Movies like The First Session
The best movies like The First Session are Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002), Postcards from the Edge (1990) and Hooking Up (2020). If The First Session 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 ratedAutumn Sonata (1978)8.0/10 from 746 votes
- NewestMouse (2026)Released 2026
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002)
In a sleepy Louisiana parish, a group of lifelong friends stage a rather unorthodox intervention to help a young playwright unravel the truth about her complicated mother and let go of her painful past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPostcards from the Edge (1990)
A substance-addicted actress tries to look on the bright side even as she's forced to move back in with her mother to avoid unemployment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHooking Up (2020)
Bailey and Darla embark upon a misguided and mutually deceitful form of therapy, one in which they must drive across the country, re-enacting Darla's colorful history as a sex addict. As their true motivations for the road trip come to light, the unlikely pair force one another to confront their issues, discovering that there might actually be more to love than just sex.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReal Women Have Curves (2002)
In East Los Angeles, an 18-year-old struggles between her ambitions of going to college and the desires of her domineering mother for her to get married, have children, and oversee the small, rundown family-owned textile factory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIt Runs in the Family (2003)
This is the story of a dysfunctional New York family, and their attempts to reconcile
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWildflower (2023)
The story of Bea Johnson from birth to graduation as she navigates life with an intellectually disabled parent and an extended family who can't quite agree on the best way to help.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSubUrbia (1997)
A group of suburban teenagers try to support each other through the difficult task of becoming adults.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGhostlight (2024)
When melancholic construction worker Dan finds himself drifting from his wife and daughter, he discovers community and purpose in a local theater's production of Romeo and Juliet. As the drama onstage starts to mirror his own life, he and his family are forced to confront a personal loss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTully (2018)
Marlo, a mother of three, including a newborn, is gifted a night nanny by her brother. Hesitant at first, she quickly forms a bond with the thoughtful, surprising, and sometimes challenging nanny named Tully.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Own Love Song (2010)
A wheelchair-bound singer and her best friend embark on a roadtrip to Memphis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969)
After returning to Los Angeles from a group therapy session, documentary filmmaker Bob Sanders and his wife, Carol, find themselves becoming vigilante couples counselors, offering unsolicited advice to their best friends, Ted and Alice Henderson. Not wanting to be rude, the Hendersons play along, but some latent sexual tension among the four soon comes bubbling to the surface, and long-buried desires don't stay buried for long.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAn Irish Goodbye (2022)
In rural Northern Ireland, following the untimely death of their mother, a young man with Down syndrome and his estranged brother discover her unfulfilled bucket list.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLandline (2017)
A teenager living with her sister and parents in Manhattan during the 1990s discovers that her father is having an affair.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove You to Death (2019)
Inspired by a true story, this film tells the shocking tale of a mother and daughter who are nothing like they seem, their tumultuous relationship ending in a brutal murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTuesday (2024)
A mother and her teenage daughter must confront Death when it arrives in the form of an astonishing talking bird.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fallout (2021)
In the wake of a school tragedy, Vada, Mia and Quinton form a unique and dynamic bond as they navigate the never linear, often confusing journey to heal in a world that feels forever changed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMagpie (2024)
A couple's lives are thrown into disarray when their daughter is cast opposite a controversial major star.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGoodbye June (2025)
Four siblings' lives change drastically when their ailing mother takes a turn for the worse over the holiday season.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiracle Run (2004)
Corinne is a single mother of twin 5-year-old boys, Steven and Phillip, who are diagnosed with autism. Public school officials threaten to remove them from school due to their behavior, but through therapy, the boys are able to make major strides in their capabilities. A decade later, teens Steven and Phillip seek to prove they can handle high school while still struggling with their disorder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDie My Love (2025)
After inheriting a remote Montana house, Jackson moves there from New York with his partner Grace, and the couple soon welcome a child. As Jackson becomes increasingly absent and rural isolation sets in, Grace struggles with loneliness, creative frustration, and unresolved emotional wounds. What begins as an attempt at renewal gradually turns into an intense psychological descent, placing strain on their relationship and exposing the fragile balance between love, identity, and motherhood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMouse (2026)
When her closest friendship is suddenly disrupted the summer before senior year, a teenager struggles to find her footing and develops an unexpected, complicated bond with her best friend’s mother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Ice Princess (2005)
With the help of her coach, her mom, and the boy who drives the Zamboni, nothing can stop Casey Carlyle from realizing her dream to be a champion figure skater.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGeorgia Rule (2007)
Rebellious, uncontrollable teenager, Rachel is hauled off by her dysfunctional mother to spend the summer with her estranged grandmother, Georgia. Her journey will lead all three women to revelations of buried family secrets and an understanding that - regardless what happens - the ties that bind can never be broken.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRemember the Night (1940)
Unexpected love blossoms when an assistant district attorney agrees to take a recidivist shoplifter home so she doesn't have to spend Christmas alone in jail.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHot Flush (2025)
Elena, a social curator, is entering a new phase of her life as she approaches climacterium. As if it weren’t enough, Erik, a troubled teenager abandoned by his mother, who she mentors, misinterprets some of her gestures and initiates an unexpected sexual encounter in the office toilets. This moment throws them into existential crises, where they both find out their own inappropriate ways to cope. Will Elena pretend nothing happened, or will she finally face the world on her own terms?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Burning Plain (2008)
A trailer is burning in the middle of a plain. The bodies of two adulterous lovers are found. Scenes from both families, before and after the dramatic events, suggest an unusual connection between them. But what is their secret?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Dance of Lust & Calculus (2017)
A man whose life revolves around building computer models of the dead (as a form of grief therapy) opens up when he begins to form a connection with a new client.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The People Under the Stairs (1991)
Trapped inside a fortified home owned by a mysterious couple, a young boy quickly learns the true nature of the homicidal inhabitants, and secret creatures hidden deep within the walls.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSherrybaby (2006)
After serving time in prison, former drug addict Sherry Swanson returns home to reclaim her young daughter from family members who have been raising the child. Sherry's family, especially her sister-in-law, doubt Sherry's ability to be a good mother, and Sherry finds her resolve to stay clean slowly weakening.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAutumn Sonata (1978)
After a seven-year absence, Charlotte Andergast travels to Sweden to reunite with her daughter Eva. The pair have a troubled relationship: Charlotte sacrificed the responsibilities of motherhood for a career as a classical pianist. Over an emotional night, the pair reopen the wounds of the past. Charlotte gets another shock when she finds out that her mentally impaired daughter, Helena, is out of the asylum and living with Eva.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The First Session?
The closest matches to The First Session are Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002), Postcards from the Edge (1990) and Hooking Up (2020). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The First Session?
Start with Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002), the closest match to The First Session.
What is the highest-rated movie like The First Session?
Autumn Sonata (1978), rated 8.0/10 by 746 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The First Session?
Mouse (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The First Session?
Yes: Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002), Postcards from the Edge (1990) and Hooking Up (2020).
How are movies similar to The First Session chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The First Session, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.