Movies like The Esoteric Birthday (2015)
The best movies like The Esoteric Birthday (2015) are The House (2022), The Grandmother (1970) and Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet (2014). If The Esoteric Birthday hooked you with its animation, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Legend of the Nahuala (2007)8.2/10 from 285 votes
- NewestThe Tidal Zone: SpongeBob Universe Special (2023)Released 2023
- In SpanishXico's Journey (2020)Also in Spanish
The House (2022)
Across different eras, a poor family, an anxious developer and a fed-up landlady become tied to the same mysterious house in this animated dark comedy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Grandmother (1970)
To escape neglect and abuse from his parents, a young boy plants some strange seeds and they grow into a grandmother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKahlil Gibran's The Prophet (2014)
Exiled artist and poet Mustafa embarks on a journey home with his housekeeper and her daughter; together the trio must evade the authorities who fear that the truth in Mustafa's words will incite rebellion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSturgill Simpson Presents Sound & Fury (2019)
In this anime visual album, a mysterious driver heads deep into a postapocalyptic hellscape toward a ferocious showdown with two monstrous opponents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisArctic Dogs (2019)
Animals band together to save the day when the evil Otto Von Walrus hatches a sinister scheme to accelerate global warming and melt the Arctic Circle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
SnoozefestMovies like thisKung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters (2011)
Po and the Furious Five uncover the legend of three of kung fu's greatest heroes: Master Thundering Rhino, Master Storming Ox, and Master Croc.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Tidal Zone: SpongeBob Universe Special (2023)
GrandPat travels through alternate dimensions and timelines to get home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMonster High: Scaris City of Frights (2013)
The Monstruitas of Monster High are obsessed with going to Scaris, The City of Frights for Fashion international competition where the winner will become the apprentice of the world famous Madame Ghostier designer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMinions & More Volume 1 (2022)
This collection of 10 short films produced by Illumination includes: From the "Despicable Me" franchise: Puppy (2013); Minion Scouts (2019); Training Wheels (2013); The Secret Life of Kyle (2017); Santa's Little Helpers (2019). From the "Grinch" franchise: The Dog Days of Winter (2019). From the "Secret Life of Pets" franchise: Norman Television (2016); Weenie (2016). From the "Sing" franchise: Love at First Sight (2017). From the "Lorax" franchise: Forces of Nature (2012).
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Smurfs: The Legend of Smurfy Hollow (2013)
When Brainy Smurf is favored to win the annual Smurfberry Hunt for the ninth year in a row, Gutsy Smurf sets out to discover how Brainy wins every year. Gutsy’s investigation takes him into spooky Smurfy Hollow–and right into Gargamel’s trap! Can Brainy and Gutsy, with the help of Smurfette, put aside their rivalry before Gargamel captures them–or worse, they come face-to-face with the legendary ghost, the Headless Horseman?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisXico's Journey (2020)
The peace of a small town is endangered when a corporation wants to destroy the mountain that protects them. A girl named Copi and her best friend Xico, a Xoloitzcuintle dog, will go into the mountains to try to save the town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKoati (2021)
Three unlikely heroes - Nachi, a free-spirited coati; Xochi, a fearless monarch butterfly and Pako, a hyperactive glass frog - embark on an adventure to stop wicked coral snake Zaina from destroying their rain forest homeland.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShrek's Yule Log (2010)
Inside the Shrek home, a fire blazes in the fireplace during a Christmas party. Christmas music plays in the background as Shrek, his family, and his friends, come and go while tending the fire and engaging in various Christmas activities.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSaludos Amigos (1942)
A whimsical blend of live action and animation, "Saludos Amigos" is a colorful kaleidoscope of art, adventure and music set to a toe-tapping samba beat. From high Andes peaks and Argentina's pampas to the sights and sounds of Rio de Janeiro, your international traveling companions are none other than those famous funny friends, Donald Duck and Goofy. They keep things lively as Donald encounters a stubborn llama and "El Gaucho" Goofy tries on the cowboy way of life....South American-style.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Legend of the Nahuala (2007)
Leo San Juan, an insecure child of nine years old, lives eternally frightened by horror stories that Nando tells his older brother. Within these stories it is 'The Legend of Nahuala', according to which, an old abandoned Casona is possessed by the spirit of an evil witch known as the Nahuala.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMonster High: Friday Night Frights (2012)
