Movies like Nightingales in December (2012)
The best movies like Nightingales in December (2012) are Primal: Tales of Savagery (2019), Strings (2004) and Soul (2020). If Nightingales in December hooked you with its animation and music, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAvatar Aang: The Last Airbender (2026)9.0/10 from 1,440 votes
- NewestAvatar Aang: The Last Airbender (2026)Released 2026
Primal: Tales of Savagery (2019)
Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal: Tales of Savagery features a caveman and a dinosaur on the brink of extinction. Bonded by tragedy, this unlikely friendship becomes the only hope of survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & animation
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisStrings (2004)
The story of Prince Hal who sets out to avenge his dead father against the city's rivals, the Zeriths, little knowing it was his wicked uncle Nezo who is the real killer, with his own designs on the throne.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSoul (2020)
Joe Gardner is a middle school teacher with a love for jazz music. After a successful audition at the Half Note Club, he suddenly gets into an accident that separates his soul from his body and is transported to the You Seminar, a center in which souls develop and gain passions before being transported to a newborn child. Joe must enlist help from the other souls-in-training, like 22, a soul who has spent eons in the You Seminar, in order to get back to Earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHilda and the Mountain King (2021)
When Hilda wakes up in the body of a troll, she must use her wits and courage to get back home, become human again — and save the city of Trolberg.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDestino (2003)
Short film to a song of love lost and rediscovered, a woman sees and undergoes surreal transformations. Her lover's face melts off, she dons a dress from the shadow of a bell and becomes a dandelion, ants crawl out of a hand and become Frenchmen riding bicycles. Not to mention the turtles with faces on their backs that collide to form a ballerina, or the bizarre baseball game.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInterstate 60 (2002)
An aspiring painter meets various characters and learns valuable lessons while traveling across America.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Tales of Hoffmann (1951)
A melancholy poet reflects on three women he loved and lost in the past: a mechanical performing doll, a Venetian courtesan, and the consumptive daughter of a celebrated composer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Brave Little Toaster (1987)
A group of dated appliances, finding themselves stranded in a summer home that their family had just sold, decide to seek out their eight year old 'master'.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSturgill Simpson Presents Sound & Fury (2019)
In this anime visual album, a mysterious driver heads deep into a postapocalyptic hellscape toward a ferocious showdown with two monstrous opponents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDC 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 animation & drama
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 thisRobin Robin (2021)
A bird raised by mice begins to question where she belongs and sets off on a daring journey of self-discovery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRock & Rule (1983)
A malevolent rock star kidnaps a female singer to force her to participate in the summoning of a demon and her band must help her stop him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & animation
SnoozefestMovies like thisTome of the Unknown (2013)
Wirt and Gregory are brothers who get tired of walking, so, they borrow a car from a romantic songster made of vegetables.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies 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 adventure & animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPinocchio (2009)
The enchanted story of Pinocchio.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSofia the First: The Floating Palace (2013)
After Sofia helps a little mermaid named Oona, Sofia's amulet grants her the power to transform into a mermaid and visit her new friend's underwater kingdom. But when Cedric (disguised as a seamonster) plots to steal Oona's enchanted Mermaid Comb, danger surfaces for both worlds. With a little help from special guest, Princess Ariel, Sofia embarks on an adventure to rescue Oona and prevent a typhoon before it's too late.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAvatar Aang: The Last Airbender (2026)
Avatar Aang, the world's last Airbender, learns of an ancient power that could save his culture from extinction. With the help of his friends, he embarks on a global quest to find it before it falls into the wrong hands and threatens to upend the peace they sacrificed everything to achieve.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & adventure
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 & adventure
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisWorld of Tomorrow (2015)
A little girl is taken on a mind-bending tour of her distant future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRestless Lovers (2022)
In an isolated land, two creatures embark on a journey of adventure through uncontrollable forces of nature to find each other.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & animation
Help! (1965)
An obscure Eastern cult that practices human sacrifice pursues Ringo after he unknowingly puts on a ceremonial ring (that, of course, won't come off). On top of that, a pair of mad scientists, members of Scotland Yard, and a beautiful but dead-eyed assassin all have their own plans for the Fab Four.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDick Marshall 2 or The Existential Crisis of Toothpick Dick (2025)
Toothpick Dick doesn't know his name.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & music
Hourglass (2024)
A man arrives at a final point in time, an existential space where the future no longer exists and there is nothing left to do but turn inward. As the reality around him becomes frozen and devoid of purpose, he embarks on a journey through his consciousness, attempting to piece together his identity and trace the love that was lost in the past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & adventure
The Straight Story (1999)
Retired farmer and widower Alvin Straight learns one day that his estranged brother Lyle has suffered a severe stroke. Alvin is determined to make things right with Lyle while he still can, but his brother lives in Wisconsin, while Alvin is stuck in Iowa with no car and no driver's license. He then has the idea of making the trip on his old lawnmower, thus beginning a picturesque and at times deeply spiritual odyssey.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOnce Upon a Time in America (1984)
A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisUn spectacle interrompu (2012)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Blow-Up (1966)
A successful mod photographer in London whose world is bounded by fashion, pop music, marijuana, and easy sex, feels his life is boring and despairing. But in the course of a single day he unknowingly captures a death on film.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCara x Jagger (2019)
Cara X Jagger is an unforgettable love story centered on a pair of young lovers who are faced with the most unlikely dilemma that could potentially make or break their relationship. Cara is doing everything in her power to forget a painful event that ruined her relationship with Jagger while Jagger is fighting to remember his life after he lost his memory due to a terrible accident.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Sleepwalker (2022)
A recluse painter’s careful routine is shaken up when a mysterious young woman knocks on his door. An encounter that will confront him with his past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Nightingales in December and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Nightingales in December?
The closest matches to Nightingales in December are Primal: Tales of Savagery (2019), Strings (2004) and Soul (2020). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Nightingales in December?
Start with Primal: Tales of Savagery (2019), the closest match to Nightingales in December.
What is the highest-rated movie like Nightingales in December?
Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender (2026), rated 9.0/10 by 1,440 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Nightingales in December?
Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Nightingales in December?
Yes: Primal: Tales of Savagery (2019), Strings (2004) and Soul (2020).
How are movies similar to Nightingales in December chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Nightingales in December, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.