Movies like The House by the Canal (2003)
The best movies like The House by the Canal (2003) are The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972), My Little Princess (2011) and Winter in Sokcho (2025). If The House by the Canal hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Thin Red Line (1998)7.4/10 from 3,495 votes
- NewestAnother Day (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchMy Little Princess (2011)Also in French
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972)
Middle-aged widow Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her daughters Ruth and Matilda are struggling to survive in a society they barely understand. Beatrice dreams of opening an elegant tea room but does not have the wherewithal to achieve her lofty goal. Epileptic Ruth is a rebellious adolescent, while shy but highly intelligent and idealistic Matilda seeks solace in her pets and school projects, including one designed to show how small amounts of radium affect marigolds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Little Princess (2011)
Young Violetta and her mother Hannah are a peculiar couple. Ten-year-old Violetta lives a quiet life with her grandmother, while her mother Hannah is an unpredictable photographer who lives off of the generosity of others. When Hannah forces her daughter to pose as a model, Violetta finds her life with her loving grandmother turned upside down.The resulting pictures quickly become a sensation for the trendy 70's Paris art scene, and Violetta finds herself caught in between her new stature as an art muse and her dull childhood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWinter in Sokcho (2025)
In the snowy seaside town of Sokcho, 25-year-old Soo-Ha works at a guesthouse. She drifts between her mother’s fish stall and her boyfriend until a French artist’s arrival stirs questions about her identity. As winter deepens, Soo-Ha and the artist form an unspoken connection through food and art.
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 thisMansfield Park (2007)
Fanny Price is sent to live with her wealthy relatives, the Bertrams, where she is treated poorly by most except her cousin Edmund. Her life is complicated by the arrival of the worldly Mary and Henry Crawford
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWon't Back Down (2012)
Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSkin (2009)
Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuddenly (2023)
Ben and Laura are a passionate but volatile couple who embark on a round-the-world sailing adventure to give their relationship a new start. During their trip, they decide to explore a vast deserted island which they discover off the coast of Chile. Caught in a violent storm, they shelter in an abandoned whaling station for the night but wake up the next morning to find their boat has disappeared. Stranded in a hostile environment with no means of communication, dwindling supplies and winter approaching they must work together in a life and death battle for survival, that will challenge their feelings and change their relationship forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWonderstruck (2017)
The story of a young boy in the Midwest is told simultaneously with a tale about a young girl in New York from fifty years ago as they both seek the same mysterious connection.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNiki (2024)
French-American artist Niki de Saint-Phalle, from the age of 23, is a model and an aspiring actor who is married and has a two year old daughter. Together, they flee the U.S. during the oppressive McCarthy era and come to France, where they experience a short-lived euphoria. Soon, distant and frightening memories begin to emerge in Niki’s mind. Her vocation as an artist will be her salvation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChaos (2001)
A bourgeois couple, modern yet conventional. One night by accident, a young prostitute barges into their lives. Hounded down, beaten up, threatened, she will continue to struggle, with the help of a well off lady, first for her survival-her resurrection-then for her dignity and freedom. Stormy encounters for everyone involved.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cat (1971)
Julien Bouin, a former typographist, and his wife Clemence, who used to perform in a circus, hardly talk to each other in their small house, soon to be demolished. His cat Greffier being the only one he still gives affection to, he becomes the object of Clemence's anger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWinged Creatures (2009)
A psychotic man opens fire in a diner, murdering numerous people before killing himself. The survivors struggle in different ways following this horrendous event: a doctor doubts his own instincts and elects to use an experimental medical procedure on his wife, while a gambler believes he's on a lucky streak. A waitress begins engaging in promiscuous sex, and a young girl whose father is among the dead gains unexpected fame.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBastard Out of Carolina (1996)
A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNaked as We Came (2013)
After an unexpected phone call, Laura and her brother Elliot rush to their family’s country estate to find their mother, Lilly, gravely ill and living with a handsome young stranger named Ted. Estranged for some time, their mother’s condition sets Laura and Elliot on a path to realizing where their own lives have gone wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisL'Argent (1928)
Adapted from the novel L'Argent by Émile Zola, the film portrays the world of banking and the stock market in Paris in the 1920s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Outsider (2016)
