Movies like Memories by Joe Frank (1993)
The best movies like Memories by Joe Frank (1993) are The Butterfly Effect (2004), Bagman (2024) and Possum (2018). If Memories by Joe Frank hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMysterious Skin (2005)7.7/10 from 1,403 votes
- NewestIt Feeds (2025)Released 2025
The Butterfly Effect (2004)
A young man struggles to access sublimated childhood memories. He finds a technique that allows him to travel back into the past, to occupy his childhood body and change history. However, he soon finds that every change he makes has unexpected consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBagman (2024)
For centuries and across cultures, parents have warned their children of the legendary Bagman, who snatches innocent children and stuffs them into his vile, rotting bag—never to be seen again. Patrick McKee narrowly escaped such an encounter as a boy, which left him with lasting scars throughout his adulthood. Now, Patrick’s childhood tormentor has returned, threatening the safety of his wife Karina and son Jake.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPossum (2018)
A disgraced children's puppeteer returns to his childhood home and is forced to confront his wicked stepfather and the secrets that have tortured him his entire life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Unsaid (2001)
A doctor dealing with the aftermath of his son's death tries to help a troubled young man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cabinet of Jan Švankmajer (1984)
In Prague, a professorial puppet, with metal pincers for hands and an open book for a hat, takes a boy as a pupil. First, the professor empties fluff and toys from the child's head, leaving him without the top of his head for most of the film. The professor then teaches the lad about illusions and perspectives, the pursuit of an object through exploring a bank of drawers, divining an object, and the migration of forms. The child then brings out a box with a tarantula in it: the professor puts his "hands" into the box and describes what he feels. The boy receives a final lesson about animation and film making; then the professor gives him a brain and his own open-book hat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJoe the King (1999)
A destitute 14-year-old struggles to keep his life together despite harsh abuse at his mother's hands, harsher abuse at his father's, and a growing separation from his slightly older brother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisDavid Lynch: The Art Life (2017)
An intimate journey through the formative years of David Lynch's life. From his idyllic upbringing in small town America to the dark streets of Philadelphia, we follow Lynch as he traces the events that have helped to shape one of cinema's most enigmatic directors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCucuy: The Boogeyman (2018)
When children start disappearing, a rebellious teen under house arrest starts to suspect that a legendary evil, a boogeyman known as the Cucuy, might be responsible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMysterious Skin (2005)
A teenage hustler and a young man obsessed with alien abductions cross paths, together discovering a horrible, liberating truth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLabyrinth (1986)
Frustrated with babysitting on yet another weekend night, Sarah, a teenager with an active imagination, summons the Goblins to take her baby stepbrother away. When little Toby actually disappears, Sarah must follow him into a fantastical world to rescue him from the Goblin King. Guarding his castle is the labyrinth itself, a twisted maze of deception, populated with outrageous characters and unknown dangers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOracle (2023)
A young woman accepts a job on a property with a traumatic history. Upon her arrival, she soon realizes that the nightmares of her childhood are connected to the evil in the house.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpider (2002)
A mentally disturbed man takes residence in a halfway house. His mind gradually slips back into the realm created by his illness, where he replays a key part of his childhood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDolls (1987)
A precocious girl, her nasty parents, two punk-rock losers and a weak-kneed salesman inadvertently become the guests of two ghoulish senior citizens in their dark, haunted mansion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDead of Night (1945)
An architect, visiting an English country house, realizes the other guests are familiar from his recurring nightmare. When they share their tales of the supernatural, he is filled with a growing dread.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe House That Jack Built (2018)
Failed architect, engineer and vicious murderer Jack narrates the details of some of his most elaborately orchestrated crimes, each of them a towering piece of art that defines his life's work as a serial killer for twelve years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Return (2020)
After the death of his father, a brilliant college student returns to his family home where he learns that the horrors from his childhood aren't as dead and gone as he once thought.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIt Feeds (2025)
A clairvoyant therapist confronts her own personal demons while trying to save a young girl who believes a malevolent entity is feeding on her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGerald's Game (2017)
When her husband's sex game goes wrong, Jessie (who is handcuffed to a bed in a remote lake house) faces warped visions, dark secrets and a dire choice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006)
Dito Montiel, a successful author, receives a call from his long-suffering mother, asking him to return home and visit his ailing father. Dito recalls his childhood growing up in a violent neighborhood in Queens, N.Y., with friends Antonio, Giuseppe, Nerf and Mike.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Memories by Joe Frank?
The closest matches to Memories by Joe Frank are The Butterfly Effect (2004), Bagman (2024) and Possum (2018). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Memories by Joe Frank?
Start with The Butterfly Effect (2004), the closest match to Memories by Joe Frank.
What is the highest-rated movie like Memories by Joe Frank?
Mysterious Skin (2005), rated 7.7/10 by 1,403 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Memories by Joe Frank?
It Feeds (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Memories by Joe Frank?
Yes: The Butterfly Effect (2004), Bagman (2024) and Possum (2018).
How are movies similar to Memories by Joe Frank chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Memories by Joe Frank, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.