Movies like The Great Pretender (2018)
The best movies like The Great Pretender (2018) are Love Jones (1997), XX/XY (2002) and Author! Author! (1982). If The Great Pretender hooked you with its drama and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedRushmore (1998)7.4/10 from 2,856 votes
- NewestIs This Thing On? (2025)Released 2025
Love Jones (1997)
Darius Lovehall is a young black poet in Chicago who starts dating Nina Moseley, a beautiful and talented photographer. While trying to figure out if they've got a "love thing" or are just "kicking it," they hang out with their friends, talking about love and sex. Then Nina tests the strength of Darius' feelings and sets a chain of romantic complications into motion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisXX/XY (2002)
Three friends begin a dangerous three-way relationship that spirals out of control, leading to dire consequences that haunt them ten years later.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAuthor! Author! (1982)
While facing the stress of his original play being produced on Broadway, playwright Ivan Travalian deals with having to raise his son, his stepdaughters, and his stepsons.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStrictly Sexual (2008)
Two successful women, sick and tired of dating and relationships, decide to keep two young men in their pool house for strictly sexual purposes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHello I Must Be Going (2012)
An affair with a 19-year old actor helps reinvigorate life for thirty-something Amy after she moves home to her parents’ house following her divorce.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisWalking and Talking (1996)
Just as Amelia thinks she's over her anxiety and insecurity, her best friend announces her engagement, bringing her anxiety and insecurity right back.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMuch Ado About Nothing (2011)
Two young lovers, Claudio and Hero, are to be married imminently but the devious scheming of a resentful Prince looks set to thwart the nuptials. Meanwhile, marriage seems inconceivable for reluctant lovers Beatrice and Benedick whose endless witty sparring threatens to keep them apart forever. Directed by Josie Rourke, Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse, Much Ado About Nothing is one of Shakespeare’s great plays and reminds us all of the failings and triumphs of the human condition in our never ending search for perfect love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like this(Untitled) (2009)
A fashionable contemporary art gallerist in Chelsea, New York falls for a brooding new music composer in this comic satire of the state of contemporary art.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIs This Thing On? (2025)
As their marriage quietly unravels, Alex faces middle age and an impending divorce, seeking new purpose in the New York comedy scene while Tess confronts the sacrifices she made for their family—forcing them to navigate co-parenting, identity, and whether love can take a new form.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHe Said, She Said (1991)
Womanising, right-wing Dan Hanson and quiet, liberal Lorie Bryer work for the Baltimore Sun. Rivals for the job of new writer of a vacant column, the paper ends up instead printing their very different opinions alongside each other, which leads to a similarly combative local TV show. At the same time their initial indifference to each other looks like it may evolve into something more romantic.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisA California Christmas: City Lights (2021)
Follows Callie and Joseph one year after they fell in love, now running a dairy farm and winery, but their romance is threatened when business and family obligations call Joseph back to the city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChéri (2009)
The son of a courtesan retreats into a fantasy world after being forced to end his relationship with the older woman who educated him in the ways of love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight Owls (2015)
After workaholic Kevin has a drunken one night stand with the beautiful train-wreck Madeline, he's horrified to discover that she's actually his boss' jilted ex-mistress. When she takes a bottle of sleeping pills, Kevin is forced to keep her awake... and over the course of the night the two begin to fall for each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisL.A. Without a Map (1999)
An aspiring Hollywood actress, on a visit to a charming North England town, has a brief fling with the town undertaker, who also writes obituaries for the local paper. Returning home, where she works as a waitress at a Japanese restaurant, she tells everyone about the handsome "writer" she met on her trip. Unfortunately, he decides to follow her back to Hollywood, setting up the expected light romantic comedy with asides as the newcomer gains experience about the goings on in Hollywood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisDelirious (2007)
Les, a small-time celebrity photographer desperate to make it big, befriends Toby, a homeless young man with no direction except a vague desire to become an actor. When by chance, Toby becomes romantically involved with K'Harma Leeds, the hottest pop star of the moment, Les grows jealous and plots revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Incredible Jessica James (2017)
Burned by a bad breakup, a struggling New York City playwright makes an unlikely connection with a divorced app designer she meets on a blind date.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPetulia (1968)
