Movies like Ballad for a Dog (1969)
The best movies like Ballad for a Dog (1969) are Winter Spring Summer or Fall (2024), My Dog Stupid (2019) and Ruby Sparks (2012). If Ballad for a Dog hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedHarvey (1950)7.7/10 from 712 votes
- NewestAlter Ego (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchMy Dog Stupid (2019)Also in French
Winter Spring Summer or Fall (2024)
Remi and Barnes, two very different teenagers, meet by chance in the winter of their senior year, then spend four days together over the course of a year that will change their lives forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Dog Stupid (2019)
Henri is a middle-aged writer with fading inspiration who has published nothing worthy of note in years. Feeling increasingly misunderstood by his wife and four grown up deadbeat kids, he dreams of running away to start over again. Yet when he discovers an unattractive, bad-mannered dog in his garden, he decides to adopt him and both start developing an unexpected friendship that inevitably upsets Henri’s family and neighbors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisRuby Sparks (2012)
Calvin is a young novelist who achieved phenomenal success early in his career but is now struggling with his writing – as well as his romantic life. Finally, he makes a breakthrough and creates a character named Ruby who inspires him. When Calvin finds Ruby, in the flesh, sitting on his couch about a week later, he is completely flabbergasted that his words have turned into a living, breathing person.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDrop Dead Fred (1991)
An unhappy housewife gets a lift from the return of her imaginary childhood friend, Drop Dead Fred.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisGigi & Nate (2022)
A young man with a bright future suffers a near-fatal accident and recreates his new life with the help of an unlikely animal friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPaper Man (2009)
A coming-of-middle-age comedy that chronicles the unlikely friendship between failed author Richard Dunne and a Long Island teen who teaches him a thing or two about growing up, all under the disapproving eye of his long-suffering wife and his imaginary Superhero friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlter Ego (2026)
A quiet, middle-aged man spirals into obsession and paranoia when a charismatic look-alike moves in next door, featuring the exact same face—and a full head of hair.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHarvey (1950)
The story of Elwood P. Dowd who makes friends with a spirit taking the form of a human-sized rabbit named Harvey that only he sees (and a few privileged others on occasion also.) After his sister tries to commit him to a mental institution, a comedy of errors ensues. Elwood and Harvey become the catalysts for a family mending its wounds and for romance blossoming in unexpected places.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Hippopotamus (2017)
Disgraced poet Ted Wallace is summoned to his friend's country manor to investigate a series of unexplained miracles.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Hundred and One Nights (1995)
Monsieur Cinema, a hundred years old, lives alone in a large villa. His memories fade away, so he engages a young woman to tell him stories about all the movies ever made.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShadows in the Sun (2005)
An aspiring young writer tracks a literary titan suffering from writers block to his refuge in rural Italy and learns about life and love from the irascible genius and his daughters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMan Without a Star (1955)
A wandering cowboy gets caught up in a range war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStealing Beauty (1996)
Lucy Harmon, an American teenager is arriving in the lush Tuscan countryside to be sculpted by a family friend who lives in a beautiful villa. Lucy visited there four years earlier and exchanged a kiss with an Italian boy with whom she hopes to become reacquainted.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Friend (2025)
New York City writer Iris finds her comfortable, solitary life thrown into disarray after her closest friend and mentor bequeaths her a Great Dane named Apollo. The huge dog immediately creates practical problems for Iris, from furniture destruction to eviction notices, as well as more existential ones. Yet as Iris finds herself unexpectedly bonding with Apollo, she begins to come to terms with her past, and her own creative inner life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Rule of Jenny Pen (2025)
Confined to a secluded rest home and trapped within his stroke-ridden body, a former Judge must stop an elderly psychopath who employs a child's puppet to abuse the home's residents with deadly consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMeet Monica Velour (2010)
For Tobe, a nerdy, horny, frizzy-haired cineaste who doesn't quite fit in with the average contemporary teen, the pinnacle of womanhood is Monica Velour, a soft-core actress who reached the zenith of her career in the 1980s. When Tobe learns that his love idol is headlining hundreds of miles away at the Gentlemen's Petting Zoo in Indiana, he drives off with carefree glory, filled with the hope of meeting her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Cut (2025)
A retired boxer intends to return to the ring for one last shot at the title, but first he must make the weight. Holed up in a room in Las Vegas with an unscrupulous trainer, he embarks on an intensive and illegal weight-cutting program.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisTed (2012)
John Bennett, a man whose childhood wish of bringing his teddy bear to life came true, now must decide between keeping the relationship with the bear or his girlfriend, Lori.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Air Up There (1994)
Jimmy Dolan is a college basketball coach who wants a big promotion. To get it, he needs to make a dramatic find. He ends up deep in Africa, hoping to recruit Saleh, a huge basketball prodigy Jimmy glimpsed in a home movie. But Saleh is the chief's son and has responsibilities at home, since the tribe's land is threatened by a mining company with its own hotshot basketball team.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYour Monster (2024)
After her life falls apart, soft-spoken actress Laura Franco finds her voice again when she meets a terrifying, yet weirdly charming, monster living in her closet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Ballad for a Dog?
The closest matches to Ballad for a Dog are Winter Spring Summer or Fall (2024), My Dog Stupid (2019) and Ruby Sparks (2012). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Ballad for a Dog?
Start with Winter Spring Summer or Fall (2024), the closest match to Ballad for a Dog.
What is the highest-rated movie like Ballad for a Dog?
Harvey (1950), rated 7.7/10 by 712 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Ballad for a Dog?
Alter Ego (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like Ballad for a Dog?
Yes: My Dog Stupid (2019), Alter Ego (2026) and One Hundred and One Nights (1995).
How are movies similar to Ballad for a Dog chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Ballad for a Dog, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.