Movies like Returning to Life (1957)
The best movies like Returning to Life (1957) are The Comedy of Terrors (1964), The Last Right (2019) and Personal Effects (2009). If Returning to Life hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAll My Life (2020)7.7/10 from 523 votes
- NewestNeglected (2026)Released 2026
The Comedy of Terrors (1964)
An undertaker who hasn't had any 'customers' in a long time is forced to pay one year's back-rent. To get money he starts to kill people, which brings absurd results.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Right (2019)
Daniel Murphy is lumbered with a corpse that has the same last name as his, who dies on his flight from Boston to County Cork. Travelling back to Ireland to attend his mother’s funeral, Daniel also checks on his autistic brother. What follows is an unconventional road trip with his brother and the mortuary assistant as they take the coffin from Clonakilty to Rathlin Island.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPersonal Effects (2009)
Walter is a rising star in the NCAA wrestling world until his life is ripped apart by the brutal murder of his sister. Returning home to console his mother Gloria he seeks vengeance on the man who is accused of the crime. A chance meeting with a beautiful mature woman gives him solace to the situation. Will this unlikely pairing bloom into a romance and heal a wound the world cannot see or will the loss of his sister push him over the edge?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVicious (2025)
When Polly receives a mysterious box, it comes with one rule: place inside something she needs, something she hates, and something she loves. If she doesn’t obey, it will consume everything—and everyone—she’s ever known.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisArsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Mortimer Brewster, a newspaper drama critic, playwright, and author known for his diatribes against marriage, suddenly falls in love and gets married; but when he makes a quick trip home to tell his two maiden aunts, he finds out his aunts' hobby - killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRoseanna's Grave (1997)
Roseanna is dying of a heart condition, and all she wants is to be buried next to her daughter, in a cemetery that is getting full fast. The cemetery can't expand because Capestro, the man who owns the land next to the cemetery, won't sell. While Marcello is doing good deeds to make sure no one dies, Roseanna thinks of Marcello's future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll My Life (2020)
It was a chance meeting started by one of Sol’s friends trying to chat up Jennifer. However, in the end, it was those two who hit it off. Sol enjoyed Jen’s smile, her effort, and how silly she could be. Jen enjoyed Sol’s cooking, his athleticism, and that he would join her in fun moments. As you can imagine, love bloomed, and things got serious. Jen’s investment in Sol led to her pushing him to follow his dreams and even move in to save money. Sol’s investment in Jen well, it led to him proposing. But what started as a liver tumor grew into full-on cancer, so with a diagnosis of 6 months to live, Sol and Jennifer try to make the best of it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSaint Maud (2020)
Having recently found God, self-effacing young nurse Maud arrives at a plush home to care for Amanda, a hedonistic dancer left frail from a chronic illness. When a chance encounter with a former colleague throws up hints of a dark past, it becomes clear there is more to sweet Maud than meets the eye.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeath of a Superhero (2011)
A dying 15-year-old boy draws stories of an invincible superhero as he struggles with his mortality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSeeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)
As an asteroid nears Earth, a man finds himself alone after his wife leaves in a panic. He decides to take a road trip to reunite with his high school sweetheart. Accompanying him is a neighbor who inadvertently puts a wrench in his plan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat's Love Got to Do with It? (2023)
Two childhood friends now in their thirties must decide whether to follow their heads or their hearts once the man decides to follow his parents' advice and enter into an arranged marriage in Pakistan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPhantasm (1979)
A teenage boy and his friends face off against a mysterious grave robber, known only as the Tall Man, who employs a lethal arsenal of unearthly weapons.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUndertaking Betty (2002)
A politician's wife and the mortician who has secretly loved her for years plan to fake her death so they can run away together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPet Sematary (1989)
After the Creed family's cat is accidentally killed, a friendly neighbor advises its burial in a mysterious nearby cemetery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
Mere seconds before the Earth is to be demolished by an alien construction crew, Arthur Dent is swept off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher penning a new edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAfter.Life (2009)
Following a terrible car crash, a woman awakes to find an enigmatic mortician preparing her for burial.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlien³ (1992)
After escaping with Newt and Hicks from the alien planet, Ripley crash lands on Fiorina 161, a prison planet and host to a correctional facility. Unfortunately, although Newt and Hicks do not survive the crash, a more unwelcome visitor does. The prison does not allow weapons of any kind, and with aid being a long time away, the prisoners must simply survive in any way they can.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNeglected (2026)
Detective Shaw is about to retire when he finds out on his last day of work that a serial killer has buried his son alive. He then races against the clock to solve three murders and find his son’s location before he runs out of air.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStoker (2013)
Following her father Richard's death in an unexplained road accident, reclusive teenager India Stoker withdraws further into the quiet rural life she shares with her emotionally disturbed mother Evie. But her curiosity is stirred when her mysterious uncle Charlie, who she has never met, suddenly arrives unannounced. Told that the darkly charismatic Charlie will now be staying at the house, India's initial well-founded distrust of her uncle's motivations begins to waver as she finds herself becoming ever more deeply entranced by his sinister charms.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Knack... and How to Get It (1965)
A nebbish schoolteacher begs his smooth (and misogynistic) pal to teach him 'the knack' – how to score with women. Serendipitously, the men meet up with a new girl in town, as well as a friendly lunatic who can’t help but paint things white.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Returning to Life?
The closest matches to Returning to Life are The Comedy of Terrors (1964), The Last Right (2019) and Personal Effects (2009). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Returning to Life?
Start with The Comedy of Terrors (1964), the closest match to Returning to Life.
What is the highest-rated movie like Returning to Life?
All My Life (2020), rated 7.7/10 by 523 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Returning to Life?
Neglected (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Returning to Life chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Returning to Life, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.