Movies like Sex and the Central (2003)
The best movies like Sex and the Central (2003) are Due West: Our Sex Journey (2012), Crazy Love (1993) and The Little Death (2014). If Sex and the Central 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 ratedThe Little Death (2014)6.7/10 from 555 votes
- NewestFree Hugs (2023)Released 2023
Due West: Our Sex Journey (2012)
Set in contemporary Hong Kong, several young people are searching for romance and struggling to learn the difference between lust and love in an adventure that takes them to the mainland where pleasure is much more readily available.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrazy Love (1993)
What was supposed to be summer school in England becomes an adventurous, exotic and romantic journey for a beautiful teenage girl. [from the Tai Seng Catalog] A nice story of a free-spirited (or, depending on your viewpoint, prick-teasing) young woman on a short journey of discovery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Little Death (2014)
A comedy film that looks into the loosely connected lives of people with strange sexual fantasies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
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 · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisJust Before I Go (2015)
Ted Morgan has been treading water for most of his life. After his wife leaves him, Ted realizes he has nothing left to live for. Summoning the courage for one last act, Ted decides to go home and face the people he feels are responsible for creating the shell of a person he has become. But life is tricky. The more determined Ted is to confront his demons, to get closure, and to withdraw from his family, the more Ted is yanked into the chaos of their lives. So, when Ted Morgan decides to kill himself, he finds a reason to live.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSex and Zen (1991)
A recently married scholar goes on a quest for knowledge of other people's wives, based on his philosophical differences with the Sack Monk. He encounters the Flying Thief, who agrees to help him find women, but only if he attains a penis as big as a horse's. The scholar has a surgeon attach said unit, and he's off and running on his mission, only to find that there are obstacles to his new lifestyle, such as jealous husbands and treacherous females.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCarnal Knowledge (1971)
Two lifelong friends navigate complex sexual encounters and emotional entanglements, wrestling with societal norms and personal desires.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGood Dick (2008)
A fidgety, wisecracking video store clerk develops a fixation on a particularly reclusive customer, a frequent visitor to the pornography section of Cinefile, the video store where he works in Los Angeles. After multiple failures to impress her during their brief daily transactions, he finds her street address in the store's database, drives to her apartment building and initiates an unconventional campaign to win her affections.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisThe Last Time I Saw Paris (1954)
Reporter Charles Wills, in Paris to cover the end of World War II, falls for the beautiful Helen Ellswirth following a brief flirtation with her sister, Marion. After he and Helen marry, Charles pursues his novelistic ambition while supporting his new bride with a deadening job at a newspaper wire service. But when an old investment suddenly makes the family wealthy, their marriage begins to unravel — until a sudden tragedy changes everything.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFifty Shades Freed (2018)
Believing they have left behind shadowy figures from their past, newlyweds Christian and Ana fully embrace an inextricable connection and shared life of luxury. But just as she steps into her role as Mrs. Grey and he relaxes into an unfamiliar stability, new threats could jeopardize their happy ending before it even begins.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOriginal Sin (2001)
A young man is plunged into a life of subterfuge, deceit and mistaken identity in pursuit of a femme fatale whose heart is never quite within his grasp.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHooking Up (2020)
Bailey and Darla embark upon a misguided and mutually deceitful form of therapy, one in which they must drive across the country, re-enacting Darla's colorful history as a sex addict. As their true motivations for the road trip come to light, the unlikely pair force one another to confront their issues, discovering that there might actually be more to love than just sex.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Duke of Burgundy (2015)
Day in and day out, lovers Cynthia and Evelyn enact an elaborate sadomasochistic fantasy as mistress and maid. But as their ritual of domination and submission begins to turn stale, Cynthia yearns for something more conventional, while Evelyn tries to push their taboos even further.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPetulia (1968)
Dr. Archie Bollen is having a midlife crisis. He's just divorced his wife and is establishing a new life for himself. One night, he catches the eye of Petulia Danner, a charming, free-spirited young woman. Petulia's vibrant personality hides her fear of her abusive husband, David, whose father is a powerful society figure. As Petulia and Archie's feelings for each other grow, they must decide what it is they truly want.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSomewhere in Queens (2023)
