Movies like Ilmu (2023)
The best movies like Ilmu (2023) are Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond - Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton (2017), Electric Dreams (1984) and The Souvenir: Part II (2021). If Ilmu hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Ilmu
Quick picks
- Highest ratedJim & Andy: The Great Beyond - Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton (2017)7.5/10 from 761 votes
- NewestPohjola (2026)Released 2026
Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond - Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton (2017)
Through the lens of his stunningly immersive performance as Andy Kaufman, Jim Carrey ponders the meaning of life, reality, identity and career.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisElectric Dreams (1984)
Miles Harding buys a state-of-the-art computer that starts expressing conscious thought and emotion after an interaction with spilled champagne. Things begin getting out of hand when both Miles and Edgar, the computer, fall in love with beautiful neighbor Madeline Robistat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Souvenir: Part II (2021)
In the aftermath of her tumultuous relationship with a charismatic and manipulative older man, Julie begins to untangle her fraught love for him in making her graduation film, sorting fact from his elaborately constructed fiction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTime Lapse (2014)
Three friends discover a mysterious machine that takes pictures 24 hours into the future and conspire to use it for personal gain, until disturbing and dangerous images begin to develop.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrep & Landing Stocking Stuffer: Operation: Secret Santa (2010)
Wayne and Lanny, now partners, are called by Magee to meet with a secret contact – Mrs. Claus, who sends them on a new mission to retrieve a box from Santa’s secret workshop. Later they sneak into Santa’s office while he is asleep, using their high tech equipment from the previous film. Lanny’s expertise at dressing the tree enables them to enter the hidden workshop where they recover the box and escape just in time. But what is the box for?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFocus (2015)
Nicky, an accomplished con artist, gets romantically involved with his disciple Jess but later ends their relationship. Years later, she returns as a femme fatale to spoil his plans.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFingernails (2023)
Anna and Ryan have found true love together. It's been proven by a controversial test. There's just one problem: Anna still isn't sure. Then she meets Amir.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisI'm Here (2010)
A library assistant plods through an ordinary life in LA until a chance meeting opens his eyes to the power of creativity and ultimately, love. When this new life and love begin to fall apart, he discovers he has a lot to give. This short film proves that ordinary is no place to be.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Ring (1927)
Both Jack Sander and Bob Corby are boxers in love with Mabel. Jack and Mabel wed, but their marriage is flat. The young wife looks to Bob for comfort.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisMagazine Dreams (2025)
Aspiring bodybuilder Killian Maddox struggles to find human connection in an exploration of celebrity and violence. Nothing deters him from his fiercely protected dream of superstardom, not even the doctors who warn him of the permanent damage he causes to himself with his quest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHands of Stone (2016)
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGroot's Pursuit (2022)
Groot investigates a spooky noise that’s been haunting the Quadrant, which leads to an intense dance off.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMadame Bovary (1949)
In 19th-century France, doctor's wife Emma Bovary seeks to escape her dull provincial life through various extramarital affairs and extravagant spending, leading to tragic consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (1996)
A dramatization of the life of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (Don Cheadle), with a lot of factual based occurrences. A reformed junkie returns from prison to clean up his act and devote the rest of his life to the young kids of Harlem. 1996 was the 25th anniversary of the first tournament named after him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Congress (2013)
An aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job, though the consequences of her decision affect her in ways she didn't consider.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Can't Think Straight (2008)
Tala, a London-based Palestinian, is preparing for her elaborate Middle Eastern wedding when she meets Leyla, a young British Indian woman who is dating her best friend. Spirited Christian Tala and shy Muslim Leyla could not be more different from each other, but the attraction is immediate and goes deeper than friendship. But Tala is not ready to accept the implications of the choice her heart has made for her and escapes back to Jordan, while Leyla tries to move on with her new-found life, to the shock of her tradition-loving parents. As Tala's wedding day approaches, simmering tensions come to boiling point and the pressure mounts for Tala to be true to herself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSufferin' Cats! (1943)
