Movies like Anantaram (1987)
The best movies like Anantaram (1987) are Look Back in Anger (1959), Family Romance, LLC (2019) and Here (2024). If Anantaram hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedOthello (1951)7.4/10 from 225 votes
- NewestLivin' with the Devil (2025)Released 2025
- In MalayalamSusanna (2000)Also in Malayalam
Look Back in Anger (1959)
A disillusioned, angry university graduate comes to terms with his grudge against middle-class life and values.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFamily Romance, LLC (2019)
Love is a business at Family Romance, a company that rents human stand-ins for any occasion. Founder Yuichi Ishii helps make his clients’ dreams come true. But when the mother of 12-year-old Mahiro hires Ishii to impersonate her missing father, the line between acting and reality threatens to blur.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHere (2024)
An odyssey through time and memory, centered on a place in New Jersey where—from wilderness, and then, later, from a home—love, loss, struggle, hope and legacy play out between couples and families over generations.
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 thisOthello (1951)
Manipulated by his jealous ensign Iago, the Moorish general Othello is driven to believe that his new wife Desdemona is unfaithful, setting in motion a chain of deception, jealousy, and violence that leads to tragedy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSeeds of Yesterday (2015)
The Sheffield family reveal and go through some home truths as their middle child inherits the Foxworth mansion. The family's ghosts looming over, and more tragedies are in store as the curse lives on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNational Theatre Live: Hamlet (2015)
As a country arms itself for war, a family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father's death but paralyzed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Believe (2019)
A 9 year old boy experiences God's power in a supernatural way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFlowers in the Attic (2014)
After the sudden death of their father, four children face cruel treatment from their ruthless grandmother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Christmas Shoes (2002)
Two separate stories mesh - in the first, a young music teacher, Maggie Andrews, begins dying of a heart condition and her son Nathan tries to get a pair of Christmas shoes for her before she dies. In the second, lawyer Robert Layton and his wife Kate are slowly drifting apart and the matter comes to a head during Christmas when Kate takes over for Maggie for the school choir.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSkater Girl (2021)
Prerna, a teenager growing up in rural India, comes of age when she’s introduced to the sport of skateboarding. As a result, she has to fight the odds to follow her dreams and compete in the national championship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll Together Now (2020)
An optimistic, talented teen clings to a huge secret: she's homeless and living on a school bus. When tragedy strikes, can she learn to accept a helping hand?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisVanya on 42nd Street (1994)
An uninterrupted rehearsal of Chekhov's 'Uncle Vanya' plays out by a company of actors. The setting: their run-down theater with an unusable stage and crumbling ceiling. The play is shown act by act with the briefest of breaks to move props or for refreshments. The lack of costumes, real props and scenery is soon forgotten.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPoor Cow (1967)
Joy lives a life filled with bad choices. At a young age, she marries and has a child–with an abusive thief who quickly ends up incarcerated. Left alone, she takes up with the guy's mate, another thief, who seems to give her some happiness but who also ends up locked up. She then takes up with a series of seedy types who offer nothing but momentary pleasure–if that.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Color of Friendship (2000)
Mahree Bok lives on a farm in South Africa. Her father is a policeman who cannot hide his joy when activist Steve Biko is caught by the South African authorities. Piper Dellums is the daughter of a US congressman from California and who lives in a nice home in Washington DC. When Mahree is chosen to spend a semester at the Dellums' house, she doesn't expect that her host family would be black. Nor do her hosts suspect that she is not a black South African.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGirl Fight (2011)
Inspired by a true story, Girl Fight recounts the harrowing story of a 16-year-old, stellar high school student whose life spirals downward when her former friends conspire to upload onto the Internet a shocking video of them beating her up.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Double Life (1947)
A Shakespearian actor starring as Othello opposite his wife finds the character's jealous rage taking over his mind off-stage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlicka (2006)
Katy McLaughlin desires to work on her family's mountainside horse ranch, although her father insists she finish boarding school. Katy finds a mustang in the hills near her ranch. The headstrong 16 year old then sets her mind to tame a mustang and prove to her father she can run the ranch. But when tragedy happens, it will take all the love and strength the family can muster to restore hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLivin' with the Devil (2025)
After a recent breakup, a couple finds themselves financially trapped under the same roof, navigating the complexities of living together while separated.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Susanna (2000)
Susanna, a sex worker, earns money by being with five different men at the same time. Fortunately, the people around her do not judge her actions and find solace in her presence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Ustaad (1999)
Parmeshwaran aka Ustaad leaves behind a life of crime and goes to his hometown with his sister Padmaja. But the demons of his past life come back to haunt him after Padmaja falls in love with a boy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njaanum (1999)
Ramu, a visually impaired man, leads a happy life with his sister and his lover. However, his happiness dissipates soon after he gets cheated by a rich businessman.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Anubhoothi (1997)
Shivan (Suresh Gopi) arrives in a remote village as an agricultural officer. Pappachi (Jagathy) arranges the upstairs of a house for him to stay in. A family of three girls (Khusboo, Vani Viswanath, Kaveri) lives downstairs along with their father (M.R. Gopakumar). The three of them develop romantic feelings towards Shivan.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Sarpayagam (1991)
A doctor turns into a serial killer to avenge the rape and murder of his daughter but he is running out of time as the police close in on him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Kodama Simham (1990)
Chiranjeevi has to get back the treasures hidden by his father by fighting the bad guys to release his mother from jail.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Gharana Mogudu (1992)
Gharana Mogudu is a remake of tamil movie Mannan and it is a drama based movie in which, Raju (Chiranjeevi) is a do-gooder who helps his fellow co-workers while working in Visakhapatnam shipyard, but when his mother suffers a paralytic stroke, he moves back to Hyderabad and looks for a job.Uma Devi (Nagma) daughter of industrialist Bapineedu (Raogopal Rao) takes over the business from her father and helps it to reach new heights which also sees her head strongness reach new heights as well. In this scenario, she not only rejects Ranganayakulu
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Dolphins (2014)
The Dolphin Bar is a Malayalam drama film directed by Diphan, starring Suresh Gopi and Anoop Menon in the lead role, which is produced by Arun M C and written by Anoop Menon
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Anantaram?
The closest matches to Anantaram are Look Back in Anger (1959), Family Romance, LLC (2019) and Here (2024). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Anantaram?
Start with Look Back in Anger (1959), the closest match to Anantaram.
What is the highest-rated movie like Anantaram?
Othello (1951), rated 7.4/10 by 225 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Anantaram?
Livin' with the Devil (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Malayalam movies like Anantaram?
Yes: Susanna (2000), Ustaad (1999) and Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njaanum (1999).
How are movies similar to Anantaram chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Anantaram, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.