Movies like 21 Days (1940)
The best movies like 21 Days (1940) are You Only Live Once (1937), Fallen Angel (1945) and They Live by Night (1949). If 21 Days 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 ratedThe Secret: Dare to Dream (2020)7.4/10 from 702 votes
- NewestThe Secret: Dare to Dream (2020)Released 2020
You Only Live Once (1937)
Based partially on the story of Bonnie and Clyde, Eddie Taylor is an ex-convict who cannot get a break after being released from prison. When he is framed for murder, Taylor is forced to flee with his wife Joan Graham and baby. While escaping prison after being sentenced to death, Taylor becomes a real murderer, condemning himself and Joan to a life of crime and death on the road.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFallen Angel (1945)
An unemployed drifter, Eric Stanton wanders into a small California town and begins hanging around the local diner. While Eric falls for the lovely waitress Stella, he also begins romancing a quiet and well-to-do woman named June Mills. Since Stella isn't interested in Eric unless he has money, the lovelorn guy comes up with a scheme to win her over, and it involves June. Before long, murder works its way into this passionate love triangle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThey Live by Night (1949)
An escaped convict, injured during a robbery, falls in love with the woman who nurses him back to health, but their relationship seems doomed from the beginning.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wild One (1953)
The Black Rebels Motorcycle Club ride into the small California town of Wrightsville, eager to raise hell. Brooding gang leader Johnny Strabler takes a liking to Kathie, the daughter of the local lawman, as another club rolls into town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEdge of the City (1957)
A male army deserter and a black male dock worker join forces against a corrupt manager, in a corrupt environment, and as their connection blossoms they must face the oppressive and morally decaying city they live in.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThey Won't Believe Me (1947)
On trial for murdering his girlfriend, philandering stockbroker Larry Ballentine takes the stand to claim his innocence and describe the actual, but improbable sounding, sequence of events that led to her death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTime Without Pity (1957)
Alec Graham is sentenced to death for the murder of his girlfriend Jennie, with whom he spent a weekend at the English country home of the parents of his friend Brian Stanford. Alec’s father, David Graham, a not-so-successful writer and alcoholic who has neglected his son in the past, flies in from Canada to visit his son on death row. David then goes on a quest to try and clear his son’s name while battling “the bottle.”
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPeter Ibbetson (1935)
When his mother dies, young Peter Ibbetson leaves Paris and his best friend, Mary, behind to live with a severe uncle in England. Years later, Peter is an architect with little time for women, until he begins a project with the Duke and Duchess of Towers. When Peter and the duchess become great friends, she reveals that she is Mary — but the duke soon suspects his wife of infidelity and challenges Peter to a duel, threatening the pair's second chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThey Made Me a Fugitive (1947)
After being framed for a policeman's murder, a criminal escapes prison and sets out for revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEach Dawn I Die (1939)
A corrupt D.A. with governatorial ambitions is annoyed by an investigative reporter's criticism of his criminal activities and decides to frame the reporter for manslaughter in order to silence him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSahara (1983)
Intent on winning a competition in place of her distinguished late father, beautiful young heiress Dale takes on the guise of a man and competes in his spot, embarking on a car race that crosses the unforgiving Sahara desert.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Lost Husband (2020)
Trying to put her life back together after the death of her husband, Libby and her children move to her estranged Aunt's goat farm in central Texas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAutumn Leaves (1956)
A woman falls for a younger man with severe mental problems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGarage Sale Mystery: A Case Of Murder (2017)
Jenn buys an old reel-to-reel recorder at a garage sale only to find that it includes the sound of a man pleading for his life. When the former owner of the recorder, a retired therapist, is found murdered in a patient’s apartment, Jenn’s investigation leads to other patients whose love lives are more entangled than she was first led to believe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Secret: Dare to Dream (2020)
A widow with three children hires a handyman to fix her house during a major storm. When not doing home repairs, he shares his philosophy of believing in the power of the universe to deliver what we want.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLove Finds You in Valentine (2016)
Kennedy Blaine, a Californian girl, inherits a ranch in the small town of Valentine in Nebraska. Before she sells the property, she decides to spend the summer in her house and learn more about her family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Christmas Kiss (2011)