Tom fights with another cat over Jerry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMulan II (2004)
Fa Mulan gets the surprise of her young life when her love, Captain Li Shang asks for her hand in marriage. Before the two can have their happily ever after, the Emperor assigns them a secret mission, to escort three princesses to Chang'an, China. Mushu is determined to drive a wedge between the couple after he learns that he will lose his guardian job if Mulan marries into the Li family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLEGO DC: Shazam! Magic and Monsters (2020)
It’s high time the Justice League took notice of Shazam, but joining the world’s greatest team of superheroes is a lot harder when they’ve all been turned into kids.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSanttu Karhu - the Karelian Rocker (2005)
Livvi-Karelian-speaking oral poet and rock musician Santtu Karhu and his band Santtu Karhu ja Talvisovat on tour in Olonets Karelia. They travel from Petrozavodsk to small Karelian villages, where the Livvi-Karelian language is still alive.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Among Wild Birds (1927)
Finland’s first nature documentary. The filmmakers’ expedition leads them all the way to the Åland Islands and the Karelian Isthmus.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Land of Hope (2018)
Anni, a daughter of a wealthy family and used to secure life, falls in love with Veikko, a war invalid of the Continuation War. Anni leaves her past behind her and starts leading the life of a pioneer, in the wild forests of northern Karelia, in a settlement farm. After a rosy start, the fate crushes Anni’s dreams and her love for Veikko is put to a test.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRuotuin Serehvia (2025)
Miila has found out that her grandmother Marja was born in Karelia. The subject has a close community on social media in Finland, which Miila wants to be a part of, so she decides to shoot a social media videos about Karelianness and her grandmother. The plan fails, and Miila doesn't get the visibility she craves. Instead, she learns what Karelianness is really about in their family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Pohjola (2026)
In the far North, a fisherwoman lives in silence with her man. Around them lies a night landscape of snow and wrecked ships. Suddenly, her son returns out of nowhere.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Karelo-Finnish SSR (1951)
A documentary film about the Karelo-Finnish SSR.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Karjalaisen kulttuurin säilyminen (1968)
The preservation of the Karelian culture. About how the evacuated Finnish Karels have acclimatized themselves to the indigenous people and how the Karelian culture has been preserved during the ages of change. Reportage and interviews with ordinary people and experts made during the summer of 1968. Faces of the Finnish Karelian people. Images of faces that reproduce the culture and the history of the territory.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
There Will Be Spring (2020)
Late 40’s after the war. Strange languaged and religioned immigrants fleeing from Karelia region are hated by Finns in the countryside. 19-year old Anni is living her life wanting to forget the war and hostility surrounding her. Falling in love with a man who hasn’t left fighting, threatens Anni’s whole family’s future and hope for mutual forgiveness..
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Lindu (2021)
LINDU is the second in a Karelian film trilogy. The film series are the first ever to be made in the Karelian language. ’Veneh’, the opening film premiered in 2016. They are a non-profit, educational series of ethnographic art films. The films depict the theme of transition in different stages of life, shrouded in ancient Karelian ritualism. ’Lindu’ describes mythology and traditions associated with death.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Dorogu - On the Mystical Paths of Karelia (2024)
A film trilogy consisting of Veneh (2016), Lindu (2021), and Ilmu (2023). The first ever films made in the Karelian language.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Ilmu?
The closest matches to Ilmu are Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond - Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton (2017), Electric Dreams (1984) and The Souvenir: Part II (2021). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Ilmu?
Start with Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond - Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton (2017), the closest match to Ilmu.
What is the highest-rated movie like Ilmu?
Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond - Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton (2017), rated 7.5/10 by 761 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Ilmu?
Pohjola (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Ilmu?
Yes: Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond - Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton (2017), Electric Dreams (1984) and The Souvenir: Part II (2021).
How are movies similar to Ilmu chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Ilmu, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.