
During a writing slump, playwright J.M. Barrie meets a widow and her four children, all young boys—who soon become an important part of Barrie’s life and the inspiration that lead him to create his masterpiece. Peter Pan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNoises Off... (1992)
Hired to helm an Americanized take on a British play, director Lloyd Fellowes does his best to control an eccentric group of stage actors. With a star actress quickly passing her prime, a male lead with no confidence, and a bit actor that's rarely sober, chaos ensues in the lead up to a Broadway premiere.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNothing Like a Dame (2018)
BBC Arena's documentary on the Dames of British Theatre and film featuring Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench and Joan Plowright on screen together for the first time as they reminisce over a long summer weekend in a house Joan once shared with Sir Laurence Olivier.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Human Voice (2020)
A woman watches time pass beside the suitcases of her ex-lover (who is supposed to come pick them up but never arrives) and a restless dog who doesn't understand that his master has abandoned him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Love Song for Latasha (2019)
A dreamlike conversation with the past and the present, reimagining Latasha Harlins' story by excavating intimate memories shared by those who loved her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStage Door (1937)
A spirited heiress wishing to break into theatre on her own merit arrives at a boardinghouse where aspiring young actresses and showgirls are brought together through their cynicism and disappointments.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Behind the Curtain?
The closest matches to Behind the Curtain are Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986), Madeline's Madeline (2018) and Rushmore (1998). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Behind the Curtain?
Start with Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986), the closest match to Behind the Curtain.
What is the highest-rated movie like Behind the Curtain?
Rushmore (1998), rated 7.4/10 by 2,857 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Behind the Curtain?
Ghostlight (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like Behind the Curtain?
The closest matches are in other languages.
How are movies similar to Behind the Curtain chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Behind the Curtain, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.