Movies like El dinero no es la vida (1952)
The best movies like El dinero no es la vida (1952) are The Gambler (1974), Rounders (1998) and House of Games (1987). If El dinero no es la vida hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCasino (1995)8.0/10 from 6,874 votes
- NewestDoubleDown (2023)Released 2023
- In SpanishThe Rose Seller (1998)Also in Spanish
The Gambler (1974)
New York City English professor Axel Freed outwardly seems like an upstanding citizen. But privately Freed is in the clutches of a severe gambling addiction that threatens to destroy him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRounders (1998)
Poker addict Mike McDermott knows the game inside out, but loses his money one night in a game to Russian-American gangster Teddy KGB. Promising his partner Jo he'll give up, he meets up with best friend Lester 'Worm' Murphy, just out of prison and owing lots of money to the wrong kind of people. McDermott becomes his co-guarantor and now there's only one way to raise the money, the pair have to get back into the game.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHouse of Games (1987)
A psychiatrist comes to the aid of a compulsive gambler and is led by a smooth-talking grifter into the shadowy but compelling world of stings, scams, and con men.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHard