Movies like Wistful Lover (1984)
The best movies like Wistful Lover (1984) are The Primevals (2023), Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) and Heavy Metal (1981). If Wistful Lover hooked you with its drama and science fiction, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMississippi Burning (1988)7.7/10 from 2,065 votes
- NewestThe Ones Who Watch (2024)Released 2024
The Primevals (2023)
Deep in the Himalayas, a group of sherpas kills a gigantic humanoid creature. Convinced that it is the legendary Yeti, Dr. Claire Collier organizes an expedition with her former student Matt Connor and hunter Rondo Montana, among others, to search for more specimens. But what awaits them is something that none of them could have imagined. A colorful fusion of real image and stop-motion that is reminiscent of fantastic films from the 1980s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStranger on the Third Floor (1940)
Newspaper reporter Michael Ward plunges into a nightmare of guilt, fearing that his "evidence" has sentenced the wrong man to death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeavy Metal (1981)
The embodiment of ultimate evil, a glowing orb terrorizes a young girl with bizarre stories of dark fantasy, eroticism and horror.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeavy Metal 2000 (2000)
Upon discovery of a shard of what could be the Loc-Nar, a miner named Tyler becomes possessed with an insatiable hunger for power and a thirst for immortality. On his way to the planet of youth, Tyler wipes out most of a space colony and kidnaps a beautiful young woman. His only mistake is that he doesn't kill her sister, Julie, who then sets out on a mission of rescue and revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFarewell, My Lovely (1975)
Private eye Philip Marlowe is hired by ex-con Moose Malloy to find his girlfriend, a former lounge dancer. While also investigating the murder of a client and the theft of a jade necklace, Marlowe becomes entangled with seductress Helen Grayle and discovers a web of dark secrets that are better left hidden.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMarlowe (1969)
Mysterious Orfamay Quest hires Los Angeles private investigator Philip Marlowe to find her missing brother. Though the job seems simple enough, it leads Marlowe into the underbelly of the city, turning up leads who are murdered with ice picks, exotic dancers, blackmailed television stars, and self-preserving gangsters. Soon, Marlowe's life is on the line right along with his case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain (2021)
Based on the true story of the events that led to the death of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., an elderly African American veteran with bipolar disorder, who was killed during a conflict with police officers who were dispatched to check on him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLuckiest Girl Alive (2022)
A successful woman in New York City finds her life upended when she is forced to confront a dark truth that threatens to unravel her meticulously crafted life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Tenant (1976)
A quiet and inconspicuous man rents an apartment in Paris where he finds himself drawn into a rabbit hole of dangerous paranoia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Return (1980)
Two young children and an adult in a small town have an encounter with an alien spaceship. 25 years later the children are reunited as adults in the same town which is now beset by strange cattle mutilations. Matters become worse when the cattle mutilations are joined by human murders and mutilations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisWatchmen (2009)
In a gritty and alternate 1985, the glory days of costumed vigilantes have been brought to a close by a government crackdown. But after one of the masked veterans is brutally murdered, an investigation into the killer is initiated. The reunited heroes set out to prevent their own destruction, but in doing so they uncover a sinister plot that puts all of humanity in grave danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLost Highway (1997)
A tormented jazz musician finds himself lost in an enigmatic story involving murder, surveillance, gangsters, doppelgängers, and an impossible transformation inside a prison cell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Survivalist (2015)
In a time of starvation, a survivalist lives off a small plot of land hidden deep in forest. When two women seeking food and shelter discover his farm, he finds his existence threatened.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisToo Late (2016)
Private investigator Mel Sampson is tasked with tracking down the whereabouts of a missing woman from his own past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Salton Sea (2002)
After the murder of his beloved wife, a man in search of redemption is set adrift in a world where nothing is as it seems. On his journey, he befriends slacker Jimmy "The Finn", becomes involved in rescuing his neighbor Colette from her own demons, and gets entangled in a web of deceit full of unexpected twists and turns.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMississippi Burning (1988)
