Movies like James Joyce's Women (1985)
The best movies like James Joyce's Women (1985) are Hounddog (2008), Effie Gray (2014) and The Safety of Objects (2002). If James Joyce's Women hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedInside I'm Dancing (2004)7.4/10 from 244 votes
- NewestThe Recruiter (2025)Released 2025
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 thisEffie Gray (2014)
A look at the mysterious relationship between Victorian art critic John Ruskin and his teenage bride Effie Gray.
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 thisSunshine State (2002)
A woman and her new husband returns to her hometown roots in coastal northern Florida, and must deal with family, business, and encroaching real estate development.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLucky Them (2013)
More interested in partying and flirting with young musicians than work, veteran rock journalist Ellie Klug has one last chance to prove her value to her magazine’s editor: a no-stone-unturned search to discover what really happened to long lost rock god, Matt Smith, who also happens to be her ex-boyfriend. Teaming up with an eccentric amateur documentary filmmaker, Ellie hits the road in search of answers.
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 thisInside I'm Dancing (2004)
Michael is a 24-year-old who has cerebral palsy and long-term resident of the Carrigmore Residential Home for the Disabled, run by the formidable Eileen. His life is transformed when the maverick Rory O'Shea moves in.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRogue Agent (2022)
Conman Robert Freegard poses as an undercover MI5 agent and kidnaps countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt, until the woman who fell for him brings him to justice.
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 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 thisThe Road Dance (2022)
A young girl lives in the Outer Hebrides in a small village in the years just before WWI. Isolated and hard by the shore, her life takes a dramatic change when a terrible tragedy befalls her.
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 thisIntroducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999)
An acclaimed stage performer, Dorothy still struggled with the challenge of her color, in a time that wouldn't let some stars in by the front door. Yet against the odds she beat out many more famous rivals for the role of "Carmen Jones", becoming the first black woman ever nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award. Marriages and affairs would break her heart, but her heart was strong. Seductive and easily seduced, she was born to be a star - with all the glory and all the pain of being loved, abused, cheated, glorified, undermined and undefeated. Here was a woman who wouldn't wait in the wings. Halle Berry stars as Dorothy Dandrige.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisIron Jawed Angels (2004)
Defiant young activists take the women's suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlex of Venice (2015)
After her stay-at-home husband leaves her, a workaholic lawyer finds that she is not completely up to the tasks of caring for her young son, ailing father and household all by herself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisI Am Elizabeth Smart (2017)
The story of Elizabeth Smart's kidnapping and captivity, as told from her perspective.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShirley (2020)
A famous horror writer finds inspiration for her next book after she and her husband take in a young couple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Day and a Night (2020)
While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAdam (2020)
A hard-living salesman becomes a quadriplegic after an accident.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRyan's Daughter (1970)
In the wake of the 1916 Easter Rising, a married schoolteacher in a small Irish village has an affair with a troubled British officer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSecret of the Cave (2006)
A young American boy spends his summer in Ireland and solves the mystery that captivates the entire village. Driven by curiosity and his own search for meaning in life, he faces his fears and discovers the Secret of the Cave.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Stand Up! (2011)
Irish anti-homophobic bullying advertisement, created as part of BeLonG To Youth Services annual Up! LGBT Awareness Weeks.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Butcher Boy (1998)
Francie and Joe live the usual playful, fantasy filled childhoods of normal boys. However, with a violent, alcoholic father and a manic depressive, suicidal mother the pressure on Francie to grow up are immense. When Francie's world turns to madness, he tries to counter it with further insanity, with dire consequences.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Recruiter (2025)
A young Irish recruitment agent must navigate the challenges of his job and the temptation of emigration as he tries to decide whether to stay in Ireland or start a new life abroad.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Lia & Ro (TBA)
Ro takes a supervised day trip from a psychiatric hospital with her sister Lia on her 30th birthday. Amid beach crowds, arcade noise and childhood memories, Ro tries to reconnect with her sister and the world she currently feels removed from.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Field (1990)
"Bull" McCabe's family has farmed a field for generations, sacrificing much in the name of the land. When the widow who owns the field decides to sell it in a public auction, McCabe knows that he must own it. While no local dare bid against him, a wealthy American decides he requires the field to build a highway. "Bull" and his son decide they must try to convince the American to let go of his ambition and return home, but the consequences of their plot prove sinister.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStaid (2016)
Four small-town people, tied together by new and old relationships, come together to tangle, fight, sing, talk, smoke, drink, argue, laugh, leave and return - and stumble towards the reality that their lives are finally changing, whether they like it or not.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Into the West (1992)
Accused of a crime they didn't commit, two city kids and a magical horse are about to become the coolest outlaws ever to ride Into The West.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisP.S. I Love You (2007)
A young widow discovers that her late husband has left her 10 messages intended to help ease her pain and start a new life.
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 James Joyce's Women?
The closest matches to James Joyce's Women are Hounddog (2008), Effie Gray (2014) and The Safety of Objects (2002). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after James Joyce's Women?
Start with Hounddog (2008), the closest match to James Joyce's Women.
What is the highest-rated movie like James Joyce's Women?
Inside I'm Dancing (2004), rated 7.4/10 by 244 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like James Joyce's Women?
The Recruiter (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like James Joyce's Women?
Yes: Hounddog (2008), Effie Gray (2014) and The Safety of Objects (2002).
How are movies similar to James Joyce's Women chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside James Joyce's Women, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.