Movies like My First Love (1988)
The best movies like My First Love (1988) are Prescription for Love (2019), A Valentine's Match (2020) and The Perfect Catch (2017). If My First Love hooked you with its romance and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCity Lights (1931)8.2/10 from 2,591 votes
- NewestSomething Blue (2025)Released 2025
Prescription for Love (2019)
Claire’s life as a nurse in a busy hospital is complicated by a supervisor who is intent on making her miserable with tedious and extra tasks. Claire’s only relief is the patients she treats, and even that is not always a picnic. On a rare night off, she attends a dance performance and gets trapped in an elevator with a charming man. There is an instant connection between them, but as they are “rescued” from the elevator, they are pulled away from each other before they can exchange names and numbers.
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 thisThe Perfect Catch (2017)
When Jessica Parker’s former high school boyfriend, superstar baseball player Chase Taynor, returns to town, she finds the inspiration to reinvent her struggling diner… and revisits the past to find something even better for the future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Love Song (2022)
Two childhood sweethearts, now both widowed, share a night by a lake in the mountains.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Vow (2012)
Happy young married couple Paige and Leo are, well, happy. Then a car accident puts Paige into a life-threatening coma. Upon awakening she has lost the previous five years of memories, including those of her beloved Leo, her wedding, a confusing relationship with her parents, or the ending of her relationship with her ex-fiance. Despite these complications, Leo endeavors to win her heart again and rebuild their marriage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIf Only (2004)
After his impetuous musician girlfriend, Samantha, dies in an accident shortly after they had a fight (and nearly broke up), Ian Wyndham, a grief-stricken British businessman living in London gets a chance to relive the day all over again, in the hope of changing the events that led up to her getting killed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Notebook (2004)
An epic love story centered around an older man who reads aloud to a woman with Alzheimer's. From a faded notebook, the old man's words bring to life the story about a couple who is separated by World War II, and is then passionately reunited, seven years later, after they have taken different paths.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisPast Lives (2023)
After decades apart, childhood friends Nora and Hae Sung are reunited in New York for one fateful weekend as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDodsworth (1936)
A retired auto manufacturer and his wife take a long-planned European vacation only to find that they want very different things from life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Face of Love (2013)
A widow falls for a guy who bears a striking resemblance to her late husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlesh and the Devil (1926)
When lifelong best friends Leo and Ulrich return home after completing their military training, Leo meets the stunning Felicitas at a railway station and is mesmerized by her beauty. A scandal follows, for which Leo is sent away. Returning home three years later, he discovers that much has changed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Way We Were (1973)
Opposites attract when, during their college days, Katie Morosky, a politically active Jew, meets Hubbell Gardiner, a feckless WASP. Years later, in the wake of World War II, they meet once again and, despite their obvious differences, attempt to make their love for each other work.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll That Heaven Allows (1955)
Two different social classes collide when Cary Scott, a wealthy upper-class widow, falls in love with her much younger and down-to-earth gardener, prompting disapproval and criticism from her children and country club friends.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStarman (1984)
When an alien takes the form of a young widow's husband and asks her to drive him from Wisconsin to Arizona, the government tries to stop them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Walk to Remember (2002)
When the popular, restless Landon Carter is forced to participate in the school drama production, he falls in love with Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town's minister. Jamie has a "to-do" list for her life, as well as a very big secret she must keep from Landon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMarty (1955)
Marty, a butcher who lives in the Bronx with his mother, is unmarried at 34. Good-natured but socially awkward, he faces constant badgering from family and friends to get married but has reluctantly resigned himself to bachelorhood. He then meets Clara, an unattractive school teacher. Realising their emotional connection, Marty promises to call, but family and friends try to convince him not to.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCollateral Beauty (2016)
Retreating from life after a tragedy, a man questions the universe by writing to Love, Time and Death. Receiving unexpected answers, he begins to see how these things interlock and how even loss can reveal moments of meaning and beauty.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Longest Ride (2015)
The lives of a young couple intertwine with a much older man as he reflects back on a lost love while he's trapped in an automobile crash.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMagnificent Obsession (1954)
Reckless playboy Bob Merrick crashes his speedboat, requiring emergency attention from the town’s only resuscitator while a local hero, Dr. Phillips, dies waiting for the life-saving device. Merrick then tries to right his wrongs with the doctor’s widow, Helen, falling in love with her in the process.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAn Education (2009)
Despite her sheltered upbringing, Jenny is a teen with a bright future; she's smart, pretty, and has aspirations of attending Oxford University. When David, a charming but much older suitor, motors into her life in a shiny automobile, Jenny gets a taste of adult life that she won't soon forget.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
The spoiled young heir to the decaying Amberson fortune comes between his widowed mother and the man she has always loved.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCity Lights (1931)
A tramp falls in love with a beautiful blind flower girl. His on-and-off friendship with a wealthy man allows him to be the girl's benefactor and suitor.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisIt Was Infidelity in the Beginning (1999)
Annabelle is annoyed by family life. Most of all, she bothers her health-conscious, chain-smoking, know-it-all mother, Edda who visits regularly. When mother moves in her house for three months, because their house is being renovated, She enthusiastically takes the chance to go on a "relaxing weekend". On this occasion her girlfriend Doro, who was supposed to take care of the children, starts an affair with her husband, Friedrich. When she returns, she is appalled. She packs her things and leaves Friedrich and the family. Promptly she meets a young student at a party, who awakens the passion in her. Written by lament
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Milea (2020)
Years after his teen romance with Milea, a now-adult Dilan tells his version of their love story when a high school reunion brings them back together.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Notes on a Scandal (2006)
A veteran high school teacher befriends a younger art teacher, who is having an affair with one of her 15-year-old students. However, her intentions with this new "friend" also go well beyond platonic friendship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStranger Than Fiction (2006)
Harold Crick is a lonely IRS agent whose mundane existence is transformed when he hears a mysterious voice narrating his life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGloomy Sunday (1999)
Budapest in the 1930s. Restaurant owner Laszlo hires pianist András to play in his restaurant. Both men fall in love with the beautiful waitress Ilona who inspires András to his only composition. His song of Gloomy Sunday is, at first, loved and then feared, for its melancholic melody sets off a chain of suicides. The fragile balance of the erotic ménage à trois is sent off kilter when the German Hans falls in love with Ilona as well.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like this3-Iron (2004)
A drifter lives in people's houses while they are away and repays them by doing chores for them. His life changes when he meets a beautiful woman who wants to escape her unhappy marriage.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGames of Love and Chance (2003)
A group of teenagers living in a housing project in the outskirts of Paris rehearse a scene from Marivaux's play of the same name. Krimo is determined not to take part, but after developing feelings for Lydia, he quickly assumes the main role and love interest in the play.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSomething Blue (2025)
Lifelong friends Óscar and Eli find themselves in a messy situation after a drunken night leads to unexpected consequences. Forced to replace a ruined wedding dress, they embark on a chaotic journey filled with setbacks and awkward run-ins with their exes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Like My First Love and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like My First Love?
The closest matches to My First Love are Prescription for Love (2019), A Valentine's Match (2020) and The Perfect Catch (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after My First Love?
Start with Prescription for Love (2019), the closest match to My First Love.
What is the highest-rated movie like My First Love?
City Lights (1931), rated 8.2/10 by 2,591 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like My First Love?
Something Blue (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like My First Love?
Yes: Prescription for Love (2019), A Valentine's Match (2020) and The Perfect Catch (2017).
How are movies similar to My First Love chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside My First Love, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.