Wendy Walton is the best designer in Boston... but no one knows it yet. Hoping to kick-start her career, Wendy has left work with the local theatre to take a job as an assistant to Priscilla Hall, the most prestigious designer in the city. Ms. Hall works Wendy around the clock, which is how Wendy finds herself trapped in an elevator late one night with an incredibly handsome stranger. Wendy and the mystery man share an impulsive, romantic, life changing kiss before the doors open and Wendy runs out, leaving him behind. The next day at work, Wendy answers the door to find the handsome gentleman standing in front of her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Magic of Ordinary Days (2005)
Pregnant out of wedlock, an educated young woman is pressured by her father into an arranged marriage with a lonely farmer in this drama set during WWII.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe File on Thelma Jordon (1949)
Cleve Marshall, an assistant district attorney, falls for Thelma Jordon, a mysterious woman with a troubled past. When Thelma becomes a suspect in her aunt's murder, Cleve tries to clear her name.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReap What You Sew: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery (2018)
Internet sensation and old family friend of Aurora Teagarden, Poppy Wilson, has returned to Lawrenceton to start her new embroidery business. But not everyone is happy with Poppy's success when she turns up dead. To find the killer, Roe must follow the unsettling truths that lead her—into the path of the killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWithin the Law (1939)
Shopgirl Mary Turner, sentenced to prison for someone else's theft, is released and takes revenge upon those who wronged her in powerful but lawful ways.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Parole Girl (1933)
A woman convicted of fraud aims to take her revenge on the man who put her inside after being released on parole.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Munnariyippu (2014)
Raghavan, a simple and lonely man, comes out of jail. His life changes after he meets Anjali, a journalist who wants to prove herself professionally.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
The Big Shot (1942)
Duke Berne, former big shot but now a three-time loser, fears returning to crime because a fourth conviction will mean a life sentence. Finally, haunted by his past and goaded by his cohorts, he joins in planning an armoured car robbery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
Newspaper reporter Michael Ward plunges into a nightmare of guilt, fearing that his "evidence" has sentenced the wrong man to death.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCall Northside 777 (1948)
In 1932, a cop is killed and Frank Wiecek sentenced to life. Eleven years later, a newspaper ad by Frank's mother leads Chicago reporter P.J. McNeal to look into the case. For some time, McNeal continues to believe Frank guilty. But when he starts to change his mind, he meets increased resistance from authorities unwilling to be proved wrong.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBullet and Rosary (1990)
A massacre occurred in a quiet hacienda wherein its owner Rafael Montemayor is found dead, his wife Agnes and son Radino are missing, and the family's close friend Arman is deemed guilty for the crime. Years after, a newly-paroled Arman seeks to uncover the truth behind the devilry that cost him his freedom and this truth he seeks lies in the hands of Edmundo, the man who implicated him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Girls in Prison (1994)
In 1952 Hollywood, aspiring singer/songwriter Aggie O'Hanlon is sentenced to life after being found guilty of a murder she didn't commit. While incarcerated, Aggie befriends other inmates also serving life. However, Aggie soon finds herself the target of various 'hit girls'. Can Aggie survive life behind bars long enough to prove her innocence?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
The Flor Contemplacion Story (1995)
The story of the Filipina domestic helper who was hanged in Singapore for allegedly killing her fellow maid is chronicled in a film that operates on various personal, social, and political levels. Both controversial and critically acclaimed, it has brought Nora Aunor numerous citations for her intense portrayal as the fallen heroine of the story.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
99 Homes (2015)
After his family is evicted from their home, proud and desperate construction worker Dennis Nash tries to win his home back by striking a deal with the devil and working for Rick Carver, the corrupt real estate broker who evicted him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like 21 Days?
The closest matches to 21 Days are You Only Live Once (1937), Fallen Angel (1945) and They Live by Night (1949). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after 21 Days?
Start with You Only Live Once (1937), the closest match to 21 Days.
What is the highest-rated movie like 21 Days?
The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020), rated 7.4/10 by 702 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like 21 Days?
The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like 21 Days?
Yes: You Only Live Once (1937), Fallen Angel (1945) and They Live by Night (1949).
How are movies similar to 21 Days chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside 21 Days, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.