Movies like Persepolis (2007)
The best movies like Persepolis (2007) are Animal Farm (1954), The Breadwinner (2017) and The Swallows of Kabul (2019). If Persepolis 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 ratedThe Breadwinner (2017)7.8/10 from 969 votes
- NewestDRAWN OUT (2025)Released 2025
- In FrenchThe Swallows of Kabul (2019)Also in French
Animal Farm (1954)
Animals on a farm lead a revolution against the farmers to put their destiny in their own hands. However this revolution eats their own children and they cannot avoid corruption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Breadwinner (2017)
A headstrong young girl in Afghanistan, ruled by the Taliban, disguises herself as a boy in order to provide for her family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Swallows of Kabul (2019)
Summer 1998—Kabul under Taliban rule. Zunaira and Mohsen are young and in love. Despite the daily violence and misery, they hope for a better future. One day, a foolish gesture causes life to take an irrevocable turn.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisReading Lolita in Tehran (2024)
In 1979, amidst censorship and religious extremism, a revolutionary literature professor in Tehran gathers seven of her most dedicated female students to immerse themselves in banned literary classics.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Little Princess (2011)
Young Violetta and her mother Hannah are a peculiar couple. Ten-year-old Violetta lives a quiet life with her grandmother, while her mother Hannah is an unpredictable photographer who lives off of the generosity of others. When Hannah forces her daughter to pose as a model, Violetta finds her life with her loving grandmother turned upside down.The resulting pictures quickly become a sensation for the trendy 70's Paris art scene, and Violetta finds herself caught in between her new stature as an art muse and her dull childhood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Giver (2014)
In a seemingly perfect community, without war, pain, suffering, differences or choice, a young boy is chosen to learn from an elderly man about the true pain and pleasure of the "real" world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this24 Days (2014)
When Ilan Halimi is kidnapped for ransom because Jewish and supposedly rich, his family and the police start a race against time to save him from the tortures of the "gang of barbarians".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSkin (2009)
Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOctober Sky (1999)
The true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDeath in the Garden (1956)
In a remote Amazon jungle village, a group of angry diamond prospectors revolt when the local government undertakes a violent crackdown.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIt Was Just an Accident (2025)
An unassuming mechanic is reminded of his time in an Iranian prison when he encounters a man he suspects to be his sadistic jailhouse captor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTatami (2024)
Iranian female judokas Leila and her coach Maryam, travel to the Judo World Championship, intent on bringing home Iran’s first gold medal. Midway through the Judo World Championships, they receive an ultimatum from the Islamic Republic ordering Leila to fake an injury and lose, or she will be branded a traitor of the state. With her own and her family’s freedom at stake, Leila is faced with an impossible choice: comply with the Iranian regime as her coach Maryam implores her to do, or fight on, for the gold.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMonster High: Welcome to Monster High (2016)
Monsters once lived in hiding—even from each other—because they were afraid they would be in danger if humans knew they existed. But Draculaura, the daughter of Dracula, along with her best ghoulfriends, dreamt of a school where everyone was welcome and accepted for who they are. Determined to make their dream come true, the ghouls travel the world on an epic adventure to recruit new students. But even in this amazing place, there's drama: a villainess zombie is spreading trouble rather than friendship, and every student must live with the fear that their secret will be revealed. Now the ghouls must save their school so that every monster has a place where they belong and their uniqueness is celebrated!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKahlil Gibran's The Prophet (2014)
Exiled artist and poet Mustafa embarks on a journey home with his housekeeper and her daughter; together the trio must evade the authorities who fear that the truth in Mustafa's words will incite rebellion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHeaven Will Wait (2016)
Mélanie, 16 years old, lives with her mother. She likes going to school, her friends, playing the cello, and she wants to change the world. But when she meets a boy on the Internet and falls in love with him, her world changes as she is gradually recruited by Daesh. Sonia is 17 years old, and she almost did something irrevocable to “guarantee” her family a place in paradise. These teenage girls might be called Anaïs, Manon or Leila, and one day they all might go some way down the recruitment process. But can they ever come back from it?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBilal: A New Breed of Hero (2016)
