Movies like The Decline of the American Empire (1986)
The best movies like The Decline of the American Empire (1986) are The Baker's Wife (1938), Somewhere in Queens (2023) and Maybe More (2024). If The Decline of the American Empire hooked you with its comedy and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBad Seeds (2018)7.6/10 from 641 votes
- NewestMaybe More (2024)Released 2024
- In FrenchThe Baker's Wife (1938)Also in French
The Baker's Wife (1938)
In this little Provencal village, a new baker, Aimable, settles down. His wife Aurelie is beautiful and much younger than he. She departs with a shepherd the night after Aimable produces his first breads. Aimable is so afflicted that he can not work anymore. Therefore, the villagers, who initially laughed at his cuckoldry, take the matter very seriously (they want the bread) and organize a plan to find Aurelie and to bring her back to the bakery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSomewhere in Queens (2023)
Leo and Angela Russo live a simple life in Queens, surrounded by their overbearing Italian-American family. When their son finds success on his high school basketball team, Leo tears the family apart trying to make it happen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaybe More (2024)
After 25 years together, married life has taken its toll on Xavier and Sophie, so when Sophie decides to invite their neighbours over for dinner, Xavier is less than enthusiastic to say the least! He can’t stand how obviously still in love they are and their lack of discretion… especially at night! On coming face-to-face with the uninhibited couple, Xavier and Sophie will be forced to confront their own, sad reality, before finding themselves pushed into a corner by a somewhat… indecent proposal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisThe Guide to the Perfect Family (2021)
A couple in Québec deals with the pitfalls, pressure and high expectations of raising kids in a society obsessed with success and social media image.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGoing Places (1974)
Two whimsical, aimless thugs harass and assault women, steal, murder, and alternately charm, fight, or sprint their way out of trouble. They take whatever the bourgeoisie holds dear, whether it’s cars, peace of mind, or daughters. Marie-Ange, a jaded, passive hairdresser, joins them as lover, cook, and mother confessor. She’s on her own search for seemingly unattainable sexual pleasure.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCQ (2001)
A young filmmaker in 1960s Paris juggles directing a cheesy sci-fi debacle, directing his own personal art film, coping with his crumbling relationship with his girlfriend, and a new-found infatuation with the sci-fi film's starlet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMatch (2014)
A Seattle couple travel to New York to interview colorful former dancer Tobi for research on a dissertation about dance. But soon, common niceties and social graces erode when the questions turn personal and the true nature of the interview is called into question.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBad Seeds (2018)
Wael, a former street child, makes a living from small scams with his adoptive mother and partner-in-crime Monique. When this unconventional duo swindles the wrong guy, Victor, an old acquaintance of Monique now in charge of a support organization for troubled teens, they have no choice but to become his interim secretary and educator in order to redeem themselves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisThe Day I Saw Your Heart (2011)
Justine, struggles with commitment, listens to old David Bowie covers, and uses her employer’s private MRI machines to make “X-Ray Art” After a trail of boyfriends, Justine thinks she has found The One, a hunky shoe salesman, but her temporary happiness is thrown when her neurotic 60-year-old Jewish father (Michel Blanc) suffers a delayed midlife crisis and announces that his young second wife is expecting a baby. Justine and her half-sister Dom, who is trying to adopt, are rather annoyed at the news. Coupled with resentment about her father’s absence when she was growing up, causes her to spiral into self-doubt. Overflowing with French charm, Justine gets by with the help of her family, friends, and newly discovered muse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisClass Act (1992)
Duncan is a genius straight A student, Blade is ajuvenile delinquent. But because of a mix up with their school records, everyone thinks each is the other one. Now, Duncan kind of likes the attention from being thought of as a real bad dude, if only the school bully would stop trying to rough him up. And Blade definitely likes being thought of as important instead of as trouble.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Big Hit (2020)
Etienne, an often out of work but endearing actor, runs a theater workshop in a prison, where he brings together an unlikely troupe of prisoners to stage Samuel Beckett’s famous play Waiting for Godot. When he is allowed to take the colorful band of convicts on a tour outside of prison, Etienne finally has the chance to thrive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAbout Alex (2014)
When a group of old college friends reunite over a long weekend after one of them attempts suicide, old crushes and resentments shine light on their life decisions, and ultimately push friendships and relationships to the brink.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSmall Apartments (2012)
When a clumsy deadbeat accidentally kills his landlord, he must do everything in his power to hide the body, only to find that the distractions of lust, the death of his beloved brother, and a crew of misfit characters force him on a journey where a fortune awaits him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like this¿Y cómo es él? (2022)
