Movies like Red Desert (1964)
The best movies like Red Desert (1964) are The Return of the Prodigal Son (1967), Belle de Jour (1967) and 8½ (1963). If Red Desert hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest rated8½ (1963)8.1/10 from 2,624 votes
- NewestBeyond the Clouds (1995)Released 1995
- In Italian8½ (1963)Also in Italian
The Return of the Prodigal Son (1967)
Engineer Jan Sebek (Jan Kacer) is undergoing treatment in a mental home after his unsuccessful attempt to commit suicide. His therapist, via discussions both with the patient and with people who know him, tries to find out what made the young and seemingly satisfied man decide to end his own life. Jan's pretty wife Jana (Jana Brejchová) claims not to know about anything but she is conducting an affair with a family friend, almost publicly and with the blessing of her parents.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Belle de Jour (1967)
Beautiful young housewife Séverine Serizy cannot reconcile her masochistic fantasies with her everyday life alongside dutiful husband Pierre. When her lovestruck friend Henri mentions a secretive high-class brothel run by Madame Anais, Séverine begins to work there during the day under the name Belle de Jour. But when one of her clients grows possessive, she must try to go back to her normal life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this8½ (1963)
Guido Anselmi, a film director, finds himself creatively barren at the peak of his career. Urged by his doctors to rest, Anselmi heads for a luxurious resort, but a sorry group gathers—his producer, staff, actors, wife, mistress, and relatives—each one begging him to get on with the show. In retreat from their dependency, he fantasizes about past women and dreams of his childhood.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisEuropa '51 (1952)
A wealthy, self-absorbed Rome socialite is racked by guilt over the death of her young son. As a way of dealing with her grief and finding meaning in her life, she decides to devote her time and money to the city’s poor and sick. Her newfound, single-minded activism leads to conflicts with her husband and questions about her sanity.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisL'Avventura (1960)
Claudia and Anna join Anna's lover, Sandro, on a boat trip to a remote volcanic island. When Anna goes missing, a search is launched. In the meantime, Sandro and Claudia become involved in a romance despite Anna's disappearance, though the relationship suffers from guilt and tension.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisL'Eclisse (1962)
Vittoria is a beautiful literary translator living in Rome. After splitting from her writer boyfriend, Riccardo, Vittoria meets Piero, a lively stockbroker, on the hectic floor of the Roman stock exchange. Though Vittoria and Piero begin a relationship, it is not one without difficulties, and their commitment to one another is tested during an eclipse.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFaces (1968)
Middle-aged suburban husband Richard abruptly tells his wife, Maria, that he wants a divorce. As Richard takes up with a younger woman, Maria enjoys a night on the town with her friends and meets a younger man. As the couple and those around them confront a seemingly futile search for what they've lost -- love, excitement, passion -- this classic American independent film explores themes of aging and alienation.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLa Notte (1961)
A day in the life of an unfaithful married couple and their steadily deteriorating relationship in Milan.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisLa Strada (1954)
When Gelsomina, a naïve young woman, is purchased from her impoverished mother by brutish circus strongman Zampanò to be his wife and partner, she loyally endures her husband's coldness and abuse as they travel the Italian countryside performing together. Soon Zampanò must deal with his jealousy and conflicted feelings about Gelsomina when she finds a kindred spirit in Il Matto, the carefree circus fool, and contemplates leaving Zampanò.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Key (1983)
In 1940s Venice, after twenty years' marriage, retired art critic Nino Rolfe and his younger wife Teresa feel their passion waning. To help her shed her inhibitions and rekindle their relationship, the professor records his sexual fantasies in a diary.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTheorem (1968)
A wealthy Italian household is turned upside down when a handsome stranger arrives, seduces every family member and then disappears. Each has an epiphany of sorts, but none can figure out who the seductive visitor was or why he came.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeyond the Clouds (1995)
Four tales, each centered on a woman, journey inward to explore the enigmatic reality of their lives, connecting through a single narrative thread.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrom the Clouds to the Resistance (1979)
Two segments. The first one arranges six stories from Cesare Pavese’s «Dialoghi con Leucò», taken from classical mythology. The second segment is taken from Pavese’s novel «La luna e i falò»: after World War II the emigrant «The Bastard» comes back to his village in the Langhe (northern Italy) to find out that everyone he knew has died, and that the war has deeply changed relationships between people.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Fear (1954)
Irene Wagner, the wife of the prominent German scientist Professor Albert Wagner, had been having an affair with Erich Baumann. She does not disclose this to her husband, hoping to preserve his innocence and their "perfect marriage". This fills her with anxiety and guilt. However, Johanna Schultze, Erich's jealous ex-girlfriend, learns about the affair and begins to blackmail Irene, turning Irene's psychological torture into a harsh reality.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fiancés (1963)
