Movies like Palimpseste
The best movies like Palimpseste are Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998), At Eternity's Gate (2018) and Pollock (2000). If Palimpseste hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Seventh Seal (1957)8.1/10 from 3,513 votes
- Newestcoping. (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchVan Gogh (1991)Also in French
Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998)
In the 1960s, British painter Francis Bacon surprises a burglar and invites him to share his bed. The burglar, a working class man named George Dyer, accepts. After the unique beginning to their love affair, the well-connected and volatile artist assimilates Dyer into his circle of eccentric friends, as Dyer's struggle with addiction strains their bond.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAt Eternity's Gate (2018)
Famed but tormented artist Vincent van Gogh spends his final years in Arles, France, painting masterworks of the natural world that surrounds him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPollock (2000)
In August of 1949, Life Magazine ran a banner headline that begged the question: "Jackson Pollock: Is he the greatest living painter in the United States?" The film is a look back into the life of an extraordinary man, a man who has fittingly been called "an artist dedicated to concealment, a celebrity who nobody knew." As he struggled with self-doubt, engaging in a lonely tug-of-war between needing to express himself and wanting to shut the world out, Pollock began a downward spiral.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVan Gogh (1991)
After leaving the asylum, Vincent van Gogh settles in the home of Doctor Gachet, where he keeps painting amidst the torments of his failing mental health. He begins an affair with his host’s daughter, however, she soon realizes that he doesn’t love her and that his heart beats only for art.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLust for Life (1956)
An intense and imaginative artist, revered Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh possesses undeniable talent, but he is plagued by mental problems and frustrations with failure. Supported by his brother, Theo, the tormented Van Gogh eventually leaves Holland for France, where he meets volatile fellow painter Paul Gauguin and struggles to find greater inspiration.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAt Work (2026)
A successful photographer gives up everything to devote himself to writing and discovers poverty.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Woman on the Beach (1947)
A sailor suffering from post-traumatic stress becomes involved with a beautiful and enigmatic seductress married to a blind painter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLurker (2025)
When a twenty-something retail clerk encounters a rising pop star, he takes the opportunity to edge his way into the in-crowd. But as the line between friend and fan blurs beyond recognition, access and proximity become a matter of life and death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEden and After (1970)
A group of French students are drawn into the psychological and sexual games of a mysterious man called Duchemin. Once they sample his "fear powder" the students experience a series of hallucinations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man Who Sleeps (1974)
A young student decides to have no more interaction with the world than is needed to minimally sustain life. His increasingly automaton-like behavior is coupled with a strange clarity of insight about the world around him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCanvas (2020)
After a heartbreaking loss, a grandfather struggling to reclaim his passion for painting finds the inspiration to create again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLa Belle Noiseuse (1991)
The former famous painter Frenhofer lives quietly with his wife on a countryside residence in the French Provence. When the young artist Nicolas visits him with his girlfriend Marianne, Frenhofer decides to start again the work on a painting he long ago stopped: La Belle Noiseuse. And he wants Marianne as model.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDalíland (2022)
In 1973, a young gallery assistant goes on a wild adventure behind the scenes as he helps aging genius Salvador Dali prepare for a big show in New York.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Beaver (2011)
Suffering from a severe case of depression, toy company CEO Walter Black begins using a beaver hand puppet to help him open up to his family. With his father seemingly going insane, adolescent son Porter pushes for his parents to get a divorce.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLoving Vincent (2017)
A young man arrives at the last hometown of painter Vincent van Gogh to deliver the troubled artist's final letter and ends up investigating his final days there.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Danish Girl (2015)
When Gerda Wegener asks her husband Einar to fill in as a portrait model, Einar discovers the person she's meant to be and begins living her life as Lili Elbe. Having realized her true self and with Gerda's love and support, Lili embarks on a groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHelen (2009)
On the outside, Helen has it all – a loving family and a successful career – but when her suppressed mental illness resurfaces, the world crumbles around her. Crippled by depression, Helen finds solace through her friendship with Mathilda, a kindred spirit struggling with bipolar disorder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Double (2014)
An awkward office drone becomes increasingly unhinged after a charismatic and confident look-alike takes a job at his workplace and seduces the woman he desires.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Perfect Murder (1998)
Millionaire industrialist Steven Taylor is a man who has everything but what he craves most: the love and fidelity of his wife. A hugely successful player in the New York financial world, he considers her to be his most treasured acquisition. But she needs more than simply the role of dazzling accessory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpellbound (1945)
When Dr. Anthony Edwardes arrives at a Vermont mental hospital to replace the outgoing hospital director, Dr. Constance Peterson, a psychoanalyst, discovers Edwardes is actually an impostor. The man confesses that the real Dr. Edwardes is dead and fears he may have killed him, but cannot recall anything. Dr. Peterson, however is convinced his impostor is innocent of the man's murder, and joins him on a quest to unravel his amnesia through psychoanalysis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Seventh Seal (1957)
When disillusioned Swedish knight Antonius Block returns home from the Crusades to find his country in the grips of the Black Death, he challenges Death to a chess match for his life. Tormented by the belief that God does not exist, Block sets off on a journey, meeting up with traveling players Jof and his wife, Mia, and becoming determined to evade Death long enough to commit one redemptive act while he still lives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisChameleon (2025)
After embarrassingly sitting with a full cup at the end of a game of Never Have I Ever, Maria sets out to live a little by doing all the things she's never done.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Woman with a Landscape (1989)
A ranger whose passion is nude painting comes to work in a remote Bosnian village. He asks the local women to pose naked for him. They are shy at first, but they eventually agree to do so. This makes their husbands furious, who think that the ranger is sleeping with their wives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Elephant Man (1980)
A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Sleepwalker (2022)
A recluse painter’s careful routine is shaken up when a mysterious young woman knocks on his door. An encounter that will confront him with his past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Could This Be Love? (2007)
Lucas, a wealthy, 43 year-old divorced businessman, is irresistibly attracted to Elsa, a 38 year old renowned sculptor from whom he has commissioned a piece to decorate the reception at his office.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Phantom Valley (2020)
In the desolate countryside, haunted by recurrent dreams, a young drifter finds himself at the borderlands between the living and the dead.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
body (TBA)
The film follows an introverted 20-year-old girl, Duna Canet, as she leads a seemingly normal life. Yet, at its roots she is trapped and consumed by an eating disorder that refuses to accept. In as little as a day, the struggle unravels to the point where she hits rock bottom and sets out on a path of self-discovery and acceptance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Clint (2017)
Based on the life of Edmund Thomas Clint, who died at the mere age of six due to kidney failure, Clint focuses on the exemplary talent of the young boy, who, in his short lifespan, painted as many as 25,000 paintings.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
coping. (2026)
Three individuals describe their unique ways of coping with everyday stress, anxiety, and mental health. A narrative short film presented as documentary-style interviews, exploring the honest, messy reality of coping mechanisms and neurodivergent life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Palimpseste and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Palimpseste?
The closest matches to Palimpseste are Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998), At Eternity's Gate (2018) and Pollock (2000). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Palimpseste?
Start with Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998), the closest match to Palimpseste.
What is the highest-rated movie like Palimpseste?
The Seventh Seal (1957), rated 8.1/10 by 3,513 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Palimpseste?
coping. (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like Palimpseste?
Yes: Van Gogh (1991), At Work (2026) and Eden and After (1970).
How are movies similar to Palimpseste chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Palimpseste, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.