Movies like Forbidden (2017)
The best movies like Forbidden (2017) are 1 Chance 2 Dance (2014), What Maisie Knew (2013) and I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977). If Forbidden hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedWhat Maisie Knew (2013)7.1/10 from 466 votes
- Newest40 Acres (2025)Released 2025
1 Chance 2 Dance (2014)
When a 17-year old aspiring dancer is uprooted in her high school senior year, she finds herself divided between two boys, and she will have one last shot at making her dream a reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat Maisie Knew (2013)
In New York City, six-year-old Maisie is caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle between her self-absorbed parents—an aging rock singer mother and a distracted art dealer father. As both quickly marry new partners to strengthen their legal standing, Maisie is shuttled back and forth in an endless game of emotional point-scoring. Yet amid the chaos and upheaval, Maisie begins to find true comfort and affection in her new step-parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977)
A disturbed and institutionalized 16-year-old girl struggles between fantasy and reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisHello (2022)
An emotionally unavailable flight attendant meets a potential love interest and later finds out that her "perfect guy" has ulterior motives. As the clock ticks down on New Year's Eve, she must fight to keep her murdered ex-boyfriend's secrets or find herself dead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Young One (1960)
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHungry Hearts (2015)
The relationship of a couple who meet by chance in New York City is put to the test when they encounter a life or death circumstance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLady Driver (2020)
When a rebellious teen embarks on a solo summer journey to connect with her roots, she finds herself in a new world, geared up for the ride of her life, and discovers she had the drive in her all along.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEl Chicano (2019)
A pair of twin brothers from East L.A. choose to live their lives differently and end up on opposite sides of the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Short History of the Long Road (2019)
Nola grew up living in a van with her father, Clint—two nomads against the world. When tragedy strikes, Nola must confront the reality of life on the road alone, learning to own her grief, her past, and her new destination.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLorelei (2020)
A man is released from prison after 15 years. He reunites with his high school girlfriend, now a single mother of three. What follows is a lyrical take on love, regret and second chances.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKisses (2008)
Two kids, Dylan and Kylie, run away from home on Christmas Day and spend a night of magic and terror on the streets of inner-city Dublin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Color of Friendship (2000)
Mahree Bok lives on a farm in South Africa. Her father is a policeman who cannot hide his joy when activist Steve Biko is caught by the South African authorities. Piper Dellums is the daughter of a US congressman from California and who lives in a nice home in Washington DC. When Mahree is chosen to spend a semester at the Dellums' house, she doesn't expect that her host family would be black. Nor do her hosts suspect that she is not a black South African.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTigertail (2020)
A man reflects on the lost love of his youth and his long-ago journey from Taiwan to America as he begins to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this40 Acres (2025)
Hailey Freeman and her family are the last descendants of African American farmers who settled in rural Canada after the Civil War. In a famine-decimated near future, they now struggle to safeguard their farm, as they make one last stand against a vicious militia hell-bent on taking their 40 Acres.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGracie (2007)
A teenager faces an uphill battle when she fights to give women the opportunity to play competitive soccer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTehran Taboo (2017)
The lives of three strong-willed women and a young musician cross paths in Tehran’s schizophrenic society where sex, adultery, corruption, prostitution and drugs coexist with strict religious law. In this bustling modern metropolis, avoiding prohibition has become an everyday sport and breaking taboos can be a means of personal emancipation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSkin (2009)
Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHala (2019)
Seventeen-year-old Pakistani American teenager Hala struggles to balance desire with her family, cultural, and religious obligations. As she comes into her own, she grapples with a secret that threatens to unravel her family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHome (2021)
An ex-felon returns home from prison and must confront the demons of his past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this100W Bulb (2014)
The film tells the story of Farzin's life (played by Mohsen Tanabandeh) who is addicted to narcotics and is involved with his family throughout the story ...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Mastaneh (2015)
An Adopted Movie From Orginal Title 'Lipstick"
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Drought and Lies (2016)
Omid happily celebrates his birthday with his wife and her family at a beautiful villa near the Caspian Sea. A phone call from Omid's ex-wife puts the festivities on hold as she drops a bombshell that threatens to unravel the new life he is trying to lead. Written by Iranian playwright Mohammad Yaghoubi, this insightful drama tackles marital and social issues with sharp dialogue and knowing humour.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Booye Gandom (2010)
Erfan and his friends decide to perform a concert in memory of him and Khalilians on the oil platform where the father of mysticism was martyred ....
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Felicity Land (2011)
Yassi, who has doubts about Mohsen's life in common, decides to remind her of a memorable occasion. He anticipates everything in advance for the best of the party, ignoring the fact that the circumstances do not go away on his own. The film deals with betrayal in marriage.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Someone Wants to Talk with You (2012)
Yasaman has been living with her mother Leila since birth. Leila has never let her see her father. When Yasaman gets brain death in an accident, Leila has one week time to get consent from her ex-husband for a vital issue.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
I'm His Wife (2012)
Couples after twelve years of life have now come to some sort of homogeneity in life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
I'm a Mother (2012)
The film is about the lives of two affluent families that are collapsing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Parole (2015)
It's A Story About Life Of Crime...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Conditional Release (2018)
Keyvan Has Been Sentenced 25 years In Jail. He is released on condition after 10 but...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Forbidden and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Forbidden?
The closest matches to Forbidden are 1 Chance 2 Dance (2014), What Maisie Knew (2013) and I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Forbidden?
Start with 1 Chance 2 Dance (2014), the closest match to Forbidden.
What is the highest-rated movie like Forbidden?
What Maisie Knew (2013), rated 7.1/10 by 466 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Forbidden?
40 Acres (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Forbidden chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Forbidden, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.