Movies like The Red Balloon (2014)
The best movies like The Red Balloon (2014) are Two English Girls (1971), Fire with Fire (1986) and Not Easily Broken (2009). If The Red Balloon hooked you with its drama and romance, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLife in a Year (2020)8.2/10 from 2,027 votes
- NewestGabriel's Redemption: Part I (2023)Released 2023
- In FrenchTwo English Girls (1971)Also in French
Two English Girls (1971)
In the early 20th-century, Frenchman Claude meets Englishwoman Ann in Paris. Ann invites him to her family home, intending him for her sister Muriel. Claude falls for Muriel, but families demand year-long separation before approving marriage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFire with Fire (1986)
A tough, street-smart kid serving a sentence in a state youth reformatory meets a beautiful, innocent girl studying at a nearby convent. When forbidden love blossoms between them, they must fight the prison authorities, their parents and the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNot Easily Broken (2009)
A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLife in a Year (2020)
A 17 year old finds out that his girlfriend is dying, so he sets out to give her an entire life, in the last year she has left.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisLuna (2018)
A film in which the director captures the beautiful and accurate qualities of reality when building the energetic portrait of a 16-year-old girl immersed in the macho culture of urban suburban south-west France, just a stone’s throw away from the nearby countryside.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhite Wedding (1989)
A philosophy professor has an illicit affair with one of his students, a bright yet troubled girl who lives alone.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBoy Meets Girl (1984)
In Paris at night, a young aspiring filmmaker grapples with heartbreak after his girlfriend leaves him for his best friend. After a failed attempt to confront his friend, he wanders the streets and encounters a girl who has just been abandoned. Their paths cross at a party, bringing together two tormented souls.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNewness (2017)
In contemporary Los Angeles, two millennials navigating a social media–driven hookup culture begin a relationship that pushes both emotional and physical boundaries.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRacing with the Moon (1984)
In a small coastal California town, Henry and Nicky are pals from blue collar families with only a short time before they ship off to World War II. Henry begins romancing new-to-town Caddie Winger, believing her to be wealthy. Mischievous and irresponsible, Nicky gets into trouble which forces the other two to become involved, testing their relationship, as well as the friendship between the boys.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStella (2008)
Paris, 1977. Eleven year old Stella knows poker better than grammar when she starts the year at a prestigious new school. There, she discovers the possibilities of a whole new world outside her parents' bar.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGabriel's Redemption: Part I (2023)
After leaving his prestigious post at the University of Toronto, Gabriel embarks on a new journey with Julia, and he is eager to become a father. However, Gabriel's idyllic vision is jeopardized when Julia's intensive program becomes all consuming. When Julia is granted a prestigious opportunity to deliver an academic lecture at Oxford, Gabriel challenges her about the subject of her presentation, which clashes with his own research. In Oxford, their past resurfaces, including an old nemesis determined to humiliate Julia and expose one of Gabriel's well-guarded secrets. Emotions run high, alliances are tested, and the couple must confront the shadows of their shared history in a battle for love, truth, and redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThey Won't Believe Me (1947)
On trial for murdering his girlfriend, philandering stockbroker Larry Ballentine takes the stand to claim his innocence and describe the actual, but improbable sounding, sequence of events that led to her death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Limit (2022)
Roxana Aubrey decides to drop her studies and escape her life in Paris for a free diving course in the south of France. She is quickly pulled into a life that reaches new depths brought by the weight of an ocean's descent.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat the Day Owes the Night (2012)
Algeria, the 1930s. Younes is nine years old when he is put in his uncle's care in Oran. Rebaptized Jonas, he grows up among the Rio Salado youths, with whom he becomes friends. Emilie is one of the gang; everyone is in love with her. A great love story develops between Jonas and Emilie, which is soon unsettled by the conflicts troubling the country.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStormy Waters (1941)
A married tugboat captain falls for a woman he rescues from a sinking ship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
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 · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReturn to Peyton Place (1961)
Residents of the small town of Peyton Place aren't pleased when they realize they're the characters in local writer Allison MacKenzie's controversial first novel. A sequel to the hit 1957 film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSalome (1953)
In the reign of emperor Tiberius, Gallilean prophet John the Baptist preaches against King Herod and Queen Herodias. The latter wants John dead, but Herod fears to harm him due to a prophecy. Enter beautiful Princess Salome, Herod's long-absent stepdaughter. Herodias sees the king's dawning lust for Salome as her means of bending him to her will. But Salome and her lover Claudius are–contrary to Scripture–nearing conversion to the new religion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisAshes in the Snow (2018)
The coming-of-age tale of 16-year-old Lina Vilkas who is deported to Siberia amid Stalin's reign of terror in the Baltic region during WWII. An aspiring artist, she secretly documents her harrowing journey with her drawings.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Little Match Girl (1928)
An impoverished girl tries to sell matches on New Year's Eve. Shivering with cold and unable to sell her wares, she sits in a sheltered nook. Striking a match to keep warm, the flame shows her what's beyond.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmsterdam to Anatolia (2019)
Elissa's life takes a turn when she meets a mysterious man in her English class and she has to quickly decide between her family and him- and going from family-life to a life on the run is a wild choice to everyone but her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Allergy (2014)
A girl's day with an unexpected experience due to allergies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Love Advisor (2021)
The story is about a guy who can predict a person’s future by patterns of tea leaves. Our fortune teller is in love with his best friend, but unfortunately, he’s stuck as a love advisor for said friend.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Not Panic (2010)
They go sledging behind a car. They earn extra by fixing the roof of a neighbor's house. They are young and want to fulfill their dreams, but before them an uncertain future prevails. We are there as one of them, equally present, equally absent.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Grandmother's Eye (2010)
A constant motion from a distance all the way into an elderly ladies eye.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Last Post (2011)
An old lady in a nursing home is visited by a mysterious man no one else seems to be able to see.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
In a Heartbeat (2017)
A closeted boy runs the risk of being outed by his own heart after it pops out of his chest to chase down the boy of his dreams.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSafe Word (2023)
Cesar, an emotionally stunted masochist, must confront his self-loathing after his dissatisfied-yet-caring Dom, Bear, reinterprets the rules of their game. They arrive at a paradigm-shifting result neither one of them expects.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Taste of Love (2016)
After an ambiguous Snapchat video featuring Bilel and Adil, rumors start spreading about the two friends. To save their reputation, each of them tries to find a girlfriend. Their hunt for a date doesn’t quite go as expected.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Like The Red Balloon and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Red Balloon?
The closest matches to The Red Balloon are Two English Girls (1971), Fire with Fire (1986) and Not Easily Broken (2009). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Red Balloon?
Start with Two English Girls (1971), the closest match to The Red Balloon.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Red Balloon?
Life in a Year (2020), rated 8.2/10 by 2,027 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Red Balloon?
Gabriel's Redemption: Part I (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like The Red Balloon?
Yes: Two English Girls (1971), Luna (2018) and White Wedding (1989).
How are movies similar to The Red Balloon chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Red Balloon, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.