A thousand years ago, one boy with a dream of becoming a great warrior is abducted with his sister and taken to a land far away from home. Thrown into a world where greed and injustice rule all, Bilal finds the courage to raise his voice and make a change. Inspired by true events, this is a story of a real hero who earned his remembrance in time and history.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlast (2022)
In a Parisian parking lot Sonia finds herself trapped in her car with her son and the daughter of her boyfriend Fred, who has been left outside, powerless to deal with the situation: an anti-tank mine has been set under the car. Sonia is a bomb-disposal expert, who works for a NGO with Fred. She just got back from a mission in Ukraine and, while she's used to face dangerous situations, with the children's lives on the line the stakes have never been higher. Along with colleagues Igor and Camille, who came to the rescue, Sonia and Fred have 30 minutes to defuse the bomb and work out who could be the mastermind behind this. Will they stand united until the end or will the family implode under pressure?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Truth About Emanuel (2013)
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Transformers: The Movie (1986)
The Autobots must stop a colossal planet-consuming robot who goes after the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. At the same time, they must defend themselves against an all-out attack from the Decepticons.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFahrenheit 451 (1966)
In the future, the government maintains control of public opinion by outlawing literature and maintaining a group of enforcers, known as “firemen,” to perform the necessary book burnings. Fireman Montag begins to question the morality of his vocation…
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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: Similar story and style · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNetto (2005)
Follows the lives of an unemployed drunk and his son as they struggle to adapt to each other.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
DRAWN OUT (2025)
On the eve of leaving for college, Randy discovers that the childhood drawings she's long forgotten are not quite ready to let her go. When her imaginary friends come to life, they pull her into a surreal final adventure through her own home, one that forces her to confront buried memories, unresolved guilt, and the fear she's been avoiding. As fantasy and reality collide, Randy must decide whether to run from her past or face it head-on, learning that growing up doesn't mean leaving every part of yourself behind.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
About You I Don't Know (2022)
One day, college student Keiko, who is looking for a job, learns that the person she had feelings for has committed suicide. Keiko wonders if she was the cause of this. Classmate Mami, through her boyfriend Takuya, tries to introduce Keiko to Kazuo, a member of Takuya's theater company. However, Keiko, who met Takuya, has a special feeling for him. Miyata, a young man who seems to be hiding in the darkness of everyday life, meets Keiko one day.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Eagle Rock (2019)
In the early 1970s, a young woman in prison for murder reflects on what led her to the crime, the cult she was a part of, and her relationship with its leader.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Getting Lost (TBA)
The nephew of a legendary wilderness TV host decides to finish his uncle's final episode after he dies during a catastrophic on-air incident. He heads into the jungle guided by a the pot-smoking ghost.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Khush (1991)
Khush means ecstatic pleasure in Urdu. For South Asian lesbians and gay men in Britain, North America, and India, the term captures the blissful intricacies of being queer and of color. Inspiring testimonies bridge geographical differences to locate shared experiences of isolation and exoticization but also the unremitting joys and solidarity of being khush.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Craft (1996)
A Catholic school newcomer falls in with a clique of teen witches who wield their powers against all who dare to cross them -- be they teachers, rivals or meddlesome parents.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpread (2016)
Home-video footage of infants playing transforms into an experimental display of rotoscope animation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
The Wedding Banquet (1993)
A Taiwanese-American man is happily settled in New York with his American boyfriend. He plans a marriage of convenience to a Chinese woman in order to keep his parents off his back and to get the woman a green card. Chaos follows when his parents arrive in New York for the wedding.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Persepolis?
The closest matches to Persepolis are Animal Farm (1954), The Breadwinner (2017) and The Swallows of Kabul (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Persepolis?
Start with Animal Farm (1954), the closest match to Persepolis.
What is the highest-rated movie like Persepolis?
The Breadwinner (2017), rated 7.8/10 by 969 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Persepolis?
DRAWN OUT (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like Persepolis?
Yes: The Swallows of Kabul (2019), My Little Princess (2011) and 24 Days (2014).
How are movies similar to Persepolis chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Persepolis, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.