Movies like Once Upon a Time (1922)
The best movies like Once Upon a Time (1922) are Winter's Tale (2014), Fallen (2016) and Beastly (2011). If Once Upon a Time hooked you with its drama and fantasy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBig Fish (2003)7.7/10 from 8,042 votes
- NewestA Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025)Released 2025
Winter's Tale (2014)
A burglar falls for an heiress as she dies in his arms. When he learns that he has the gift of reincarnation, he sets out to save her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFallen (2016)
Lucinda Price is sent to a reform academy under the assumption that she has killed a boy. There, she meets two mysterious boys, Cam and Daniel, to whom she feels drawn to both. But as the love triangle unfurls, it is Daniel that Luce cannot keep herself away from, and things begin to take a darker turn when she finds out his true identity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeastly (2011)
A modern-day take on the "Beauty and the Beast" tale where a New York teen is transformed into a hideous monster in order to find true love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025)
Sarah and David are single strangers who meet at a mutual friend’s wedding and soon, through a surprising twist of fate, find themselves on a funny, fantastical, sweeping adventure together where they get to re-live important moments from their respective pasts, illuminating how they got to where they are in the present... and possibly getting a chance to alter their futures.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWicked (2024)
In the land of Oz, ostracized and misunderstood green-skinned Elphaba is forced to share a room with the popular aristocrat Glinda at Shiz University, and the two's unlikely friendship is tested as they begin to fulfill their respective destinies as Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCinderella (2015)
When her father unexpectedly passes away, young Ella finds herself at the mercy of her cruel stepmother and her daughters. Never one to give up hope, Ella's fortunes begin to change after meeting a dashing stranger in the woods.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrince Charming (2001)
After an extramarital indiscretion, a fairy-tale prince and his sidekick are turned into frogs for all eternity or until the prince can convince a maiden to kiss and then marry him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFairyTale: A True Story (1997)
In 1917, two children take a photograph, which is soon believed by some to be the first scientific evidence of the existence of fairies. Based on the true story of the Cottingley Fairies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaleficent (2014)
A beautiful, pure-hearted young woman, Maleficent has an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom, until one day when an invading army threatens the harmony of the land. She rises to be the land's fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a ruthless betrayal – an act that begins to turn her heart into stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces an epic battle with the invading King's successor and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom – and to Maleficent's true happiness as well.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSnow White and the Huntsman (2012)
After the Evil Queen marries the King, she performs a violent coup in which the King is murdered and his daughter, Snow White, is taken captive. Almost a decade later, a grown Snow White is still in the clutches of the Queen. In order to obtain immortality, The Evil Queen needs the heart of Snow White. After Snow escapes the castle, the Queen sends the Huntsman to find her in the Dark Forest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Shepherd (2023)
On Christmas Eve, a fighter pilot on his way home becomes lost while flying over water and needs a miracle to land safely.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNorthanger Abbey (2007)
A young woman's penchant for sensational Gothic novels leads to misunderstandings in the matters of the heart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNine Lives (2005)
Captives of the very relationships that define and sustain them, nine women resiliently meet the travails and disappointments of life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBig Fish (2003)
Throughout his life Edward Bloom has always been a man of big appetites, enormous passions and tall tales. In his later years, he remains a huge mystery to his son, William. Now, to get to know the real man, Will begins piecing together a true picture of his father from flashbacks of his amazing adventures.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLovely, Still (2009)
A holiday fable that tells the story of an elderly man discovering love for the first time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Secret: Dare to Dream (2020)
A widow with three children hires a handyman to fix her house during a major storm. When not doing home repairs, he shares his philosophy of believing in the power of the universe to deliver what we want.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Canterville Ghost (1996)
When a teenaged girl moves to England, with her brothers and parents into the ancient Canterville Hall, she's not at all happy. Especially as there's a ghost and a mysterious re-appearing bloodstain on the hearth. She campaigns to go back home, and her dad, believing the ghost's pranks are Ginny's, is ready to send her back. But then Ginny actually meets the elusive 17th-century Sir Simon de Canterville (not to mention the cute teenaged duke next door), and she sets her hand to the task of freeing Sir Simon from his curse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeauty and the Beast (1991)
