Movies like The Unicorn (1955)
The best movies like The Unicorn (1955) are Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998), Hungry Hearts (2015) and Around the Bend (2004). If The Unicorn hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedIt's a Wonderful Life (1946)8.3/10 from 5,160 votes
- NewestMain Vaapas Aaunga (2026)Released 2026
Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998)
Young teen girl Xiu Xiu is sent away to a remote corner of the Sichuan steppes for manual labor in 1975 (sending young people to there was a part of Cultural Revolution in China). A year later, she agrees to go to even more remote spot with a Tibetan saddle tramp Lao Jin to learn horse herding.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHungry Hearts (2015)
The relationship of a couple who meet by chance in New York City is put to the test when they encounter a life or death circumstance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAround the Bend (2004)
A tale of four generations of men, all of whom have had their offspring at a young age: a great-grandfather, a grandfather, a father in his twenties and a son who is about 7 years old. When the oldest member passes away, the trio heads out on the road together in the Southwest to search out an old family secret that connects to their past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisNo Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers (1990)
Two feuding brothers of differing political views, one a policeman, the other a martial artist, join forces to avenge the death of their father, a retired agent who was brutally murdered by the mafia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuburbia (1984)
When household tensions and a sense of worthlessness overcome Evan, he finds escape when he clings with the orphans of a throw-away society. The runaways hold on to each other like a family until a tragedy tears them apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Devil's Double (2011)
A chilling vision of the House of Saddam Hussein comes to life through the eyes of the man who was forced to become the double of Hussein's sadistic son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLuckiest Girl Alive (2022)
A successful woman in New York City finds her life upended when she is forced to confront a dark truth that threatens to unravel her meticulously crafted life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTed K (2021)
An exploration of Ted Kaczynski's life in Lincoln, Montana in the years leading up to his arrest as The Unabomber.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cement Garden (1993)
After the death of her husband, the mother of Julie, Jack, Sue and Tom begins to suffer from a mysterious illness. Aware that she is going to have to go into hospital she opens a bank account for the children, so that they can be financially self-sufficient and will be able to avoid being taken into care by the authorities. Unfortunately she also dies and Julie and Jack (the older, teenage children) decide to hide her body in the basement so that they can have free reign of their household. Soon Tom has taken to dressing as a girl whilst Sue has become increasingly reticent, confiding only to her diary, meanwhile Jack and Julie sense an attraction developing for each other. However Julie's new beau, Derek, threatens to unearth the many dark secrets within this family as he becomes increasingly suspicious of Jack.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFarming (2018)
Based on the writer/director's childhood, FARMING tells the story of a young Nigerian boy, 'farmed out' by his parents to a white British family in the hope of a better future. Instead, he becomes the feared leader of a white skinhead gang.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisConvict (2014)
Set in the dark and old Parramatta prison built by the original convicts our lead character Ray a war veteran finds himself serving 18 months for manslaughter after defending his fiance. He soon realizes that the prison boss has it in for him and does everything possible to break Ray even going after his fiance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWalking with the Enemy (2014)
Regent Horthy is the leader of Hungary and a German ally, but his favorable standing with Hitler changes as the war comes to an end. Forced to cede Hungary’s power or else witness the execution of his son, Regent Horthy gives up control of his country to the Nazis, who quickly move Hungarians to ghettos and death camps, with no hope in sight. But the despair changes when a young man named Elek emerges. Separated from his family during the relocations and aided by the woman he loves , Elek defies the enemy by becoming one of them. In a race against time, disguised as a Nazi Officer he embarks on a mission to save his family and thousands of his countrymen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHamilton: In the Interest of the Nation (2012)
Carl Hamilton manages to infiltrate an international gang that has stolen advanced Swedish GPS-guided missiles. But the league is subjected to a sudden deadly attack by a well drilled group of mercenaries of unknown clients. Hamilton escapes the massacre, but the rockets have disappeared without a trace.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeck 03 - White Nights (1998)
When the police reveal a narcotic smuggling the driver is shot dead. It appears that the driver is Superintendent Martin Beck's son. Beck breaks down and moves out of the way. But on his colleagues request he returns.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLockdown (2000)
Avery (Jones) returns to college as a competitive swimmer after getting his life back on track. But his life takes another unexpected turn when he and his two friends (Bonds, Casseus) are wrongly accused of murder and end up in prison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMen in War (1957)
