Movies like Black in the Middle (2017)
The best movies like Black in the Middle (2017) are Monday (2021), Heavy Traffic (1973) and Paradise Alley (1978). If Black in the Middle hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Dreamers (2003)7.2/10 from 3,212 votes
- NewestSwitch (2026)Released 2026
Monday (2021)
A spark on a Friday can lead to a sizzling weekend fling, but what happens when you get to the inevitable Monday?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeavy Traffic (1973)
A white dropout struggles to become a cartoonist and filmmaker, drawing inspiration from the harsh, gritty world around him. Still sharing his rundown apartment with his middle-aged parents, an oafish slob of an Italian father and a ditzy nutcase of a Jewish mother, he's ridiculed and looked down upon by his friends, hypocrites who run with violent gangs and the Italian Mafia, and a shallow Black girl who makes her living downtown with the pimps and pushers. The cartoonist gets a chance to pitch a film idea to a movie mogul, but the story proves too outrageous: a far-future Earth, depleted by war and pollution, where a mutant antihero challenges and kills God.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParadise Alley (1978)
Three Italian-American brothers, living in the slums of 1940's New York City, try to help each other with one's wrestling career using one brother's promotional skills and another brother's con-artist tactics to thwart a sleazy manager.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Overnight (2015)
Alex, Emily, and their son, RJ, are new to Los Angeles. A chance meeting at the park introduces them to the mysterious Kurt, Charlotte, and Max. A family “playdate” becomes increasingly interesting as the night goes on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisShortbus (2006)
In post-9/11 New York City, an eclectic group of citizens find their lives entangled, personally, romantically, and sexually, at Shortbus, an underground Brooklyn salon infamous for its blend of art, music, politics, and carnality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPink Flamingos (1972)
Notorious Baltimore criminal and underground figure Divine goes up against Connie & Raymond Marble, a sleazy married couple who make a passionate attempt to humiliate her and seize her tabloid-given title as "The Filthiest Person Alive".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969)
After returning to Los Angeles from a group therapy session, documentary filmmaker Bob Sanders and his wife, Carol, find themselves becoming vigilante couples counselors, offering unsolicited advice to their best friends, Ted and Alice Henderson. Not wanting to be rude, the Hendersons play along, but some latent sexual tension among the four soon comes bubbling to the surface, and long-buried desires don't stay buried for long.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVampyres (1974)
A duo of bisexual female vampires prey on passing motorists, whom they seduce and murder in the English countryside.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAccident Man (2018)
Mike Fallon, the Accident Man, is a stone cold killer. When a loved one is murdered by his own crew, Fallon is forced to avenge the one person who actually meant something to him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKill the Irishman (2011)
Over the summer of 1976, thirty-six bombs detonate in the heart of Cleveland while a turf war raged between Irish mobster Danny Greene and the Italian mafia. Based on a true story, Kill the Irishman chronicles Greene's heroic rise from a tough Cleveland neighborhood to become an enforcer in the local mob.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInfinity Pool (2023)
While staying at an isolated island resort, James and Em are enjoying a perfect vacation of pristine beaches, exceptional staff, and soaking up the sun. But guided by the seductive and mysterious Gabi, they venture outside the resort grounds and find themselves in a culture filled with violence, hedonism, and untold horror. A tragic accident leaves them facing a zero tolerance policy for crime: either you'll be executed, or, if you’re rich enough to afford it, you can watch yourself die instead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMandingo (1975)
Warren Maxwell, the owner of a run-down plantation, pressures his son, Hammond, to marry and produce an heir to inherit the plantation. Hammond settles on his own cousin, Blanche, but purchases a sex slave when he returns from the honeymoon. He also buys his father a new Mandingo slave named Mede to breed and train as a prize-fighter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWho Is Cletis Tout? (2001)
With a hitman’s gun aimed at him, Finch tells the story of how he broke out of jail, fell in love, and took the identity of a man wanted by the Mafia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisOrgazmo (1998)
A devout Mormon living in L.A. becomes a pornographic actor after his martial arts moves impress a big-time director.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAl Capone (1959)
In this unusually accurate biography, small-time hood Al Capone comes to Chicago at the dawn of Prohibition to be the bodyguard of racketeer Johnny Torrio. Capone's rise in Chicago gangdom is followed through murder, extortion, and political fraud. He becomes head of Chicago's biggest "business," but moves inexorably toward his downfall and ignominious end.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBelow Her Mouth (2017)
