Movies like Waiting
The best movies like Waiting are What Dreams May Come (1998), Sleep Has Her House (2017) and The Discovery (2017). If Waiting hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Waiting
Quick picks
- Highest ratedIt's Such a Beautiful Day (2012)7.9/10 from 387 votes
- NewestEternity (2025)Released 2025
What Dreams May Come (1998)
After Chris Nielsen dies in a car accident, he is guided through the afterlife by his spirit guide, Albert. His new world is beautiful and can be whatever Chris imagines. Even his children are there. But, when his wife, Annie, commits suicide and is sent to hell, Chris ignores Albert's warnings and journeys there to save her. Upon arrival, Chris finds that rescuing Annie will be more difficult than he'd imagined.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSleep Has Her House (2017)
The shadows of screams climb beyond the hills. It has happened before. But this will be the last time. The last few sense it, withdrawing deep into the forest. They cry out into the black, as the shadows pass away, into the ground.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Discovery (2017)
In the near future, due to a breakthrough scientific discovery by Dr. Thomas Harbor, there is now definitive proof of an afterlife. While countless people have chosen suicide to reset their existence, others try to decide what it all means. Among them is Dr. Harbor's son Will, who has arrived at his father's isolated compound with a mysterious young woman named Isla. There, they discover the strange acolytes who help Dr. Harbor with his experiments.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEternity (2025)
In an afterlife where souls have one week to decide where to spend eternity, Joan is faced with the impossible choice between the man she spent her life with and her first love, who died young and has waited decades for her to arrive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDaniel Isn't Real (2019)
A troubled college freshman resurrects his imaginary friend to help him cope with a violent trauma.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChances Are (1989)
Louie Jeffries is happily married to Corinne. On their first anniversary, Louie is killed crossing the road. Louie is reincarnated as Alex Finch, and twenty years later, fate brings Alex and Louie's daughter, Miranda, together. It's not until Alex is invited to Louie's home that he begins to remember his former life, wife and best friend. Of course, there's also the problem that he's attracted to Louie's/his own daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Ghost Story (2017)
Recently deceased, a white-sheeted ghost returns to his suburban home to console his bereft wife, only to find that in his spectral state he has become unstuck in time, forced to watch passively as the life he knew and the woman he loves slowly slip away.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLove 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIt's Such a Beautiful Day (2012)
Bill struggles to put together his shattered psyche.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAfter Death (2023)
Based on real near-death experiences, the afterlife is explored with the guidance of New York Times bestselling authors, medical experts, scientists and survivors who shed a light on what awaits us.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCollateral Beauty (2016)
Retreating from life after a tragedy, a man questions the universe by writing to Love, Time and Death. Receiving unexpected answers, he begins to see how these things interlock and how even loss can reveal moments of meaning and beauty.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMeet Joe Black (1998)
Bill Parrish has it all - success, wealth and power. Days before his 65th birthday, he receives a visit from a mysterious stranger, Joe Black, who soon reveals himself as Death. In exchange for extra time, Bill agrees to serve as Joe's earthly guide. But will he regret his choice when Joe unexpectedly falls in love with Bill's beautiful daughter Susan?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGhost (1990)
After a young man is murdered, his spirit stays behind to warn his lover of impending danger, with the help of a reluctant psychic.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDefending Your Life (1991)
Is there love after death? After he dies suddenly, the hapless advertising executive Daniel Miller finds himself in Judgment City, a gleaming way station where the newly deceased must prove they lived a life of sufficient courage to advance in their journey through the universe. As the self-doubting Daniel struggles to make his case, a budding relationship with the uninhibited Julia offers him a chance to finally feel alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe In Between (2022)
After surviving a car accident that took the life of her boyfriend, a teenage girl believes he's attempting to reconnect with her from the after world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFlatliners (1990)
Five medical students experiment with "near death" experiences, until the dark consequences of past tragedies begin to jeopardize their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Dark Song (2016)
A determined young woman and a damaged occultist risk their lives and souls to perform a dangerous ritual that will grant them what they want.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHereafter (2010)