Follow the adventures of Belle, a bright young woman who finds herself in the castle of a prince who's been turned into a mysterious beast. With the help of the castle's enchanted staff, Belle soon learns the most important lesson of all -- that true beauty comes from within.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUntamed Heart (1993)
Caroline, a young waitress who seems to have bad taste in men, is on her way home one night when thugs attempt to rape her. Adam, the mysterious busboy who works at the same diner, helps fight off the assailants, and she begins a relationship with him -- but not all their fellow Minnesotans are happy for them. Meanwhile, the couple face their own difficulties when Caroline finds about Adam's past, including his unique health condition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between (2022)
Clare and Aidan make a pact to break up before college — no regrets, no broken hearts. But will one epic goodbye date offer them a last chance at love?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPenelope (2006)
Forlorn heiress Penelope Wilhern is cursed, and the only way out is to fall in love with someone of suitable stock. But how can she find her soulmate when she's sequestered inside her family's estate with only her parents to keep her company? This untraditional fairy tale is about a girl who bucks convention to create her own happy ending.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhile the Clocks Are Ticking (1977)
Schoolgirl Masha gets into the fabulous city cheerful workers, which with the help of servants and cap of invisibility inhibits the evil Korol Kropodin I. Before the townspeople finally get rid of oppressors, Masha is a party to the exciting events and adventures.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
O Terezce a paní Madam (1976)
Princess Terezka was a girl like a pod until the moment when Mrs. Madam took over her upbringing. The princess even cries from her etiquette. Famous doctors and their potions do not help. However, when Terezka is secretly taken from the castle by her beloved Tonek to her parents in a country cottage, her illness is over. The king promises that whoever finds Terezka and brings her back to the castle will get her hand in marriage and half the kingdom to go with it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
O nebojácné Bětce (1990)
A story about how it is sometimes very easy to make a bad decision, but very difficult to make up for it... Prince Philip managed to sacrifice his friend's life quite easily, but it was not so easy to deal with his own conscience. Although the prince regrets his action, he does not know how to make amends. It is only the fearless and clever Bětka who manages the seemingly impossible and together with the prince rescues Martin from the captivity of the evil sleigh.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
O princi, který měl smůlu (1990)
About Prince Leopold, who is not independent due to the poor upbringing of his royal parents. He makes up thousands of excuses for whatever he has to do. He likes to claim that he is unlucky and that if he had a dwarf, he would grow up too. The White Lady from the painting wants to help the maid Lidka, who loves the prince. So she conjures up a real dwarf for him, who makes Leopold's life "unpleasant". Will the prince's love help him grow up and get rid of the dwarf and his excuses?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Descendants (2015)
A present-day idyllic kingdom where the benevolent teenage son of King Adam and Queen Belle offers a chance of redemption for the troublemaking offspring of Disney's classic villains: Cruella De Vil (Carlos), Maleficent (Mal), the Evil Queen (Evie) and Jafar (Jay).
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMasha and the Beasts (1995)
The girl Masha lives in modern Moscow. One day she went on vacation to the village to her grandmother. When she went to the forest to pick mushrooms with her friends, she got lost and got into a fairy tale. Masha finds a house where three bears live, and their neighbors live next to the house - an unknown animal, a cat, a fox, a chicken and a parrot. She enters the house, tastes the honey. When she wants to sleep, she hears the music of the fox and looks out the window. At this time, the owners come to the house - the bear Mikhail Ivanovich, the bear Nastasya Petrovna and the bear cub Mishutka, and Masha is hiding...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
7 Zwerge - Männer allein im Wald (2004)
The Seven Dwarves live deep within a female-free-zone of the Enchanted Forest, but they cannot resist the innocent charms of Snow White when she enters their world. So when the evil queen abducts her, it is up to the dwarves to save her life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisCinderfella (1960)
When his father dies, poor Fella is left at the mercy of his snobbish stepmother and her two no-good sons Maximilian and Rupert. As he slaves away for his nasty step-family, Maximilian and Rupert attempt to find a treasure Fella's father has supposedly hidden on the estate. Hoping to restore her dwindling fortunes, the stepmother plans a fancy ball in honor of the visiting Princess Charmein whom she hopes will marry Rupert. Eventually, Fella's Fairy Godfather shows up to convince him that he has a shot at winning the Princess himself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Once Upon a Time?
The closest matches to Once Upon a Time are Winter's Tale (2014), Fallen (2016) and Beastly (2011). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Once Upon a Time?
Start with Winter's Tale (2014), the closest match to Once Upon a Time.
What is the highest-rated movie like Once Upon a Time?
Big Fish (2003), rated 7.7/10 by 8,042 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Once Upon a Time?
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Once Upon a Time chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Once Upon a Time, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.