Movies like A Real Life (2009)
The best movies like A Real Life (2009) are Hounddog (2008), Wanda (1970) and The Safety of Objects (2002). If A Real Life hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCleveland Abduction (2015)7.3/10 from 453 votes
- NewestPlay Dirty (2025)Released 2025
- In FrenchBreathe (2014)Also in French
Hounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWanda (1970)
After a string of abusive relationships, Wanda abandons her family and seeks solace in the company of a petty criminal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Safety of Objects (2002)
In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHands of Stone (2016)
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPhantom Halo (2014)
Two brothers barely scrape by as their father continues to gamble and drink away the money they do bring home. They hatch a plan for a robbery but at what price?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisImperial Dreams (2014)
A 21-year-old reformed gangster's devotion to his family and his future is put to the test when he is released from prison and returns to his old stomping grounds in Watts, Los Angeles.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBastard Out of Carolina (1996)
A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDirt (2018)
In search of a lifeline for his struggling off road racing team, a man takes on a young car thief looking for a second chance, but as their worlds collide, they must struggle to forge a successful alliance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCardboard Boxer (2016)
Gentle and broken, a homeless man fights others on video for money but soon finds comfort in an unlikely friend and the lost diary of a young girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlay Dirty (2025)
Expert thief Parker gets a shot at a major heist, but to pull it off he and his team must outsmart a South American dictator, the New York mob, and the world's richest man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Neighbor (2022)
A nightmarish evening unfolds for neighbors David and Robert when they accidentally hit a woman on her bike and flee the scene. While David is increasingly plagued by feelings of guilt, Robert shows no remorse and becomes overbearing and possessive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBreathe (2014)
Charlie, a 17-year-old girl tortured by doubt, is thrilled when she becomes friends with Sarah, but when Sarah tires of Charlie and looks for a new friend, their relationship takes an ominous turn.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Enforcer (2022)
A noir thriller set in Miami, the film follows an enforcer who discovers his femme fatale boss has branched out into cyber sex trafficking, putting a young runaway he’s befriended at risk. He sacrifices everything to save the young girl from the deadly organization he’s spent his life building.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisAd Vitam (2025)
When he and his pregnant wife are attacked in their home, a former elite agent becomes trapped in a deadly manhunt tied to his own painful past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRoad to Paloma (2014)
While Native American Wolf is being pursued by the FBI for having taken the law into his own hands, when his mother was raped and killed on their reservation he crosses paths with Cash, a down and out musician who is coping with the end of his marriage. An unlikely friendship develops, as they ride together towards the Teton mountain range, where Wolf will spread his mothers ashes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Trials of Cate McCall (2013)
In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Snows of Kilimanjaro (2011)
A union pensioner and his wife are robbed, but find that merely getting the assailants brought to justice is not enough for their consciences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlic Story (1975)
The film story depicts Emile Buisson, following the death of his wife and child, escaping from a psychiatric institution in 1947 and returning to Paris. Buisson, who three years later would become France's public enemy number one, begins a murderous rampage through the French capital.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStrange Weather (2016)
Years after her son's suicide, a woman longs to confront both the past and a friend of his who took his business idea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisDiablillos de arrabal (1940)
In a poor neighborhood in Mexico City, two gangs of kids fight for control of the center where they work as "boleros", musicians or announcers. "Completo" joins the gang led by "Rorro", a rival of the group headed by "Curricán".
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Cry (2007)
In New York, detective Alex Scott is investigating with his partner Sergio Perez the disappearance of several children. When they visit the Mexican witch Gloria, the woman advises that a powerful evil force is chasing the reincarnation of her son and drowning the other children to bring pain to their mothers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Newton Boys (1998)
The story of the Newton gang, the most successful bank robbers in history, owing to their good planning and minimal violence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBrownsville Bred (2025)
Set against the vibrant yet challenging backdrop of her urban neighborhood, the complexities of adolescence are explored as Elaine faces an unexpected upheaval in her life due to her father, Manny, an aspiring salsa musician whose struggles lead him away from his family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Jacob Have I Loved (1989)
In the early 1940s, a depressed young woman, who's been eclipsed all of her life by her beautiful twin sister, tries to overcome her low self-esteem with help from a crusty old sea captain.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
A Million Little Pieces (2019)
A young drug-addled writer approaching the bottom of his descent submits to two months of agonizing detox at a treatment center in Minnesota.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDer Duft von Holunder (2011)
Once Sofie Möller left her idyllic hometown with the aim of making a career in the big city. Now she returns with her mother Agnes to attend the funeral of her grandmother and to revamp her empty house for sale. It does not take long for Sofie to be confronted with her past, which apart from the grandmotherly love consisted of many personal injuries. When she meets her former boyhood friend Tom Sommer again, Sofie has come to the time to rethink her own emotional life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Christmas Secret (2014)
While her life is falling apart, single mother Christine finds a magical family heirloom that leads to love and good fortune during Christmas.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBut Muzeyyen That's the Deepest Desire (2014)
Arif, who is trying to write his first book, believes that life contains many unanswerable questions, especially about women and relationships. But when Müzeyyen appears unexpectedly, everything he has ever known or tried to learn is suddenly turned upside down.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEurope in the Evening (1989)
Based on the novel "Trust D. E." by Ilja Ehrenburg. Jens Boot, a successful manager in a multinational corporation, organizes the takeover of companies in Europe. Very soon he realizes his task—the preparation of the destruction of Europe. He suspects his girlfriend of being involved in the conspiracy. Only in the European desert do they meet again.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like A Real Life and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like A Real Life?
The closest matches to A Real Life are Hounddog (2008), Wanda (1970) and The Safety of Objects (2002). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after A Real Life?
Start with Hounddog (2008), the closest match to A Real Life.
What is the highest-rated movie like A Real Life?
Cleveland Abduction (2015), rated 7.3/10 by 453 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like A Real Life?
Play Dirty (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like A Real Life?
Yes: Breathe (2014), Ad Vitam (2025) and The Snows of Kilimanjaro (2011).
How are movies similar to A Real Life chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside A Real Life, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.