Three people — a blue-collar American, a French journalist and a London school boy — are touched by death in different ways.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGreat Expectations (1998)
Loosely based on the Charles Dickens' classic novel, "Great Expectations" is a sensual tale of a young man's unforgettable passage into manhood, and the three individuals who will undeniably change his life forever. Through the surprising interactions of these vivid characters, "Great Expectations" takes a unique and contemporary look at life's great coincidences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLetzte Chance für Harry (1998)
Two Berlin archetypes - Harald Juhnke and Günter Pfitzmann - convince in this touching big-city fairy tale in insistent roles as typical Berlin characters with everyday wit, temperament and improvisational talent.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
¡Tango! (1933)
¡Tango! follows a formula established by Carlos Gardel with films such as Luces de Buenos Aires (The Lights of Buenos Aires, 1931) in which a melodramatic story is interspersed with tango songs. However, the film had less dialog and more music, making it more like a musical revue. This format would be copied by many subsequent films. The plot is derived from tango songs. Many of these songs tell of the seduction of an innocent slum girl by a rich man who promises her a glamorous life, but who abandons her when her looks fade. The stylized and sentimental plot of ¡Tango! revolves around a young man who is abandoned by his girlfriend for an older rich man and is heartbroken. The film follows his misfortunes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
National Gallery (2014)
A portrait of the day-to-day operations of the National Gallery of London, that reveals the role of the employees and the experiences of the Gallery's visitors. The film portrays the role of the curators and conservators; the education, scientific, and conservation departments; and the audience of all kinds of people who come to experience it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmour Fou (2014)
Heinrich wishes to conquer death through love, and when he meets Henriette, the wife of a business acquaintance, she expresses interest in a suicide pact when she learns she has a terminal illness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like this1 by Two (2014)
Hari and Ravi are identical twins who share a very delicate and special emotional bond. When Hari dies in an accident, Ravi goes into a strange state of psychosis. Yousuf, a cop tries to uncover the mystery involved in the case.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Johnny Minotaur (1971)
Johnny Minotaur is a lyrical explosion of taboos: incest, intergenerational desire, pansexuality and autoeroticism are a few of the issues Charles Henri Ford grapples with through mythopoeic, sensual imagery, recitations of his diaries and a philosophical debate featuring an impressive narration by such artists as Salvador Dali, Allen Ginsberg, Warren Sonbert and Lynne Tillman.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
And the Pain Remains (2016)
100 years since the beginning of First World War. Locality - French cemetery in Bitola. State protocol. There are deputies, ministers, ambassadors, military attaches, consuls, honorary consuls, media present - Priests - Orthodox, Catholic, Muslim. - Military band. Jean Batiste Valerie, an old man of about 77 years of age, arrives in Bitola for the first time. Tiny, petite, with thin and gray hair, arrives late at the sad ceremony held in honor of the fallen French soldiers in the First World War. According to correspondence and information from the French army, his predecessor with the same name and surname must be located somewhere nearby. The ceremony had already begun.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Friends (1971)
Paul, a rich English boy, and Michelle, an orphaned French girl, run away from home to a remote beach. Living on their own, their friendship grows into love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Shall We Dance? (2004)
A bored estate lawyer spots a beautiful woman in the window of a ballroom dance studio. He secretly starts taking dancing lessons to be near her, and then over time discovers how much he loves dancing. His wife, meanwhile, has hired a private detective to find out why he has started coming home late smelling of perfume.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man Who Slept (2009)
A young woman lives with her sleeping husband. Prisoner of her loneliness, she refuses to accept that this man is only a memory.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Like Waiting and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Waiting?
The closest matches to Waiting are What Dreams May Come (1998), Sleep Has Her House (2017) and The Discovery (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Waiting?
Start with What Dreams May Come (1998), the closest match to Waiting.
What is the highest-rated movie like Waiting?
It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012), rated 7.9/10 by 387 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Waiting?
Eternity (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Waiting?
Yes: What Dreams May Come (1998), Sleep Has Her House (2017) and The Discovery (2017).
How are movies similar to Waiting chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Waiting, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.