Movies like The Waste Land (1989)
The best movies like The Waste Land (1989) are Before Midnight (2013), Shirley Valentine (1989) and The Sower (2017). If The Waste Land hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
The Waste Land
Quick picks
- Highest ratedOrpheus (1950)7.7/10 from 312 votes
- NewestBonjour Tristesse (2025)Released 2025
- In FrenchThe Sower (2017)Also in French
Before Midnight (2013)
It has been nine years since we last met Jesse and Celine, the French-American couple who once met on a train in Vienna. They now live in Paris with twin daughters but have spent a summer in Greece at the invitation of an author colleague of Jesse's. When the vacation is over and Jesse must send his teenage son off to the States, he begins to question his life decisions, and his relationship with Celine is at risk.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShirley Valentine (1989)
Wondering what has happened to herself, now feeling stagnant and in a rut, Shirley Valentine finds herself regularly talking to the wall while preparing her husband's chips and egg. When her best friend wins a trip-for-two to Greece Shirley begins to see the world, and herself, in a different light.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Sower (2017)
In 1852, the mountain village in Provence where Violette lives is brutally deprived of all its men after the repression of the republicans ordered by Napoleon III. Women spend months in total isolation, desperate to see their men again. In this situation, they make an oath in case a man arrives in the village.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChocolat (2000)
In the winter of 1959, a single mother and her young daughter arrive in a rural French town, where they open an unusual chocolate shop that disrupts the moral fiber of the strictly Catholic townsfolk and mayor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmerica America (1963)
A young Anatolian Greek, entrusted with his family's fortune, loses it en route to Istanbul and dreams of going to America.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Tale of Springtime (1990)
The story of an introverted young girl just reaching adulthood who takes a liking to an older woman she meets at a party and determines to match her off with her father, despite the latter's already having a lover of his own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll This, and Heaven Too (1940)
When lovely and virtuous governess Henriette Deluzy comes to educate the children of the debonair Duc de Praslin, a royal subject to King Louis-Philippe and the husband of the volatile and obsessive Duchesse de Praslin, she instantly incurs the wrath of her mistress, who is insanely jealous of anyone who comes near her estranged husband. Though she saves the duchess's little son from a near-death illness and warms herself to all the children, she is nevertheless dismissed by the vengeful duchess as the attraction between the duke and Henriette continues to grow.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Grand Highway (1987)
Louis, a nine-year-old boy from Paris, spends his summer vacation in a small town in Brittany. His mother Claire has lodged him with her girlfriend Marcelle and her husband Pelo while she's having her second baby. There Louis makes friends with Martine, the ten-year- old girl next door, and learns from her about life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBonjour Tristesse (2025)
At the height of summer, 18-year-old Cécile is relaxing by the French seaside with her father and falling in love with her new boyfriend. The arrival of her late mother's enigmatic friend turns her world upside down.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPassport to Paris (1999)
Sent to Paris to visit their grandfather, the twins fall in love with France, not to mention two French boys.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Little Loves (1974)
Daniel lives with his grandmother and, after a year of high school, goes to live with his mother in the south of France; a harsher environment which rapidly changes his perception of friends, work, and women.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAvanti! (1972)
A successful businessman travels to Italy to arrange for the return of his tycoon father's body, only to learn that dear old dad died with his longtime mistress.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOrpheus (1950)
A famous poet in postwar Paris, scorned by the Left Bank youth, is in love with both his wife Eurydice and a mysterious princess. Seeking inspiration, the poet becomes obsessed and follows the princess from the world of the living to the land of the dead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Summer in Provence (2014)
In the wake of their parent's separation, three siblings spend the summer in the south of France with their estranged Grandfather. In less than 24 hours, a clash of generations has occurred between the teenagers and the old man. During this turbulent summer, both generations will be transformed by one another.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLa Dolce Villa (2025)
When his daughter decides to buy a crumbling Tuscan villa, Eric rushes to Italy to talk her out of it — and instead finds beauty, romance and new purpose.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Brothers and I (2022)
Nour, a 14-year-old boy, is enjoying the summer holidays in the South of France. He is the youngest of four brothers. They live together in a council estate, caring for their mother who is in a coma. Nour dreams of escaping to a faraway place. When he crosses paths with Sarah, an Opera singer teaching summer classes, he finds the opportunity to come out of his shell and explore new horizons.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLOL (Laughing Out Loud) (2009)
Lola is a striking teenaged girl who is on the cusp of adulthood and longs to rush into the adult world of independence, freedom and sexual exploits, but is tenaciously held back by her mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)
Five years after meeting her three fathers, Sophie Sheridan prepares to open her mother’s hotel. In 1979, young Donna Sheridan meets the men who each could be Sophie’s biological father.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisParis, 13th District (2021)
Émilie meets Camille who is attracted to Nora, who crosses paths with Amber. Three girls and a boy – They're friends, sometimes lovers and often both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPeter Ibbetson (1935)
When his mother dies, young Peter Ibbetson leaves Paris and his best friend, Mary, behind to live with a severe uncle in England. Years later, Peter is an architect with little time for women, until he begins a project with the Duke and Duchess of Towers. When Peter and the duchess become great friends, she reveals that she is Mary — but the duke soon suspects his wife of infidelity and challenges Peter to a duel, threatening the pair's second chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Waste Land?
The closest matches to The Waste Land are Before Midnight (2013), Shirley Valentine (1989) and The Sower (2017). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Waste Land?
Start with Before Midnight (2013), the closest match to The Waste Land.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Waste Land?
Orpheus (1950), rated 7.7/10 by 312 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Waste Land?
Bonjour Tristesse (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like The Waste Land?
Yes: The Sower (2017), A Tale of Springtime (1990) and The Grand Highway (1987).
How are movies similar to The Waste Land chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Waste Land, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.