Movies like The Life After (2013)
The best movies like The Life After (2013) are A Mouthful of Air (2021), The Pumpkin Eater (1964) and Under the Same Moon (2007). If The Life After hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedUnder the Same Moon (2007)8.0/10 from 378 votes
- NewestDe Quinze em Quinze dias (2025)Released 2025
- In SpanishUnder the Same Moon (2007)Also in Spanish
A Mouthful of Air (2021)
Julie is a new mom and children's book author, who escapes into the bright Crayola-colored world of her creation in order to leave behind the darkness caused by her post-partum depression.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pumpkin Eater (1964)
Jo, the mother of seven children, divorces her second husband in order to marry Jake, a successful but promiscuous screenwriter. Though they are physically and emotionally compatible, they are slowly torn apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnder the Same Moon (2007)
Tells the parallel stories of nine-year-old Carlitos and his mother, Rosario. In the hopes of providing a better life for her son, Rosario works illegally in the U.S. while her mother cares for Carlitos back in Mexico.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMother (2019)
Ten years have gone by since Elena's six-year old son has disappeared. The last thing she heard of him was a phone call he gave her, saying that he was lost on a beach in France and couldn't find his father. Nowadays, Elena lives on this same beach and manages a restaurant. She is finally beginning to emerge from this tragic episode when she meets a French teenager who strongly reminds her of her lost son. The two of them will embark on a relationship which will sow chaos and distrust around them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSouvenir (2021)
The enigmatic Isabel decides to rent her belly to give birth to the baby of Sara and Joaquin, a possessive couple obsessed with the idea of starting a family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGoodbye June (2025)
Four siblings' lives change drastically when their ailing mother takes a turn for the worse over the holiday season.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Home of Our Own (1993)
In 1960s Los Angeles an energetic widow and her six children try to make a dream of theirs come true: to have a home of their own. They leave L.A. and head for the countryside, all the while facing numerous difficulties and obstacles during their journey.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSunday's Illness (2018)
Annabel is a successful businesswoman with a wealthy husband. At a reception in her villa she meets a woman, a member of the catering staff who has been hired for the evening. This woman is none other than her own daughter Chiara, whom she had left over thirty years ago. Chiara was just eight years old at the time. She now approaches her mother with an unusual request: to spend ten days together with her.
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 thisA Dry White Season (1989)
During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLittle Lord Fauntleroy (1980)
Young Cedric Errol and his widowed mother live in genteel poverty in 1880s Brooklyn after the death of his father. Cedric's grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt, has long ago disowned his son for marrying an American. But after the death of the Earl's remaining son, he decides to accept Cedric as his heir.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNotes for My Son (2020)
Battling terminal cancer, a woman writes a one of a kind notebook about life, death and love for her son to remember her by. Based on a true story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisCome Sunday (2018)
Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisLamb (2015)
In the wake of a collapsed marriage and his father's death, David Lamb hopes to regain his own sense of goodness by focusing his attention on Tommie, an awkward and unpopular 11-year-old girl. Convinced he can help her avoid a destiny of apathy and emptiness, David takes her on a road trip from Chicago to the Rockies to initiate her into the beauty of the mountain wilderness. The journey shakes them in ways neither expects.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmong Wolves (2010)
Entre lobos (Among Wolves) tells the remarkable story of a poor country boy named Marcos, who at the age of 7 is handed over to his father's employer, a rich landowner, who in turn delivers him to a life of labor with a hermetic goatherd in an isolated valley. The old man, who lives in a cave, is unused to human company and at first seems not very interested in having a live-in apprentice. The boy, who was abused by his parents, is frightened and equally aloof initially. Despite this, the shepherd begins teaching Marcos how to herd the goats, as well as how to care for himself and how to survive in the wilderness by trapping and fishing.
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 thisLove You to Death (2019)
Inspired by a true story, this film tells the shocking tale of a mother and daughter who are nothing like they seem, their tumultuous relationship ending in a brutal murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe King of Havana (2015)
Recently escaped from reformatory, Reinaldo struggles to get by in the streets of Havana in the late 90s, one of the worst decades for Cuban society. Hopes, disillusionment, rum, good humor and above all hunger, accompany him in his wanderings, until he meets Magda and Yunisleidy, survivors like himself. In one or the other's arms, he will try to escape the material and moral misery surrounding him, living love, passion, tenderness and uninhibited sex to the limit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUna tarde en la vida de dos niños kelpers (2014)
Alex and Dani, two Kelper children living in Stanley, Falkland Islands, skip school to play in the fields, as they usually do every day. One afternoon, when they discover a black, viscous liquid they believe to be oil, their historical differences come to light.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Crescendo (TBA)
As the end-of-year concert approaches, Théa, a young student pianist at a conservatory, finds herself losing all her nerve due to her fascination with one of her elders, Cécile.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
JUDY1964 (2025)
In the 1960s, young Judy is captivated by an advertisement for toy guns. But when she discovers her parents' real firearm, the line between playful fantasy and dangerous reality blurs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
A Magnificent Life (2025)
In 1955, 60-year-old Marcel Pagnol is a well-known and acclaimed playwright and filmmaker. When the editor-in-chief of ELLE magazine commissions a weekly column about Pagnol's childhood, he sees this as a great opportunity to go back to his artistic roots: writing. Realizing his memory is failing him and deeply affected by the disappointing results of his last two plays, Pagnol starts doubting his ability to pursue his work. That is until Little Marcel - the young boy he used to be - appears to him as if by magic. Together, they will explore Marcel Pagnol's incredible life and bring back to life his most cherished encounters and memories...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Sanda (1990)
Sanda spends all her time working in a plastic factory, raising her two small children and catering to an indifferent husband, leaving little room for herself. A chance encounter with another man may offer her an escape from her daily chores.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Kalippaattakkaaran: Toy Maker (2017)
A young toymaker tries to make sense of the impermanence of life that he has been forced to acknowledge through experiences of separation and death.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Olote (2021)
Julia is a child living in a Mexican town trapped in the war against drug trafficking. After waiting for days for his father’s return she meets Miria, a hitman boy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Teddy Bear Motel (2022)
A young woman travels to the Teddy Bear Motel after seeing it in her dreams. Between the allure of the motel’s portal into childhood and the realities of adulthood, she inevitably needs to make her choice.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
De Quinze em Quinze dias (2025)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
.270 (2017)
Two childhood friends take a rifle into the mountains, and return with a secret.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Life After?
The closest matches to The Life After are A Mouthful of Air (2021), The Pumpkin Eater (1964) and Under the Same Moon (2007). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Life After?
Start with A Mouthful of Air (2021), the closest match to The Life After.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Life After?
Under the Same Moon (2007), rated 8.0/10 by 378 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Life After?
De Quinze em Quinze dias (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like The Life After?
Yes: Under the Same Moon (2007), Mother (2019) and Souvenir (2021).
How are movies similar to The Life After chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Life After, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.