Movies like There But For (1979)
The best movies like There But For (1979) are Ghostlight (2024), Someone Like You... (2001) and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1991). If There But For hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
There But For
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Florida Project (2017)7.4/10 from 3,234 votes
- NewestGhostlight (2024)Released 2024
Ghostlight (2024)
When melancholic construction worker Dan finds himself drifting from his wife and daughter, he discovers community and purpose in a local theater's production of Romeo and Juliet. As the drama onstage starts to mirror his own life, he and his family are forced to confront a personal loss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSomeone Like You... (2001)
Jane Goodale has everything going for her. She's a producer on a popular daytime talk show, and is in a hot romance with the show's dashing executive producer Ray. But when the relationship goes terribly awry, Jane begins an extensive study of the male animal, including her womanizing roommate Eddie. Jane puts her studies and romantic misadventure to use as a pseudonymous sex columnist -- and becomes a sensation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1991)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, minor characters from the play 'Hamlet', find themselves on the road to Elsinore Castle at the behest of the King of Denmark. The duo encounter a band of players before arriving to find that they are needed to try to discern what troubles the prince Hamlet. Meanwhile, they ponder the meaning of their existence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShe's Funny That Way (2015)
On the set of a playwright's new project, a love triangle forms between his wife, her ex-lover, and the call girl-turned-actress cast in the production.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisVanya on 42nd Street (1994)
An uninterrupted rehearsal of Chekhov's 'Uncle Vanya' plays out by a company of actors. The setting: their run-down theater with an unusable stage and crumbling ceiling. The play is shown act by act with the briefest of breaks to move props or for refreshments. The lack of costumes, real props and scenery is soon forgotten.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Outrage (1964)
At a disused railway station, three men -- a con artist, a preacher, and a prospector -- discuss the recent trial and sentencing of the outlaw Juan Carrasco for the murder of a man and the rape of his wife. In their recounting, the three explore the conflicting testimonies of the parties involved in the crimes. Disconcerting new questions arise with each different version of the event.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisSame Time, Next Year (1978)
A man and woman meet by chance at a romantic inn over dinner and, although both are happily married to others, they find themselves in the same bed the next morning questioning how this could have happened. They agree to meet on the same weekend each year—in the same hotel room—and the years pass each has some personal crisis that the other helps them through, often without both of them understanding what is going on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlue Chips (1994)
Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future are secretly being paid by boosters. This practice is forbidden in the college game, but Pete is desperate and has pressures from all around.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Florida Project (2017)
The story of a precocious six year-old and her ragtag group of friends whose summer break is filled with childhood wonder, possibility and a sense of adventure while the adults around them struggle with hard times.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThis Is Where I Leave You (2014)
When their father passes away, four grown, world-weary siblings return to their childhood home and are requested -- with an admonition -- to stay there together for a week, along with their free-speaking mother and a collection of spouses, exes and might-have-beens. As the brothers and sisters re-examine their shared history and the status of each tattered relationship among those who know and love them best, they reconnect in hysterically funny and emotionally significant ways.
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 thisHamlet (1948)
Winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, Sir Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet continues to be the most compelling version of Shakespeare’s beloved tragedy. Olivier is at his most inspired—both as director and as the melancholy Dane himself—as he breathes new life into the words of one of the world’s greatest dramatists.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Rutles: All You Need Is Cash (1978)
The story of the rise and fall of the Pre-Fab Four.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cheyenne Social Club (1970)
Cowboy John O'Hanlan is surprised to learn that someone's left him a business in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He sets out to claim it, only to discover it's a brothel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMumsy, Nanny, Sonny & Girly (1970)
A wealthy, fatherless British clan kidnap bums and hippies, forcing them to participate in an elaborate role-playing game in which they are the perfect family; those who refuse or attempt escape endure ritualistic murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPimp (2018)
An urban love story set on the hard streets of the Bronx. A struggling female pimp, named Wednesday, grows up learning the game from her dad. Once he's gone she's left to look out for her prostitute mother and girlfriend Nikki.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMammal (2016)
After Margaret, a divorcée living in Dublin, loses her teenage son, she develops an unorthodox relationship with Joe, a homeless youth. Their tentative trust is threatened by his involvement with a violent gang and the escalation of her ex-husband's grieving rage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChloe (2010)
Catherine and David Stewart are a well-to-do couple living in a posh area of Toronto, but all is not well in paradise. Catherine suspects that David is cheating on her, so she hires an escort named Chloe to meet David and see if he gives in to temptation — but events spin out of control when Chloe spills the details of her torrid encounters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMay December (2023)
Twenty years after their notorious tabloid romance gripped the nation, a married couple buckles under the pressure when an actress arrives to do research for a film about their past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStage Door (1937)
A spirited heiress wishing to break into theatre on her own merit arrives at a boardinghouse where aspiring young actresses and showgirls are brought together through their cynicism and disappointments.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this
Like There But For and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like There But For?
The closest matches to There But For are Ghostlight (2024), Someone Like You... (2001) and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1991). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after There But For?
Start with Ghostlight (2024), the closest match to There But For.
What is the highest-rated movie like There But For?
The Florida Project (2017), rated 7.4/10 by 3,234 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like There But For?
Ghostlight (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like There But For?
Yes: Ghostlight (2024), Someone Like You... (2001) and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1991).
How are movies similar to There But For chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside There But For, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.