Movies like Before the Guests Arrive (1986)
The best movies like Before the Guests Arrive (1986) are The Two Faces of January (2014), Falling for Christmas (2022) and Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022). If Before the Guests Arrive hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLast Holiday (2006)7.3/10 from 915 votes
- NewestEleanor the Great (2025)Released 2025
The Two Faces of January (2014)
After he kills a detective, a con artist and his wife must trust a potentially dangerous stranger to help them get out of Greece.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisFalling for Christmas (2022)
An engaged, spoiled hotel heiress finds herself in the care of a handsome, blue-collar lodge owner and his precocious daughter after getting amnesia in a skiing accident.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGood Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022)
Nancy Stokes, a retired schoolteacher, is pretty sure she has never had good sex. Now that her husband has died, she is determined to take a tour of sexual vistas that until now she has only imagined. She even has a plan; it involves an anonymous hotel room, and a sex worker who calls himself Leo Grande.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI'll See You in My Dreams (2015)
A sudden loss disrupts Carol’s orderly life, propelling her into the dating world for the first time in 20 years. Finally living in the present tense, she finds herself swept up in not one, but two unexpected relationships that challenge her assumptions about what it means to grow old.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCul-de-sac (1966)
On the run and in search of help, two wounded gangsters find refuge in the secluded castle of a feeble man and his wife; however, under the point of a gun, nothing is what it seems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLast Holiday (2006)
The discovery that she has a terminal illness prompts introverted department store saleswoman Georgia Byrd to reflect on what she realizes has been an overly cautious life. With weeks to live, she withdraws her life savings, sells all her possessions and jets off to Europe where she lives it up at a posh hotel. Upbeat and passionate, Georgia charms everybody she meets, including renowned Chef Didier. The only one missing from her new life is her longtime crush Sean Williams.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGrand Hotel (1932)
Guests at a posh Berlin hotel struggle through worry, scandal, and heartache.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBad Sister (2015)
As a top student at St. Adeline's Catholic Boarding School, Zoe senses that something is not quite right about the school's new nun-- a sense proven to be true when it is revealed the "good' nun is an imposter with a fatal attraction to Zoe's brother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStarman (1984)
When an alien takes the form of a young widow's husband and asks her to drive him from Wisconsin to Arizona, the government tries to stop them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Struck Café (2017)
Megan Quinn, an aspiring architect, faces multiple tasks – developing her hometown lake into a commercialized entertainment center, forcing Mrs. Frances Figgins, her childhood mentor, out of her family’s home, and helping out at her family café after her father breaks his leg, all while also dealing with the return of her childhood sweetheart, Joe, who broke her heart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBabylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers - To Live and Die in Starlight (2002)
After being punished for retreat from combat, Ranger David Martel is given command of the Liandra, a haunted 20-year old Minbari fighting ship. He's escorting ambassadors to a secret archaeological site, the oldest city on record and a clue to a dangerous ancient race.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOur Kind of Traitor (2016)
A young Oxford academic and his attorney girlfriend holiday in Morocco. They bump into a Russian millionaire who owns a peninsula and a diamond watch. He wants a game of tennis. What else he wants propels the lovers on a tortuous journey to the City of London and its unholy alliance with Britain's intelligence establishment, to Paris and the Alps.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
Thomas Jerome Newton is an alien who has come to Earth in search of water to save his home planet. Aided by lawyer Oliver Farnsworth, Thomas uses his knowledge of advanced technology to create profitable inventions. While developing a method to transport water, Thomas meets Mary-Lou, a quiet hotel clerk, and begins to fall in love with her. Just as he is ready to leave Earth, Thomas is intercepted by the U.S. government, and his entire plan is threatened.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Whales of August (1987)
Two aged sisters reflect on life and the past during a late summer day in Maine.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEleanor the Great (2025)
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStarlet (2012)
An unlikely friendship forms between 21 year-old Jane and the elderly Sadie after Jane discovers a hidden stash of money inside an object at Sadie's yard sale.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBoudica (2023)
Inspired by events in A.D. 60, Boudica follows the eponymous Celtic warrior who rules the Iceni people alongside her husband Prasutagus. When he dies at the hands of Roman soldiers, Boudica’s kingdom is left without a male heir and the Romans seize her land and property. Driven to the edge of madness and determined to avenge her husband’s death, Boudica rallies the various tribes from the region and wages an epic war against the mighty Roman empire.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisFour Rooms (1995)
It's Ted the Bellhop's first night on the job...and the hotel's very unusual guests are about to place him in some outrageous predicaments. It seems that this evening's room service is serving up one unbelievable happening after another.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisHotel Chevalier (2007)
In a Paris hotel room, Jack Whitman lies on a bed. His phone rings; it's a woman on her way to see him, a surprise. She arrives and the complications of their relationship emerge in bits and pieces. Will they make love? Is their relationship over? (A prequel to The Darjeeling Limited, 2007.)
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Congress (2013)
An aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job, though the consequences of her decision affect her in ways she didn't consider.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Before the Guests Arrive?
The closest matches to Before the Guests Arrive are The Two Faces of January (2014), Falling for Christmas (2022) and Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Before the Guests Arrive?
Start with The Two Faces of January (2014), the closest match to Before the Guests Arrive.
What is the highest-rated movie like Before the Guests Arrive?
Last Holiday (2006), rated 7.3/10 by 915 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Before the Guests Arrive?
Eleanor the Great (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Before the Guests Arrive?
Yes: The Two Faces of January (2014), Falling for Christmas (2022) and Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022).
How are movies similar to Before the Guests Arrive chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Before the Guests Arrive, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.