Movies like Desire Will Set You Free (2015)
The best movies like Desire Will Set You Free (2015) are A California Christmas: City Lights (2021), How to Please a Woman (2022) and He Said, She Said (1991). If Desire Will Set You Free hooked you with its drama and romance, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFather of the Bride (1950)7.0/10 from 247 votes
- NewestShadowlands (2025)Released 2025
A California Christmas: City Lights (2021)
Follows Callie and Joseph one year after they fell in love, now running a dairy farm and winery, but their romance is threatened when business and family obligations call Joseph back to the city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHow to Please a Woman (2022)
When her all-male house-cleaning business gets out of control, a mature woman must embrace her own sexuality, if she is to make a new life for herself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHe Said, She Said (1991)
Womanising, right-wing Dan Hanson and quiet, liberal Lorie Bryer work for the Baltimore Sun. Rivals for the job of new writer of a vacant column, the paper ends up instead printing their very different opinions alongside each other, which leads to a similarly combative local TV show. At the same time their initial indifference to each other looks like it may evolve into something more romantic.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisChéri (2009)
The son of a courtesan retreats into a fantasy world after being forced to end his relationship with the older woman who educated him in the ways of love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Best You Can (2025)
Cynthia Rand is a buttoned-up New Yorker married to a brilliant professor 25 years her senior. She begins feeling the effects of her husband’s advancing age on their relationship, just as her world is turned upside down by the arrival of sharp but chronically underachieving security guard Stan Olszewski in this smart rom-com that reunites Bacon and Sedgwick on screen for the first time in 20 years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDifferent for Girls (1997)
Paul and Kim meet when their vehicles collide. Paul is fascinated with the attractive Kim. It turns out that the two were childhood friends in Catholic boys' school, but back then, before the operation, Kim was named Karl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStrictly Sexual (2008)
Two successful women, sick and tired of dating and relationships, decide to keep two young men in their pool house for strictly sexual purposes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisXX/XY (2002)
Three friends begin a dangerous three-way relationship that spirals out of control, leading to dire consequences that haunt them ten years later.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNothing Like the Holidays (2008)
It’s Christmastime and the far-flung members of the Rodriguez family are converging at their parents’ home in Chicago to celebrate the season and rejoice in their youngest brother’s safe return from combat overseas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCyrus (2010)
With John's social life at a standstill and his ex-wife about to get remarried, a down on his luck divorcée finally meets the woman of his dreams, only to discover she has another man in her life - her son. Before long, the two are locked in a battle of wits for the woman they both love-and it appears only one man can be left standing when it's over.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Christmas Wish (2019)
Every December in the small town of Ponchatoula, Louisiana a wooden wishing box is placed in the park as a Christmas tradition. After a night out together, Maddie encourages her sister Faith to put a wish in the box - a wish to experience true love for the first time. Faith and Maddie are surprised the next day when she meets the very handsome and eligible Andrew. As Christmas nears, Faith begins to wonder if Andrew is really perfect for her, or if the wish is leading her to her best friend, Wyatt.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJolly Good Christmas (2022)
David is an American architect who relocates across the pond to take up a job at a prestigious London firm. As the clock counts down to Christmas Day, David is running out of time to buy his girlfriend – who also happens to be his boss’s daughter – a thoughtful present so he resorts to buying her a somewhat uninspired gift card.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove & Sex (2000)
When her rather explicit copy is rejected, magazine journalist Kate is asked by her editor to come up with an article on loving relationships instead, and to do so by the end of the day. This gets Kate thinking back over her own various experiences, and to wondering if she is in much of a position to write on the subject.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOur Little Secret (2024)
After discovering their significant others are siblings, two resentful exes must spend Christmas under one roof — while hiding their romantic history.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCosi (1996)
Lewis, a young amateur theater director, is offered a job with a governmental program for the rehabilitation of mentally ill patients in a Sydney institution. His project is overrun by one of the patients, who wants to stage the opera Cosi Fan Tutte by Mozart, despite the fact that none of the patients can sing or speak Italian. A comedy of errors ensues, but one which unifies the patients and their director in unexpected ways.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Giant Mechanical Man (2012)
An offbeat romantic comedy about a silver-painted street performer and the soft spoken zoo worker who falls for him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFather of the Bride (1950)
Proud father Stanley Banks remembers the day his daughter, Kay, got married. Starting when she announces her engagement through to the wedding itself, we learn of all the surprises and disasters along the way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYou Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010)
Two married couples find only trouble and heartache as their complicated lives unfold. After 40 years of marriage, Alfie leaves his wife to pursue what he thinks is happiness with a call girl. His wife, Helena, reeling from abandonment, decides to follow the advice of a psychic. Sally, the daughter of Alfie and Helena, is unhappy in her marriage and develops a crush on her boss, while her husband, Roy, falls for a woman engaged to be married.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 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 thisBend It Like Beckham (2002)
Jess Bhamra, the daughter of a strict Indian couple in London, is not permitted to play organized soccer, even though she is 18. When Jess is playing for fun one day, her impressive skills are seen by Jules Paxton, who then convinces Jess to play for her semi-pro team. Jess uses elaborate excuses to hide her matches from her family while also dealing with her romantic feelings for her coach, Joe.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMambo Italiano (2003)
When an Italian man comes out of the closet, it affects both his life and his crazy family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSummer Storm (2004)
Tobi and Achim, the pride of the local crew club, have been the best of friends for years and are convinced that nothing will ever stand in the way of their friendship. They look forward to the upcoming summer camp and the crew competition. Then the gay team from Berlin arrives and Tobi is totally confused. The evening before the races begin, the storm that breaks out is more than meteorological.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMala Noche (1987)
Walt is a lonely convenience store clerk who has fallen in love with a Mexican migrant worker named Johnny. Though Walt has little in common with the object of his affections — including a shared language — his desire to possess Johnny prompts a sexual awakening that results in a tangled love triangle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDesert Hearts (1985)
While waiting for her divorce papers, a repressed literature professor finds herself unexpectedly attracted by a carefree, spirited young woman named Cay.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBenedetta (2021)
A 17th-century nun becomes entangled in a forbidden lesbian affair with a novice. But it is Benedetta's shocking religious visions that threaten to shake the Church to its core.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPepper (2014)
The painful awakening of a couple after an evening of fantasies ...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Shadowlands (2025)
Shadowlands is an anthology series that explores love in three distinct stories: a couple renegotiating a relationship, a narcissist seeking to understand it, and star-crossed lovers mourning its loss.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Fire (1997)
In a barren, arranged marriage to an amateur swami who seeks enlightenment through celibacy, Radha's life takes an irresistible turn when her beautiful young sister-in-law seeks to free herself from the confines of her own loveless marriage.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrick (1999)
Gabriel is a young, aspiring musical composer whose life seems stuck in the First Act. When his new musical number gets a critical reception, a theatre colleague, Perry, tells Gabriel that he needs to get a life before he can write about one – so he heads straight for his local gay bar.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Desire Will Set You Free?
The closest matches to Desire Will Set You Free are A California Christmas: City Lights (2021), How to Please a Woman (2022) and He Said, She Said (1991). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Desire Will Set You Free?
Start with A California Christmas: City Lights (2021), the closest match to Desire Will Set You Free.
What is the highest-rated movie like Desire Will Set You Free?
Father of the Bride (1950), rated 7.0/10 by 247 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Desire Will Set You Free?
Shadowlands (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Desire Will Set You Free?
Yes: A California Christmas: City Lights (2021), How to Please a Woman (2022) and He Said, She Said (1991).
How are movies similar to Desire Will Set You Free chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Desire Will Set You Free, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.