Movies like Despite the Night (2016)
The best movies like Despite the Night (2016) are Successive Slidings of Pleasure (1974), The Echo (2008) and Asylum (2005). If Despite the Night hooked you with its mystery and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedShéhérazade (2018)7.2/10 from 283 votes
- NewestLove of Your Life (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchSuccessive Slidings of Pleasure (1974)Also in French
Successive Slidings of Pleasure (1974)
A young woman is questioned by the police and the judges, suspected of being a modern witch. The girl who shared her apartment has been found dead, and a pair of scissors impaled through her heart, as she lay attached to the bedposts. Apparently, the girl does have powers, to make all people around her fall prey to her spell, glissing progressively into desire, lust, and the unknown.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Echo (2008)
An ex-prisoner moves to an old apartment, where one gets to see in the middle of a domestic problem between a police officer, his wife and his daughter. When he tries to intervene, he will be caught in a mysterious curse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAsylum (2005)
A woman becomes very curious about one of her psychiatrist husband's inmates, a man who was found guilty in the murder and disfigurement of his former wife.
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 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 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 thisMore (1969)
A German student, Stefan, now finished with his studies, hitchhikes to Paris. There he meets a free-spirited American girl, Estelle, who he follows to Ibiza. The two begin a sad and dark path into heroin addiction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDouble Lover (2017)
Chloé, a fragile young woman, falls in love with her psychoanalyst, Paul. A few months later she moves in with him, but soon discovers that her lover is concealing a part of his identity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShéhérazade (2018)
Zachary, 17 years old, gets out of jail. Rejected by his mother, he hangs out in the mean streets of Marseille. He falls in love with Shéhérazade, a young prostitute of whom he becomes the pimp without realizing it...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisThe Pariah (1972)
For more than 15 years, two Marseille friends and criminals battle the law, rival gangs, prison authorities and even mined beaches in order to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove of Your Life (2026)
After a chance encounter sparks a sweeping romance, Maya's future is suddenly upended, sending her on an unexpected journey to love and live again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Surrender (2025)
A fraught mother-daughter relationship is put to a terrifying test when the family patriarch dies, and the grieving mother hires a mysterious stranger to bring her husband back from the dead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisGervaise (1956)
Gervaise Macquart is a beautiful Parisian laundress and mother whose lover, Lantier, walks out on her. She eventually marries Henri Coupeau, a roofer who has an unfortunate accident. As her now crippled husband descends into alcoholism, Gervaise tries to make ends meet on her own. Life becomes even more complicated when Lantier returns and befriends Henri. Meanwhile, the man she really loves is sent to prison.
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 thisSavaged (2014)
After thugs brutalize a deaf-mute woman, the spirit of an Apache warrior takes over her lifeless body and sets out on a bloodthirsty quest for revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCorridors of Blood (1958)
In 1840s London, Dr. Thomas Bolton [Boris Karloff] dares to dream the unthinkable: experimenting with anesthesia gases to make surgery pain-free. While doing so, his demonstration before a panel of his peers ends in a horrific mishap with his patient awakening under the knife; he is forced to leave his position in disgrace. To complicate matters, he becomes addicted to his own chemical experiments and gets involved with a criminal gang led by Black Ben [Francis de Wolff], and a ruthless killer Resurrection Joe [Christopher Lee]. Unfortunately, this shady partnership leads Dr. Bolton to further ruin, culminating in his unwitting participation in murder — for which he becomes the first victim of a blackmail scheme.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
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 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 thisMeander (2021)
After getting a car ride from an unknown man, Lisa wakes up in a tube. On her arm is strapped a bracelet with a countdown. She quickly understands that every 8 minutes, fire burns an occupied section. She has no choice but to crawl into safe sections to survive. To know why she’s there and how to get out, Lisa will have to face the memories of her dead daughter…
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMy Last Five Girlfriends (2010)
Depressed and suicidal, thirtysomething bachelor Duncan – determined to find the secret to a healthy, strong relationship, – flashes back to his last five relationships (in the last four years) and considers what caused each one to fail. Based on the novel 'Essays in Love' by Alain de Botton.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisI'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
Nothing is as it seems when a woman experiencing misgivings about her new boyfriend joins him on a road trip to meet his parents at their remote farm.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWindow Shopping (1997)
A marriage proposal prompts Carolina to recall three previous relationships as she wanders through Manhattan.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Four Last Songs (2007)
A comic drama set on a Mediterranean island, where a motley collection of characters is seeking musical redemption.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Saino (1988)
A couple leaves a city to go the village where a lot of conflict waiting to tear them completely.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Gabber Lover (2016)
Nérac in the early 2000s. Laurie and Mila, 13-years-old, dance to Gabber music on the shores of a remote lake. Mila is in love with Laurie and she wants to tell her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Love Sea Special Episode: A Shared Tomorrow (2024)
Tongrak has finally finished up work on his latest novel and is eager to go back to the island to reunite with Mahasamut who has opened up his shop for the season. While the two shower each other with love and plan their new house together, Vivi and Khaimuk explore the island for themselves and sort out lingering uncertainties in their budding relationship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
The Boy and His Robot (TBA)
In the post-apocalypse world, a boy and a robot walk toward the unknown, bound by the search for a missing father and the belief that light still exists among the ruins.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Fiz as malas pra te ver partir (2025)
Clara decides to break up with Rubens and that same evening announces the arrival of a new boyfriend. Their farewell serves as the introduction to the puzzle of this love story. Is it possible to share your life with someone and still not truly know who they are?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Despite the Night and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Despite the Night?
The closest matches to Despite the Night are Successive Slidings of Pleasure (1974), The Echo (2008) and Asylum (2005). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Despite the Night?
Start with Successive Slidings of Pleasure (1974), the closest match to Despite the Night.
What is the highest-rated movie like Despite the Night?
Shéhérazade (2018), rated 7.2/10 by 283 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Despite the Night?
Love of Your Life (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like Despite the Night?
Yes: Successive Slidings of Pleasure (1974), No Limit (2022) and Double Lover (2017).
How are movies similar to Despite the Night chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Despite the Night, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.