Movies like When He Leaves (2026)
The best movies like When He Leaves (2026) are Chéri (2009), You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010) and Jersey Girl (2004). If When He Leaves 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 ratedStroszek (1977)7.3/10 from 317 votes
- NewestThe Baltimorons (2025)Released 2025
Chéri (2009)
The son of a courtesan retreats into a fantasy world after being forced to end his relationship with the older woman who educated him in the ways of love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYou Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010)
Two married couples find only trouble and heartache as their complicated lives unfold. After 40 years of marriage, Alfie leaves his wife to pursue what he thinks is happiness with a call girl. His wife, Helena, reeling from abandonment, decides to follow the advice of a psychic. Sally, the daughter of Alfie and Helena, is unhappy in her marriage and develops a crush on her boss, while her husband, Roy, falls for a woman engaged to be married.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisJersey Girl (2004)
Ollie Trinke is a young, suave music publicist who seems to have it all, with a new wife and a baby on the way. But life deals him a bum hand when he's suddenly faced with single fatherhood, a defunct career and having to move in with his father. To bounce back, it takes a new love and the courage instilled in him by his daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove in Taipei (2023)
A young American woman is sent by her parents to a cultural immersion program in Taipei where she begins a new journey of self-discovery and romance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA California Christmas: City Lights (2021)
Follows Callie and Joseph one year after they fell in love, now running a dairy farm and winery, but their romance is threatened when business and family obligations call Joseph back to the city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Baltimorons (2025)
A newly sober man's Christmas Eve dental emergency leads to an unexpected romance with his older dentist as they explore Baltimore together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFather of the Bride (2022)
A father comes to grips with his daughter’s upcoming wedding through the prism of multiple relationships within a big, sprawling Cuban-American family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Met a Girl (2020)
An aspiring musician struggling with schizophrenia falls for a mysterious woman who may be all in his head. When she suddenly vanishes, he takes off on a cross-country journey across Australia to find her, forcing his long-suffering brother to chase after him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPeace, Love & Misunderstanding (2011)
A conservative lawyer named Diane takes her two teenage children Jake and Zoe to meet their estranged, hippie grandmother in Woodstock after her husband asks for a divorce.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisCeleste & Jesse Forever (2012)
Celeste and Jesse met in high school and got married young. They laugh at the same jokes and finish each other’s sentences. They are forever linked in their friends’ minds as the perfect couple – she, a high-powered businesswoman and budding novelist; he, a free spirit who keeps things from getting boring. Their only problem is that they have decided to get divorced. Can their perfect relationship withstand this minor setback?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisQueen Bees (2021)
Helen is an independent widow who moves into the Pine Grove Senior Community and discovers it’s just like high school – full of cliques and flirtatious suitors. What she initially avoids leads her to exactly what she has been missing: new friendships and a chance at love again with newcomer Dan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnything Else (2003)
Jerry Falk, an aspiring writer in New York, falls in love at first sight with a free-spirited young woman named Amanda. He has heard the phrase that life is like "anything else," but soon he finds that life with the unpredictable Amanda isn't like anything else at all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSidewalks of New York (2001)
The film follows the marital and dating lives of three men and three women who unknowingly form a tangled web of relationships. Interspersing "man on the street" interviews with scenes from the six characters' lives, the film weaves a humorous and biting commentary on the game of love -- easy to start, hard to finish.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHope Springs (2012)
After thirty years of marriage, a middle-aged couple attends an intense, week-long counseling session to work on their relationship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHappiness for Beginners (2023)
At a crossroads after her divorce, a schoolteacher ventures toward a fresh start in life — and love — when she signs up for a grueling group hiking trip.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhich Brings Me to You (2023)
Two romantic burnouts, Jane and Will, are immediately drawn to each other at a mutual friend’s wedding. After a disastrous hookup in the coatroom, the two spend the next 24 hours together, trading candid confessions of messy histories and heartbreak, on the off chance that this fling might be the real thing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bachelors (2017)
After the early death of his wife, a mourning father moves with his teenage son across the country for a private school teaching job. Their lives begin to transform due to two unique women, who help them embrace life and love again
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNot Easily Broken (2009)
A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNothing in Common (1986)
A successful advertising executive finds his freewheeling life crashing to a halt when his parents end their longtime marriage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Lost Husband (2020)
Trying to put her life back together after the death of her husband, Libby and her children move to her estranged Aunt's goat farm in central Texas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSingles (1992)
A group of young adults in their twenties, who share an apartment in the city of Seattle, ponder on love and face all the challenges of adulthood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCashback (2007)
After a painful breakup, Ben develops insomnia. To kill time, he starts working the late night shift at the local supermarket, where his artistic imagination runs wild.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSex and the City (2008)
When Carrie's big step forward in her relationship goes awry, best friends Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha are there to help her pick up the pieces.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRye Lane (2023)
Two twenty-somethings, both reeling from bad break-ups, connect over the course of an eventful day in South London – helping each other deal with their nightmare exes, and potentially restoring their faith in romance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTreadmill (TBA)
'Treadmill' is a short film drama set in a busy sportswear store in central London. Atlas, is a 30 years old sales advisor who has been working in the same position for quite a long time. His manager Harvey constantly humiliates his staff in front of clients, he is overly demanding and controlling, creating an abusive work environment. Eventually, Atlas will plot a way to get his manager fired but his lust for power will transform him into his much hated enemy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
In the Name of Christ (1993)
A West African pig farmer has a religious vision, wherein he is told that he'll be Magloire the First, a prophet of Christ. He then sets out to rid his local villagers of superstition and instead save them for Jesus.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
La Sainte Famille (2017)
The story of a traditional Catholic family in northern France, part of society but subject to all its changes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Stroszek (1977)
Bruno Stroszek is released from prison and warned to stop drinking. He has few skills and fewer expectations: with a glockenspiel and an accordion, he ekes out a living as a street musician. He befriends Eva, a prostitute down on her luck and they join his neighbor, Scheitz, an elderly eccentric, when he leaves Germany to live in Wisconsin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEternal Life & Associates (2016)
Ines is an old atheist woman who is intrigued by the funeral services provided by Giovanna, who takes her on a tour through the graveyard to show her all the special attentions they offer to their clients
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
24 Hours After Reading Tuesdays with Morrie (2025)
A guy has an existential awakening after reading the hit book “Tuesdays with Morrie."
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like When He Leaves?
The closest matches to When He Leaves are Chéri (2009), You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010) and Jersey Girl (2004). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after When He Leaves?
Start with Chéri (2009), the closest match to When He Leaves.
What is the highest-rated movie like When He Leaves?
Stroszek (1977), rated 7.3/10 by 317 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like When He Leaves?
The Baltimorons (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like When He Leaves?
Yes: Chéri (2009), You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010) and Jersey Girl (2004).
How are movies similar to When He Leaves chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside When He Leaves, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.