Two FBI agents investigating the murder of civil rights workers during the 60s seek to breach the conspiracy of silence in a small Southern town where segregation divides black and white. The younger agent trained in FBI school runs up against the small town ways of his partner, a former sheriff.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEnter the Void (2010)
This psychedelic tour of life after death is seen entirely from the point of view of Oscar, a young American drug dealer and addict living in Tokyo with his prostitute sister, Linda. When Oscar is killed by police during a bust gone bad, his spirit journeys from the past -- where he sees his parents before their deaths -- to the present -- where he witnesses his own autopsy -- and then to the future, where he looks out for his sister from beyond the grave.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLucky Number Slevin (2006)
Slevin is mistakenly put in the middle of a personal war between the city’s biggest criminal bosses. Under constant watch, Slevin must try not to get killed by an infamous assassin and come up with an idea of how to get out of his current dilemma.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies 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 & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRed Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1974 (2009)
Yorkshire, 1974. Fear, mistrust and institutionalised police corruption are running riot. Rookie journalist Eddie Dunford is determined to search for the truth in an increasingly complex maze of lies and deceit surrounding the police investigation into a series of child abductions. When young Clare Kemplay goes missing, Eddie and his colleague, Barry, persuade their editor to let them investigate links with two similar abductions that draw them into a deadly world of secrecy, intimidation, shocking revelations and police brutality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSphere (1998)
A spacecraft is discovered at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, presumed to be at least 300 years old and of alien origin. A crack team of scientists and experts is assembled and taken to the ocean floor to investigate. However, the ship is not as it seems and when a giant perfect sphere is discovered in the cargo bay, things begin to fall apart.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSignals: A Space Adventure (1970)
In the middle of the next century, a spaceship loses its bearings, and the commander of another space crew, seemingly on a routine check flight, decides to investigate. The result is an unusual suspense adventure.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Critters (1986)
Carnivorous aliens arrive unannounced at a Kansas family farm; two intergalactic bounty hunters soon follow, determined to blow them off the planet.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUltraman Story (1984)
The film centers around Ultraman Taro growing up, and wanting to join the Ultra Brothers in battle. His family, however, thinks he is too young. Taro eventually proves himself after saving the 5 Ultra Brothers from the evil Grand King, created by Juda.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
D-Day on Mars (1966)
This is a shortened version of the 1945 Republic serial "The Purple Monster Strikes," which was released to television in 1966.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Destroy All Monsters (1968)
At the turn of the century, all of the Earth's monsters have been rounded up and kept safely on Monsterland. Chaos erupts when a race of she-aliens known as the Kilaaks unleash the monsters across the world.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrankenstein Meets the Space Monster (1965)
When an atomic war on Mars destroys the planet's women, it's up to Martian Princess Marcuzan and her right-hand man Dr. Nadir to travel to earth and kidnap women for new breeding stock. Landing in Puerto Rico, they shoot down a NASA space capsule manned by an android. With his electronic brain damaged, the android terrorizes the island while the Martians raid beaches and pool parties
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Ones Who Watch (2024)
Recently released from the psych ward, Allen struggles to cope with his depression which leads him to strange occurrences that quickly spiral into a dire situation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Johnny Express (2014)
In the year 2150, Johnny, a lazy Space Delivery Man, must deliver a package on a planet he does not fully understand.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAlien Invasion: S.U.M.1 (2017)
An aggressive race of aliens took over Planet Earth and humanity's at its end, living in giant bunkers below ground. Young Military rookie S.U.M.1 (Iwan Rheon) is sent to the surface to save a group of unprotected survivors.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Wistful Lover?
The closest matches to Wistful Lover are The Primevals (2023), Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) and Heavy Metal (1981). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Wistful Lover?
Start with The Primevals (2023), the closest match to Wistful Lover.
What is the highest-rated movie like Wistful Lover?
Mississippi Burning (1988), rated 7.7/10 by 2,065 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Wistful Lover?
The Ones Who Watch (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Wistful Lover chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Wistful Lover, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.