Movies like First Love (1970)
The best movies like First Love (1970) are Newness (2017), Not Easily Broken (2009) and Fire with Fire (1986). If First Love hooked you with its drama and romance, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
First Love
Quick picks
- Highest ratedGabriel's Inferno: Part II (2020)8.3/10 from 1,569 votes
- NewestSAYANG (2026)Released 2026
Newness (2017)
In contemporary Los Angeles, two millennials navigating a social media–driven hookup culture begin a relationship that pushes both emotional and physical boundaries.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNot Easily Broken (2009)
A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFire with Fire (1986)
A tough, street-smart kid serving a sentence in a state youth reformatory meets a beautiful, innocent girl studying at a nearby convent. When forbidden love blossoms between them, they must fight the prison authorities, their parents and the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Everlasting (2016)
Bridger is a young outsider who's always wanted more. He and his mother flee an abusive home, eventually finding a small town in the middle of nowhere. Once there, Bridger finds true acceptance with another misfit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Secret: Dare to Dream (2020)
A widow with three children hires a handyman to fix her house during a major storm. When not doing home repairs, he shares his philosophy of believing in the power of the universe to deliver what we want.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWinter Spring Summer or Fall (2024)
Remi and Barnes, two very different teenagers, meet by chance in the winter of their senior year, then spend four days together over the course of a year that will change their lives forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between (2022)
Clare and Aidan make a pact to break up before college — no regrets, no broken hearts. But will one epic goodbye date offer them a last chance at love?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Valentine's Match (2020)
Fired from her job as a reality TV host, Natalie returns home for Valentine's Day, only to find herself running the town festival's auction with her ex-fiancé thanks to two scheming mothers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisReturn to Peyton Place (1961)
Residents of the small town of Peyton Place aren't pleased when they realize they're the characters in local writer Allison MacKenzie's controversial first novel. A sequel to the hit 1957 film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRacing with the Moon (1984)
In a small coastal California town, Henry and Nicky are pals from blue collar families with only a short time before they ship off to World War II. Henry begins romancing new-to-town Caddie Winger, believing her to be wealthy. Mischievous and irresponsible, Nicky gets into trouble which forces the other two to become involved, testing their relationship, as well as the friendship between the boys.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man from Elysian Fields (2001)
A failed novelist's inability to pay the bills strains relations with his wife and leads him to work at an escort service, where he becomes entwined with a wealthy woman whose husband is a successful writer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisBlind (2017)
A novelist is blinded in a car crash that killed his wife and several years later rediscovers his passion for life and writing when he embarks on an affair with the neglected wife of an indicted businessman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisForever First Love (2020)
Paul travels the world to capture the perfect photographic moment. Amid the colour and chaos of a crowded Filipino market, destiny intervenes when Paul’s first love, Anna appears in his lens. The travellers spend the day exploring the beauty of a 16th century town and whilst passions reignite, their principles on relationships, religion and morality clash. The night they spend together will change everything.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGabriel's Redemption: Part I (2023)
After leaving his prestigious post at the University of Toronto, Gabriel embarks on a new journey with Julia, and he is eager to become a father. However, Gabriel's idyllic vision is jeopardized when Julia's intensive program becomes all consuming. When Julia is granted a prestigious opportunity to deliver an academic lecture at Oxford, Gabriel challenges her about the subject of her presentation, which clashes with his own research. In Oxford, their past resurfaces, including an old nemesis determined to humiliate Julia and expose one of Gabriel's well-guarded secrets. Emotions run high, alliances are tested, and the couple must confront the shadows of their shared history in a battle for love, truth, and redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Magic of Ordinary Days (2005)
Pregnant out of wedlock, an educated young woman is pressured by her father into an arranged marriage with a lonely farmer in this drama set during WWII.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPurple Hearts (2022)
An aspiring musician agrees to a marriage of convenience with a soon-to-deploy Marine, but a tragedy soon turns their fake relationship all too real.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisGabriel's Inferno: Part II (2020)