In Korea, on 6 September 1950, Lieutenant Benson's platoon finds itself isolated in enemy-held territory after a retreat. Soon they are joined by Sergeant Montana, whose overriding concern is caring for his catatonic colonel. Benson and Montana can't stand each other, but together they must get the survivors to Hill 465, where they hope the division is waiting. It's a long, harrowing march, fraught with all the dangers the elusive enemy can summon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnthinkable (2010)
The government gets wind of a plot to destroy America involving a trio of nuclear weapons for which the whereabouts are unknown. It's up to a seasoned interrogator and an FBI agent to find out exactly where the nukes are.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRequiem for a Dream (2000)
The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island residents are shattered when their addictions run deep.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisPimp (2018)
An urban love story set on the hard streets of the Bronx. A struggling female pimp, named Wednesday, grows up learning the game from her dad. Once he's gone she's left to look out for her prostitute mother and girlfriend Nikki.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlindfire (2020)
A police officer who while responding to a violent hostage call, kills the African American suspect only to later learn of his innocence. Sensing this was a set-up, and facing repercussions, he must track down the person responsible while examining his own accountability and the ingrained racism which brought him to this point.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMain Vaapas Aaunga (2026)
Haunted by a childhood romance and recollections of love lost during the 1947 Partition of India, 95-year-old Ishar Singh Grewal shares his story with his grandson Nirvair, the past unfolding through memories of migration, longing, and a romance that endures across generations.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Chaos Theory (2008)
Frank Allen, a professional speaker who lectures on time management has a perfectly ordered and scheduled life, down to the minute. When his wife sets his clock forward 10 minutes as a joke, his day is thrown off. Deciding that his strictly ordered life has done him little good, he begins to make multiple choice index cards, choosing one at random and doing what is written on the card.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIt's a Wonderful Life (1946)
George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town is George's modest building and loan company. But on Christmas Eve the business's $8,000 is lost and George's troubles begin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Remains of the Day (1993)
In interwar Britain, a rule-bound head butler's world of manners and decorum in the household he maintains is tested by the arrival of a new housekeeper. The possibility of romance and his master's cultivation of ties with the Nazi cause challenge his carefully maintained veneer of servitude.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisForget Paris (1995)
Mickey Gordon is a basketball referee who travels to France to bury his father. Ellen Andrews is an American living in Paris who works for the airline he flies on. They meet and fall in love, but their relationship goes through many difficult patches.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStand by Me (1986)
After learning that a boy their age has been accidentally killed near their rural homes, four boys decide to go see the body. Gordie, Vern, Chris, and Teddy encounter a mean junk man and a marsh full of leeches, but they also learn more about one another and their very different home lives. Just a lark at first, the boys' adventure evolves into a defining event in their lives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFreaks (1932)
A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBrief Encounter (1945)
Returning home from a shopping trip to a nearby town, bored suburban housewife Laura Jesson is thrown by happenstance into an acquaintance with virtuous doctor Alec Harvey. Their casual friendship soon develops during their weekly visits into something more emotionally fulfilling than either expected, and they must wrestle with the potential havoc their deepening relationship would have on their lives and the lives of those they love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHank Williams: The Show He Never Gave (1980)
This is a lonely New Year's Eve for Hank Williams as he spends it en route to a huge New Years Day concert in Ohio. Hank Williams died that night on the road. A fictional biography is shown in flashback.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
A Thousand Little Cuts (2022)
Anne Bennett wakes up in a hospital, convinced she is recovering from minor surgery only to find herself in a battle of wits with a psychiatrist who can't let her leave until she remembers "what happened that night." Events turn a darker corner as doctor and patient try to unlock not only what traumatic event Anne is suppressing, but also who was there, why it happened, and why Anne's subconscious is fighting so hard to prevent her from talking about it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like The Unicorn and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Unicorn?
The closest matches to The Unicorn are Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998), Hungry Hearts (2015) and Around the Bend (2004). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Unicorn?
Start with Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998), the closest match to The Unicorn.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Unicorn?
It's a Wonderful Life (1946), rated 8.3/10 by 5,160 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Unicorn?
Main Vaapas Aaunga (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Unicorn chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Unicorn, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.