Movies like Restraint (2015)
The best movies like Restraint (2015) are The Little Death (2014), Nymphomaniac: Vol. II (2013) and Shortbus (2006). If Restraint hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedStrange Darling (2024)6.9/10 from 1,099 votes
- NewestStrange Darling (2024)Released 2024
The Little Death (2014)
A comedy film that looks into the loosely connected lives of people with strange sexual fantasies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNymphomaniac: Vol. II (2013)
The continuation of Joe's sexually dictated life delves into the darker aspects of her adult life and what led to her being in Seligman's care.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShortbus (2006)
In post-9/11 New York City, an eclectic group of citizens find their lives entangled, personally, romantically, and sexually, at Shortbus, an underground Brooklyn salon infamous for its blend of art, music, politics, and carnality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFifty Shades Freed (2018)
Believing they have left behind shadowy figures from their past, newlyweds Christian and Ana fully embrace an inextricable connection and shared life of luxury. But just as she steps into her role as Mrs. Grey and he relaxes into an unfamiliar stability, new threats could jeopardize their happy ending before it even begins.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMandingo (1975)
Warren Maxwell, the owner of a run-down plantation, pressures his son, Hammond, to marry and produce an heir to inherit the plantation. Hammond settles on his own cousin, Blanche, but purchases a sex slave when he returns from the honeymoon. He also buys his father a new Mandingo slave named Mede to breed and train as a prize-fighter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFifty Shades of Grey (2015)
When college senior Anastasia Steele steps in for her sick roommate to interview prominent businessman Christian Grey for their campus paper, little does she realize the path her life will take. Christian, as enigmatic as he is rich and powerful, finds himself strangely drawn to Ana, and she to him. Though sexually inexperienced, Ana plunges headlong into an affair -- and learns that Christian's true sexual proclivities push the boundaries of pain and pleasure.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Duke of Burgundy (2015)
Day in and day out, lovers Cynthia and Evelyn enact an elaborate sadomasochistic fantasy as mistress and maid. But as their ritual of domination and submission begins to turn stale, Cynthia yearns for something more conventional, while Evelyn tries to push their taboos even further.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnfaithful (2002)
A New York suburban couple's marriage goes dangerously awry when the wife indulges in an adulterous fling.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrash (1996)
A car crash victim inexplicably finds himself aroused by car accidents and becomes involved with an underground subculture of like-minded souls.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMeet Monica Velour (2010)
For Tobe, a nerdy, horny, frizzy-haired cineaste who doesn't quite fit in with the average contemporary teen, the pinnacle of womanhood is Monica Velour, a soft-core actress who reached the zenith of her career in the 1980s. When Tobe learns that his love idol is headlining hundreds of miles away at the Gentlemen's Petting Zoo in Indiana, he drives off with carefree glory, filled with the hope of meeting her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisPorno (2019)
When a group of naive teens working at a movie theater in a small Christian town discover a mysterious film hidden in its basement, they unleash an alluring succubus who gives them a sex education…written in blood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNewness (2017)
In contemporary Los Angeles, two millennials navigating a social media–driven hookup culture begin a relationship that pushes both emotional and physical boundaries.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCruising (1980)
When New York is caught in the grip of a sadistic serial killer who preys on patrons of the city's underground bars, rookie cop Steve Burns infiltrates the gay S&M subculture to try and lure him out of the shadows.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStrange Darling (2024)
Nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer’s vicious murder spree.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNymphomaniac: Vol. I (2013)
A man named Seligman finds a fainted wounded woman in an alley and he brings her home. She tells him that her name is Joe and that she is nymphomaniac. Joe tells her life and sexual experiences with hundreds of men since she was a young teenager while Seligman tells about his hobbies, such as fly fishing, reading about Fibonacci numbers or listening to organ music.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Rules of Attraction (2002)
The incredibly spoiled and overprivileged students of Camden College are a backdrop for an unusual love triangle between a drug dealer, a virgin and a bisexual classmate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHellraiser (1987)
