Movies like Imbalance (2026)
The best movies like Imbalance (2026) are Submission (2018), The Whole Wide World (1996) and The Trouble with Angels (1966). If Imbalance hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDead Poets Society (1989)8.3/10 from 13,166 votes
- NewestSteve (2025)Released 2025
Submission (2018)
A well-respected professor who is a celebrated novelist and loving husband loses himself when he becomes obsessed with an ambitious and talented student.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Whole Wide World (1996)
In 1930s Texas, pulp fiction master Robert E. Howard is introduced to Novalyne Price, a teacher with aspirations of becoming an author herself, and they begin a unique relationship filled with conversation and imagination. Although the possibility exists for romance, Howard's obsession with his work and dedication to his sick mother leads Price to look elsewhere for love, leaving Howard feeling betrayed and alone.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Trouble with Angels (1966)
Mary and her friend, Rachel, are new students at St. Francis Academy, a boarding school run by the iron fist of Mother Superior. The immature teens grow bored and begin playing pranks on both the unsuspecting nuns and their unpleasant classmates, becoming a constant thorn in Mother Superior's side. However, as the years pass, Mary and Rachel slowly mature and begin to see the nuns in a different light.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Emperor's Club (2002)
William Hundert is a passionate and principled Classics professor who finds his tightly-controlled world shaken and inexorably altered when a new student, Sedgewick Bell, walks into his classroom. What begins as a fierce battle of wills gives way to a close student-teacher relationship, but results in a life lesson for Hundert that will still haunt him a quarter of a century later.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe 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
SnoozefestMovies like thisEducating Rita (1983)
Rita, a witty 26-year-old hairdresser, wants to 'discover' herself, so she joins the Open University where she meets the disillusioned professor of literature, Dr. Frank Bryant. His marriage has failed, his new girlfriend is having an affair with his best friend and he can't get through the day without downing a bottle or two of whisky. What Frank needs is a challenge... and along comes Rita.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDead Poets Society (1989)
At an elite, old-fashioned boarding school in New England, a passionate English teacher inspires his students to rebel against convention and seize the potential of every day, courting the disdain of the stern headmaster.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Rewrite (2014)
An Oscar-winning writer in a slump leaves Hollywood to teach screenwriting at a college on the East Coast, where he falls for a single mom taking classes there.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSteve (2025)
Over one intense day, the devoted head teacher of a last-chance reform school strives to keep his students in line while facing pressures of his own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPalo Alto (2014)
A lack of parental guidance encourages teens in an affluent California town to rebel with substance abuse and casual sex.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe World According to Garp (1982)
A struggling young writer finds his life and work dominated by his unfaithful wife and his radical feminist mother, whose best-selling manifesto turns her into a cultural icon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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
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
SnoozefestMovies like thisHoly Lands (2019)
When lapsed Jew and former cardiologist Harry suddenly decides to spend his retirement as a pig farmer in Nazareth, Israel, the move deeply shocks his family and his new neighbours. Back in New York, Harry’s ex-wife Monica is trying to manage the lives of their adult children, Annabelle and David, as well as her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiller's Girl (2024)
A talented young writer embarks on a creative odyssey when her teacher assigns a project that entangles them both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Human Stain (2003)
Coleman Silk is a worldly and admired professor who loses his job after unwittingly making a racial slur. To clear his name, Silk writes a book about the events with his friend and colleague Nathan Zuckerman, who in the process discovers a dark secret Silk has hidden his whole life. All the while, Silk engages in an affair with Faunia Farley, a younger woman whose tormented past threatens to unravel the layers of deception Silk has constructed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChild's Play (1972)
At an exclusive boys' school, a new gym teacher is drawn into a feud between two older instructors, and he discovers that everything at the school is not quite as staid, tranquil and harmless as it seems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Believe in Unicorns (2015)
Feeling awkward and isolated, an imaginative and strong-willed teenage girl runs away from home with an older punk rock drifter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Door in the Floor (2004)
A writer's young assistant becomes both pawn and catalyst in his boss's disintegrating household.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Imbalance?
The closest matches to Imbalance are Submission (2018), The Whole Wide World (1996) and The Trouble with Angels (1966). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Imbalance?
Start with Submission (2018), the closest match to Imbalance.
What is the highest-rated movie like Imbalance?
Dead Poets Society (1989), rated 8.3/10 by 13,166 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Imbalance?
Steve (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Imbalance?
Yes: Submission (2018), The Whole Wide World (1996) and The Trouble with Angels (1966).
How are movies similar to Imbalance chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Imbalance, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.