Dr. Archie Bollen is having a midlife crisis. He's just divorced his wife and is establishing a new life for himself. One night, he catches the eye of Petulia Danner, a charming, free-spirited young woman. Petulia's vibrant personality hides her fear of her abusive husband, David, whose father is a powerful society figure. As Petulia and Archie's feelings for each other grow, they must decide what it is they truly want.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCQ (2001)
A young filmmaker in 1960s Paris juggles directing a cheesy sci-fi debacle, directing his own personal art film, coping with his crumbling relationship with his girlfriend, and a new-found infatuation with the sci-fi film's starlet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMr. Morgan's Last Love (2013)
A widowed professor living in Paris develops a special relationship with a younger French woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLet's Make Love (1960)
When billionaire Jean-Marc Clement learns that he is to be satirized in an off-Broadway revue, he passes himself off as an actor playing him in order to get closer to the beautiful star of the show, Amanda Dell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLittle Black Book (2004)
Determined to learn about her boyfriend's past relationships, Stacy -- who works for a talk show -- becomes a bona fide snoop. With her colleague, Barb, Stacy gets the names of Derek's ex-lovers and interviews them, supposedly for an upcoming show. But what she learns only adds to her confusion, and her plans begin to unravel when she befriends one of the women.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisSingles (1992)
A group of young adults in their twenties, who share an apartment in the city of Seattle, ponder on love and face all the challenges of adulthood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Lake House (2006)
When architect Alex Wyler moves into an unusual glass house on stilts over a lake, he discovers a note from the previous tenant in the mailbox--but no one's lived in the house for years. He replies and soon discovers that he's corresponding with a doctor named Kate Forster. Their correspondence, only through the 'magical' mailbox, turns romantic and their paths cross in unexpected ways, but when they try to truly connect, danger looms. They must try to unravel the mystery behind their extraordinary romance before it's too late.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRye Lane (2023)
Two twenty-somethings, both reeling from bad break-ups, connect over the course of an eventful day in South London – helping each other deal with their nightmare exes, and potentially restoring their faith in romance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006)
When New York architect Matt Saunders dumps his new girlfriend Jenny Johnson—a smart, sexy, and reluctant superhero known as G-Girl—she uses her powers to make his life a living hell.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisPink Bike (2020)
After a date gone wrong strands Diego without his clothes, he must race against time to make it to a very important engagement.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Forever Young (2022)
At the end of the 1980s, Stella, Victor, Adèle and Etienne are 20 years old. They take the entrance exam to the famous acting school created by Patrice Chéreau and Pierre Romans at the Théâtre des Amandiers in Nanterre. Launched at full speed into life, passion, and love, together they will experience the turning point of their lives, but also their first tragedy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRushmore (1998)
When a beautiful first-grade teacher arrives at a prep school, she soon attracts the attention of an ambitious teenager named Max, who quickly falls in love with her. Max turns to the father of two of his schoolmates for advice on how to woo the teacher. However, the situation soon gets complicated when Max's new friend becomes involved with her, setting the two pals against one another in a war for her attention.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEat, Play, Love (2017)
Veterinarian Dr. Carly Monroe makes it a habit to stop by the local dog shelter as often as possible because she loves dogs and secretly loves the shelter’s owner, Dan. Unfortunately, he has agreed to marry his glamorous TV personality girlfriend and move to the Big Apple. With Dan’s big move looming, his sister decides to take matters into her own hands.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPor Trás do Pano (1999)
A famous actor believes he has totally mastered his craft. A young and talented actress is open to new challenges. They meet, and confront each other; on, and off the stage. From his personal and artistic lethargy, he sees the possibilities of a new beginning, new opportunities, after starting to see her. The story unravels, as the title states, "behind the curtain."
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Great Pretender?
The closest matches to The Great Pretender are Love Jones (1997), XX/XY (2002) and Author! Author! (1982). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Great Pretender?
Start with Love Jones (1997), the closest match to The Great Pretender.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Great Pretender?
Rushmore (1998), rated 7.4/10 by 2,856 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Great Pretender?
Is This Thing On? (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Great Pretender?
Yes: Love Jones (1997), XX/XY (2002) and Author! Author! (1982).
How are movies similar to The Great Pretender chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Great Pretender, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.