An unexpected affair quickly escalates into a heart-stopping reality for two women whose passionate connection changes their lives forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGummo (1997)
Teenagers Solomon and Tummler kill time in Xenia, Ohio, a small town that has never recovered from the tornado that ravaged the community in the 1970s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStrange Darling (2024)
Nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer’s vicious murder spree.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Born Losers (1967)
A biker gang incites a reign of terror in a California coastal town that culminates in four teenage girls being raped. Vietnam veteran Billy Jack has had enough, however, and takes on the depraved bikers single-handedly. He rescues young Vicky Barrington from their clutches, but then has to contend with not only the thugs, but also the ineffectual and racist local lawmen, who have it out for the half-Native American Billy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dreamers (2003)
When Isabelle and Theo invite Matthew to stay with them, what begins as a casual friendship ripens into a sensual voyage of discovery and desire in which nothing is off limits and everything is possible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMapanukso (2024)
Story about a group of five macho dancers navigating their own lives and the women who would do anything to keep them by their side.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
No Coffee, No TV, No Sex (1999)
No coffee, no TV, no sex is a dramatic comedy. It is the story of Arno, a 27 year old living in the Geneva squats. His best friend, Maurizio, obtained a residence permit for Switzerland through an convenience wedding. Nina, Maurizio’s girlfriend, is French but would also like to live in Geneva: she faces the same administrative obstacle. In order for her to obtain a permit, Maurizio convinces Arno, for the sake of their friendship, to marry her out of convenience. Reluctantly, Arno accepts and Maurizio, unsuspecting, leaves for a few days. Alone with Nina, Arno, usually shy with women, falls in love with her. She falls in love with him. When Maurizio returns, Arno cannot hide the truth from him. He and Nina end up telling him about their relationship. They reconsider the arrangement and try to settle the dilemma together…
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Sweet Release (2024)
Two best friends set out on a summer road trip with a young man, hoping for adventure and escape. As the journey unfolds, their bond grows stronger, leading them to unexpected discoveries about love, desire, and themselves.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Dinner with Holly (2014)
A young couple plans to spice up their love life when their friend, Holly, comes over for dinner.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Secrets of a French Maid (1980)
Frau Oberst has 2 young nieces who are very open with their sexuality. She hopes to find adequate lovers for her nieces and along the way finds herself in some precarious sexual situations. After a series of sexual encounters between just about everyone at the estate, the Countess drops by for a party where the nieces announce their wedding intentions.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Love (2015)
Murphy is an American living in Paris who enters a highly sexually and emotionally charged relationship with the unstable Electra. Unaware of the seismic effect it will have on their relationship, they invite their pretty neighbor into their bed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAshes Under the Sea (2014)
Irene is a mature woman who is sick and goes to Dr. Cano's medical office who informs her that she just has six months to live. Dismayed, walking aimlessly meets Jorge, an older man, who is in the same situation ..
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Just One Time (1998)
A man wants his girlfriend to have a sexual relationship with another girl, just one time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Switch (2026)
Follows two women who embark on a journey to find a man to have a threesome with, raising the question: Can a relationship survive our deepest desires?
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Like Black in the Middle and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Black in the Middle?
The closest matches to Black in the Middle are Monday (2021), Heavy Traffic (1973) and Paradise Alley (1978). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Black in the Middle?
Start with Monday (2021), the closest match to Black in the Middle.
What is the highest-rated movie like Black in the Middle?
The Dreamers (2003), rated 7.2/10 by 3,212 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Black in the Middle?
Switch (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Black in the Middle?
Yes: Monday (2021), Heavy Traffic (1973) and Paradise Alley (1978).
How are movies similar to Black in the Middle chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Black in the Middle, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.