Movies like Joy Street (1995)
The best movies like Joy Street (1995) are DC Showcase: Death (2019), Waking Life (2001) and The Dam Keeper (2014). If Joy Street hooked you with its animation and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedHow to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming (2019)8.0/10 from 1,155 votes
- NewestStill Life (2026)Released 2026
DC Showcase: Death (2019)
Vincent, an artist with unresolved inner demons, meets a mysterious girl who helps him come to terms with his creative legacy… and eventual death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & animation
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisWaking Life (2001)
Waking Life is about a young man in a persistent lucid dream-like state. The film follows its protagonist as he initially observes and later participates in philosophical discussions that weave together issues like reality, free will, our relationships with others, and the meaning of life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Dam Keeper (2014)
In a desolate future, one small town has survived because of a large windmill dam that acts as a fan to keep out pollution. The dam's operator, Pig, works tirelessly to keep the sails spinning and protect the town, despite abuse from classmates and an indifferent public. When a new student joins Pig's class, nothing will be the same again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Lorax (1972)
The Once-ler, a ruined industrialist, tells the tale of his rise to wealth and subsequent fall, as he disregarded the warnings of a wise old forest creature called the Lorax about the environmental destruction caused by his greed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBefore I Fall (2017)
Samantha Kingston has everything. Then, everything changes. After one fateful night, she wakes up with no future at all. Trapped into reliving the same day over and over, she begins to question just how perfect her life really was.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
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 fantasy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVesper (2022)
After the collapse of Earth's ecosystem, Vesper, a 13-year-old girl struggling to survive with her paralyzed Father, meets a mysterious Woman with a secret that forces Vesper to use her wits, strength and bio-hacking abilities to fight for the possibility of a future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCanvas (2020)
After a heartbreaking loss, a grandfather struggling to reclaim his passion for painting finds the inspiration to create again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (2012)
After a hurricane levels his city, a young man wanders into a mysterious library where books literally come to life. This film won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 2012.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEpic (2013)
A teenager finds herself transported to a deep forest setting where a battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil is taking place. She bands together with a rag-tag group of characters in order to save their world—and ours.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & fantasy
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 · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSplit (2016)
The story of a young woman who takes an epic journey to claim her own darkness and sexuality so she can stop putting it into the hands of her abusive lover. When Inanna, a young actress, working as a stripper, becomes obsessed with a mask maker, she sacrifices parts of herself and her life, piece by piece, in order to win his love. At the same time she enters a mythic journey in the theater. One that forces her to face the many abuses endured by women around that world and that blurs her performance, her dreams and her real life and results in a provocative and powerful confrontation that frees her. -- from official website
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisNine Days (2021)
A bureaucrat interviews five souls to decide which of them will be given a life on Earth. But he soon faces an existential challenge of his own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHow to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming (2019)
It's been ten years since the dragons moved to the Hidden World, and even though Toothless doesn't live in New Berk anymore, Hiccup continues the holiday traditions he once shared with his best friend. But the Vikings of New Berk were beginning to forget about their friendship with dragons. Hiccup, Astrid, and Gobber know just what to do to keep the dragons in the villagers' hearts. And across the sea, the dragons have a plan of their own...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & fantasy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCosmos Laundromat (2015)
On a desolate island, a suicidal sheep named Franck meets his fate…in the form of a quirky salesman named Victor, who offers him the gift of a lifetime. The gift is many lifetimes, actually, in many different worlds – each lasting just a few minutes. In the sequel to the pilot, Franck will find a new reason to live…in the form of a bewitching female adventurer named Tara, who awakens his long-lost lust for life. But can Franck keep up with her?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Book of Life (2014)
The journey of Manolo, a young man who is torn between fulfilling the expectations of his family and following his heart. Before choosing which path to follow, he embarks on an incredible adventure that spans fantastical worlds where he must face his greatest fears.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Congress (2013)
An aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job, though the consequences of her decision affect her in ways she didn't consider.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992)
When a sprite named Crysta shrinks a human boy, Zak, down to her size, he vows to help the magical fairy folk stop a greedy logging company from destroying their home: the pristine rainforest known as FernGully. Zak and his new friends fight to defend FernGully from lumberjacks — and the vengeful spirit they accidentally unleash after chopping down a magic tree.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTideland (2005)
Because of the actions of her irresponsible parents, a young girl is left alone on a decrepit country estate and survives inside her fantastic imagination.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRaya and the Last Dragon (2021)
Long ago, in the fantasy world of Kumandra, humans and dragons lived together in harmony. But when an evil force threatened the land, the dragons sacrificed themselves to save humanity. Now, 500 years later, that same evil has returned and it’s up to a lone warrior, Raya, to track down the legendary last dragon to restore the fractured land and its divided people.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Myth of the Water Goddess (2022)
A little girl will have to sing to the mythical goddess of water so that this valuable liquid can reach her community.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & fantasy
The Village (2010)
A doctor mysteriously discovers that he is required urgently at the village to offer his services. He arrives there after a long and difficult journey, only to discover that the village is empty.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & drama
Black Mountain Side (2016)
A group of archaeologists working in Northern Canada uncover a strange structure dating over ten thousand years before the present. The team soon finds themselves isolated when their communication systems fail and they begin to feel the effects of solitude.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisB.Selvi & Daughters (2020)
B. Selvi & Daughters is the story of Selvi, a 50-year old woman in Chennai, India who is trying to get her fledgling online saree store off the ground. Like any Good Indian Mother, Selvi gave up her career aspirations for family life, and left all major decisions to her husband. Now, a year after his death, Selvi has taken her hobby of selling sarees door-to-door to the next level via Whatsapp, and is struggling with the confidence to build it into a real business. When Kavitha - Selvi's fiercely independent, idealistic daughter comes home for Pongal - she discovers her mother's secret with pleasant surprise, and runs an ad for the sari business without consulting her. Now, with close to a hundred orders to fulfill overnight, Selvi is overwhelmed. Can she do this? Is she capable of handling a business on her own? She needs to take the plunge in order to find out.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Shabbat Dinner (2012)
Shabbat Dinner is boring as usual for William Shore. His mother has invited two crazy hippies and their son and is doing her best to show off, his father is drunk and berating their oddball guests, and he doesn't have much in common with their son Virgo. That is, until Virgo tells him that he has just come out as gay.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Body (2016)
A nurse's aid, Cathy lives alone. Too alone. When her sister, with whom she's had a falling-out, calls her for her birthday and invites her to the beach, Cathy is exhilarated. But the day gradually slips away from her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Caught Red Handed (2009)
An ambivalent meeting between two friends. Classmates Victor and Amanda meet at a cafe in Stockholm one afternoon before Christmas to study for an exam. Amanda wants to talk about what they read, but Victor steers the conversation into something completely different, and suddenly they both run the risk of losing their face.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Lou & Lena (2003)
Two friends, Lou and Lena... An agreement for this all night walk.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Butterflies Do Not Drink Coffee (2009)
Pierre is a very shy man in his sixties, with no family or friends and who just retired. What will he do now?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Still Life (2026)
After their son is stillborn at 24 weeks, Jess navigates an unexpected form of motherhood marked by silent milestones and uncomfortable social encounters, while Max struggles to hold their family together through grief.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Joy Street?
The closest matches to Joy Street are DC Showcase: Death (2019), Waking Life (2001) and The Dam Keeper (2014). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Joy Street?
Start with DC Showcase: Death (2019), the closest match to Joy Street.
What is the highest-rated movie like Joy Street?
How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming (2019), rated 8.0/10 by 1,155 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Joy Street?
Still Life (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Joy Street?
Yes: DC Showcase: Death (2019), Waking Life (2001) and The Dam Keeper (2014).
How are movies similar to Joy Street chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Joy Street, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.