A drama about the less known aspects of the trading activity inside one of the biggest banks in the world - Société Générale. The movie tracks the rise and fall of anonymous trader turned superstar turned escape goat - Jérôme Kerviel - just as the 2008 financial crisis was unfolding
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe River (1984)
Tom and Mae Garvey are a Tennessee farming couple battling violent floods to save their land. In addition to natural disasters, the Garveys fight to stop a selfish land developer and a local corporation from foreclosing on their farm. While Mae stays at home to care for their children and tend to the crops, Tom finds work as a scab at a steel mill to preserve his family's property.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisAnother Day (2026)
Over an eight-year journey in Paris, a struggling young actress turns to alcohol to cope with her anxieties, spiraling into self-destruction before finding a path toward recovery through a new romance and her ailing sister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDevil in a Blue Dress (1995)
In late 1940s Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins is an unemployed black World War II veteran with few job prospects. At a bar, Easy meets DeWitt Albright, a mysterious white man looking for someone to investigate the disappearance of a missing white woman named Daphne Monet, who he suspects is hiding out in one of the city's black jazz clubs. Strapped for money and facing house payments, Easy takes the job, but soon finds himself in over his head.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRunt (2024)
In the Australian town of Upson Downs, ten-year-old Annie and Runt, her stray dog, attempt to win the Agility Course Championship at the Krumpets Dog Show in London in order to save their family's farm from drought and misery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
Once called "Father Frank" for his efforts to rescue lives, Frank Pierce sees the ghosts of those he failed to save around every turn. He has tried everything he can to get fired, calling in sick, delaying taking calls where he might have to face one more victim he couldn't help, yet cannot quit the job on his own.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Thin Red Line (1998)
The story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II battle of Guadalcanal. It follows their journey, from the surprise of an unopposed landing, through the bloody and exhausting battles that follow, to the ultimate departure of those who survived.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Life as a Dog (1985)
A boy, obsessed with comparing himself with those less fortunate, experiences a different life at the home of his aunt and uncle in 1959 Sweden.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEvita (1996)
The hit musical based on the life of Evita Duarte, an Argentinian actress who eventually became the wife of Argentinian president Juan Perón, and the most beloved and hated woman in Argentina.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this99 Francs (2007)
Paris, France, 2001. Octave Parango, a young advertiser working at the Ross & Witchcraft advertising agency, lives a suicidal existence, ruled by cynicism, irresponsibility and debauchery. The obstacles he will encounter in developing a campaign for a new yogurt brand will force him to face the meaning of his work and the way he manages his relationship with those who orbit around his egotistic lifestyle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story (2000)
Anne is persuaded to join her fiance, Gilbert, in New York City as he begins his tenure at a major hospital. However, any chance of lasting happiness is dashed when Gilbert enlists to serve in The Great War in Europe. Anne stays behind and takes up writing, but learns that contact has been lost with Gilbert. Seeing no other option, Anne decides to venture to Europe herself to find him. In doing so, she begins an adventure that will challenge her wits and imagination to the limit.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Golden Queen (1965)
A man returns to his native village in search of renewed faith and his old girlfriend. But she, now a middleaged woman, does not recognise him and he goes home, more disillusioned than ever.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Sky Lovers (2002)
In a picturesque Guangxi village, deaf Wang Jiakuan falls for Zhu Ling, who is already in love with someone else. Cai Yuzhen, visiting to find her brother, stays with Wang Jiakuan and falls for him. Zhu Ling, pregnant and locked in her room, is discovered by villagers who also learn Cai Yuzhen is mute. Heartbroken, Wang Jiakuan leaves but returns, and Zhu Ling tries to match him with Cai Yuzhen.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The House by the Canal?
The closest matches to The House by the Canal are The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972), My Little Princess (2011) and Winter in Sokcho (2025). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The House by the Canal?
Start with The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972), the closest match to The House by the Canal.
What is the highest-rated movie like The House by the Canal?
The Thin Red Line (1998), rated 7.4/10 by 3,495 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The House by the Canal?
Another Day (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like The House by the Canal?
Yes: My Little Princess (2011), Winter in Sokcho (2025) and Suddenly (2023).
How are movies similar to The House by the Canal chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The House by the Canal, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.