Movies like Headlong (2012)
The best movies like Headlong (2012) are Pretty Boy (2015), Pauline (2009) and Where the Day Takes You (1992). If Headlong hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Little Matchgirl (2006)7.4/10 from 204 votes
- NewestStreet Flow 3 (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchPauline (2009)Also in French
Pretty Boy (2015)
Sean is taken to a motel and is given a prostitute for his 18th birthday by his father. He must sleep with her to "fix" his questionable homosexuality. "Pretty Boy" is a coming of age story of a young bullied teen, Sean, struggling with his sexuality and the hardships of high school. After his father finds some questionable magazines in his room, this devout Christian will go to any lengths to get his son to find the light and "perform" the way a man should. Sean is introduced to Katie, a prostitute that understands the stigmas of modern society and helps him see the true light that is within him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPauline (2009)
A young woman chronicles her childhood of neglect and isolation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhere the Day Takes You (1992)
King is a young man, but he's already a veteran of life on the streets of Los Angeles. The de facto leader of a group of teenage runaways, King acts as a mentor to troubled kids such as gay hustler Little J and junkie Greg. When Heather, a beautiful girl from Chicago, starts hanging out with King and his crew, it changes the dynamic of the gang. However, it seems as though nothing will alter their dangerous lifestyle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMammal (2016)
After Margaret, a divorcée living in Dublin, loses her teenage son, she develops an unorthodox relationship with Joe, a homeless youth. Their tentative trust is threatened by his involvement with a violent gang and the escalation of her ex-husband's grieving rage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
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 drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Little Prince(ss) (2021)
When Gabriel, a 7-year-old Chinese kid who loves ballet, becomes friends with Rob, another Chinese kid from school, Rob’s dad gets suspicious about Gabriel's feminine behavior and decides to intervene.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStomp the Yard (2007)
After the death of his younger brother, a troubled 19-year-old street dancer from Los Angeles is able to bypass juvenile hall by enrolling in the historically black, Truth University in Atlanta, Georgia. But his efforts to get an education and woo the girl he likes are sidelined when he is courted by the top two campus fraternities, both of which want and need his fierce street-style dance moves to win the highly coveted national step show competition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Brother the Devil (2012)
Fourteen-year-old Mo is a lonely, sensitive boy whose hunger for the rant and banter of buddies makes him prone to tread dangerous territories. He idolizes his handsome older brother, Rashid, a charismatic, well-respected member of a local gang, whose drug dealing enables “Rash” to provide for his family. Aching to be seen as a tough guy himself, Mo takes a job that unlocks a fateful turn of events and forces the brothers to confront their inner demons. It turns out that hate is easy. It is love and understanding that take real courage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCowboys (2020)
Troy and his young transgender son Joe are on the run from his conservative mother in the Montana wilderness, with a detective in hot pursuit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTom at the Farm (2014)
A young man travels to an isolated farm for his lover's funeral where he's quickly drawn into a twisted, sexually charged game by his lover's aggressive brother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGenius Loci (2020)
One night, Reine, a young loner, sees among the urban chaos a moving oneness that seems alive, like some sort of guide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPariah (2011)
A Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak, and family in a desperate search for sexual expression.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTake the Lead (2006)
A former professional dancer volunteers to teach dance in the New York public school system and, while his background first clashes with his students' tastes, together they create a completely new style of dance. Based on the story of ballroom dancer, Pierre Dulane.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoney: Rise Up and Dance (2018)
Street dancer Skyler comes out of the shadow of her trained dancer sister, Tosha, & joins a dance competition with the Honey dance studio; the prize is a college scholarship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStreet Flow 3 (2026)
Grieving and facing the consequences of their crimes, the Traoré brothers get one last chance to forge a new path.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Boys in the Band (2020)
At a birthday party in 1968 New York, a surprise guest and a drunken game leave seven gay friends reckoning with unspoken feelings and buried truths.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Little Matchgirl (2006)
An animated short based on Hans Christian Andersen's tale about a poor young girl with a burning desire to find comfort and happiness in her life. Desperate to keep warm, the girl lights the matches she sells, and envisions a very different life for herself in the fiery flames filled with images of loving relatives, bountiful food, and a place to call home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Death & Life of John F. Donovan (2019)