A young man has a renewed interest in his girlfriend when he takes a job that separates the two.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLove and Anger (1969)
Five short stories with contemporary settings. In New York, people are indifferent to derelicts sleeping on sidewalks, to a woman's assault in front of an apartment building, and to a couple injured in a car crash. A man, stripped of his identity, dies in bed with actors expressing his agony. A cheerful, innocent young man walking a city street in a time of war pays a price for this innocence. A couple talks about cinema while it watches another couple talk of love and truth on the eve of one character's return to Cuba. Striking students take over a university classroom; an argument follows about revolution or incremental change.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Il Posto (1961)
With his family mired in financial troubles, Domenico moves to Milan, Italy, from his small town to get a job in lieu of furthering his education. A lack of options forces him to take a position as a messenger at a big company, where he hopes to receive a promotion soon. There, Domenico meets Antonietta, a young woman in a similar situation as himself. The two form a tentative relationship, but the soulless nature of their jobs threatens to keep them apart.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Leopard (1963)
As Garibaldi's troops begin the unification of Italy in the 1860s, an aristocratic Sicilian family grudgingly adapts to the sweeping social changes undermining their way of life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIl bell'Antonio (1960)
Problems arise for Antonio Magnano when he is unable to consummate his marriage to the beautiful Barbara Puglisi and his virility is called into question. Despite the fact that he loves his beautiful wife and they have otherwise been happily married for a year, his problem becomes a source of contention for all concerned.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVivre Sa Vie (1962)
Twelve episodic tales in the life of a Parisian woman and her slow descent into prostitution.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Knew Her Well (1965)
A young woman from the Italian countryside experiences the dark side of the business after she moves to Rome to become a star.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisL'Amore (1948)
L'Amore ('Love') is a 1948 Italian drama anthology film that consists of two parts, The Human Voice (Una voce umana), based on Jean Cocteau's 1929 play of the same title, and The Miracle (Il miracolo), based on Ramón del Valle-Inclán's 1904 novel Flor de santidad.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIl Grido (1957)
A sugar-refinery worker flees his Northern Italy town after a woman refuses his marriage proposal.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMen and Women (1964)
Two friends take two prostitutes for a night of pleasure. But the night turns out to be frustrating for all involved, as much bitterness is revealed in their conversation and attitudes, uncovering their anguish and deeper feelings, and the emptiness of their lives.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Journey to Italy (1954)
Married for eight years with no children, Brits Katherine and Alex Joyce are driving to Italy, their ultimate destination just outside of Naples to sell the villa they have just inherited from his uncle, the villa where they will be staying during their time there. On the drive, they come to the realization that this trip marks the first time that they have truly been alone together, and as such don't really know one another in the true sense.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDeath in Venice (1971)
Composer Gustav von Aschenbach travels to Venice for health reasons. There, he becomes obsessed with the stunning beauty of an adolescent Polish boy named Tadzio who is staying with his family at the same Grand Hôtel des Bains on the Lido as Aschenbach.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLe Amiche (1955)
Clelia, a self-made woman coming from humble means, travels back to Turin, her hometown, to scout locations for the successful Roman atelier she works for. At the hotel, she encounters some upper middle-class women and she finds herself drawn into their friendships.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFists in the Pocket (1965)
A deeply disturbed and epileptic young man benignly decides to murder other members of his dysfunctional family for altruistic reasons.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTristana (1970)
As a young woman, Tristana is orphaned and taken under the guardianship of Don Lope, a respected member of the community, who takes advantage of his innocent charge. When Tristana falls in love with artist Horacio, she must learn to be more assertive in order to achieve independence from her nefarious guardian, or her blossoming relationship with Horacio is doomed.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStromboli (1950)
After the end of WWII, a young Lithuanian woman and a young Italian man from Stromboli impulsively marry, but married life on the island is more demanding than she can accept.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Red Desert?
The closest matches to Red Desert are The Return of the Prodigal Son (1967), Belle de Jour (1967) and 8½ (1963). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Red Desert?
People who watched Red Desert most often go on to The Return of the Prodigal Son (1967), Belle de Jour (1967) and 8½ (1963).
What is the highest-rated movie like Red Desert?
8½ (1963), rated 8.1/10 by 2,624 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Red Desert?
Beyond the Clouds (1995) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Italian movies like Red Desert?
Yes: 8½ (1963), Europa '51 (1952) and L'Avventura (1960).
How are movies similar to Red Desert chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Red Desert, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.