Movies like The Lion Sleeps Tonight (2018)
The best movies like The Lion Sleeps Tonight (2018) are In Praise of Love (2001), Eleanor the Great (2025) and Omaha (2025). If The Lion Sleeps Tonight hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDaybreak (1939)7.6/10 from 262 votes
- NewestOut of Love (2025)Released 2025
- In FrenchIn Praise of Love (2001)Also in French
In Praise of Love (2001)
Someone we hear talking - but whom we do not see - speaks of a project which describes the four key moments of love: meeting, physical passion, arguments/separation and making up. This project is to be told through three couples: young, adult and old. We do not know if the project is for a play, a film, a novel or an opera. The author of the project is always accompanied by a kind of servant. Meanwhile, two years earlier, an American civil servant meets with an elderly French couple who had fought in the Resistance during World War II, brokering a deal with a Hollywood director to buy the rights to tell their story. The members of the old couple's family discuss heatedly questions of nation, memory and history.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEleanor the Great (2025)
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOmaha (2025)
A young girl and her brother are awoken by their father and loaded into the car on an early morning in 2008. As they road trip across the American West, she discovers the truth about their seemingly spontaneous journey.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Bus (2021)
Widower Tom, on the recent passing of his wife Mary, uses his free bus pass to travel the length of Britain from John O'Groats in Caithness to Land's End in Cornwall, their shared birthplace, using only local buses. It's an incident-fuelled nostalgia trip and his encounters with local people make him a media phenomenon. Tom is totally unaware and to his surprise on arrival at Land’s End he’s greeted as a celebrity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBrand Upon the Brain! (2007)
After returning home to his long-estranged mother upon a request from her deathbed, a man raised by his parents in an orphanage has to confront the childhood memories that have long haunted him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Locket (1946)
A dark personal secret drives a young woman to use every man she encounters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fugitive (1947)
Anti-Catholic and anti-cleric policies in the Mexican state of Tabasco lead the revolutionary government to persecute the state's last remaining priest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisPromises (2022)
Clémence, the fearless mayor of a town near Paris, is completing the final term of her political career. With her faithful right-hand man Yazid, she has long fought for this town plagued by inequality, unemployment and slumlords. However, when Clémence is approached to become Minister, her ambition arises, questioning her devotion and commitment to her citizens. Will her political integrity and election promises survive her newly found ambition?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Christmas Shoes (2002)
Two separate stories mesh - in the first, a young music teacher, Maggie Andrews, begins dying of a heart condition and her son Nathan tries to get a pair of Christmas shoes for her before she dies. In the second, lawyer Robert Layton and his wife Kate are slowly drifting apart and the matter comes to a head during Christmas when Kate takes over for Maggie for the school choir.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeclaration of War (2011)
Roméo and Juliette are two young actors. They fall in love at first sight, move in together and make a baby. A love story and the founding of a home like millions of others. Except that their little boy, Adam, behaves abnormally. The young parents try hard to persuade themselves that everything is okay but, with the passing of time, they cannot delude themselves anymore: their son has a problem. From now on, war is declared. A war against illness. A war against Death. A war against despair.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Girl (2012)
Director Alfred Hitchcock is revered as one of the greatest creative minds in the history of cinema. Known for his psychological thrillers, Hitchcock’s leading ladies were cool, beautiful and preferably blonde. One such actress was Tippi Hedren, an unknown fashion model given her big break when Hitchcock’s wife saw her on a TV commercial. Brought to Universal Studios, Hedren was shocked when the director, at the peak of his career, quickly cast her to star in his next feature, 1963’s The Birds. Little did Hedren know that as ambitious and terrifying as the production would be to shoot, the most daunting aspect of the film ended up coming from behind the camera.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCéline (1992)
After the death of her father, 22-year-old Céline inherits most of his estate, but gives it to her stepmother, causing her greedy fiancé to leave her. Following several failed suicide attempts, Céline is hospitalized and comes to the attention of a nurse, Genevieve, who has struggled with depression. Under her personal care, Céline gradually recovers, and the two women grow close.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDaybreak (1939)
After committing a murder, a man locks himself in his apartment and recollects the events that led him to the killing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHaute Couture (2021)
Esther is at the end of her career as Head Seamstress at Dior Avenue Montaigne workshop. One day, she gets her handbag stolen in the metro by a 20 years old girl, Jade. Instead of calling the police she decides to take care of Jade. She sees in her the opportunity to pass on her skills, the craft of dressmaking, her only wealth. In the frenetic world of Haute Couture, Esther will give Jade la beauté du geste, a way to reach beyond herself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFor a Woman (2013)