A decade after the death of an American TV star, a young actor reminisces about the written correspondence he once shared with the former, as well as the impact those letters had on both their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEastern Boys (2013)
Arriving from all over the Eastern Bloc, the men who loiter around the Gare du Nord train station in Paris are scraping by however they can, forming gangs for support and protection, ever fearful of being caught by the police and deported. When the middle-aged, bourgeois Daniel approaches a boyishly handsome Ukrainian who calls himself Marek for a date, he learns the young man is willing to do anything for some cash.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCloset Monster (2016)
A creative and driven teenager is desperate to escape his hometown and the haunting memories of his turbulent childhood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Joke (2010)
A bunch of friends are celebrating the birthday of one of them when they decide to play a joke on him. None of them could imagine the consequences that would befall them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Fine Dead Girls (2002)
Iva and Marija, a young lesbian couple, rent an apartment in Zagreb, in a building that seems to provide a quiet and safe environment for their love, but over time the atmosphere in the building becomes more and more threatening. The elder landlady Olga dominates the building. Other tenants include her calm husband, her grown-up son Daniel who has a crush on Iva, the prostitute Lidija, an abused housewife, a widower keeping the corpse of his newly deceased wife, a gynecologist performing abortions in one flat of the house, and an ex-soldier who regularly plays martial music at night. After Olga finds out that Iva and Marija are lesbians, the situation escalates .
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Angst & Flesh (2019)
Elena loves Abel, she is drowning on the anguish of being, her subconscious manifests her urges; during the funeral misfortune sets in. Laceration and calm, devotion and fear, angst and flesh.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Dog (2017)
When Albin lands a much-wanted acting job, he doesn't hesitate to make it his top priority in life. But he's still not clear about what the job entails.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Success (2018)
Nils works with a comedy talk-show but doesn’t get the respect that he thinks he deserves. At a pitch meeting one of his ideas gets stolen by his colleague, Fabian. Everyone loves the idea, but no one except Nils realizes the fact that Fabian stole it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Ambulance Man (2005)
The Ambulance Man is a story about a paramedic who faces a difficult time at home, as he lives with an abusive partner.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Nuovo Olimpo (2023)
In 1970s Rome, a casual encounter between Enea and Pietro at a movie theater turns into an unforgettable romance — until destiny pulls them apart.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPinsky (2017)
Sophia Pinsky seems like a functioning adult. But when she loses her girlfriend and her grandfather in the same day and moves back in with her authoritarian Russian grandmother, Marina, everything she thought she’d escaped is waiting to welcome her back with open arms. Thrilled to have Sophia under her influence again, and obsessed with finding her a proper (male) partner, Marina conspires to marry her off to Trevor, a nice Jewish boy Sophia has known since they were in diapers. After the date with him is a dud, Sophia finds her way to a weekly open mic night, where on a whim she gets on stage and discovers there’s actually an audience for her Queer-Russian-Jewish-American sense of humor. Everything comes to a head at the family Shabbat dinner when Sophia and Trevor try to humiliate Marina by pretending to have fallen for each other, unaware that Marina is planning her own announcement.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Amour Océan (2022)
Jeanne, 17, enjoys the last days of summer before getting back to high school. One morning, with her little sister Camille, they decide to run away from the police station where they live with their father to see the ocean one last time. On the beach, Jeanne meets a young surfer. He’s handsome, she’s intrigued. Jeanne feels a strange desire invading her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Suppietij (1991)
The extremities of a middle-class being ramble on, reflecting poetically on the wretchedness of moderation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Headlong and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Headlong?
The closest matches to Headlong are Pretty Boy (2015), Pauline (2009) and Where the Day Takes You (1992). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Headlong?
Start with Pretty Boy (2015), the closest match to Headlong.
What is the highest-rated movie like Headlong?
The Little Matchgirl (2006), rated 7.4/10 by 204 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Headlong?
Street Flow 3 (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like Headlong?
Yes: Pauline (2009), Tom at the Farm (2014) and Genius Loci (2020).
How are movies similar to Headlong chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Headlong, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.