Movies like The Empire of Desire (1981)
The best movies like The Empire of Desire (1981) are Hooking Up (2020), In the Soup (1992) and Somewhere in Queens (2023). If The Empire of Desire hooked you with its drama and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLouis C.K.: Oh My God (2013)7.6/10 from 229 votes
- NewestBalls Up (2026)Released 2026
Hooking Up (2020)
Bailey and Darla embark upon a misguided and mutually deceitful form of therapy, one in which they must drive across the country, re-enacting Darla's colorful history as a sex addict. As their true motivations for the road trip come to light, the unlikely pair force one another to confront their issues, discovering that there might actually be more to love than just sex.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn the Soup (1992)
An aspiring young filmmaker gets involved with an eccentric gangster for the financing of his first film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSomewhere in Queens (2023)
Leo and Angela Russo live a simple life in Queens, surrounded by their overbearing Italian-American family. When their son finds success on his high school basketball team, Leo tears the family apart trying to make it happen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBand Aid (2017)
A couple who can't stop fighting embark on a last-ditch effort to save their marriage: turning their fights into songs and starting a band.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Clique (2008)
A young girl tries to fit in with a clique of popular middle school girls after moving into the guest house of one of their homes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like this...All the Marbles (1981)
A two-bit promoter tries to take a women's wrestling team to the top.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFamily Weekend (2013)
A 16-year-old girl takes her parents hostage after they miss her big jump-roping competition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs (2023)
In a rowdy stand-up set, Shane Gillis riffs on his girlfriend's Navy SEAL ex, touring George Washington's house and being bullied by an Australian Goth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJawbone (2017)
A former youth boxing champion, Jimmy McCabe is a man in search of hope but looking in all the wrong places. When he hits rock bottom he turns to his childhood boxing club and the only family he has left: gym owner Bill corner man Eddie and promoter Joe. Back in training, years after anyone thought he was a contender, he risks his life, as he tries to stand tall and regain his place in the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRicky Gervais: Mortality (2025)
Ricky Gervais tackles life, death and the state of the world in a brutally honest special that spares no topic, even his own mortality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBreath (2017)
A pair of teenagers in Western Australia looking to escape the monotony of life in a small town take up surfing lessons from a guy named Sando.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHard to Die (1990)
While doing the inventory for a lingerie outlet in a high rise office building, five attractive women are terrorized by a series of bizarre killings. They suspect that the strange janitor, who witnessed another series of killings six months previously, is at the bottom of the whole thing. Little do they know the real horror that they face in the end.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
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 drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAccident Man (2018)
Mike Fallon, the Accident Man, is a stone cold killer. When a loved one is murdered by his own crew, Fallon is forced to avenge the one person who actually meant something to him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGloria (1999)
After serving a prison term for her boyfriend, a streetwise, middle-aged moll named Gloria stands up against the mobs, which is complicated by a six-year-old urchin with a will of his own, whom she reluctantly takes under her wing after his family has been gunned down.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisPimp (2018)
An urban love story set on the hard streets of the Bronx. A struggling female pimp, named Wednesday, grows up learning the game from her dad. Once he's gone she's left to look out for her prostitute mother and girlfriend Nikki.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRise of the Footsoldier 3 (2017)
In the late 1980s, Pat Tate journeys from peddling pills in Marbella to his time in prison, where he solidifies his power before his release to reclaim his turf.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this68 Kill (2017)
Chip's problem is that he can't say no to beautiful women. This weakness gets him into a world of trouble when he agrees to help his girlfriend steal $68,000.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisLouis C.K.: Oh My God (2013)
Filmed at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, AZ on February 15th and 16th, 2013, Oh My God is Louis C.K.'s fifth stand-up special, his first for HBO since 2007's Shameless, and his first since winning a Emmy Award for writing on his acclaimed show on FX, Louie. Performed in the round in front of a live audience, he discusses such topics as the food chain, animals, divorce, strange anecdotes, broken morality, murder and mortality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBalls Up (2026)
Two marketing executives go "balls out" and pitch a bold full‑coverage condom sponsorship with the World Cup. After their drunken celebration in Brazil sparks a global scandal, they must outrun furious fans, criminals, and power-hungry officials to salvage their careers and make it home alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Wild Life (1984)
Eighties teen romp involving Bill and his new apartment, Jim and his rebellious antics, Tom and his crazy self, and Anita with her older man David.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFour Last Songs (2007)
A comic drama set on a Mediterranean island, where a motley collection of characters is seeking musical redemption.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Consider the Oyster (2021)
Moose and Dan find themselves in limbo after overdosing on heroin
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Roger Dodger (2002)
A smooth-talking ad executive attributes his remarkable success with women to his ability to manipulate their emotions from the moment he first meets them. When his teenage nephew drops in for a visit, he soon learns that his approach isn't as foolproof as he thought when he attempts to teach the boy how to pick up women.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Doom Generation (1995)
Jordan White and Amy Blue, two troubled teens, pick up an adolescent drifter, Xavier Red. Together, the threesome embarks on a sex- and violence-filled journey through a United States of psychos and quickie marts.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRoboGeisha (2009)
Sisters Yoshie and Kikue are two Geisha who are abducted by a mysterious organization to be transformed into murderous cyborg assassins.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisSuperheroes (2010)
When a policewoman is unfairly accused of selling drugs, her three deadbeat brothers come to the rescue.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The Disappearance of Alice Creed (2009)
A rich man's daughter is held captive in an abandoned apartment by two former convicts who abducted her and hold her ransom in exchange for her father's money.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJust Bea (2004)
16 year-old Bea is in her first year at upper secondary school in Oslo. Active on the school magazine, she falls in love with Daniel, the smartest and most gifted student in the top year, who returns her feelings. There is just one drawback, namely her friend' idea of virginity and first love...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Baby Shark (2005)
This treatise on teens behaving badly takes three separate approaches to its theme. In the first story, a hottie skater boy asks a bored, young heterosexual couple to sexually indulge him. In the second story, a boy/girl couple contends with a nerd who clings to the boy after class each day. In the third and final story, an attractive young guy puts the moves on his identical twin brother's girlfriend.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Empire of Desire?
The closest matches to The Empire of Desire are Hooking Up (2020), In the Soup (1992) and Somewhere in Queens (2023). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Empire of Desire?
Start with Hooking Up (2020), the closest match to The Empire of Desire.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Empire of Desire?
Louis C.K.: Oh My God (2013), rated 7.6/10 by 229 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Empire of Desire?
Balls Up (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Empire of Desire chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Empire of Desire, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.