After Monster High’s roller skating team is defeated at the Skulltimate Roller Maze tournament, the ghouls team up to face an all-boys league, with the hope of winning back the school crest and restoring school spirit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMonster Family (2017)
The Wishbone family are far from happy. In an attempt to reconnect as a family, they plan a fun night out. However, the plan backfires when they are cursed and all turned into Monsters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Brave Little Toaster (1987)
A group of dated appliances, finding themselves stranded in a summer home that their family had just sold, decide to seek out their eight year old 'master'.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHellboy Animated: Sword of Storms (2006)
A folklore professor becomes unwittingly possessed by the ancient Japanese demons of Thunder and Lightning. But when The Bureau of Paranormal Research & Defense dispatches a team of agents to investigate, a cursed samurai sword sends Hellboy to a supernatural dimension of ghosts, monsters, and feudal mayhem. Now while pyrokinetic Liz Sherman and fishboy Abe Sapien battle one very pissed-off dragon, a lost and cranky Hellboy must find his way home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAn Egg Rescue (2021)
Toto and his friends must rescue his egg children after they're taken away for a gourmet food event in Africa.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHow the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)
Bitter and hateful, the Grinch is irritated at the thought of a nearby village having a happy time celebrating Christmas. Disguised as Santa Claus, with his dog made to look like a reindeer, he decides to raid the village to steal all the Christmas things.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSanta Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970)
A postman, S.D. Kluger, decides to answer some of the most common questions about Santa Claus, and tells us about a baby named Kris who is raised by a family of elf toymakers named Kringle. When Kris grows up, he wants to deliver toys to the children of Sombertown. But its Mayor is too mean to let that happen. And to make things worse, the Winter Warlock lives between the Kringles and Sombertown.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters (2007)
An action epic that explores the origins of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force (better known as Master Shake, Frylock, and Meatwad,) who somehow become pitted in a battle over an immortal piece of exercise equipment.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMad God (2021)
A silent figure known as The Assassin travels through a nightmare underworld of tortured souls, ruined cities and wretched monstrosities forged from the primordial horrors of the unconscious mind of Phil Tippett, the world's preeminent stop-motion animator.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFace Lift (2017)
Be better and more beautiful than you were before.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
James and the Giant Peach (1996)
When the young orphan boy James spills a magic bag of crocodile tongues, he finds himself in possession of a giant peach that flies him away to strange lands.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like this1895 (1995)
1895 is a picture about the life of brothers Auguste and Louis Lumiere, who have immortalized their names as inventors of cinematography. What inspired them?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
The Strings (1996)
A parable about the fragility of relationships. Love is sought, found, tested, lost...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Tides to And Fro (2010)
Morning outflow and evening inflow of the sea change a tide of life of the coastal small town.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Casper's Haunted Christmas (2000)
Kibosh, supreme ruler of all ghosts, decrees that casper must scare at least one person before Christmas Day so Casper visits Kriss, Massachusetts where he meets the Jollimore family and sets out to complete his mission. As usual, kindhearted Casper has a ghastky time trying to scare anyone; so The Ghostly Trio, fed up with his goody-boo-shoes behavior, secretly hires Casper's look-alike cousin Spooky to do the job-with hilarious results.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
SnoozefestMovies like this
Like The Esoteric Birthday and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Esoteric Birthday?
The closest matches to The Esoteric Birthday are The House (2022), The Grandmother (1970) and Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet (2014). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Esoteric Birthday?
Start with The House (2022), the closest match to The Esoteric Birthday.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Esoteric Birthday?
The Legend of the Nahuala (2007), rated 8.2/10 by 285 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Esoteric Birthday?
The Tidal Zone: SpongeBob Universe Special (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like The Esoteric Birthday?
Yes: Xico's Journey (2020), The Legend of the Nahuala (2007) and An Egg Rescue (2021).
How are movies similar to The Esoteric Birthday chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Esoteric Birthday, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.