Movies like Rip Van Winkle (1921)
The best movies like Rip Van Winkle (1921) are The Willoughbys (2020), 40 Acres (2025) and Cats (1998). If Rip Van Winkle hooked you with its fantasy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMeet Joe Black (1998)7.4/10 from 6,037 votes
- NewestMusical the Bath Fairy (2026)Released 2026
The Willoughbys (2020)
When the four Willoughby children are abandoned by their selfish parents, they must learn how to adapt their Old-Fashioned values to the contemporary world in order to create something new: The Modern Family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like this40 Acres (2025)
Hailey Freeman and her family are the last descendants of African American farmers who settled in rural Canada after the Civil War. In a famine-decimated near future, they now struggle to safeguard their farm, as they make one last stand against a vicious militia hell-bent on taking their 40 Acres.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCats (1998)
"Jellicle" cats join for a Jellicle ball where they rejoice with their leader, Old Deuteronomy. One cat will be chosen to go to the "Heavyside Layer" and be reborn.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Loud House Movie (2021)
The Loud family travel to Scotland and discover they are descendants of Scottish royalty as they move into their giant ancestral castle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Nutcracker (1993)
On Christmas Eve, a little girl named Marie falls asleep and dreams herself into a fantastic world in which her toys become larger than life. She meets up with the Nutcracker Prince who takes her on a journey to his kingdom and defends her from the Mouse King.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012)
A childless couple bury a box in their backyard, containing all of their wishes for an infant. Soon, a child is born, though Timothy Green is not all that he appears.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMomo (2025)
Momo is a young orphan girl who lives in the ruins of an old Roman amphitheater and becomes friends with everybody in the neighborhood. But when a powerful international corporation starts stealing everybody’s time, nobody has any time left for her, let alone their friends or families. Momo, together with Master Hora, the custodian of time, are the only ones who can go up against the time thieves before all is lost forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPinocchio (2009)
The enchanted story of Pinocchio.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWinter's Tale (2014)
A burglar falls for an heiress as she dies in his arms. When he learns that he has the gift of reincarnation, he sets out to save her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDave Made a Maze (2017)
Dave, an artist who has yet to complete anything significant in his career, builds a fort in his living room out of pure frustration, only to wind up trapped by the fantastical pitfalls, booby traps, and critters of his own creation. Ignoring his warnings, Dave’s girlfriend Annie leads a band of oddball explorers on a rescue mission. Once inside, they find themselves trapped in an ever-changing supernatural world, threatened by booby traps and pursued by a bloodthirsty Minotaur.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)
Walter Mitty, a daydreaming writer with an overprotective mother, likes to imagine that he is a hero who experiences fantastic adventures. His dream becomes reality when he accidentally meets a mysterious woman who hands him a little black book. According to her, it contains the locations of the Dutch crown jewels hidden since World War II. Soon, Mitty finds himself in the middle of a confusing conspiracy, where he has difficulty differentiating between fact and fiction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOh, God! (1977)
When God appears to an assistant grocery manager as a good natured old man, the Almighty selects him as his messenger for the modern world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBrigadoon (1954)
Americans Jeff and Tommy, hunting in Scotland, stumble upon a village - Brigadoon. They soon learn that the town appears once every 100 years in order to preserve its peace and special beauty. The citizens go to bed at night and when they wake up, it's 100 years later. Tommy falls in love with a beautiful young woman, Fiona, and is torn between staying or going back to his hectic life in New York.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Warriors Gate (2016)
After a mysterious chest opens a gateway through time, teen gamer Jack is transported to an ancient empire terrorized by a cruel barbarian king. Jack will need all of his gaming skills as he battles to defeat the barbarian, protect a beautiful princess, and somehow find his way back home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNaughty or Nice (2012)
Krissy Kringle receives a delivery intended for Santa Claus. A magical book that shows if a person has been naughty or nice. She uses the book's power to find out about those around her, which leads to some very unusual and unintended results. Krissy realizes that everyone has some good and some not so good in them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Thousand Words (2012)
