Movies like Engine Trouble (2002)
The best movies like Engine Trouble (2002) are MirrorMask (2005), Unicorn Store (2017) and Anastasia: Once Upon a Time (2020). If Engine Trouble hooked you with its fantasy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Engine Trouble
Quick picks
- Highest rated10 Lives (2024)7.7/10 from 235 votes
- NewestI'll Be Gone in June (2026)Released 2026
MirrorMask (2005)
In a fantasy world of opposing kingdoms, a 15-year old girl must find the fabled MirrorMask in order to save the kingdom and get home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnicorn Store (2017)
A woman named Kit moves back to her parent's house, where she receives a mysterious invitation that would fulfill her childhood dreams.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisAnastasia: Once Upon a Time (2020)
Anastasia Romanov escapes through a portal when her family is threatened by Vladimir Lenin, and she finds herself in the year 1988, befriended by a young American girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisDave Made a Maze (2017)
Dave, an artist who has yet to complete anything significant in his career, builds a fort in his living room out of pure frustration, only to wind up trapped by the fantastical pitfalls, booby traps, and critters of his own creation. Ignoring his warnings, Dave’s girlfriend Annie leads a band of oddball explorers on a rescue mission. Once inside, they find themselves trapped in an ever-changing supernatural world, threatened by booby traps and pursued by a bloodthirsty Minotaur.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDolls (1987)
A precocious girl, her nasty parents, two punk-rock losers and a weak-kneed salesman inadvertently become the guests of two ghoulish senior citizens in their dark, haunted mansion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)
Walter Mitty, a daydreaming writer with an overprotective mother, likes to imagine that he is a hero who experiences fantastic adventures. His dream becomes reality when he accidentally meets a mysterious woman who hands him a little black book. According to her, it contains the locations of the Dutch crown jewels hidden since World War II. Soon, Mitty finds himself in the middle of a confusing conspiracy, where he has difficulty differentiating between fact and fiction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSlumberland (2022)
A young girl discovers a secret map to the dreamworld of Slumberland, and with the help of an eccentric outlaw, she traverses dreams and flees nightmares, with the hope that she will be able to see her late father again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNorthfork (2003)
The year is 1955, and a great flood is coming to Northfork, Montana. A new hydroelectric dam is about to be installed in the mountains above the town, ready to submerge the valley in the name of progress. It is the responsibility of a six-man Evacuation Committee to relocate the townsfolk to higher ground. Most have duly departed, but a few stubborn stragglers remain – among them a priest caring for a sickly orphan, a boy whose fevered visions are leading him to believe he is a member of a roaming band of lost angels desperately searching for a way home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAbigail (2019)
A young girl Abigail lives in a city whose borders were closed many years ago because of an epidemic of a mysterious disease. Abby's father was one of the sick - and he was taken when she was six years old. Going against the authorities to find his father, Abby learns that her city is actually full of magic. And she discovers in herself extraordinary magical abilities.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrincess (2008)
A reclusive princess and a directionless young man embark on a quest to save the world's mythical creatures from becoming extinct.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCome Away (2020)
Before Alice went to Wonderland, and before Peter became Pan, they were brother and sister. When their eldest brother dies in a tragic accident, they each seek to save their parents from their downward spirals of despair until finally they are forced to choose between home and imagination, setting the stage for their iconic journeys into Wonderland and Neverland.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisTwo of a Kind (1983)
God has had enough of the bad behavior and attitude of humankind, and has decided to start it all over. It is up to a struggling inventor and a bank teller, both with very amateur criminal minds, to save the world by falling in love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like this10 Lives (2024)
A pampered cat takes for granted the lucky hand he has been dealt after he is rescued and loved by Rose, a kind-hearted and passionate student. When he loses his ninth life, fate steps in to set him on a transformative journey.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFour Kids and It (2020)
A group of kids on holiday in Cornwall meet a magical creature on the beach with the power to grant wishes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both 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 fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like this40 Acres (2025)
Hailey Freeman and her family are the last descendants of African American farmers who settled in rural Canada after the Civil War. In a famine-decimated near future, they now struggle to safeguard their farm, as they make one last stand against a vicious militia hell-bent on taking their 40 Acres.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGame of Thrones - Conquest & Rebellion: An Animated History of the Seven Kingdoms (2017)
A powerful ruler from House Targaryen begins a campaign to unite a fractured continent ruled by seven competing families. With the aid of formidable dragons, the conquest reshapes the balance of power and leads to the creation of a single throne.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMythica: A Quest for Heroes (2014)
