Movies like The Man Who Came Back (1931)
The best movies like The Man Who Came Back (1931) are The Girl in the Book (2015), Imperial Dreams (2014) and The Trials of Cate McCall (2013). If The Man Who Came Back hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAtonement (2007)7.6/10 from 4,909 votes
- NewestEleanor the Great (2025)Released 2025
The Girl in the Book (2015)
The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisThe Trials of Cate McCall (2013)
In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.
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 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 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 thisJoe (1970)
After murdering his daughter's drug-dealing boyfriend, a wealthy ad executive stumbles into a bar and strikes up an uneasy alliance with Joe Curran, a drunken bigot with a bloodlust who works at a local factory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPuncture (2011)
Based on a true story. Mike Weiss (Chris Evans) is a brilliant but self-destructive Houston attorney whose drug addiction threatens to destroy his career. When he and his law partner Paul Danziger (Mark Kassen) take on a case involving a nurse injured by a contaminated needle, they uncover a $130 billion medical supply monopoly that has been blocking a life-saving safety
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStrange Weather (2016)
Years after her son's suicide, a woman longs to confront both the past and a friend of his who took his business idea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisWhite Lightning (1973)
An ex-con teams up with federal agents to help them with breaking up a moonshine ring.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEach Dawn I Die (1939)
A corrupt D.A. with governatorial ambitions is annoyed by an investigative reporter's criticism of his criminal activities and decides to frame the reporter for manslaughter in order to silence him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Secrets We Keep (2020)
In post-World War II America, a woman, rebuilding her life in the suburbs with her husband, kidnaps her neighbor and seeks vengeance for the heinous war crimes she believes he committed against her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Safety of Objects (2002)
In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.
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 thisClean and Sober (1988)
Hotshot real estate salesman Daryl has a bad cocaine habit. After embezzling his company's money, he wakes up next to a girl who overdosed. To hide from the police, he checks into a rehabilitation program guaranteeing anonymity. Under the mentorship of counselor Craig, Daryl accepts that he has a substance abuse problem. As he falls in love with fellow patient Charlie, Daryl begins committing to a newly sober life.
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 thisEl Chicano (2019)
A pair of twin brothers from East L.A. choose to live their lives differently and end up on opposite sides of the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSouth of Heaven (2021)
Convicted felon Jimmy gets early parole after serving twelve years for armed robbery. Upon his release, he vows to give Annie, his childhood love, now dying from cancer, the best last year of her life – unfortunately it’s not that simple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisThe Valachi Papers (1972)
When Joe Valachi has a price put on his head by Don Vito Genovese, he must take desperate steps to protect himself while in prison. An unsuccessful attempt to slit his throat puts him over the edge to break the sacred code of silence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSocial Register (1934)
Chorus girl Patsy Shaw crashes a high-society party, meets playboy Charlie Breen, they fall in love, and are on their merry way to wedded bliss. However, Charlie's snobbish, ever-loving mama doesn't think that Patsy is worthy and sets out to prove it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Night World (1932)
"Happy" MacDonald and his unfaithful wife own a Prohibition era night club. On this eventful night, he is threatened by bootleggers, and the club's star dancer falls in love with a young socialite who drinks to forget a personal tragedy, among other incidents.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Peacock Alley (1930)
Show dancer Claire finds herself in the New York hotel-suite with Stoddard Clayton, saying goodbye to him before her impending marriage the following day. When she returns to the hotel with her husband the following night, the house detective accuses her of prostitution and throws them out. Now Claire must explain everything to her unsympathetic husband.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Two Kinds of Women (1932)
The daughter of a senator from South Dakota visits Manhattan for the first time, eager to see the sights of the big city. While there, she finds herself caught up in an affair with a married man, whose wife soon commits suicide. Complications ensue.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
West of Singapore (1933)
Tropical "heat" drives a man into the arms of a disreputable tramp, making things tough for the woman who really loves him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Atonement (2007)
A young girl irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCat on a Hot Tin Roof (1984)
An alcoholic ex-football player drinks his days away, having failed to come to terms with his sexuality and his real feelings for his football buddy who died after an ambiguous accident. His wife is crucified by her desperation to make him desire her: but he resists the affections of his wife. His reunion with his father—who is dying of cancer—jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Gone Baby Gone (2007)
When 4 year old Amanda McCready disappears from her home and the police make little headway in solving the case, the girl's aunt, Beatrice McCready hires two private detectives, Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro. The detectives freely admit that they have little experience with this type of case, but the family wants them for two reasons—they're not cops and they know the tough neighborhood in which they all live.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLust, Caution (2007)
During World War II, a secret agent must seduce, then assassinate an official who works for the Japanese puppet government in Shanghai. Her mission becomes clouded when she finds herself falling in love with the man she is assigned to kill.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Runaway Bride (1930)
Mary Gray elopes to Atlantic City, NJ, but begins having second thoughts about the marriage. Then she becomes inexplicably locked in her hotel room, and a series of cops, robbers and kidnappers passes through. Desperate, Mary trusts the shifty chambermaid Clara who whisks her away to the mansion of wealthy George Blaine. There, Mary must pretend to be a lowly cook, but that seems better than sticking with the guy she was engaged to.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Man Who Came Back?
The closest matches to The Man Who Came Back are The Girl in the Book (2015), Imperial Dreams (2014) and The Trials of Cate McCall (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Man Who Came Back?
Start with The Girl in the Book (2015), the closest match to The Man Who Came Back.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Man Who Came Back?
Atonement (2007), rated 7.6/10 by 4,909 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Man Who Came Back?
Eleanor the Great (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Man Who Came Back?
Yes: The Girl in the Book (2015), Imperial Dreams (2014) and The Trials of Cate McCall (2013).
How are movies similar to The Man Who Came Back chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Man Who Came Back, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.