Movies like Das Leben ist keine Autobahn (2011)
The best movies like Das Leben ist keine Autobahn (2011) are The German Lesson (2019), Home from Home – Chronicle of a Vision (2013) and TalhotBlond (2012). If Das Leben ist keine Autobahn hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLittle Lord Fauntleroy (1980)7.3/10 from 326 votes
- NewestSeparate Ways (2026)Released 2026
- In GermanThe German Lesson (2019)Also in German
The German Lesson (2019)
In a small North German village a drama played out during and shortly after the Second World War about duty versus individual conscience and morality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHome from Home – Chronicle of a Vision (2013)
Follow-up to the TV trilogy “Heimat”, this time for cinemas, set again in the fictional village Schabbach in the Hunsrück region of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTalhotBlond (2012)
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKings of the Road (1976)
Itinerant projection-equipment repairman Bruno Winter and depressed hitchhiker Robert Lander - a doctor who has just been through a break-up with his wife and a half-hearted suicide attempt - travel along the Western side of the East-German border in a repair truck, visiting worn-out movie theaters, learning to communicate across their differences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGirl in the Box (2016)
The true story of 20-year-old Colleen Stan, a hitchhiking woman abducted by a young couple and held captive for seven years, during which time she's tortured and forced to live as a slave to her captors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Short History of the Long Road (2019)
Nola grew up living in a van with her father, Clint—two nomads against the world. When tragedy strikes, Nola must confront the reality of life on the road alone, learning to own her grief, her past, and her new destination.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHardball (2001)
An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMansfield Park (2007)
Fanny Price is sent to live with her wealthy relatives, the Bertrams, where she is treated poorly by most except her cousin Edmund. Her life is complicated by the arrival of the worldly Mary and Henry Crawford
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCorsage (2022)
A fictional account of one year in the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. On Christmas Eve 1877, Elisabeth, once idolized for her beauty, turns 40 and is officially deemed an old woman; she starts trying to maintain her public image.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGoodbye June (2025)
Four siblings' lives change drastically when their ailing mother takes a turn for the worse over the holiday season.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRay Donovan: The Movie (2022)
A showdown decades in the making brings the Donovan family legacy full circle. As the events that made Ray who he is today finally come to light, the Donovans find themselves drawn back to Boston to face the past. Each of them struggles to overcome their violent upbringing, but destiny dies hard, and only their fierce love for each other keeps them in the fight.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWrong Move (1975)
Six days in the life of Wilhelm: a detached man without qualities. He wants to write, so his mother gives him a ticket to Bonn, telling him to live. On the train he meets an older man, an athlete in the 1936 Olympics, and his mute teen companion, Mignon. She's an acrobat in market squares for spare change.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Am Elizabeth Smart (2017)
The story of Elizabeth Smart's kidnapping and captivity, as told from her perspective.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Bramble House Christmas (2017)
While settling his father’s estate, Finn Conrad becomes suspicious as to why the man left a nurse $100,000. His dad knew her for less than two months before he died. Just before Christmas, Finn wants what to reclaim what he considers his family’s money, going undercover to investigate the bed and breakfast the nurse has recently taken over. When Finn meets Willa, he discovers she’s not a conniving gold digger at all, but a woman in need who put the money to good use. When she discovers his true identity, will it keep Willa from ever trusting him again?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Poker House (2008)
Agnes and her two sisters struggle through a day in a home overrun by gamblers, thieves, and johns.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLittle Lord Fauntleroy (1980)
Young Cedric Errol and his widowed mother live in genteel poverty in 1880s Brooklyn after the death of his father. Cedric's grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt, has long ago disowned his son for marrying an American. But after the death of the Earl's remaining son, he decides to accept Cedric as his heir.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this3 Days in Quiberon (2018)
1981, Quiberon, a small village on the coast of Brittany, France. Hilde Fritsch arrives to visit her old friend who has retreated to a spa hotel to escape the daily pressures of her life. Her friend is world-famous star Romy Schneider, but together, they appear like two regular women who are just happy to be reunited. Yet it quickly becomes apparent that Hilde is supposed to offer the support the sensitive actress needs to be able to truly face her own demons.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (1996)
A dramatization of the life of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (Don Cheadle), with a lot of factual based occurrences. A reformed junkie returns from prison to clean up his act and devote the rest of his life to the young kids of Harlem. 1996 was the 25th anniversary of the first tournament named after him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEl Chicano (2019)
A pair of twin brothers from East L.A. choose to live their lives differently and end up on opposite sides of the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAngels in the Snow (2015)
The affluent, yet troubled Montgomery family hits the road for a special Christmas in the mountains.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEyes Cry Differently (1990)
Near a large mining site, the frescoes of a small church are being restored. Vasil is a young heavy truck driver. He takes care of his orphaned nephew Vanyo. He accidentally meets the restorer Vera. The relationship between the two is complicated - between the desire for closeness and the cool assessment of the situation. Generally speaking, it is about the "difficult youth" of the 80s.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Lamb (2002)
A poor father lives with his blind son, dog and sheep. When he can't find any food, he is forced to make a hard decision.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
In Between Heartbeats (TBA)
Guided by a queer deity, a closeted man is forced to confront his parents as he tries to regain his lost sense of identity.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Pedro Navaja (2026)
The short film recreates the final scene of the 1984 film of the same name. The story centers on the encounter between Pedro Navaja and his wife Rosa, whose conflict leads to a violent confrontation that ends with the death of both characters.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
מלאכים באמריקה- בנייה מחדש (2024)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
STATIC! (2025)
Ben Quarry is dead. When he wakes up in a daze he realizes he is still trapped in this mortal realm, the only problem is, no one can hear him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Separate Ways (2026)
The story follows Leah, a resilient young woman navigating a world reshaped by a sudden and terrifying outbreak. As society collapses and the threat of the undead looms, Leah struggles not only to survive the new dangers around her but also to process the emotional weight of her past. Through haunting flashbacks, we glimpse her relationship with Mason-her longtime partner-and the unresolved tensions, love, and missed moments that defined their life before everything changed. Blending intimate relationship drama with apocalyptic horror, the film explores how ordinary human conflicts are magnified in extraordinary circumstances. As Leah moves between memories of what once was and the harsh reality of what now is, she's forced to confront loss, love, and the difficult choices that come with survival.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Play! (2015)
What do Bingo and Sponge Bob have in common? Dusan, an eight year old boy trapped in limbo between two polar opposite worlds, spends his time amongst gambling adults in a casino while his imagination is captivated by children's television series. When does one grow up? Let's play and find out!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Fifth Step (TBA)
An inmate manages to win the prison time battle by thinking about his wife, who was also imprisoned. He lives only with the hope that the two will see each other again, but eventually realizes that the only thing he has left is the memory of the two's dancing steps.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Das Leben ist keine Autobahn and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Das Leben ist keine Autobahn?
The closest matches to Das Leben ist keine Autobahn are The German Lesson (2019), Home from Home – Chronicle of a Vision (2013) and TalhotBlond (2012). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Das Leben ist keine Autobahn?
Start with The German Lesson (2019), the closest match to Das Leben ist keine Autobahn.
What is the highest-rated movie like Das Leben ist keine Autobahn?
Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980), rated 7.3/10 by 326 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Das Leben ist keine Autobahn?
Separate Ways (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there German movies like Das Leben ist keine Autobahn?
Yes: The German Lesson (2019), Home from Home – Chronicle of a Vision (2013) and Kings of the Road (1976).
How are movies similar to Das Leben ist keine Autobahn chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Das Leben ist keine Autobahn, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.