Movies like Three Friends (2002)
The best movies like Three Friends (2002) are Lonesome (1928), Arlo the Alligator Boy (2021) and The Greatest Show on Earth (1952). If Three Friends hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPurple Hearts (2022)8.0/10 from 2,977 votes
- NewestBorder Hunters (2025)Released 2025
Lonesome (1928)
Two lonely people in the big city meet and enjoy the thrills of an amusement park, only to lose each other in the crowd after spending a great day together. Will they ever see each other again?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisArlo the Alligator Boy (2021)
Upon learning that he is from New York City, a wide-eyed boy, who is half human and half alligator, decides to leave his sheltered life in the swamp and search for his long lost father. A musical adventure.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
To ensure a full profitable season, circus manager Brad Braden engages The Great Sebastian, though this moves his girlfriend Holly from her hard-won center trapeze spot. Holly and Sebastian begin a dangerous one-upmanship duel in the ring, while he pursues her on the ground.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBe Kind Rewind (2008)
A man whose brain becomes magnetized unintentionally destroys every tape in his friend's video store. In order to satisfy the store's most loyal renter, an aging woman with signs of dementia, the two men set out to remake the lost films.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisQuartet (2012)
Cissy, Reggie, and Wilf are in a home for retired musicians. Every year, there is a concert to celebrate Composer Giuseppe Verdi's birthday and they take part. Jean, who used to be married to Reggie, arrives at the home and disrupts their equilibrium. She still acts like a diva, but she refuses to sing. Still, the show must go on, and it does.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRookie of the Year (1993)
When the cast comes off his once broken arm, a 12-year-old boy can throw a 100-mile-an-hour fastball, and the Chicago Cubs want him as their new pitcher.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGrown Ups 2 (2013)
Lenny has relocated his family back to the small town where he and his friends grew up. This time around, the grown ups are the ones learning lessons from their kids on a day notoriously full of surprises—the last day of school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisExpend4bles (2023)
Armed with every weapon they can get their hands on and the skills to use them, The Expendables are the world’s last line of defense and the team that gets called when all other options are off the table. But new team members with new styles and tactics are going to give “new blood” a whole new meaning.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPurple Hearts (2022)
An aspiring musician agrees to a marriage of convenience with a soon-to-deploy Marine, but a tragedy soon turns their fake relationship all too real.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCoherence (2014)
Four couples gather for dinner the night a mysterious and powerful comet passes overhead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGabriel Iglesias: I'm Sorry for What I Said When I Was Hungry (2016)
Hawaiian-shirt enthusiast Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias finds the laughs in racist gift baskets, Prius-driving cops and all-female taco trucks.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKodachrome (2017)
Matt Ryder is convinced to drive his estranged and dying father Benjamin Ryder cross country to deliver four old rolls of Kodachrome film to the last lab in the world that can develop them before it shuts down for good. Along with Ben's nurse Zooey, the three navigate a world changing from analogue to digital while trying to put the past behind them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlown Away (1994)
Blown Away tells the story of Jimmy Dove, who works for the Boston bomb squad. Shortly after Dove leaves the force, his partner is killed by a bomb that Dove thinks might have been made by someone he knows.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBorder Hunters (2025)
After his police officer brother is killed by a drug dealer who flees to the protection of his cartel-connected uncle in Mexico, an American man with a diverse law enforcement/military background goes south of the border to get revenge
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWatching the Detectives (2007)
Neil, a self-proclaimed film geek and owner of Gumshoe video, has always been content to live vicariously through his favorite films noir. But when he meets Violet, a real-life femme fatale, his mundane world gets turned upside down and the line between reality and the movies quickly begins to blur.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne from the Heart (1982)
In a dazzling, dreamlike Las Vegas, longtime couple Hank and Frannie break up on their fifth anniversary and each pursue the fantasy of new love over one neon-soaked night—he with a free-spirited acrobat, she with a seductive musician. But as illusion and reality blur, both must decide whether passion or devotion truly defines the heart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisLondon (2005)
London is a drug laden adventure that centers on a party in a New York loft where a young man is trying to win back his ex-girlfriend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTwo for the Seesaw (1962)
After leaving his wife, lawyer Jerry Ryan moves from Omaha, Nebraska to New York City to start a new life. While studying for the New York Bar Examination and working to finalize his divorce, Ryan meets dancer Gittel Mosca, and the two begin a cautious courtship. However, Ryan feels that he must come to terms with his failed marriage and overcome his lingering attachment to his ex-wife before he can redefine himself and embrace his budding romance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVicious (2025)
When Polly receives a mysterious box, it comes with one rule: place inside something she needs, something she hates, and something she loves. If she doesn’t obey, it will consume everything—and everyone—she’s ever known.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fluffy Movie (2014)
Stand-up comic Gabriel Iglesias delights audiences during his sold-out "Unity Through Laughter" tour, which spans more than 400 cities in 23 countries. During his set, Iglesias -- nicknamed "Fluffy" -- pounces on topics like communicating with his teenage son, struggling with his weight, performing his concert tour across India, and handling the reappearance of his father after a 30-year absence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Three Friends?
The closest matches to Three Friends are Lonesome (1928), Arlo the Alligator Boy (2021) and The Greatest Show on Earth (1952). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Three Friends?
Start with Lonesome (1928), the closest match to Three Friends.
What is the highest-rated movie like Three Friends?
Purple Hearts (2022), rated 8.0/10 by 2,977 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Three Friends?
Border Hunters (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Three Friends?
Yes: Lonesome (1928), Arlo the Alligator Boy (2021) and The Greatest Show on Earth (1952).
How are movies similar to Three Friends chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Three Friends, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.