Movies like Retour à Marseille (1980)
The best movies like Retour à Marseille (1980) are Magnet of Doom (1963), Adieu Philippine (1962) and Captains Courageous (1937). If Retour à Marseille hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe 400 Blows (1959)8.0/10 from 2,426 votes
- NewestJust an Illusion (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchMagnet of Doom (1963)Also in French
Magnet of Doom (1963)
Young boxer Michel Maudet is sacked by his manager after a series of match defeats and is forced to look for a new job. He is engaged as secretary to a millionaire named Ferchaux who is in a hurry to flee the country when he discovers he has been implicated in a high-profile fraud.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAdieu Philippine (1962)
Michel is a young technician in the fledgling TV industry and is due for military service in two months at the time of the Algerian War. Juliette and Liliane are inseparable best friends, and aspiring actresses, who hang around outside the TV studio. Michel invites them in to watch, flirts with them both, and dates them separately and together. When Michel goes on a holiday to Corsica, just before he is drafted, the girls follow.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCaptains Courageous (1937)
Harvey, the arrogant and spoiled son of an indulgent absentee-father, falls overboard from a transatlantic steamship and is rescued by a fishing vessel on the Grand Banks. Harvey fails to persuade them to take him ashore, nor convince the crew of his wealth. The captain offers him a low-paid job, until they return to port, as part of the crew that turns him into a mature, considerate young man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStillwater (2021)
Bill Baker, an American oil-rig roughneck from Oklahoma, travels to Marseille to visit his estranged daughter, Allison, who is in prison for a murder she claims she did not commit. Confronted with language barriers, cultural differences, and a complicated legal system, Bill builds a new life for himself in France as he makes it his personal mission to exonerate his daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe House by the Sea (2017)
By a little bay near Marseille lies a picturesque villa owned by an old man. His three children have gathered by his side for his last days. It’s time for them to weigh up what they have inherited of their father’s ideals and the community spirit he created in this magical place. The arrival, at a nearby cove, of a group of boat people will throw these moments of reflection into turmoil.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Sweet Escape (2015)
Michel, a fifty year old man, graphic designer, decides to change the urban lifestyle and go on an adventure. Fascinated by airmail, he dreams at Jean Mermoz when he's on scooter. One day, Michel sees a picture of a kayak.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrench Connection II (1975)
"Popeye" Doyle travels to Marseilles to find Alain Charnier, the drug smuggler that eluded him in New York.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLost Bullet (2020)
A small time delinquent, turned police mechanic for a go fast task force, is forced to defend his innocence when his mentor is killed by dirty cops.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Things of Life (1970)
The mind of Pierre Bérard, a successful middle-aged architect, is torn between his unstable present with Hélène, his younger lover, and his happy memories of the past with Catherine, his ex-wife; but his true destiny awaits him at a crossroads on his way to Rennes…
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMonsieur Batignole (2002)
In 1942, in an occupied Paris, the apolitical grocer Edmond Batignole lives with his wife and daughter in a small apartment in the building of his grocery. When his future son-in-law and collaborator of the German Pierre-Jean Lamour calls the Nazis to arrest the Jewish Bernstein family, they move to the confiscated apartment. Some days later, the young Simon Bernstein escapes from the Germans and comes to his former home. When Batignole finds him, he feels sorry for the boy and lodges him, hiding Simon from Pierre-Jean and also from his wife. Later, two cousins of Simon meet him in the cellar of the grocery. When Pierre-Jean finds the children, Batignole decides to travel with the children to Switzerland.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJust an Illusion (2026)
In 1985 suburban Paris, 12-year-old Vincent lives with his distant older brother and quarrelling parents. Amid laughter and unease, he navigates friendship and first love, while beginning to confront the adult world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBed and Board (1970)
Parisian everyman Antoine Doinel has married his sweetheart Christine Darbon, and the newlyweds have set up a cozy domestic life of selling flowers and giving violin lessons while Antoine fitfully works on his long-gestating novel. As Christine becomes pregnant with the couple's first child, Antoine finds himself enraptured with a young Japanese beauty. The complications change the course of their relationship forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe 400 Blows (1959)
For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel, life is one difficult situation after another. Surrounded by inconsiderate adults, including his neglectful parents, Antoine spends his days with his best friend, Rene, trying to plan for a better life. When one of their schemes goes awry, Antoine ends up in trouble with the law, leading to even more conflicts with unsympathetic authority figures.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Kick of Sirocco (1979)
A shady Parisian tries to take advantage of a family of French-descended Algerians forced to move to France.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpoiled Brats (2021)
The billionaire is tired of the whims of his own children and decides to teach them a lesson. He announces to them that he has become bankrupt. Now spoiled teenagers will have to do what they have never done: go to work, learn to love and value life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTaxi (1998)
In Marseilles a skilled pizza delivery boy Daniel who drives a scooter finally has his dreams come true. He gets a taxi license. Caught by the police for a huge speed infraction, he will help Emilien, a loser inspector who can't drive, on the track of German bank robbers, so he doesn't lose his license and his dream job.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Big Risk (1960)
Two men pull off a daring daylight payroll heist in Milan, making a fast getaway. One is returning to France after years in hiding, needing money to start fresh with his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFanny (1961)
Almost 19-year-old Marius feels himself in a rut in Marseille, his life planned for him by his cafe'-owning father, and he longs for the sea. The night before he is to leave on a 5-year voyage, Fanny, a girl he grew up with, reveals that she is in love with him, and he discovers that he is in love with her. He must choose between an exciting life at sea, and a boring life with the woman he loves. And Fanny must choose between keeping the man she loves, and letting him live the life he seems to want.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWelcome to the Sticks (2008)
Although living a comfortable life in Salon-de-Provence, a charming town in the South of France, Julie has been feeling depressed for a while. To please her, Philippe Abrams, a post office administrator, her husband, tries to obtain a transfer to a seaside town, on the French Riviera, at any cost. The trouble is that he is caught red-handed while trying to scam an inspector. Philippe is immediately banished to the distant unheard of town of Bergues, in the Far North of France...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGloria Mundi (2019)
Daniel leaves prison. He returns to Marseilles where Mathilda, his daughter, has just given birth. Nicolas, her spouse, a self-employed driver, is exhausted while Mathilda is a sales assistant on a trial basis. But, one night, Nicolas is assaulted by taxi drivers determined to reduce unfair competition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Retour à Marseille?
The closest matches to Retour à Marseille are Magnet of Doom (1963), Adieu Philippine (1962) and Captains Courageous (1937). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Retour à Marseille?
Start with Magnet of Doom (1963), the closest match to Retour à Marseille.
What is the highest-rated movie like Retour à Marseille?
The 400 Blows (1959), rated 8.0/10 by 2,426 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Retour à Marseille?
Just an Illusion (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like Retour à Marseille?
Yes: Magnet of Doom (1963), Adieu Philippine (1962) and The House by the Sea (2017).
How are movies similar to Retour à Marseille chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Retour à Marseille, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.