Movies like Expectations (2026)
The best movies like Expectations (2026) are Attraction (2001), Gabriel's Rapture: Part I (2021) and Turkey Drop (2019). If Expectations hooked you with its romance, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedGabriel's Rapture: Part I (2021)7.8/10 from 200 votes
- NewestThe Brainrotter (2026)Released 2026
Attraction (2001)
A writer/radio advice show host fails to heed his own advice as he stalks his ex-girlfriend and then becomes involved with an actress friend of hers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGabriel's Rapture: Part I (2021)
In the fourth instalment of the Gabriel's Inferno series, Professor Gabriel Emerson has embarked on a passionate, yet clandestine affair with his former student Julia Mitchell, but when they return from their romantic holiday in Italy, their happiness is threatened. Will Gabriel succumb to Dante's fate?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTurkey Drop (2019)
Lucy Jacobs, a freshman university student, returns home to her small town for Thanksgiving break and suspects she's about to get turkey dropped— aka dumped by her high school sweetheart. To avoid a Turkey Day travesty, Lucy gets out of her comfort zone, proving she's not the same play-it-safe girl she once was.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGabriel's Rapture: Part III (2022)
In the sixth installment of the Gabriel's Inferno series, Julia deals with the aftermath of Gabriel's departure, while Gabriel goes on a journey of self-discovery. Will they reunite and be able to repair what is broken?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Map of Tiny Perfect Things (2021)
Two teenagers trapped in an endless time loop set out to find all the tiny things that make that one day perfect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisX (2011)
A veteran call girl and a runaway prostitute witness a murder which sends them on an out-of-control roller coaster ride through the twilight zone of sex-for-sale.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJune and John (2025)
John leads an ordinary life with a monotonous routine. One day John runs into a woman on the subway who is as beautiful as she is mysterious named June. His encounter with her finally leads him to have a goal in his bumptious life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrequencies (2013)
The story of the forbidden relationship between a 'low born' boy and a 'high born' girl in an alternate reality where every person's relationships and life worth are determined by their innate 'frequencies'.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParadise (1982)
After their caravan is attacked and their respective families butchered by Arab marauders, teenagers David and Sarah flee across the desert. But the desert is filled with danger from the elements, animals and the unwholesome appetite of the Jackal, a sheik who wants Sarah for himself. However, the desert also holds temptation and love. David and Sarah hide out in an oasis and build a life for themselves, discovering each other in new ways.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDead Again (1991)
In 1949, composer Roman Strauss is executed for the murder of his wife. In 1990s Los Angeles, a detective comes across a mute amnesiac woman who is somehow linked to the Strauss murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHarmony (2018)
Born with an energetic power to absorb fear from others, a young woman must find love to balance the fears of her own and fight an ever growing storm of negative energy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hot Spot (1990)
Upon arriving to a small town, a drifter quickly gets into trouble with the local authorities — and the local women — after he robs a bank.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHenry & June (1990)
While traveling in Paris, author Henry Miller and his wife, June, meet Anais Nin, and sexual sparks fly as Nin starts an affair with the openly bisexual June. When June is forced to return to the U.S., she gives Nin her blessing to sleep with her husband. Then, when June returns to France, an unexpected, and sometimes contentious, threesome forms.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Rainmaker (1956)
Lizzie Curry is on the verge of becoming a hopeless old maid. Her wit and intelligence and skills as a homemaker can't make up for the fact that she's just plain plain! Even the town sheriff, File, for whom she harbors a secrect yen, won't take a chance --- until the town suffers a drought and into the lives of Lizzie and her brothers and father comes one Bill Starbuck ... profession: Rainmaker!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like this5lbs of Pressure (2024)
Fresh out of prison after serving time for murder, Adam returns to his old stomping grounds to seek out a son who doesn't know him. Eli, the brother of the man he killed is looking for revenge. Mike, is trying to escape a life of crime living under the thumb of his gangster Uncle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWild at Heart (1990)
Young lovers Sailor and Lula hit the road to start a new life together away from the wrath of Lula’s deranged, disapproving mother, who has hired a team of hitmen to cut the lovers’ surreal honeymoon short.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisModern Life Is Rubbish (2018)
Brought together by their shared love of music, Liam and Natalie reach a breaking point after ten years together, but as they attempt to separate and divide their prized record collection, the very soundtrack of their relationship continually draws them back to one another.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEscobar: Paradise Lost (2014)
For Pablo Escobar family is everything. When young surfer Nick falls for Escobar's niece, Maria, he finds his life on the line when he's pulled into the dangerous world of the family business.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOut of the Blue (2022)
After spending time in prison following an assault charge, Connor Bates now works in a library and spends his free time running, swimming, and trying to piece his world back together. When he meets Marilyn Chambers, the wife of a wealthy businessman, they collide into an intense physical and emotional relationship that quickly escalates into idle talk about her husband’s murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Gorge (2025)
Two highly trained operatives grow close from a distance after being sent to guard opposite sides of a mysterious gorge. When an evil below emerges, they must work together to survive what lies within.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFrench Kiss (2005)
"Deep shit : listen in life chance only comes once, unless you’re lucky : then it can come twice. But for you it will only come once. So, you must chat to Kate the Amercain, where is she ?"
