Movies like Lulu (1980)
The best movies like Lulu (1980) are Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998), Pimp (2018) and Nymphomaniac: Vol. II (2013). If Lulu hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedVivre Sa Vie (1962)7.7/10 from 729 votes
- NewestAnother Day (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchAnother Day (2026)Also in French
Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998)
Young teen girl Xiu Xiu is sent away to a remote corner of the Sichuan steppes for manual labor in 1975 (sending young people to there was a part of Cultural Revolution in China). A year later, she agrees to go to even more remote spot with a Tibetan saddle tramp Lao Jin to learn horse herding.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPimp (2018)
An urban love story set on the hard streets of the Bronx. A struggling female pimp, named Wednesday, grows up learning the game from her dad. Once he's gone she's left to look out for her prostitute mother and girlfriend Nikki.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNymphomaniac: Vol. II (2013)
The continuation of Joe's sexually dictated life delves into the darker aspects of her adult life and what led to her being in Seligman's care.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnother Day (2026)
Over an eight-year journey in Paris, a struggling young actress turns to alcohol to cope with her anxieties, spiraling into self-destruction before finding a path toward recovery through a new romance and her ailing sister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMaelström (2000)
A young woman's life spirals into chaos after she is involved in a hit-and-run accident. Then she encounters a mysterious man named Evian who offers her an opportunity for redemption. Narrated by a fish.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrimes of Passion (1984)
Fashion designer Joanna Crane leads a double life. By night she is China Blue, a prostitute who's attracted the attention of a sexually frustrated private detective, and a psychopathic priest in possession of a murderous sex toy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Woman (1976)
Psychological drama of the compelling relationship between a young French engineer and the girl he takes into his home after his wife has left him with their baby son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAuto Focus (2002)
A successful TV star during the 1960s, former "Hogan's Heroes" actor Bob Crane projects a wholesome family-man image, but this front masks his persona as a sex addict who records and photographs his many encounters with women, often with the help of his seedy friend, John Henry Carpenter. This biographical drama reveals how Crane's double life takes its toll on him and his family, and ultimately contributes to his death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMammal (2016)
After Margaret, a divorcée living in Dublin, loses her teenage son, she develops an unorthodox relationship with Joe, a homeless youth. Their tentative trust is threatened by his involvement with a violent gang and the escalation of her ex-husband's grieving rage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShame (2011)
Brandon, a thirty-something man living in New York, eludes intimacy with women but feeds his deepest desires with a compulsive addiction to sex. When his younger sister temporarily moves into his apartment, stirring up bitter memories of their shared painful past, Brandon's life, like his fragile mind, gets out of control.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Outrage (1964)
At a disused railway station, three men -- a con artist, a preacher, and a prospector -- discuss the recent trial and sentencing of the outlaw Juan Carrasco for the murder of a man and the rape of his wife. In their recounting, the three explore the conflicting testimonies of the parties involved in the crimes. Disconcerting new questions arise with each different version of the event.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Margin (1976)
A businessman leaves his country home, and wife and young son for a business trip to Paris. While there he develops a sexual and spiritual bond with a call girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNymphomaniac: Vol. I (2013)
A man named Seligman finds a fainted wounded woman in an alley and he brings her home. She tells him that her name is Joe and that she is nymphomaniac. Joe tells her life and sexual experiences with hundreds of men since she was a young teenager while Seligman tells about his hobbies, such as fly fishing, reading about Fibonacci numbers or listening to organ music.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEyes Wide Shut (1999)
After Dr. Bill Harford's wife, Alice, admits to having sexual fantasies about a man she met, Bill becomes obsessed with having a sexual encounter. He discovers an underground sexual group and attends one of their meetings -- and quickly discovers that he is in over his head.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVivre Sa Vie (1962)
Twelve episodic tales in the life of a Parisian woman and her slow descent into prostitution.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEden Is West (2009)
Desperate to break free from the poverty of his homeland, Elias boards a ramshackle people-smuggling trawler to France. But when the boat is raided by police, Elias leaps into the ocean, eventually finding himself washed up on a Mediterranean beach resort called Eden. So begins Elias odyssesy across Western Europe to Paris, where wondrous promise, helpful new friends and perilous dangers await him every step of the way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove According to Dalva (2023)
