Movies like The Course of Empire (2017)
The best movies like The Course of Empire (2017) are Dalíland (2022), Dorian Gray (2009) and The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021). If The Course of Empire hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
The Course of Empire
Quick picks
- Highest ratedInvasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)7.5/10 from 1,266 votes
- NewestMary (2024)Released 2024
Dalíland (2022)
In 1973, a young gallery assistant goes on a wild adventure behind the scenes as he helps aging genius Salvador Dali prepare for a big show in New York.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisDorian Gray (2009)
Seduced into the decadent world of Lord Henry Wotton, handsome young aristocrat Dorian Gray becomes obsessed with maintaining his youthful appearance, and commissions a special portrait that will weather the winds of time while he remains forever young. When Gray's obsession spirals out of control, his desperate attempts to safeguard his secret turn his once-privileged life into a living hell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021)
The extraordinary true story of eccentric British artist Louis Wain, whose playful, sometimes even psychedelic pictures helped to transform the public's perception of cats forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVictoria & Abdul (2017)
Queen Victoria strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young Indian clerk named Abdul Karim.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGood Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022)
Nancy Stokes, a retired schoolteacher, is pretty sure she has never had good sex. Now that her husband has died, she is determined to take a tour of sexual vistas that until now she has only imagined. She even has a plan; it involves an anonymous hotel room, and a sex worker who calls himself Leo Grande.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWaiting for the Barbarians (2020)
At an isolated frontier outpost, a colonial magistrate suffers a crisis of conscience when an army colonel arrives looking to interrogate the locals about an impending uprising, using cruel tactics that horrify the magistrate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisMary (2024)
A miraculous conception. A merciless king. A murderous pursuit. Mary's journey to give birth to Jesus unfolds in this biblical coming-of-age epic.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Gathering Storm (2002)
A love story offering an intimate look inside the marriage of Winston and Clementine Churchill during a particularly troubled, though little-known, moment in their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Philadelphia Experiment (1984)
Based on an "actual event" that took place in 1943. About a US Navy Destroyer Escort that disappeared from the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, and sent two men 40 years into the future to 1984.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 5th Wave (2016)
16-year-old Cassie Sullivan tries to survive in a world devastated by the waves of an alien invasion that has already decimated the population and knocked mankind back to the Stone Age.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Lost City of Z (2017)
A true-life drama in the 1920s, centering on British explorer Col. Percy Fawcett, who discovered evidence of a previously unknown, advanced civilization in the Amazon and disappeared whilst searching for it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInvasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMoby Dick (1956)
In 1841, young Ishmael signs up for service aboard the Pequod, a whaler sailing out of New Bedford. The ship is under the command of Captain Ahab, a strict disciplinarian who exhorts his men to find Moby Dick, the great white whale. Ahab lost his leg to that creature and is desperate for revenge. As the crew soon learns, he will stop at nothing to gain satisfaction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMountains of the Moon (1990)
The story of Captain Richard Francis Burton's and Lt. John Hanning Speke's expedition to find the source of the Nile river in the name of Queen Victoria's British Empire.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKings of the Sun (1963)
In order to flee from powerful enemies, young Mayan king Balam leads his people north across the Gulf of Mexico to the coast of what will become the United States. They build a home in the new land but come into conflict with a tribe of Native Americans led by their chief, Black Eagle, while both Balam and Black Eagle fall in love the beautiful Mayan princess Ixchel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGods and Generals (2003)
Follows the personal and professional life of Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson, a brilliant if eccentric Confederate general, from the outbreak of the American Civil War until its halfway point.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLovelace (2013)
Story of Linda Lovelace, who is used and abused by the porn industry at the behest of her coercive husband, before taking control of her life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRoadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain (2021)
An intimate, behind-the-scenes look at how an anonymous chef became a world-renowned cultural icon. This unflinching look at Anthony Bourdain reverberates with his presence, in his own voice and in the way he indelibly impacted the world around him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHeart of Champions (2021)
During their last year at an Ivy League college in 1999, a group of friends and crew teammates' lives are changed forever when an army vet takes over as coach of their dysfunctional rowing team.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaking Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound (2019)
The history of cinematic sound, told by legendary sound designers and visionary filmmakers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Course of Empire?
The closest matches to The Course of Empire are Dalíland (2022), Dorian Gray (2009) and The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Course of Empire?
Start with Dalíland (2022), the closest match to The Course of Empire.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Course of Empire?
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), rated 7.5/10 by 1,266 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Course of Empire?
Mary (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Course of Empire?
Yes: Dalíland (2022), Dorian Gray (2009) and The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021).
How are movies similar to The Course of Empire chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Course of Empire, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.



