Leo and Angela Russo live a simple life in Queens, surrounded by their overbearing Italian-American family. When their son finds success on his high school basketball team, Leo tears the family apart trying to make it happen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTime Is Up (2021)
Vivien, an accomplished student with a passion for physics, and Roy, a troubled young man, are involved in an accident that forces them to reclaim their lives one minute at the time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnfaithful (2002)
A New York suburban couple's marriage goes dangerously awry when the wife indulges in an adulterous fling.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMonday (2021)
A spark on a Friday can lead to a sizzling weekend fling, but what happens when you get to the inevitable Monday?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLondon (2005)
London is a drug laden adventure that centers on a party in a New York loft where a young man is trying to win back his ex-girlfriend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFree Hugs (2023)
A jaded Office Lady’s perspective on life is thwarted when she runs into her ex, an Ah Beng giving out free hugs to strangers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku (2020)
An effervescent musical about one of the most unlikely couples seen on screen: two Otaku intent on hiding their nerdiness from their colleagues!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClover (2014)
Saya Suzuki is an ordinary employee working at a hotel. She falls in love with her elite boss Susumu Tsuge. Through their romance, Saya Suzuki grows as a person.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Water Flows to the Sea (2023)
High school student Naotatsu travels to live at his uncle's house. In the pouring rain, he is picked up at the nearest station by a strange adult woman named Sakaki who guides him to an unexpected share house where a life together begins.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Hotaru the Movie: It's Only a Little Light in My Life (2012)
Set two years after after "Hotaru no Hikari" drama series, Hotaru Amemiya learns that her boss and now husband Seichi Takano has dreamed of vacationing in Rome, Italy like in the movie "Roman Holiday". Hotaru then makes plans to go to Rome for their honeymoon. Rome, Italy prepare ... Hotaru Amemiy and Seichi Takano are coming!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & comedy
Girl (2012)
"Girls" follows four beautiful women and depicts the troubles found in their love lives and work place. Yukiko Takigawa (Karina) works at a big advertising firm and has a good looking boyfriend. Seiko Takeda is married and has no children. She works at a large real estate company. Yoko Kosaka is a single woman working at a historic stationary company. Takako Hirai is a single mother who works for a car manufacturer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Inbi (1987)
Michiko Sakuraba (Mami Ogawa), a secretary at the Morio Kikuchi Law Office, located in a corner of the business district, takes out a concert ticket from her handbag and smiles. After her work is finished, she is going to go with Kikuchi. Then a woman around 20 years old appeared. Kikuchi introduced Michiko to her fiancé, who was surprised. That night, Michiko, deeply saddened, drank a glass alone at the cafe bar. The other guests were couples. Some men and women grope each other's bodies. Michiko returns to her room and comforts herself with a hot shower...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Shomuni (1998)
The day after being dumped by the boyfriend to whom she was going to give her virginity, Sawako Tsukahara (Kumiko Endo), an office lady in the accounting department of Manpan Trading Co., is dispatched as a helper to General Affairs Section 2. General Affairs Section 2, nicknamed "Shomuni," is the company's cesspool department where underachieving office ladies are gathered. The members of the General Affairs Department are Chinatsu Tsuboi (Reiko Takashima), who is in charge of the department; the femme fatale Kana Miyashita (Michiko Kawai); the self-disciplined Yumiko Maruhashi (Asako Kobayashi); the boastful Kayoko Tokunaga (Mari Hamada); the unremarkable Section Chief Inoue (Masao Komatsu); and the stray cat, Butcha.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Love of Sawako (1990)
Sawako, working in a bank, tired of the usual everyday life, once she met the chef of French cuisine Yukio Goto and spent the night with him. Sawako pretends to be the daughter of an upscale hotel owner and has an affair with Yukio.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Freeze Me (2000)
When a woman is harassed and threatened by one of the men who gang-raped her five years previously, she is pushed to take icy revenge against her attackers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Sex and the Central?
The closest matches to Sex and the Central are Due West: Our Sex Journey (2012), Crazy Love (1993) and The Little Death (2014). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Sex and the Central?
Start with Due West: Our Sex Journey (2012), the closest match to Sex and the Central.
What is the highest-rated movie like Sex and the Central?
The Little Death (2014), rated 6.7/10 by 555 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Sex and the Central?
Free Hugs (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Sex and the Central chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Sex and the Central, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.