Movies like Only Angels (2026)
The best movies like Only Angels (2026) are Manon (1949), Between Two Worlds (2022) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). If Only Angels hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPapillon (1973)7.8/10 from 2,231 votes
- NewestSuddenly (2023)Released 2023
- In FrenchManon (1949)Also in French
Manon (1949)
Port of Marseille, France, recently liberated from the German yoke. Caught as stowaways aboard a ship, Manon, a young woman who was accused of collaborating with the Nazis, and Robert, a freedom fighter who saved her from reprisals, tell the captain about the many challenges they have had to face in order to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBetween Two Worlds (2022)
Marianne Winckler relocates to the port city of Caen in order to pass herself off as a member of a large community of itinerant workers desperate to make ends meet. She gains employment as a cleaner on a ferry travelling between Ouistreham and Portsmouth, recording the drudgery of the work she and her colleagues are required to do.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Born under unusual circumstances, Benjamin Button springs into being as an elderly man in a New Orleans nursing home and ages in reverse. Twelve years after his birth, he meets Daisy, a child who flits in and out of his life as she grows up to be a dancer. Though he has all sorts of unusual adventures over the course of his life, it is his relationship with Daisy, and the hope that they will come together at the right time, that drives Benjamin forward.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Kindness of Strangers (2019)
Clara and her two sons escape from her abusive husband with little more than their car and plan to start over in New York. After the car towed away, the family meets Alice, who gets them into an emergency shelter. While stealing food at a Russian restaurant called ‘Winter Palace’, Clara meets Marc, who has been given the chance to help the old eatery regain its former glory. The ‘Winter Palace’ soon becomes a place of unexpected encounters between people who are all undergoing some sort of crisis and whom fate has now brought together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLa Cérémonie (1995)
Sophie, a quiet and shy maid working for an upper-class French family, finds a friend in the energetic and uncompromising postmaster Jeanne, who encourages her to stand up against her bourgeois employers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe House by the Sea (2017)
By a little bay near Marseille lies a picturesque villa owned by an old man. His three children have gathered by his side for his last days. It’s time for them to weigh up what they have inherited of their father’s ideals and the community spirit he created in this magical place. The arrival, at a nearby cove, of a group of boat people will throw these moments of reflection into turmoil.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove on the Run (1979)
Now in his thirties, Antoine Doinel is a divorced proofreader in love with a record seller. Colette Tazzi, now a lawyer, buys his first published autobiography, leading them to a chance meeting.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSimón (2023)
Simón, a Venezuelan freedom fighter exiled in Miami, copes not only with trauma, but also deep guilt over a choice he must make: stay in Miami and start a new life, or return home to the losing fight against a tyrannical regime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisLa Belle Équipe (1936)
Five unemployed workers win 100,000 Francs in the national lottery. Instead of sharing the money, they buy a ruin and build an open-air cafe. But difficulties come to split their friendly group apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Things of Life (1970)
The mind of Pierre Bérard, a successful middle-aged architect, is torn between his unstable present with Hélène, his younger lover, and his happy memories of the past with Catherine, his ex-wife; but his true destiny awaits him at a crossroads on his way to Rennes…
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Emperor's New Clothes (2001)
Napoleon, exiled, devises a plan to retake the throne. He'll swap places with commoner Eugene Lenormand, sneak into Paris, then Lenormand will reveal himself and Napoleon will regain his throne. Things don't go at all well; first, the journey proves more difficult than expected, but more disastrously, Lenormand enjoys himself too much to reveal the deception. Napoleon adjusts somewhat uneasily to the life of a commoner while waiting, while Lenormand gorges on rich food.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVoyage of the Damned (1976)
A luxury liner carries Jewish refugees from Hitler's Germany in a desperate fight for survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe House of Mirth (2000)
In early 20th century New York City, an impoverished socialite desperately seeks a suitable husband as she gradually finds herself betrayed by her friends and exiled from high society.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLong Way North (2015)
In 1892 Saint Petersburg, when her explorer grandfather's failure to return from his latest expedition brings dishonour to her aristocratic family, a resilient teenager runs away to follow in his trail in search of his famed ship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPapillon (1973)
A man befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence on a dreadful prison island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSuddenly (2023)
Ben and Laura are a passionate but volatile couple who embark on a round-the-world sailing adventure to give their relationship a new start. During their trip, they decide to explore a vast deserted island which they discover off the coast of Chile. Caught in a violent storm, they shelter in an abandoned whaling station for the night but wake up the next morning to find their boat has disappeared. Stranded in a hostile environment with no means of communication, dwindling supplies and winter approaching they must work together in a life and death battle for survival, that will challenge their feelings and change their relationship forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrue Spirit (2023)
When the tenacious young sailor Jessica Watson sets out to be the youngest person to sail solo, nonstop and unassisted around the world, many expect her to fail. With the support of her sailing coach and mentor Ben Bryant and her parents, Jessica is determined to accomplish what was thought to be impossible, navigating some of the world’s most challenging stretches of ocean over the course of 210 days.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEden Is West (2009)
Desperate to break free from the poverty of his homeland, Elias boards a ramshackle people-smuggling trawler to France. But when the boat is raided by police, Elias leaps into the ocean, eventually finding himself washed up on a Mediterranean beach resort called Eden. So begins Elias odyssesy across Western Europe to Paris, where wondrous promise, helpful new friends and perilous dangers await him every step of the way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPonette (1996)
After losing her mother in a car accident that leaves her with a broken arm, 4-year-old Ponette struggles with anguish and fear. Left by her father with a caring aunt and her children, Ponette grieves, secretly hoping her mother will somehow come back. Confused by the religious explanations provided by adults, and challenged by the cruel taunts of a few children at school, little Ponette must make her way through her emotional turmoil.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShip of Fools (1965)
A varied group of passengers aboard a ship bound for pre-WWII Germany represents a microcosm of early-1930s society.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Only Angels?
The closest matches to Only Angels are Manon (1949), Between Two Worlds (2022) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Only Angels?
Start with Manon (1949), the closest match to Only Angels.
What is the highest-rated movie like Only Angels?
Papillon (1973), rated 7.8/10 by 2,231 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Only Angels?
Suddenly (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like Only Angels?
Yes: Manon (1949), Between Two Worlds (2022) and La Cérémonie (1995).
How are movies similar to Only Angels chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Only Angels, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.