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1931)
On the South Pacific island of Bora Bora, a young couple's love is threatened when the tribal chief declares the girl a sacred virgin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIn The Form of Love (2023)
Iran in the early 1960s: The world is still a big dream of freedom, exuberance and Technicolor, at least in the eyes of sixteen-year-old Atieh (Saina Rohanie in an impressive debut). Together with her mother, she visits Rassoul, a longtime friend of her late father, in his small village and, upon her arrival, meets his fourteen-year-old son Kamran (new discovery Mahdiar Shahmohammadi). Kamran is immediately enraptured by Atieh's charisma, and it doesn't take long for the two teens to become close. Kamran takes Atieh into the previously unknown world of cinema, whose heroes, villains and adventures he is already passionately addicted to. A magical summer takes its course - at the end of which waits a shattering decision that will change both of them forever.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
The Cure to Loneliness (2022)
Netty is feeling lost in life following the abrupt end of her relationship with Liam. Luckily, there's a quick fix found in pill marketed as "the cure to loneliness".
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Lucid Love (2024)
Juno, an ordinary man, always feels insecure because he has a beautiful girlfriend, while Trish, a beautiful woman, is always played by men. They never expected to meet in a place full of wonders, a place that would determine their love lives, in a lucid dream.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Do you like Chow Shing Chi? (2017)
Min-kyu, who is separated from his girlfriend, goes to Hong Kong. It's a journey to escape from suffering, but Min-kyu's complex mind is rarely solved. Min-kyu tried to leave the hostel. He met a woman as soon as he opened the door. Unlike Min-kyu, who is embarrassed, the woman enters his hostel. After a strange first encounter, his trip to Hong Kong begins as if it is a coincidence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Herbstromanze (1981)
A short vacation should let the 17-year-old, deaf-mute Veronika forget the death of her beloved father, so the plan of her mother Christina. The place of recreation, however, is not chosen happily, due to lack of money: Gut Vorwald in the Sauerland region belongs to the mature nobleman Benno von Caldern, to whom Christina once pledged herself in her youth before meeting her future husband and renouncing Benno. Under the golden roof of autumnal oak crowns, the feelings of the past return, not without dramatic consequences.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
I'm in Love With My Little Sister (2005)
Yori and his twin sister Iku used to be very close as children but lately Yori has grown colder toward Iku and is always eager to stay away from her. Iku was confused by Yori's attitude. Actually Yori is in love with Iku and that forbidden love is causing Yori sleepless nights since Yori and Iku are sharing the same room with bunk beds. Yori tried to ease his intense desire for Iku by bedding Iku's best friend. He had even applied to attend a boarding school in another city to take him far away from Iku. Yori lost his resolve to stay quiet about his feelings when Iku started to talk about having a boyfriend and going on dates. Now Yori want to have his little sister and he confessed. Iku loves her big brother and wanted them to stay together, so Iku is willing to anything to keep them together. But Yori wanted to have Iku as a lover, not as a sister loyal to her twin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Expectations?
The closest matches to Expectations are Attraction (2001), Gabriel's Rapture: Part I (2021) and Turkey Drop (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Expectations?
Start with Attraction (2001), the closest match to Expectations.
What is the highest-rated movie like Expectations?
Gabriel's Rapture: Part I (2021), rated 7.8/10 by 200 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Expectations?
The Brainrotter (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Expectations?
Yes: Attraction (2001), Gabriel's Rapture: Part I (2021) and Turkey Drop (2019).
How are movies similar to Expectations chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Expectations, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.