One evening, Dalva is suddenly taken away from her father’s house. Dumbfounded and outraged at first, she later meets Jayden, a social worker, and Samia, a teen with a temper. A new life seems to start for Dalva, that of a girl her age.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Walk the Line (1970)
Henry Tawes, a middle-aged sheriff in a rural Tennessee town, is usually the first man to criticize others for their bad behavior. Miserable in his marriage, Henry falls in love with teenage seductress Alma, who is the daughter of local criminal and moonshiner Carl McCain. Henry's moral character comes further into question when he is tempted to conceal Carl's crimes in order to prolong his relationship with Alma.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisCleveland Abduction (2015)
A single mother becomes Ariel Castro's first kidnapping victim, and finds herself trapped in his home with two other women for 11 years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCoffy (1973)
After her younger sister gets involved in drugs and is severely injured by contaminated heroin, a nurse sets out on a mission of vengeance and vigilante justice, killing drug dealers, pimps, and mobsters who cross her path.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Study in Terror (1965)
When Watson reads from the newspaper there have been two similar murders near Whitechapel in a few days, Sherlock Holmes' sharp deductive is immediately stimulated to start its merciless method of elimination after observation of every apparently meaningless detail. He guesses right the victims must be street whores, and doesn't need long to work his way trough a pawn shop, an aristocratic family's stately home, a hospital and of course the potential suspects and (even unknowing) witnesses who are the cast of the gradually unraveled story of the murderer and his motive.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad Girls Go to Hell (1965)
On the run after dispatching her rapist, homemaker Ellen flees to the Big City, where further misfortunes befall her. When she finally finds stability, she discovers that her landlady's son is a detective, threatening her newfound identity and peace of mind.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisJack the Ripper (1976)
A serial killer whose mother was a prostitute starts killing streetwalkers as a way of paying back his mother for her abuse.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisChained Heat (1983)
After killing a man in a drunk driving accident, a young woman is sent to a prison where both the inmates and the corrupt leadership are violent and abusive.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Coming of Sin (1978)
A superstitious servant girl - who has foreboding nightmares about a naked man on horseback - comes to live with a solitary female artist at her country chateau. As the artist takes the girl under her wing, a sensuous relationship develops between them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNazi Love Camp 27 (1977)
When World War II breaks out, two German lovers are cruelly separated. While he is sent to fight at the front, she, a Jewish girl, is sent to a concentration camp where humiliation and death have been elevated to a sinister art.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Big Bad Mama (1974)
Circumstances force a mother and her two daughters to get into bootlegging and bank robbing, and travel across the country pursued by the law.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisWomen in Cages (1971)
Carol Jeffries is a naive American woman staying in the Philippines. She is given ten years in prison after being set up by her drug-dealer boyfriend, Rudy. She endures the harsh conditions, sadistic head matron and attempts on her life, then convinces her cell-mates to try to escape with her through the jungle, in spite of the knowledge that ruthless trackers will be sent out after them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisGreta, the Mad Butcher (1977)
A young woman feigns illness in order to infiltrate a mental hospital, where she investigates the disappearance of her sister, a former patient. Meanwhile, the hospital warden and her attendants abuse and torture their charges, forcing them to star in cheap skinflicks.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisEmanuelle in America (1977)
The untameable photo reporter Emanuelle travels the world documenting the sexual practices of the rich and powerful, getting dangerously close to their most disturbing and hidden schemes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Lulu?
The closest matches to Lulu are Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998), Pimp (2018) and Nymphomaniac: Vol. II (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Lulu?
Start with Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998), the closest match to Lulu.
What is the highest-rated movie like Lulu?
Vivre Sa Vie (1962), rated 7.7/10 by 729 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Lulu?
Another Day (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like Lulu?
Yes: Another Day (2026), Maelström (2000) and The Last Woman (1976).
How are movies similar to Lulu chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Lulu, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.