Movies like The Dead (1987)
The best movies like The Dead (1987) are Won't Back Down (2012), Jimmy's Hall (2014) and Wonderstruck (2017). If The Dead hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAn Inspector Calls (2015)7.4/10 from 277 votes
- NewestTrain Dreams (2025)Released 2025
Won't Back Down (2012)
Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJimmy's Hall (2014)
In Depression-era Ireland, Jimmy Gralton returns home after a decade's exile in America. Witnessing the levels of poverty and oppression, his inner activist reawakens and he seeks to reopen the dance hall that led to his deportation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWonderstruck (2017)
The story of a young boy in the Midwest is told simultaneously with a tale about a young girl in New York from fifty years ago as they both seek the same mysterious connection.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
In Brooklyn circa 1900, the Nolans manage to enjoy life on pennies despite great poverty and Papa's alcoholism. We come to know these people well through big and little troubles: Aunt Sissy's scandalous succession of "husbands"; the removal of the one tree visible from their tenement; and young Francie's desire to transfer to a better school...if irresponsible Papa can get his act together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSkin (2009)
Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFX's A Christmas Carol (2019)
London, 1843. Ebenezer Scrooge, a bitter old man, despises the Christmas holiday. Over the course of Christmas Eve night he is visited by three ghosts to show him his past, present and future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Sound of Silence (2019)
A successful "house tuner" in New York City, who calibrates the sound in people's homes in order to adjust their moods, meets a client with a problem he can't solve.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972)
Middle-aged widow Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her daughters Ruth and Matilda are struggling to survive in a society they barely understand. Beatrice dreams of opening an elegant tea room but does not have the wherewithal to achieve her lofty goal. Epileptic Ruth is a rebellious adolescent, while shy but highly intelligent and idealistic Matilda seeks solace in her pets and school projects, including one designed to show how small amounts of radium affect marigolds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHungry Hearts (2015)
The relationship of a couple who meet by chance in New York City is put to the test when they encounter a life or death circumstance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFatima (2020)
In 1917, outside the parish of Fátima, Portugal, a 10-year-old girl and her two younger cousins witness multiple visitations of the Virgin Mary, who tells them that only prayer and suffering will bring an end to World War I. As secularist government officials and Church leaders try to force the children to recant their story, word of the sighting spreads across the country, inspiring religious pilgrims to flock to the site in hopes of witnessing a miracle..
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 Truth About Emanuel (2013)
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAdopt a Highway (2019)
Russ Millings has just been released from prison after serving 21 years for a 3rd strike conviction for possessing an ounce of marijuana. As he tries to adapt to a world he doesn’t recognize – including trying to learn how to use the internet – he finds an abandoned baby in a dumpster behind the fast food restaurant where he works as a dishwasher. Unsure of what to do, and caught between impulses of kindness and panic, Russ soon realizes this could be his chance at redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrain Dreams (2025)
A logger leads a life of quiet grace as he experiences love and loss during an era of monumental change in early 20th-century America.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisF.I.S.T. (1978)
Johnny Kovak joins the Teamsters trade-union in a local chapter in the 1930s and works his way up in the organization. As he climbs higher and higher his methods become more ruthless and finally senator Madison starts a campaign to find the truth about the alleged connections with the Mob.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Naked City (1948)
After a former model is drowned in her bathtub, Detective James Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon attempt to piece together her murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAn Inspector Calls (2015)
Northern England, 1912. The dinner of a wealthy family is interrupted by Inspector Goole, who only announces that a young woman has committed suicide. Then, he simply asks everyone present, one by one, if they knew her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAvalon (1990)
A Polish-Jewish family comes to the U.S. at the beginning of the twentieth century. There, the family and their children try to make themselves a better future in the so-called promised land.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGigi & Nate (2022)
A young man with a bright future suffers a near-fatal accident and recreates his new life with the help of an unlikely animal friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHere (2024)
An odyssey through time and memory, centered on a place in New Jersey where—from wilderness, and then, later, from a home—love, loss, struggle, hope and legacy play out between couples and families over generations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaya (1961)
Disillusioned with his wealthy friends, a man pretends to be poor and goes to live in the slums where he falls in love with a burglar's sister.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Tiger's Tail (2006)
After a chance encounter, a Dubliner is stalked by a murderous facsimile of himself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bloody Land (1976)
Film set in three different times. In the beginning, Miti is killed while defending his land. Then, the film focuses on his son Gjergji who fights against the Italian forces. In the end, the land is redistributed by the agrarian reform.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Newsies (2017)
A week in the life of the exploited, child newspaper sellers in turn-of-the-century New York. When their publisher, Joseph Pulitzer, tries to squeeze a little more profit out of their labours, they organize a strike, only to be confronted with the Pulitzer's hard-ball tactics.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisTwo Lovers (2008)
A depressed man moves back in with his parents following a recent heartbreak and finds himself with two women.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLetting in the Sunshine (1933)
A window cleaner bumps into an old flame, and the pair turn detective in an attempt to foil a gang of burglars.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Ruusu ja kulkuri (1948)
The story of Finnish singer Abraham 'Aappo' Ojanperä, who was born in the late 1850s. On his journey from a crier boy from Liminga to an international singing star, Aappo never forgets his first love Katri, who faithfully waits in Liminga for his return.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Kesäillan valssi (1951)
A story built around the music of Oskar Merikanto, tells the love story of the poor musician Lauri Alanko and the daughter of the rich Grahn family Annina. Annina’s family doesn’t approve of the relationship, and the couple’s happiness is also threatened by Lauri’s worsening eye disease.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Addiction (2004)
30-something Jonna, successful executive with cozy architect husband Niklas and two children, leads a double life. She is constantly on the lookout for quick casual sex. When she starts seeing handsome and rich young yacht owner Aleksi, things start going awry in her life. While her sister Sanna provides her with suitable alibis,sex therapist Nora tries to help her come to terms with her addiction
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Fortress (1994)
Set in the late 80s in a quiet, rural village headed by a suspicious, conspiring group of nasty leaders. Ewald has arrived there to measure water levels. Surrounding the fortress near the village are soldiers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like The Dead and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Dead?
The closest matches to The Dead are Won't Back Down (2012), Jimmy's Hall (2014) and Wonderstruck (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Dead?
Start with Won't Back Down (2012), the closest match to The Dead.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Dead?
An Inspector Calls (2015), rated 7.4/10 by 277 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Dead?
Train Dreams (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Dead?
Yes: Won't Back Down (2012), Jimmy's Hall (2014) and Wonderstruck (2017).
How are movies similar to The Dead chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Dead, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.