After the death of her mother, Anne makes a shocking discovery: an old photograph casts doubt on her origins and leads her to discover a mysterious uncle who lived with her parents after the war. As she lifts the lid on a long forgotten family secret, the young woman learns that her mother once succumbed to an amorous passion that was as intense as it was short-lived...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAdieu Philippine (1962)
Michel is a young technician in the fledgling TV industry and is due for military service in two months at the time of the Algerian War. Juliette and Liliane are inseparable best friends, and aspiring actresses, who hang around outside the TV studio. Michel invites them in to watch, flirts with them both, and dates them separately and together. When Michel goes on a holiday to Corsica, just before he is drafted, the girls follow.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOut of Love (2025)
When Jeanne, a meticulous insurance assessor, is suddenly left to care for her estranged sister’s two children after their mother vanishes, her carefully ordered life begins to unravel. Confronted with unexpected responsibilities, she must balance the fragile task of earning the children’s trust while also tending to her own relationship with her girlfriend, who struggles to adjust to Jeanne’s new role. As grief, uncertainty, and shifting loyalties mount, Jeanne finds herself redefining what family and love truly mean.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Christmas Tree (1969)
A French-American millionaire, his girlfriend and his war buddy try to grant his dying son's every wish.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHurry Sundown (1967)
A ruthless Southern opportunist tries to buy his cousin's land, and when thwarted, brings several tragedies to the lives of his loved ones.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe New Life of Paul Sneijder (2016)
Following a rare accident, Paul Sneijder opened his eyes to the reality of his life as a "senior manager" in Montreal: his work no longer interested him, his wife annoyed him and deceived him, his two sons despised him ... How can we continue to live under these conditions? Starting with a change of profession: dog walker for example! Will his relatives accept this change that will turn him into a free man?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReprise (2019)
A man and a woman who run into each other on a film set were actually lovers in the past. As they play the roles of a couple in the movie, they think about the relationship they once had.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Ed Wood (1994)
The mostly true story of the legendary "worst director of all time", who, with the help of his strange friends, filmed countless B-movies without ever becoming famous or successful.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBharata (TBA)
Embarrassed about his identity and culture, a meek Indian high-schooler decides to attend an American university to pursue his passion for film. But in doing so, he causes a rift in his fundamentalist family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Mahanati (2018)
Mahanati depicts the life and career of one of Telugu cinema's greatest and most iconic starlets, the first Indian female super star, Savitri.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisActing and Reality (1990)
TV drama set in the modern settings of an artistic couple from well-off background, between their working and sleeping room, as well as Croatian national theater.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
State and Main (2000)
The residents of a small Vermont town don't know what hit them when a beleaguered Hollywood film crew brings a chaotic shoot to their quaint village.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBergman Island (2021)
An English-German filmmaking couple retreat to Fårö for the summer to each write screenplays for their upcoming films in an act of pilgrimage to the place that inspired Ingmar Bergman. As the summer and their screenplays advance, the lines between reality and fiction start to blur against the backdrop of the Island's wild landscape.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBillu (2009)
When a famous Bollywood actor visits a small village for a film's shoot, a poor hairdresser's claim that they were once childhood friends soon makes him the centre of attention.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hottest State (2007)
A young actor from Texas tries to make it in New York while struggling in his relationship with a beautiful singer/songwriter.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBehind the Screen (1917)
Famous Russian screen actors play themselves in this drama about the lives of actors. Thirteen minutes of the film survive.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Lion Sleeps Tonight?
The closest matches to The Lion Sleeps Tonight are In Praise of Love (2001), Eleanor the Great (2025) and Omaha (2025). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Lion Sleeps Tonight?
Start with In Praise of Love (2001), the closest match to The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Lion Sleeps Tonight?
Daybreak (1939), rated 7.6/10 by 262 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Lion Sleeps Tonight?
Out of Love (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like The Lion Sleeps Tonight?
Yes: In Praise of Love (2001), Promises (2022) and Declaration of War (2011).
How are movies similar to The Lion Sleeps Tonight chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Lion Sleeps Tonight, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.