Movies like When Your Lover Leaves (1983)
The best movies like When Your Lover Leaves (1983) are Barbarians at the Gate (1993), Drumline: A New Beat (2014) and Lady Windermere's Fan (1925). If When Your Lover Leaves hooked you with its drama and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedJohn Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City (2018)7.9/10 from 259 votes
- NewestRicky Gervais: Mortality (2025)Released 2025
Barbarians at the Gate (1993)
F. Ross Johnson decides to buyout his own tobacco firm RJR Nabisco after the plans of the launch of his new product, a smokeless cigarette Premier, fail on account of market rumours.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDrumline: A New Beat (2014)
A girl from New York attends a college in Atlanta to join their once-famous marching band.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLady Windermere's Fan (1925)
A society woman believes her husband is having an affair, a misconception which may have dire personal consequences for all involved.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlmost Friends (2017)
A man in his mid-20s, still living at home with his mother and stepfather, puts all his eggs in one basket: the girl who works at his local coffee shop. The problem is, she has a serious boyfriend. As they become closer, the line between friendship and intimacy is blurred, and the situation forces both to examine where they are in their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs (2023)
In a rowdy stand-up set, Shane Gillis riffs on his girlfriend's Navy SEAL ex, touring George Washington's house and being bullied by an Australian Goth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYoung Adult (2011)
A divorced writer from the Midwest returns to her hometown to reconnect with an old flame, who's now married with a family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisYour Friends & Neighbors (1998)
Restless and unhappy, two couples get caught up in infidelity and deception. Barry is a sullen businessman married to Mary, a writer who is unsatisfied with their relationship. Mary begins an affair with Jerry, a smug theater professor and husband of her friend, Terri, who is also a writer. Adding to the adulterous mix are Cary, a callous doctor, and Cheri, an art-gallery assistant.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisBand Aid (2017)
A couple who can't stop fighting embark on a last-ditch effort to save their marriage: turning their fights into songs and starting a band.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFat Kid Rules The World (2012)
A dropout comes to the aid of a chubby and suicidal high-school kid by recruiting him as the drummer for his upstart punk-rock band.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLandline (2017)
A teenager living with her sister and parents in Manhattan during the 1990s discovers that her father is having an affair.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJohn Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City (2018)
John Mulaney relays stories from his childhood and "SNL," eviscerates the value of college and laments getting older in this electric comedy special.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisPlease Give (2010)
In New York City, a husband and wife butt heads with the granddaughters of the elderly woman who lives in the apartment the couple owns.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCelebrity (1998)
The career and personal life of writer Lee are at a standstill, so he divorces his bashful wife, Robin, and dives into a new job as an entertainment journalist. His assignments take him to the swankiest corners of Manhattan, but as he jumps from one lavish party to another and engages in numerous empty romances, he starts to doubt the worth of his work. Meanwhile, top TV producer Tony falls for Robin and introduces her to the world of celebrity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDave Chappelle: The Closer (2021)
As he closes out his slate of comedy specials, Dave takes the stage to try and set the record straight — and get a few things off his chest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSmall Apartments (2012)
When a clumsy deadbeat accidentally kills his landlord, he must do everything in his power to hide the body, only to find that the distractions of lust, the death of his beloved brother, and a crew of misfit characters force him on a journey where a fortune awaits him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisRicky Gervais: Mortality (2025)
Ricky Gervais tackles life, death and the state of the world in a brutally honest special that spares no topic, even his own mortality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Dinner with Hervé (2018)
An unlikely friendship evolves over one wild night in LA between a struggling journalist and actor Hervé Villechaize, the world's most famous gun-toting dwarf, resulting in life-changing consequences for both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJim Gaffigan: Quality Time (2019)
Comedian Jim Gaffigan performs live at the State Theatre in Minneapolis, MN.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFriendship (2025)
Suburban dad Craig falls hard for his charismatic new neighbor Austin, and his attempts to make an adult male friend threatens to ruin both of their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Spanish Apartment (2002)
A strait-laced French student moves into an apartment in Barcelona with a cast of six other characters from all over Europe. Together, they speak the international language of love and friendship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUne glace avec deux boules... (1982)
A film about a pair of sisters, whose parents are divorcing after their father leaves their mother for a younger woman, and who plot together to try to repair their fractured family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
A Garfield Christmas (1987)
Garfield, Jon and Odie go to Jon's family farm for Christmas, where Garfield finds a present for Grandma.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWristcutters: A Love Story (2007)
Zia, distraught over breaking up with his girlfriend, decides to end it all. Unfortunately, he discovers that there is no real ending, only a run-down afterlife that is strikingly similar to his old one, just a bit worse. Discovering that his ex-girlfriend has also "offed" herself, he sets out on a road trip to find her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGeorge Carlin: Life Is Worth Losing (2005)
Carlin returns to the stage in his 13th live comedy stand-up special, performed at the Beacon Theatre in New York City for HBO®. His spot-on observations on the deterioration of human behavior include Americans’ obsession with their two favorite addictions - shopping and eating; his creative idea for The All-Suicide Channel, a new reality TV network; and the glorious rebirth of the planet to its original pristine condition - once the fires and floods destroy life as we know it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Veteran (2006)
Thirty years on from Vietnam, a government official is trying to track down soldiers who went missing in action, in the hope that it may lead her to her father. Meanwhile, a war veteran is forced to relive painful memories of how he was left for dead by his own platoon, and the heinous crimes he once committed while in the line of duty.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Die Schokoladenkönigin (2005)
After the death of his cancer-stricken wife, advertising photographer Michael Bender only cares about his nine-year-old daughter Sammy. However, since he had to plunge into debt to pay for her treatment, Michael has been in serious trouble. Because he has not yet been able to repay the money, he is now threatened with repossession. His plight is not helped by the fact that his daughter makes the acquaintance of Julia, a master confectioner. The two immediately fall in love and Michael is also enchanted by Julia's charm...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Same Day with Someone (2025)
Trapped in a time loop, a picture-perfect museum curator relives her worst day ever and must figure out how to break free from the vicious cycle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Addicted to Love (1997)
Good-natured astronomer Sam is devastated when the love of his life leaves him for a suave Frenchman. He therefore does what every other normal dumpee would do — go to New York and set up home in the abandoned building opposite his ex-girlfriend's apartment, wait until she decides to leave her current lover, and then win her back.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAraneum (2010)
Adam is a young boy living with his family in dark catacombs below the ground. One day he discovers a new comer in their underground building and makes friends with him. When new comer suddenly vanishes without a trace, Adam starts to realize that things are not like they seem.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Like When Your Lover Leaves and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like When Your Lover Leaves?
The closest matches to When Your Lover Leaves are Barbarians at the Gate (1993), Drumline: A New Beat (2014) and Lady Windermere's Fan (1925). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after When Your Lover Leaves?
Start with Barbarians at the Gate (1993), the closest match to When Your Lover Leaves.
What is the highest-rated movie like When Your Lover Leaves?
John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City (2018), rated 7.9/10 by 259 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like When Your Lover Leaves?
Ricky Gervais: Mortality (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like When Your Lover Leaves?
Yes: Barbarians at the Gate (1993), Drumline: A New Beat (2014) and Lady Windermere's Fan (1925).
How are movies similar to When Your Lover Leaves chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside When Your Lover Leaves, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.