A hedonistic man finds a mysterious puzzle box that summons a group of gruesome beings known as the Cenobites. These otherworldly entities open the doors to a dominion where pain and pleasure are indivisible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNever Back Down: Revolt (2021)
An amateur fighter is lured by a trafficking syndicate specializing in elite underground fighting where her brutal captor forces her to fight or face certain death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShame (2011)
Brandon, a thirty-something man living in New York, eludes intimacy with women but feeds his deepest desires with a compulsive addiction to sex. When his younger sister temporarily moves into his apartment, stirring up bitter memories of their shared painful past, Brandon's life, like his fragile mind, gets out of control.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVampyres (1974)
A duo of bisexual female vampires prey on passing motorists, whom they seduce and murder in the English countryside.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Happy Woodcutter (1993)
Various women run afoul a tickling psychopath in the middle of the woods.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
A Woman in Flames (1983)
Eva, an upper-class housewife, frustratedly leaves her arrogant husband and decides to enter the call girl business. She lets Yvonne, a prostitute, teach her the basics and both set out for prey together, until Eva starts an affair with Chris, who turns out to be a call boy, as well. Consequently, she moves into his penthouse, large enough for both to offer their services separately.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
8MM (1999)
A small, seemingly innocuous plastic reel of film leads surveillance specialist Tom Welles down an increasingly dark and frightening path. With the help of the streetwise Max, he relentlessly follows a bizarre trail of evidence to determine the fate of a complete stranger. As his work turns into obsession, he drifts farther and farther away from his wife, family and simple life as a small-town PI.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRope Violation (1980)
Satoko, a mentally frail girl, is taken in by Anzai, the owner of a hot springs inn, after her parents commit suicide. One day, the clerk Matsuo forcibly takes Satoko's virginity. The following night, the clerk appears in Satoko's room again. The servant Shozo feels sorry for Satoko and invites her to run away to Tokyo with him. Meanwhile, Shozo steals money from the inn and accidentally kills Matsuo. He buries the body and runs away to Tokyo. Satoko is left alone and is subjected to Anzai's bizarre torture...
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Warlock III: The End of Innocence (1999)
A college student unexpectedly finds that she has inherited a derelict house. Accompanied by a group of friends, she goes there to clear it of heirlooms before the structure is demolished. Almost immediately, she and her friends are targeted by a powerful warlock who is very interested in her bloodline.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Belt (1989)
Vittorio, an American novelist teaching in Rome, meets the beautiful but damaged Bianca and they rapidly fall into an urgent, tempestuous affair. He's hesitant over their relationship since she seems to thrive on conflict and is constantly baiting him into physical altercation. Bianca gives Vittorio an exquisite leather belt as a gift; he knows immediately that she wants him to whip her with it. Driven by his craving for her, Vittorio complies to Bianca's desire. Their relationship escalates into a dark realm of S&M which becomes more and more self-destructive.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Vanilla (2017)
Look around. Everything you see and touch can taste like vanilla.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
New Wife: Screaming! (1976)
Believing their childish lust to be love, a young couple eloped and moved to Tokyo, but the frustration of hunger and poverty turns them into cornered mice. However, the decisive breakup came from an unexpected incident. One day, a young wife is imprisoned by a paranoid middle-aged man.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Sex, Death & Eyeliner (1999)
Documentary directed by W.K. Border, that which dives into the aspects of contemporary Gothic subculture, vampirism, and BDSM culture. Filmed in 1997 in California.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Izumi Aki and Megumi Aoi: Latest (Live) Turkish Information Ascension 1 (1981)
BDSM erotic-drama distributed by Nikkatsu for home video.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Like Restraint and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Restraint?
The closest matches to Restraint are The Little Death (2014), Nymphomaniac: Vol. II (2013) and Shortbus (2006). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Restraint?
Start with The Little Death (2014), the closest match to Restraint.
What is the highest-rated movie like Restraint?
Strange Darling (2024), rated 6.9/10 by 1,099 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Restraint?
Strange Darling (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Restraint?
Yes: The Little Death (2014), Nymphomaniac: Vol. II (2013) and Shortbus (2006).
How are movies similar to Restraint chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Restraint, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.