Movies like The Happy Life (2009)
The best movies like The Happy Life (2009) are Nine Days (2021), The Shepherd (2023) and DC Showcase: Death (2019). If The Happy Life hooked you with its drama and fantasy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedRemember (2015)7.3/10 from 785 votes
- NewestMexicali (2026)Released 2026
Nine Days (2021)
A bureaucrat interviews five souls to decide which of them will be given a life on Earth. But he soon faces an existential challenge of his own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Shepherd (2023)
On Christmas Eve, a fighter pilot on his way home becomes lost while flying over water and needs a miracle to land safely.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies 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 fantasy & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisPinocchio (2009)
The enchanted story of Pinocchio.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like this40 Acres (2025)
Hailey Freeman and her family are the last descendants of African American farmers who settled in rural Canada after the Civil War. In a famine-decimated near future, they now struggle to safeguard their farm, as they make one last stand against a vicious militia hell-bent on taking their 40 Acres.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTuesday (2024)
A mother and her teenage daughter must confront Death when it arrives in the form of an astonishing talking bird.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Witch's Gift (2010)
Almost as soon as Jake and Cassie decide to get married on Christmas Eve, complications arise.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSplit (2016)
The story of a young woman who takes an epic journey to claim her own darkness and sexuality so she can stop putting it into the hands of her abusive lover. When Inanna, a young actress, working as a stripper, becomes obsessed with a mask maker, she sacrifices parts of herself and her life, piece by piece, in order to win his love. At the same time she enters a mythic journey in the theater. One that forces her to face the many abuses endured by women around that world and that blurs her performance, her dreams and her real life and results in a provocative and powerful confrontation that frees her. -- from official website
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLittle Boy Blue (1998)
Living in rural Texas is a dysfunctional family: an abusive dad, a Vietnam vet with a war wound that's left him impotent; a compliant wife and a son of about 20, two small sons who look a lot like their brother. The dad harbors a secret, and he goes to murderous lengths to keep it hidden. The young man, Jimmy, who has suspicions, but little comes out until a Yankee woman comes to town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDevil's Pond (2003)
After a brief courtship, Julianne marries her handsome boyfriend, Mitch. To celebrate their honeymoon, the couple travel to a remote cabin on a small island. When they arrive, however, Mitch becomes aggressive and physically abusive, and Julianne soon realizes he's not the ideal husband she once thought he was. Knowing that Mitch doesn't plan on ever letting her leave the island, Julianne, who is afraid of water, must find a way to escape.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhere the Red Fern Grows (1974)
Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for two years to achieve his dream of buying two red-bone coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in life as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with his dogs, Old Dan and Little Ann.
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 thisThe Caveman's Valentine (2001)
Romulus, a misunderstood musician turned recluse hiding from personal demons in a New York City cave, finds the frozen body of a young drifter in a tree. The authorities, including his police officer daughter, claim the death is accidental. Romulus is convinced the man was murdered by a prominent art photographer but how can he prove he's right when everyone thinks he's insane?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisTalhotBlond (2012)
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Parts You Lose (2019)
An unlikely friendship unfolds between a young deaf boy, Wesley, and a fugitive criminal who takes refuge in an abandoned barn on the family’s rural North Dakota farm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMexicali (2026)
A former special forces contractor is forced out of retirement as an avocado farmer in Mexico when local gangsters try to force him and his family off their farm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisWelcome to Sudden Death (2020)
Jesse Freeman is a former special forces officer and explosives expert now working a regular job as a security guard in a state-of-the-art basketball arena. Trouble erupts when a tech-savvy cadre of terrorists kidnap the team's owner and Jesse's daughter during opening night. Facing a ticking clock and impossible odds, it's up to Jesse to not only save them but also a full house of fans in this highly charged action thriller.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRemember (2015)
With the aid of a fellow Auschwitz survivor and a hand-written letter, an elderly man with dementia goes in search of the person responsible for the death of his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBride of the Incredible Hulk (1980)
In one of the saga's most emotional stories, David Banner travels to Hawaii to find Dr. Caroline Fields, a psychiatrist who has developed a hypnotherapy technique that could cure him. Discovering they share the burden of an incurable condition—Caroline suffers from a terminal illness—the two fall in love and marry, offering Banner a glimpse of happiness. However, tragedy looms when Jack McGee's relentless pursuit and a devastating hurricane threaten their brief moment of peace.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCold Ground (TBA)
It depicts apocalypse concentrating on the last days of a family's catastrophic life in a prevalent winter (nuclear winter) in Iran in 2012. The notions of void and terror are dominant in the film. (The nuclear catastrophe or winter is not specifically mentioned in the short film because of the hard political situation in Iran. However, its implications exist throughout the film like their imprisonment in their claustrophobic place.) Basically, the figures are indifferent in their hard circumstances and are not able to communicate with each other.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & fantasy
The Bird Spider (2011)
A man with arachnophobia buys a poisonous bird spider and sets it free in his apartment.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & fantasy
The Lady with the Camelias (1907)
It is love at first sight when Armand Duval meets the courtisan Marguerite. They move in together and live happily until Armands father secretly pays Marguerite a visit to tell her that her questionable reputation has put Armand's entire family in disrepute. She sacrifices herself and leaves Armand, who – in the belief that she left of her own free will – embitters by grief and anger. But destiny wants them to meet again. (stumfilm.dk)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Last Alchemist (2012)
In a cave an ancient and mysterious rite is about to be performed. Seven girls will be sacrificed to grant another life to the thousand-years-old alchemist Felix. Only the off-duty cop Paul and a deaf-mute teenager Lara could save them from that tragic fate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Remnant (TBA)
In the near future,the world has suffered a terrible destruction. Through the wreckage, a man tries to survive and fulfill his basic needs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Lighthouse by the Sea (1911)
The old lighthouse keeper lives peacefully with his two daughters, who are both engaged to fisherman. One night he receives a message announcing the shipwreck...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Cigarette (2010)
Waste youth - but not with the wrong cigarette brand. Even on the Faroes, being young is an issue of style and distiction. And the difference between "Kings" and "Prince" is the difference between provincial backwaters and the big, wide world
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Waves: A Portrait of Maria á Heygum (2010)
The story of a Grandmother who swims every day in the sea whatever the weather.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Shabbat Dinner (2012)
Shabbat Dinner is boring as usual for William Shore. His mother has invited two crazy hippies and their son and is doing her best to show off, his father is drunk and berating their oddball guests, and he doesn't have much in common with their son Virgo. That is, until Virgo tells him that he has just come out as gay.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Silence (2004)
Mrs. Anthoula, an elderly lady with hearing problems, is in danger of being evicted out of her flat. Mrs. Dafni, a social-worker, will try to help her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like The Happy Life and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Happy Life?
The closest matches to The Happy Life are Nine Days (2021), The Shepherd (2023) and DC Showcase: Death (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Happy Life?
Start with Nine Days (2021), the closest match to The Happy Life.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Happy Life?
Remember (2015), rated 7.3/10 by 785 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Happy Life?
Mexicali (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Happy Life?
Yes: Nine Days (2021), The Shepherd (2023) and DC Showcase: Death (2019).
How are movies similar to The Happy Life chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Happy Life, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.