Movies like Surface Tension (1976)
The best movies like Surface Tension (1976) are Young Frankenstein (1974), Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy (2004) and Swan Song (2021). If Surface Tension hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedYoung Frankenstein (1974)7.9/10 from 3,534 votes
- NewestCrimes of the Future (2022)Released 2022
Young Frankenstein (1974)
A young neurosurgeon inherits the castle of his grandfather, the famous Dr. Victor von Frankenstein. In the castle he finds a funny hunchback, a pretty lab assistant and the elderly housekeeper. Young Frankenstein believes that the work of his grandfather was delusional, but when he discovers the book where the mad doctor described his reanimation experiment, he suddenly changes his mind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisEmpire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy (2004)
From the earliest versions of the script to the blockbuster debuts, explore the creation of the Star Wars Trilogy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSwan Song (2021)
In the near future, Cameron Turner is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Presented with an experimental solution to shield his wife and son from grief, he grapples with altering their fate in this thought-provoking exploration of love, loss, and sacrifice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Corner in Wheat (1909)
On a whim, a greedy tycoon decides to corner the world market in wheat. This doubles the price of bread, forcing grain producers into charity lines and others further into poverty. The film contrasts the differences between the lives of those who work to grow the wheat and the life of the man who dabbles in its sale for profit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBe My Cat: A Film for Anne (2015)
An aspiring Romanian filmmaker goes to horrific extremes to convince Hollywood actress Anne Hathaway to star in his film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVampir Cuadecuc (1972)
An atmospheric essay, which is an alternative version of Count Dracula, a film directed by Jess Franco in 1970; a ghostly narration between fiction and reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cabinet of Jan Švankmajer (1984)
In Prague, a professorial puppet, with metal pincers for hands and an open book for a hat, takes a boy as a pupil. First, the professor empties fluff and toys from the child's head, leaving him without the top of his head for most of the film. The professor then teaches the lad about illusions and perspectives, the pursuit of an object through exploring a bank of drawers, divining an object, and the migration of forms. The child then brings out a box with a tarantula in it: the professor puts his "hands" into the box and describes what he feels. The boy receives a final lesson about animation and film making; then the professor gives him a brain and his own open-book hat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInnerspace (1987)
Test pilot Tuck Pendleton volunteers to test a special vessel for a miniaturization experiment. Accidentally injected into a neurotic hypochondriac, Jack Putter, Tuck must convince Jack to find his ex-girlfriend, Lydia Maxwell, to help him extract Tuck and his ship and re-enlarge them before his oxygen runs out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Stanford Prison Experiment (2015)
In 1971, Stanford's Professor Philip Zimbardo conducts a controversial psychology experiment in which college students pretend to be either prisoners or guards, but the proceedings soon get out of hand. Based on a true story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSenseless (1998)
A student gets his senses enhanced by an experimental drug. But abuse is not an option.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFake Famous (2021)
Explores the meaning of fame and influence in the digital age through an innovative social experiment. Following three Los Angeles-based people with relatively small followings, the film explores the attempts made to turn them into famous influencers by purchasing fake followers and bots to “engage” with their social media accounts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCrimes of the Future (2022)
With his partner Caprice, celebrity performance artist Saul Tenser publicly showcases the metamorphosis of his organs in avant-garde performances. An investigator from the National Organ Registry obsessively tracks their movements, which is when a mysterious group is revealed... Their mission — to use Tenser's notoriety to shed light on the next phase of human evolution.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Eye (2008)
Violinist Sydney Wells was accidentally blinded by her sister Helen when she was five years old. She submits to a cornea transplantation, and while recovering from the operation, she realizes that she is seeing dead people.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisTwins (1988)
Julius and Vincent Benedict are the results of an experiment that would allow for the perfect child. Julius was planned and grows to athletic proportions. Vincent is an accident and is somewhat smaller in stature. Vincent is placed in an orphanage while Julius is taken to a south seas island and raised by philosophers. Vincent becomes the ultimate low life and is about to be killed by loan sharks.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKoyaanisqatsi (1983)
Takes us to locations all around the US and shows us the heavy toll that modern technology is having on humans and the earth. The visual tone poem contains neither dialogue nor a vocalized narration: its tone is set by the juxtaposition of images and the exceptional music by Philip Glass.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Matrix Revisited (2001)
The film goes behind the scenes of the 1999 sci-fi movie The Matrix.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRadioactive (2020)
The story of Nobel Prize winner Maria Skłodowska-Curie and her extraordinary scientific discoveries—through the prism of her marriage to husband Pierre—and the seismic and transformative effects their discovery of radium had on the 20th century.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaria by Callas (2017)
Told through performances, TV interviews, home movies, family photographs, private letters and unpublished memoirs, the film reveals the essence of an extraordinary woman who rose from humble beginnings in New York City to become a glamorous international superstar and one of the greatest artists of all time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAdvantageous (2015)
In a near-future city where soaring opulence overshadows economic hardship, Gwen and her daughter, Jules, do all they can to hold on to their joy, despite the instability surfacing in their world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRed Lights (2012)
Two investigators of paranormal hoaxes, the veteran Dr. Margaret Matheson and her young assistant, Tom Buckley, study the most varied metaphysical phenomena with the aim of proving their fraudulent origins. Simon Silver, a legendary blind psychic, reappears after an enigmatic absence of 30 years to become the greatest international challenge to both orthodox science and professional sceptics. Tom starts to develop an intense obsession with Silver, whose magnetism becomes stronger with each new manifestation of inexplicable events. As Tom gets closer to Silver, tension mounts, and his worldview is threatened to its core.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Surface Tension?
The closest matches to Surface Tension are Young Frankenstein (1974), Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy (2004) and Swan Song (2021). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Surface Tension?
Start with Young Frankenstein (1974), the closest match to Surface Tension.
What is the highest-rated movie like Surface Tension?
Young Frankenstein (1974), rated 7.9/10 by 3,534 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Surface Tension?
Crimes of the Future (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Surface Tension?
Yes: Young Frankenstein (1974), Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy (2004) and Swan Song (2021).
How are movies similar to Surface Tension chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Surface Tension, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.