Movies like What Happened to Maria? (2026)
The best movies like What Happened to Maria? (2026) are In Secret (2014), The Dancer Upstairs (2002) and Mona Lisa (1986). If What Happened to Maria? hooked you with its crime and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLe Corbeau (1943)7.5/10 from 336 votes
- NewestCarolina Caroline (2026)Released 2026
In Secret (2014)
In 1860s Paris, a young woman, Therese, is trapped in a loveless marriage to the sickly Camille by her domineering aunt, Madame Raquin. She spends her days behind the counter of a small shop and her evenings watching Madame play dominos with an eclectic group. After she meets her husband’s alluring friend, Laurent, she embarks on an illicit affair that leads to tragic consequences. Based on Emile Zola’s novel, Thérèse Raquin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dancer Upstairs (2002)
A police detective in a South American country is dedicated to hunting down a revolutionary guerilla leader.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMona Lisa (1986)
George is a small-time crook just out of prison who discovers his tough-guy image is out of date. Reduced to working as a minder/driver for high class call girl Simone, he has to agree when she asks him to find a young colleague from her King's Cross days. That's when George's troubles just start.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCarolina Caroline (2026)
A young woman, desperate to leave her small town, runs away with a charming con man, embarking on a crime and passion-filled journey through the Southeast to find her estranged mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKiller Heat (2024)
An expat PI is hired to investigate a suspicious death in Crete, Greece, where jealousies run deep amongst the victim's powerful family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisStranger on the Third Floor (1940)
Newspaper reporter Michael Ward plunges into a nightmare of guilt, fearing that his "evidence" has sentenced the wrong man to death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Am All Girls (2021)
A special crimes investigator forms an unlikely bond with a serial killer to bring down a global child sex trafficking syndicate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlue Story (2019)
Blue Story is a tragic tale of a friendship between Timmy and Marco, two young boys from opposing postcodes. Timmy, a shy, smart, naive and timid young boy from Deptford, goes to school in Peckham where he strikes up a friendship with Marco, a charismatic, streetwise kid from the local area. Although from warring postcodes, the two quickly form a firm friendship until it is tested and they wind up on rival sides of a street war. Blue Story depicts elements of Rapman's own personal experiences and aspects of his childhood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAgatha and the Midnight Murders (2020)
As bombs fall on London, writer Agatha Christie decides it is time to kill off her most famous creation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLimbo (2023)
Travis, a jaded detective, arrives in the remote outback town of Limbo to investigate the cold case murder of local Indigenous girl Charlotte Hayes 20 years ago. As truths about the murder begin to unfold, the detective gains a new insight into the unsolved case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWicker Park (2004)
Matthew, a young advertising executive in Chicago, puts his life and a business trip to China on hold when he thinks he sees Lisa, the love of his life who left him without a word two years earlier, walking out of a restaurant one day.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSplit (2016)
The story of a young woman who takes an epic journey to claim her own darkness and sexuality so she can stop putting it into the hands of her abusive lover. When Inanna, a young actress, working as a stripper, becomes obsessed with a mask maker, she sacrifices parts of herself and her life, piece by piece, in order to win his love. At the same time she enters a mythic journey in the theater. One that forces her to face the many abuses endured by women around that world and that blurs her performance, her dreams and her real life and results in a provocative and powerful confrontation that frees her. -- from official website
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisButterfly on a Wheel (2007)
A sociopathic kidnapper methodically pushes a desperate pair of parents to their absolute breaking point.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Parts You Lose (2019)
An unlikely friendship unfolds between a young deaf boy, Wesley, and a fugitive criminal who takes refuge in an abandoned barn on the family’s rural North Dakota farm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMan from Reno (2014)
A mystery outside of San Francisco brings together small-town sheriff Paul Del Moral, Japanese author Aki Akahori, and a traveler from Reno who soon disappears, leaving behind his suitcase and a trail of questions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Rookie (1990)
Veteran cop Nick Pulovski is used to playing musical partners; many of the partners he's had in the past have died on the job, and often as a result of Nick's risky tactics. But the rookie who's been assigned to help Nick bust a carjacking ring is almost as hotheaded as he is … and when Nick gets kidnapped, his newbie partner is his only hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBlue Jay (2016)
Meeting by chance when they return to their tiny California hometown, two former high-school sweethearts reflect on their shared past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Truth About Emanuel (2013)
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Everlasting (2016)
Bridger is a young outsider who's always wanted more. He and his mother flee an abusive home, eventually finding a small town in the middle of nowhere. Once there, Bridger finds true acceptance with another misfit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & 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 crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisViolette Nozière (1978)
Paris, 1933. The daughter of a respectable lower middle class couple, Violette Nozière, leads a disreputable double life. Far from being the innocent 18-year-old her parents mistake her for, she spends her nights with dissolute young men in the less salubrious areas of the city.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Donor (2001)
A man falls in love with the surrogate who is carrying his child.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Apio Verde (2013)
Adriana finds out the son she's expecting suffers a brain malformation that won't allow him to live outside her womb. As therapeutic abortion is illegal in Chile, she must wait until her baby is naturally born.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & drama
The Hired Heart (1997)
A small-town, country doctor has been a widow for two years but is still in love with her dead husband, Michael. The week-long county fair is approaching and her father-in-law traps her into an unfair deal involving the feeding of her bull in return for her attendance at the fair with a suitable escort. She decides to call his bluff by hiring a male escort to attend the fair as her lover. However, things don't go quite according to plan as he smells a rat!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Le Corbeau (1943)
Remy Germain is a doctor in a French town who becomes the focus of a vicious smear campaign, as letters accusing him of having an affair and performing unlawful abortions are mailed to village leaders. The mysterious writer, who signs each letter as "Le Corbeau" (The Raven) soon targets the whole town, exposing everyone's dark secrets.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIndecision (2026)
Lorena, a 13-year-old girl, discovers she is pregnant and faces a storm of emotions and decisions. While her mother rejoices at the news, she silently struggles with fear, guilt, and the pressure of an uncertain future. In her search for a way out, she embarks on a solitary path that will test her strength and her limits.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
A Woman is a Flower (2025)
A Woman is a Flower is about the bond between two sisters who are dealing with two very different and heavy struggles.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Enlighten Thy Daughter (1917)
Lillian Stevens was raised without care, attention, or education on the ways of the world. When she becomes pregnant by the reckless Harold Winthrop, her mother takes her to an abortionist. Harold then falls for Ruth Stevens, raised by an attentive and loving mother, who is not so easily taken advantage of.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Arum (2023)
A single mother struggles to raise her only daughter on her own.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Blame (2006)
When nurse Gloria has financial difficulties, her friend Dr. Ana Torres invites her to move with her six year-old daughter Vicky to her old big house where she runs a gynecologic clinic. In return, Gloria will assist Ana in her clinic in the afternoons.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like What Happened to Maria??
The closest matches to What Happened to Maria? are In Secret (2014), The Dancer Upstairs (2002) and Mona Lisa (1986). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after What Happened to Maria??
Start with In Secret (2014), the closest match to What Happened to Maria?.
What is the highest-rated movie like What Happened to Maria??
Le Corbeau (1943), rated 7.5/10 by 336 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like What Happened to Maria??
Carolina Caroline (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like What Happened to Maria??
Yes: In Secret (2014), The Dancer Upstairs (2002) and Mona Lisa (1986).
How are movies similar to What Happened to Maria? chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside What Happened to Maria?, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.