Stuck in a life of indentured servitude, Marek dreams of becoming a wizard. When she meets the beautiful priestess Teela in need of help, she offers her assistance and provides a motley troupe. Together they go in search of Teela's sister, who was kidnapped by a wild ogre.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Nutcracker (1993)
On Christmas Eve, a little girl named Marie falls asleep and dreams herself into a fantastic world in which her toys become larger than life. She meets up with the Nutcracker Prince who takes her on a journey to his kingdom and defends her from the Mouse King.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Shadow (1994)
Based on the 1930s comic strip, The Shadow is put up against his archenemy Shiwan Khan, who plans to take over the world by holding a city to ransom using an atom bomb. Using his powers of invisibility and "the power to cloud men's minds", The Shadow comes blazing to the rescue with explosive results.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like this9/10: Love Before the Fall (2024)
The myths of Orpheus and Charon are interwoven with the entirely sung story of four friends dining in an Italian bistro who are fated to perish the next morning in the attack on the Twin Towers. At meal’s end, through magical realism, the restaurant’s mysterious strolling violinist is revealed to be Charon, hand extended, awaiting payment. Complying, each reconciles with death, and departs to the sounds of the next morning’s busy signals and the calls of first responders.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
9/11: Heroes of the 88th Floor (2011)
9/11: Heroes of the 88th Floor is an untold story of survival and bravery of those whose lives were impacted when Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Centring on two men -- Frank DeMartini and Pablo Ortiz -- we hear the extraordinary story of how their remarkable acts of heroism, selflessness, and courage saved the lives of over 75 people and touched many more. We also hear from the survivors themselves, their first-hand accounts of what it was like to be at the centre of this tragic day. And through archival footage and dramatic recreations we relive their chilling moments of being stranded on the upper floors of the North Tower and their race against time to survive.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Dear Zoe (2022)
Tess enlists her biological father – a lovable slacker from the wrong side of the tracks – and the charming juvenile delinquent next door to help her come to grips with the death of her little sister.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI'll Be Gone in June (2026)
In 2001, Franny, a 16-year-old exchange student from Germany, arrives in the sleepy desert town of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Far from home, Franny struggles through awkward school days, stifling heat, and restless nights until she meets Elliott, a boy whose quiet sadness mirrors her own. As America reels from 9/11, something resonates within Franny and an unexpected tenderness begins to bloom.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Shock and Awe (2017)
A group of journalists covering George Bush's planned invasion of Iraq in 2003 are skeptical of the presidents claim that Saddam Hussein has "weapons of mass destruction."
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJulie & Julia (2009)
Julia Child and Julie Powell – both of whom wrote memoirs – find their lives intertwined. Though separated by time and space, both women are at loose ends... until they discover that with the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Time We Killed (2004)
The Time We Killed portrays the inner life of a writer unable to leave her Brooklyn apartment on the brink of the US invasion of Iraq. Robyn Taylor tries to kick her growing agoraphobia by re-imagining her past and contemplating world events of the present. As Robyn begins to overcome the amnesia that afflicted her as an adolescent, she fears coming down with “the amnesia of the American people”.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Zero: An Investigation Into 9/11 (2008)
ZERO: An Investigation into 9/11 has one central thesis: that the official version of the events surrounding the attacks on 9/11 cannot be true. This feature documentary explores the latest scientific evidence and reveals dramatic new witness testimony, which directly conflicts with the U.S. government's account.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Septem8er Tapes (2004)
One year after 9/11, an American journalist travels to Afghanistan in an effort to learn the truth about the search for Osama bin Laden.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Sorry, Haters (2005)
Against the anxieties and fears of post-9/11 America, an Arab cab driver picks up a troubled professional woman with unexpected results.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Like Engine Trouble and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Engine Trouble?
The closest matches to Engine Trouble are MirrorMask (2005), Unicorn Store (2017) and Anastasia: Once Upon a Time (2020). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Engine Trouble?
Start with MirrorMask (2005), the closest match to Engine Trouble.
What is the highest-rated movie like Engine Trouble?
10 Lives (2024), rated 7.7/10 by 235 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Engine Trouble?
I'll Be Gone in June (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Engine Trouble?
Yes: MirrorMask (2005), Unicorn Store (2017) and Anastasia: Once Upon a Time (2020).
How are movies similar to Engine Trouble chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Engine Trouble, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.