Movies like Tehran Taboo (2017)
The best movies like Tehran Taboo (2017) are The Swallows of Kabul (2019), The Tower (2018) and My Sunny Maad (2021). If Tehran Taboo hooked you with its drama and animation, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPersepolis (2007)7.9/10 from 2,275 votes
- NewestButterfly (2025)Released 2025
The Swallows of Kabul (2019)
Summer 1998—Kabul under Taliban rule. Zunaira and Mohsen are young and in love. Despite the daily violence and misery, they hope for a better future. One day, a foolish gesture causes life to take an irrevocable turn.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Tower (2018)
Eleven-year-old Wardi’s great-grandfather leaves behind a will suggesting looking to the past to find the future. Searching the house, Wardi finds out about her Palestinian homeland from family memories.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
My Sunny Maad (2021)
When Herra, a young Czech woman, falls in love with Nazir, an Afghan, she has no idea what kind of life awaits her in post-Taliban Afghanistan, nor of the family she is about to integrate into. A liberal grandfather, an adopted child who is highly intelligent and Freshta, who would do anything to escape her husband's violent grip.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Persepolis (2007)
In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Satrapi watches events through her young eyes and her idealistic family of a long dream being fulfilled of the hated Shah's defeat in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. However as Marji grows up, she witnesses first hand how the new Iran, now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, has become a repressive tyranny on its own.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisButterfly (2025)
A Jewish North African middle-aged man's swim in the sea triggers memories of his earlier life as an Olympic swimmer before and after World War II.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Drown (2020)
After leaking of a video of her class in a women only swimming pool, Parvaneh is brutally murdered by her husband, Hashem, who seeks a way to redeem his reputation and dignity as the godfather in the neighborhood. Hashem’s brother, Hojat, embarks a journey into the labyrinths of underground in Tehran to find out who is responsible for this dirty game. Once wrongfully accused for smuggling drugs, he returns to the world of crime to trace his brother’s rivals…
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
In the Shadow of the Cypress (2023)
Living in a house by the sea with his daughter, a former captain who has post-traumatic stress disorder leads a tough and secluded life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Yalda (2020)
Maryam accidentally killed her husband Nasser and is sentenced to death. The only person who can save her is Mona, Nasser's daughter. All Mona has to do is appear on a TV show and forgive Maryam. But forgiveness proves difficult when they are forced to relive the past.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFunan (2019)
Cambodia, once the ancient kingdom of Funan, April 17th, 1975. The entire country falls under the tyranny of Angkar, the communist party of the Khmer Rouge. The cities are abandoned, the population is thrown to the roads and forced to walk towards an uncertain future…
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this3 Faces (2018)
Filmmaker Jafar Panahi and actor Behnaz Jafari travel to a tiny village after receiving a plea for help from a girl whose family has forbidden her from studying acting. Amusing encounters abound, but they soon discover that the local hospitality is rivaled by the desire to protect old traditions.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Lost My Body (2019)
A story of Naoufel, a young man who is in love with Gabrielle. In another part of town, a severed hand escapes from a dissection lab, determined to find its body again.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Painting Pool (2013)
Maryam (Negar Javaherian) and Reza (Shahab Hosseini) are different from other people, it's not just a simple difference, but a very big difference. They must try to prove to others they have solved the big difference with the miracle of love ...
