Movies like Vanessa (1972)
The best movies like Vanessa (1972) are The Pumpkin Eater (1964), Effie Gray (2014) and Carne (1968). If Vanessa hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedUnder the Same Moon (2007)8.0/10 from 378 votes
- NewestGorgonà (2026)Released 2026
- In SpanishCarne (1968)Also in Spanish
The Pumpkin Eater (1964)
Jo, the mother of seven children, divorces her second husband in order to marry Jake, a successful but promiscuous screenwriter. Though they are physically and emotionally compatible, they are slowly torn apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEffie Gray (2014)
A look at the mysterious relationship between Victorian art critic John Ruskin and his teenage bride Effie Gray.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCarne (1968)
A woman who works in a meat packing plant is continuously preyed upon by lecherous men.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Only Living Boy in New York (2017)
When a young man learns that his overbearing father is having an affair, he tries to stop it, only to be seduced by the older woman as well.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlex of Venice (2015)
After her stay-at-home husband leaves her, a workaholic lawyer finds that she is not completely up to the tasks of caring for her young son, ailing father and household all by herself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisUnder the Same Moon (2007)
Tells the parallel stories of nine-year-old Carlitos and his mother, Rosario. In the hopes of providing a better life for her son, Rosario works illegally in the U.S. while her mother cares for Carlitos back in Mexico.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (2004)
The story of golf icon and legend, Bobby Jones, who retired from competition at the tender age of 28.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIron Jawed Angels (2004)
Defiant young activists take the women's suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBastard Out of Carolina (1996)
A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Girl in the Book (2015)
The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Safety of Objects (2002)
In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFast Girls (2012)
A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoly Lands (2019)
When lapsed Jew and former cardiologist Harry suddenly decides to spend his retirement as a pig farmer in Nazareth, Israel, the move deeply shocks his family and his new neighbours. Back in New York, Harry’s ex-wife Monica is trying to manage the lives of their adult children, Annabelle and David, as well as her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisHands of Stone (2016)
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeep Water (2022)
A well-to-do husband who allows his wife to have affairs in order to avoid a divorce becomes a prime suspect in the disappearance of her lovers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBattle of the Year (2013)
A down-on-his-luck coach is hired to prepare a team of the best American dancers for an international tournament that attracts all the best crews from around the world, but the Americans haven't won in fifteen years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOneway-Ticket to Korsør (2008)
Rasmus defends his Ph.D in Danish literature entitled "The Romantic Idiot", but with his special qualifications there are not many jobs around. To reduce his study loan he settles for a temporary teaching job at an adult education programme in the provincial town of Korsør. Here, Rasmus meets a complex group of people and takes part in their lives. He falls dramatically in love with one of his pupils, Signe, who dreams of having a child with her partner, Camilla. Playing the role of a romantic idiot in Korsør just isn't plain sailing for Rasmus.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Everything Relative (1996)
Old college chums get together for a weekend reunion that is bound to open old wounds and perhaps heal them. New romances find a spark while old ones rekindle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Aimée & Jaguar (1999)
In 1943, while the Allies are bombing Berlin and the Gestapo is purging the capital of Jews, a dangerous love affair blossoms between two women – one a Jewish member of the underground, the other an exemplar of Nazi motherhood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMädchen in Uniform (1931)
A sensitive girl is sent to an all-girls boarding school and develops a romantic attachment to one of her teachers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Summer of Love (2005)
In the Yorkshire countryside, working-class tomboy Mona meets the exotic, pampered Tamsin. To seal their friendship, Mona introduces Tamsin to her born-again Christian brother and helps her spy on her adulterous father. Bound together by their secrets, the two girls see their friendship deepen and enter into dangerous waters.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGorgonà (2026)
Greece. A small, impoverished city-state dominated by a massive refinery—its only source of income: oil. The men, all armed, hold absolute power. Their leader, Nikos, is gravely ill and must arrange his succession. Shock spreads when he includes his protégé, Maria, among the contenders. The fate of this young woman—unaware of the most tragic part of her family’s past—will be turned upside down by the arrival of Eleni, a singer at the town’s bar.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Not Under My Roof (2014)
A story about the relationship between two mothers with their daughters and the different way they cope with their homosexuality.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Mall Girls (2009)
Shopping malls — today's place of creating desires. Best jewelry, clothes, shoes. Unaffordable by young girls, but they "work" to get themselves sponsors for new items.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisPersonal Best (1982)
Young sprinter Chris Cahill is having difficulty reaching her potential as an athlete, until she meets established track star Tory Skinner. As Tory and her coach help Chris with her training, the two women form friendship that evolves into a romantic relationship. Their intimacy, however, becomes complicated when Chris' improvement causes them to be competitors for the Olympic team.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Question of Love (1978)
A lesbian mother fights to keep her son when a custody suit is brought by her ex-husband.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Vanessa and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Vanessa?
The closest matches to Vanessa are The Pumpkin Eater (1964), Effie Gray (2014) and Carne (1968). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Vanessa?
Start with The Pumpkin Eater (1964), the closest match to Vanessa.
What is the highest-rated movie like Vanessa?
Under the Same Moon (2007), rated 8.0/10 by 378 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Vanessa?
Gorgonà (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like Vanessa?
Yes: Carne (1968), Under the Same Moon (2007) and Not Under My Roof (2014).
How are movies similar to Vanessa chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Vanessa, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.