Movies like The Real Thing (2017)
The best movies like The Real Thing (2017) are Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (1986), Medusa (2020) and Once Bitten (1985). If The Real Thing hooked you with its horror and drama, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAll About Me (2018)7.4/10 from 208 votes
- NewestHold the Fort (2025)Released 2025
- In GermanAll About Me (2018)Also in German
Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (1986)
Although Jo Jo Dancer has achieved success as a stand-up comedian, he hasn't found happiness. After receiving severe burns in a narcotics-related incident, Jo Jo remains in a coma, and, while in this state, he looks back on his life. Drifting off into memories of his troubled childhood, Jo Jo revisits his youth, recalling his eventual rise to fame and the decadence that followed. As he considers his existence, he must decide if he wants to go on living or not.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMedusa (2020)
After being bitten by a lethal snake, a young woman experiences changes in her senses and appearance, as she sheds her old self and slowly turns into a deadly weapon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOnce Bitten (1985)
Mark wants to lose his virginity, but his girlfriend wants to wait. Unfortunately for both of them, a 400-year-old vampire Countess needs to turn a virgin into a vampire before Halloween in order to preserve her own youthful appearance, and when she finds Mark, she turns his life upside-down.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisAfterlife of the Party (2021)
A social butterfly who dies during her birthday week is given a second chance to right her wrongs on Earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDave Made a Maze (2017)
Dave, an artist who has yet to complete anything significant in his career, builds a fort in his living room out of pure frustration, only to wind up trapped by the fantastical pitfalls, booby traps, and critters of his own creation. Ignoring his warnings, Dave’s girlfriend Annie leads a band of oddball explorers on a rescue mission. Once inside, they find themselves trapped in an ever-changing supernatural world, threatened by booby traps and pursued by a bloodthirsty Minotaur.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012)
A childless couple bury a box in their backyard, containing all of their wishes for an infant. Soon, a child is born, though Timothy Green is not all that he appears.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHigh Spirits (1988)
When a hotelier attempts to fill the chronic vacancies at his castle by launching an advertising campaign that falsely portrays the property as haunted, two actual ghosts show up and end up falling for two guests.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisJust Buried (2007)
A young man inherits a nearly bankrupt funeral home from his estranged father. He falls in love with the alluring young mortician, only to find out she's offing people to keep the place in business!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBilly & Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure (2007)
When the Boogey Man causes Grim to lose his powers, rank, and title in the Underworld Court for misusing his powers, he plots to seek out Horror's Hand and take over the world. It's up to Billy, Mandy, Irwin, and Grim to get to Horror's Hand before the Boogey Man does.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies 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 · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCranston Academy: Monster Zone (2020)
An intelligent 15-year-old high school student is unexpectedly transferred to a boarding school where he opens a portal of monsters from another dimension.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Transfiguration (2016)
When troubled teen Milo, who has a fascination with vampire lore, meets the equally alienated Sophie, the two form a bond that begins to blur Milo's fantasy into reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll About Me (2018)
Dramatised origin story of one of Germany's most beloved contemporary comedians, Hape Kerkeling.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe House of Tomorrow (2019)
The film tells futurist, architect, and inventor R. Buckminster Fuller's incredible story through two teens hoping to get laid, become punk gods, and survive high school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOnyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls (2023)
Onyx joins a group of fellow occultists to attend a dark ritual at the mansion of their idol, Bartok. Suspecting Bartok’s nefarious intentions, Onyx is suddenly immersed in a world of monsters, mystery, and mayhem.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGatlopp: Hell of a Game (2022)
Four friends get together for a nostalgic evening of fun and games after a decade of absence, which takes a dark turn.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDear Eleanor (2016)
Two teenage girls travel across the U.S. in 1962, during the chaos of the Cuban missile crisis, in search of Eleanor Roosevelt.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSmall Apartments (2012)
When a clumsy deadbeat accidentally kills his landlord, he must do everything in his power to hide the body, only to find that the distractions of lust, the death of his beloved brother, and a crew of misfit characters force him on a journey where a fortune awaits him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Vanishing (1993)
The boyfriend of an abducted woman never gives up the search as the abductor looks on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHold the Fort (2025)
A HOA turns out to be more troublesome than usual in this wildly amusing, FX-heavy freak-out about newly minted suburbanites unexpectedly forced to take part in a struggle against monstrous forces.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like The Real Thing and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Real Thing?
The closest matches to The Real Thing are Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (1986), Medusa (2020) and Once Bitten (1985). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Real Thing?
Start with Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (1986), the closest match to The Real Thing.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Real Thing?
All About Me (2018), rated 7.4/10 by 208 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Real Thing?
Hold the Fort (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there German movies like The Real Thing?
Yes: All About Me (2018).
How are movies similar to The Real Thing chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Real Thing, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.