Thomas is a meek man on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Despite his situation he decides to fake a work trip to go to Vallarta to confront Jero, a taxi driver who is sleeping with his wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJeune Femme (2017)
Broke, with nothing but her cat to her name and doors closing in her face, Paula is back in Paris after a long absence. As she meets different people along the way, there is one thing she knows for sure: she's determined to make a new start and she'll do it with style and panache.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Joneses (2010)
A seemingly perfect family moves into a suburban neighborhood, but when it comes to the truth as to why they're living there, they don't exactly come clean with their neighbors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Beanie Bubble (2023)
Ty was a frustrated toy salesman until his collaboration with three women turned his stuffed animals into a defining '90s trend. This behind-the-scenes look at history's biggest toy craze is a wild story about what—and who—is valued in this world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSchool of Life (2017)
Paris 1930. Paul has only ever had one and the same horizon: the high walls of the orphanage, an austere building in the Parisian working class suburbs. Entrusted to a joyful country woman, Célestine, and her husband, Borel, the rather stiff gamekeeper of a vast estate in Sologne, the city child, recalcitrant and stubborn, arrives in a mysterious and disturbing world, that of a sovereign and wild region. The huge forest, misty ponds, heaths, and fields all belong to the Count de la Fresnaye, an elderly taciturn man who lives alone in his manor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Club (1980)
The club buys a talented young player, Geoff, for a record sum of money. The team members do not like their new star and friction develops immediately. Game after game is lost until Geoff begins to realize that there is more at stake than just his own career.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Fatso (1980)
Dominick DiNapoli is a man who loves food and is overweight as a result. After an obese cousin dies due to health problems, Dominick's sister Antoinette sets out to help him lose weight. Although he has a hard time trying to slim down, Dominick finds inspiration when he meets and falls for shop owner Lydia. Can he get up the courage to ask her out, or will he go back to the comfort of overeating?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Lords of Flatbush (1974)
Set in 1958, the coming of age story follows four lower middle-class Brooklyn teenagers known as The Lords of Flatbush. The Lords chase girls, steal cars, shoot pool, get into street fights, and hang out at a local malt shop.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Loss of Sexual Innocence (1999)
The story of the sexual development of a filmmaker through three stages of his life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Vive L'Amour (1994)
Three lonely young denizens of Taipei unknowingly share an apartment: May, a real estate agent who uses it for her sexual affairs; Ah-jung, her current lover; and Hsiao-kang, who's stolen the key and uses the apartment as a retreat.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMademoiselle (1966)
A sexually repressed school teacher releases her pent up passions in a series of shocking crimes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThat Cold Day in the Park (1969)
Frances Austen, a young, wealthy spinster, invites a mute teenager into her apartment after finding him freezing in the park next to where she lives. Despite her best efforts, their lack of communication only increases her sense of loneliness, as her possessiveness spirals into frightening new realms.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParadise: Love (2012)
On the beaches of Kenya they’re known as "Sugar Mamas" —European women who seek out African boys selling love to earn a living. Teresa, a 50-year-old Austrian and mother of a daughter entering puberty, travels to this vacation paradise, moving from beach to beach.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Circle (1969)
A liberal-thinking author watches his wife as she attempts to seduce his best friend at a dinner party. She ends up taking on another man as well, and the writer has an affair with the another dinner guest. Soon the three men and two women are entangled in a confusing series of partner-swapping sex sprees where everyone's morals are challenged in the wake of the sexual revolution.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Les Bonnes Femmes (1960)
Four Parisian women navigate the world of romance and daily life looking to fulfill their dreams.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like The Decline of the American Empire and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Decline of the American Empire?
The closest matches to The Decline of the American Empire are The Baker's Wife (1938), Somewhere in Queens (2023) and Maybe More (2024). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Decline of the American Empire?
Start with The Baker's Wife (1938), the closest match to The Decline of the American Empire.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Decline of the American Empire?
Bad Seeds (2018), rated 7.6/10 by 641 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Decline of the American Empire?
Maybe More (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like The Decline of the American Empire?
Yes: The Baker's Wife (1938), Maybe More (2024) and The Guide to the Perfect Family (2021).
How are movies similar to The Decline of the American Empire chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Decline of the American Empire, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.