Jack McCall is a fast-talking literary agent, who can close any deal, any time, any way. He has set his sights on New Age guru Dr. Sinja for his own selfish purposes. But Dr. Sinja is on to him, and Jack’s life comes unglued after a magical Bodhi tree mysteriously appears in his backyard. With every word Jack speaks, a leaf falls from the tree and he realizes that when the last leaf falls, both he and the tree are toast. Words have never failed Jack McCall, but now he’s got to stop talking and conjure up some outrageous ways to communicate or he’s a goner.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCandy Cane Lane (2023)
Determined to win the neighborhood's annual Christmas decorating contest, family man Chris makes a pact with an elf to help him out-do the competition. However, the elf casts a spell bringing the twelve days of Christmas to life, unleashing chaos on the small unsuspecting town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMirrorMask (2005)
In a fantasy world of opposing kingdoms, a 15-year old girl must find the fabled MirrorMask in order to save the kingdom and get home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Unhealer (2021)
A botched faith healing bestows supernatural Shaman powers on a bullied teenager. When his lifelong tormentors pull a prank that kills someone he loves, he uses his powers for revenge and goes on a bloody rampage to settle the score.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisShorts (2009)
A young boy's discovery of a colorful, wish-granting rock causes chaos in the suburban town of Black Falls when jealous kids and scheming adults alike set out to get their hands on it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisPeer Gynt (1915)
A fantasy from Ibsen's verse drama. Ne'er-do-well and braggart Peer Gynt has many adventures in varied countries, making and losing money, gaining fortune at others' expense, until he finds salvation in the love of Solveig.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Meet Joe Black (1998)
Bill Parrish has it all - success, wealth and power. Days before his 65th birthday, he receives a visit from a mysterious stranger, Joe Black, who soon reveals himself as Death. In exchange for extra time, Bill agrees to serve as Joe's earthly guide. But will he regret his choice when Joe unexpectedly falls in love with Bill's beautiful daughter Susan?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Choice of Coward: Blithe Spirit (1964)
While holding a séance for skeptical novelist Charles Condomine, self-proclaimed 'spiritualist medium' Madame Arcati inadvertently summons the spirit of his deceased first wife Elvira, leading to an increasingly complex love triangle with Ruth, his current wife of five years.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Babes in Toyland (1934)
Ollie Dee and Stannie Dum try to borrow money from their employer, the toymaker, to pay off the mortgage on Mother Peep's shoe and keep it and Little Bo Peep from the clutches of the evil Barnaby. When that fails, they trick Barnaby, enraging him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMusical the Bath Fairy (2026)
A live-recorded family musical film based on the bestselling picture book by Baek Heena, following Deok-ji's magical encounter with a bath fairy at an old bathhouse.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Fando and Lis (1972)
Fando and his partially paralysed lover Lis search for the mythical city of Tar.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Snow Queen (1967)
The film tells a story about the extraordinary journey of the modest little girl Gerda. She is looking for her friend Kai, who was kidnapped and taken to her kingdom by the powerful evil Snow Queen. In search of her beloved friend, Gerda ends up in the castle to the cunning, insidious and at the same time funny king, meets forest robbers. On the way, the girl will have many obstacles before the decisive battle with the Snow Queen. But Gerda’s faithful heart will overcome all adversity...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Were the World Mine (2008)
If you had a love-potion, who would you make fall madly in love with you? Timothy, prone to escaping his dismal high school reality through dazzling musical daydreams, gets to answer that question in a very real way. After his eccentric teacher casts him as Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream, he stumbles upon a recipe hidden within the script to create the play's magical, purple love-pansy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSergi & Irina (2020)
Raixa estate, June 24, 1939. Sergi Forteza, son of the landowner, falls in love with Irina Dols, niece of the foreman, during the celebration of the summer solstice party.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Blithe Spirit (1945)
While holding a séance for skeptical novelist Charles Condomine, self-proclaimed 'spiritualist medium' Madame Arcati inadvertently summons the spirit of his deceased first wife Elvira, leading to an increasingly complex love triangle with Ruth, his current wife of five years.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Rip Van Winkle?
The closest matches to Rip Van Winkle are The Willoughbys (2020), 40 Acres (2025) and Cats (1998). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Rip Van Winkle?
Start with The Willoughbys (2020), the closest match to Rip Van Winkle.
What is the highest-rated movie like Rip Van Winkle?
Meet Joe Black (1998), rated 7.4/10 by 6,037 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Rip Van Winkle?
Musical the Bath Fairy (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Rip Van Winkle?
Yes: The Willoughbys (2020), 40 Acres (2025) and Cats (1998).
How are movies similar to Rip Van Winkle chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Rip Van Winkle, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.