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
When the Moon Was Full (2019)
In the market Abdolhamid meets Faezeh and falls in love with her. They get marry and begin their life. But after a while Faezeh becomes aware of Abdolhamid's family in Sistan and Baluchestan province and that they are doing illegals. Faezeh decides to escape with her husband to Pakistan but there they meet Abdolhamid's brother Abdolmalek Rigi who is a terrorist.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
My Life as a Zucchini (2016)
After his mother’s death, Zucchini is befriended by a kind police officer, Raymond, who accompanies him to his new foster home filled with other orphans his age. There, with the help of his newfound friends, Zucchini eventually learns to trust and love as he searches for a new family of his own.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWomen Without Men (2009)
Against the tumultuous backdrop of Iran's 1953 CIA-backed coup d'état, the destinies of four women converge in a beautiful orchard garden, where they find independence, solace and companionship.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Breadwinner (2017)
A headstrong young girl in Afghanistan, ruled by the Taliban, disguises herself as a boy in order to provide for her family.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWindow Horses: The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming (2017)
A young Canadian poet with Chinese and Persian parents travels to Iran to perform at a poetry festival.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Beautiful Men (2023)
Three balding brothers travel to Istanbul to get a hair transplant. Stuck with each other in a hotel far from home, their insecurities grow faster than their hair.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
The Last Fiction (2019)
Kingdom of Jamkard, ancient Persia. After defeating the armies of Ahriman, embodiment of evil, King Jamshid, bearer of the light of Divine Power, abandons his people blinded by pride, determined to conquer new lands. Thus, by chance, Zahhaak becomes regent and undertakes the reconstruction of the devastated capital. But then Ahriman, who dwells in the heart of every human being, begins to poison his tormented soul.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
About Elly (2009)
The mysterious disappearance of a kindergarten teacher during a picnic in the north of Iran is followed by a series of misadventures for her fellow travelers.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShayda (2023)
Shayda, a young Iranian woman living in Australia, finds refuge in a women’s shelter with her 6-year-old daughter, Mona. Having fled her husband, Hossein, and filed for divorce, Shayda struggles to maintain normalcy for Mona. Buoyed by the approach of Nowruz, she tries to forge a fresh start with new and unfettered freedoms. But when a judge grants Hossein visitation rights, he reenters their life, stoking Shayda’s fear that he’ll attempt to take Mona back to Iran.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Our Uniform (2023)
An Iranian girl unfolds her school memories through the wrinkles and fabrics of her old uniform. She admits that she's nothing but a "female" and explores the roots of this idea in her school years.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation
Seven Winters in Tehran (2023)
After seven years in prison, a female student in Tehran is hanged for murder. She had acted in self-defence against a rapist. For a pardon, she would have had to retract her testimony. This moving film reopens the case.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Adama: The World of Wind (2015)
12 year-old Adama lives in a remote village in West Africa, sheltered by the cliffs. Out beyond lies "the world of wind," the kingdom of wicked spirits hungry for war. When his elder brother Samba suddenly vanishes from the village, Adama decides to set off in search of him, crossing into a Europe in the grip of World War I.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Birdboy: The Forgotten Children (2015)
Teenagers Birdboy and Dinki have decided to escape from an island devastated by ecological catastrophe: Birdboy by shutting himself off from the world, Dinki by setting out on a dangerous voyage in the hope that Birdboy will accompany her.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIce Merchants (2023)
Every day, a father and his son jump with a parachute from their vertiginous cold house, attached to a cliff, to go to the village on the ground, far away where they sell the ice they produce daily.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Regular Woman (2019)
Hatun Aynur Sürücü, a German woman of Kurdish origin, was shot dead by her brothers at a bus stop in 2005. The story of a woman who fought for her freedom and independence despite her family's objections, and whose life ended in a horrific murder.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Favourite Cake (2024)
Mahin lives alone in Tehran since her husband’s death and her daughter’s departure for Europe, until an afternoon tea with friends leads her to break her solitary routine and revitalize her love life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Congress (2013)
An aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job, though the consequences of her decision affect her in ways she didn't consider.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSeptembers of Shiraz (2015)
In this adaptation of the critically acclaimed debut novel by Iranian American author Dalia Sofer, a secular Jewish family is caught up in the maelstrom of the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Tehran Taboo?
The closest matches to Tehran Taboo are The Swallows of Kabul (2019), The Tower (2018) and My Sunny Maad (2021). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Tehran Taboo?
People who watched Tehran Taboo most often go on to The Swallows of Kabul (2019), The Tower (2018) and My Sunny Maad (2021).
What is the highest-rated movie like Tehran Taboo?
Persepolis (2007), rated 7.9/10 by 2,275 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Tehran Taboo?
Butterfly (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Tehran Taboo chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Tehran Taboo, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.