Professor Gabriel Emerson finally learns the truth about Julia Mitchell's identity, but his realization comes a moment too late. Julia is done waiting for the well-respected Dante specialist to remember her and wants nothing more to do with him. Can Gabriel win back her heart before she finds love in another's arms?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Lost Husband (2020)
Trying to put her life back together after the death of her husband, Libby and her children move to her estranged Aunt's goat farm in central Texas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYour Fault: London (2026)
Nick and Noah are both embarking on life-changing adventures that are threatening to pull them apart—Nick in business with his father and Noah starting a fresh chapter at Oxford University. Now living separate lives, and meeting new people, they find themselves entangled in temptations, rivalries, and betrayals and their bond is tested like never before. As secrets unravel and temptation rises, they must fight to hold onto each other—or risk losing everything.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNobody Has to Know (2022)
After a stroke and no memories from his past, Phil encounters Millie who inhabits a desert part of Isle of Lewis. She will shortly entrust him with his deepest secret : they were in love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSeparate Tables (1958)
The lives of a disparate group of unfulfilled people converge at a small, seaside English hotel.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBoyfriends (1996)
Paul, Matt, and Will (in their 30s) have been friends for years. They converge at the seaside for the weekend, each with a boyfriend in tow. Paul is with Ben, his companion of five years: their relationship is on the rocks after months of Paul's moodiness since his brother Mark died. Matt brings Owen, whom he's dated for three months and wants to live with; to everyone else, they seem singularly.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Ocean Likes Me (Movie) (2022)
'Ocean Like Me' is a healing food romance between Han Ba Da, a young entrepreneur who dreams of starting an udon restaurant with a beach in the background but finds serving customers difficult. Ba Da then meets Tommy, a failed musician who returns to his hometown after wandering and has a new dream. Together, both of them step towards their dreams.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
The Romantics (2010)
Alliances are tested when seven college pals reunite to watch two of their own say “I do” at a seaside wedding. But the maid of honor and the groom share a passionate history, and the bride isn’t the only one who’s wondering if it’s all in the past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)
In 1900, young widow Lucy Muir learns that her seaside cottage is haunted and forms a unique relationship with the ghost.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPresent Still Perfect (2020)
Toey and Oat have to choose between moral and desire. Their love is meant to be beautiful, but it hurts people around them. How are they going to deal with it?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
SAYANG (2026)
Nancy, an Indian-descended mother, returns to her hometown and opens a sign language school while caring for her son Ajay, who lives with both hearing impairment and a neurological condition. Among her students are Mina, a Malay girl determined to become a Muay Thai boxer despite cultural expectations, and Sansan, a Chinese girl deeply bound to the ocean she loves. Along the vast coastline, three families and three children navigate faith, identity, and freedom, until their intertwined lives become a moving symphony of resilience and love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Afire (2023)
Self-important author Leon joins his best friend on a summer holiday near the Baltic Sea to complete his novel. When they arrive, they find their house is already occupied by a carefree woman who challenges Leon to open up. Meanwhile, forest wildfires rage around them and impending disaster looms.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWaiter! (1983)
After a tumultuous life, a middle-aged headwaiter in a Parisian restaurant dreams of opening a seaside amusement park. When an old flame reappears, he reignites his feelings, but she is involved with another man.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisWish You Were Here (1987)
In a staid English seaside town after the Second World War, young Lynda grows up with her widowed father and younger sister. Rebellious Lynda has been swearing constantly from an early age. At sixteen, she becomes more exhibitionist and seeks out sexual encounters challenging the prevailing lower-middle class attitudes to sex.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like First Love?
The closest matches to First Love are Newness (2017), Not Easily Broken (2009) and Fire with Fire (1986). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after First Love?
Start with Newness (2017), the closest match to First Love.
What is the highest-rated movie like First Love?
Gabriel's Inferno: Part II (2020), rated 8.3/10 by 1,569 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like First Love?
SAYANG (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to First Love chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside First Love, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.