Movies like Dear Zindagi (2016)
The best movies like Dear Zindagi (2016) are The Art of Getting By (2011), Moonlight Mile (2002) and Life in a Year (2020). If Dear Zindagi 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 ratedLife in a Year (2020)8.2/10 from 2,027 votes
- NewestSpringsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (2025)Released 2025
- In HindiTere Naam (2003)Also in Hindi
The Art of Getting By (2011)
George, a lonely and fatalistic teen who's made it all the way to his senior year without ever having done a real day of work, is befriended by Sally, a popular but complicated girl who recognizes in him a kindred spirit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMoonlight Mile (2002)
As he copes with the death of his fiancee along with her parents, a young man must figure out what he wants out of life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLife in a Year (2020)
A 17 year old finds out that his girlfriend is dying, so he sets out to give her an entire life, in the last year she has left.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMe Before You (2016)
Lou Clark, a directionless 26-year-old from the English countryside, takes a job at the local castle as a caregiver and companion to a wealthy young banker, Will Traynor. Wheelchair-bound from an accident two years prior, the once adventurous Will has all but given up — that is until Lou determines to show him that life is worth living.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 thisA Perfect Ending (2012)
This intimate drama follows Rebecca, a woman who has kept her sexuality a secret from her friends but chooses to reveal it to a stranger. While Rebecca's revelations may not yield the results she expects, a perfect ending is still in reach.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhen Nietzsche Wept (2007)
Viennese doctor Josef Bruer meets with philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche to help him deal with his despair.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTurtles All the Way Down (2024)
17-year-old Aza Holmes tries be a good daughter, a good friend, and a good student, all while navigating an endless barrage of invasive, obsessive thoughts that she cannot control. When she reconnects with Davis, her childhood crush, Aza is confronted with fundamental questions about her potential for love, happiness, friendship, and hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRemember Me (2010)
Still reeling from a heartbreaking family event and his parents' subsequent divorce, Tyler Hawkins discovers a fresh lease on life when he meets Ally Craig, a gregarious beauty who witnessed her mother's death. But as the couple draws closer, the fallout from their separate tragedies jeopardizes their love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisForever First Love (2020)
Paul travels the world to capture the perfect photographic moment. Amid the colour and chaos of a crowded Filipino market, destiny intervenes when Paul’s first love, Anna appears in his lens. The travellers spend the day exploring the beauty of a 16th century town and whilst passions reignite, their principles on relationships, religion and morality clash. The night they spend together will change everything.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLars and the Real Girl (2007)
Extremely shy Lars finds it impossible to make friends or socialize. His brother and sister-in-law worry about him, so when he announces that he has a girlfriend he met on the Internet, they are overjoyed. But Lars' new lady is a life-size plastic woman. On the advice of a doctor, his family and the rest of the community go along with his delusion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBreathe (2017)
Based on the true story of Robin, a handsome, brilliant and adventurous man whose life takes a dramatic turn when polio leaves him paralyzed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEquals (2015)
A futuristic love story set in a world where emotions have been eradicated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNine Lives (2005)
Captives of the very relationships that define and sustain them, nine women resiliently meet the travails and disappointments of life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAt First Sight (1999)
A blind man has an operation to regain his sight at the urging of his girlfriend and must deal with the changes to his life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeparture (2016)
An English mother and her teenage son spend a week preparing the sale of their remote holiday house in the South of France. Fifteen-year-old Elliot struggles with his dawning sexuality and an increasing alienation from his mother, Beatrice. She in turn is confronted by the realisation that her marriage to his father, Philip, has grown loveless and the life she knows is coming to an end. When an enigmatic local teenager, Clément, quietly enters their lives, both mother and son are compelled to confront their desires and, finally, each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTere Naam (2003)
A rowdy ex-college boy who, after a hazing session, loses his heart to first year student Nirjara, a traditional Brahmin girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPurple Hearts (2022)
An aspiring musician agrees to a marriage of convenience with a soon-to-deploy Marine, but a tragedy soon turns their fake relationship all too real.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 Fabelmans (2022)
Growing up in post-World War II era Arizona, young Sammy Fabelman aspires to become a filmmaker as he reaches adolescence, but soon discovers a shattering family secret and explores how the power of films can help him see the truth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMeri Pyaari Bindu (2017)
Abhimanyu Roy is stuck with writer's block until he decides to re-live the memories of his childhood sweetheart Bindu who aspires to be a successful singer and struggles to give Abhi the one thing he craves - stability.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSanam (1997)
Gaurav lives a wealthy lifestyle, gets everything he wants except the love of his parents and family. Even though he lives with his parents, they love his elder brother Narendra more. After an unfortunate incident, Gaurav joins the army to prove himself to his father, where he discovers a terrorist plot that could put his family and his country at risk.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Jack & Sarah (1995)
Jack always lands on his feet. He lands on his feet when he marries the beautiful Sarah. He lands on his feet when he buys a luxurious new home. However, when Sarah goes into labour, he takes a tumble down the stairs and lands on his head. When he comes around he discovers he is the proud father of a baby girl, but deficient in the spouse department to the tune of 1.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMother India (1957)
A poverty-stricken woman raises her sons through many trials and tribulations. But no matter the struggles, always sticks to her own moral code.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmerican Graffiti (1973)
A couple of high school graduates spend one final night cruising the strip with their buddies before they go off to college.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAazam (2023)
Aazam is a Hindi feature film, set in the underbelly of the Mumbai underworld, the story revolves around the succession battle of mafia don Nawab Khan, who is suffering from blood cancer and has only 10-15 days to live. Huh. Nawab Khan controls the syndicate of 5 partners in governing the city. Kadar - Nawab's son, is his legitimate heir in business, but on the advice of his colleague Javed, Kader plans to eliminate all his father's associates. Kadar's plan fails as other syndicate members have their own agenda for the gang war. DCP Joshi, who is trying to stop this gang war havoc, also gets caught in the conspiracy hatched by Javed. Who is the "Aazam" of this battle of defeat and victory?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The China Syndrome (1979)
While doing a series of reports on alternative energy sources, opportunistic reporter Kimberly Wells witnesses an accident at a nuclear power plant. Wells is determined to publicize the incident, but soon finds herself entangled in a sinister conspiracy to keep the full impact of the incident a secret.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAparajito (1956)
Apu and his family have moved away from the country to live in the bustling holy city of Benares. As he progresses from wide-eyed child to intellectually curious teenager, eventually studying in Kolkata, we witness his academic and moral education, as well as the growing complexity of his relationship with his mother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSpringsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (2025)
Bruce Springsteen, a young musician on the cusp of global superstardom, struggles to reconcile the pressures of success with the ghosts of his past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaatr (2017)
Shattered by the brutal murder of her daughter, A distraught mother takes justice into her own hands and seeks vengeance by fighting the system.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Dear Zindagi and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Dear Zindagi?
The closest matches to Dear Zindagi are The Art of Getting By (2011), Moonlight Mile (2002) and Life in a Year (2020). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Dear Zindagi?
Start with The Art of Getting By (2011), the closest match to Dear Zindagi.
What is the highest-rated movie like Dear Zindagi?
Life in a Year (2020), rated 8.2/10 by 2,027 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Dear Zindagi?
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Hindi movies like Dear Zindagi?
Yes: Tere Naam (2003), Meri Pyaari Bindu (2017) and Sanam (1997).
How are movies similar to Dear Zindagi chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Dear Zindagi, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.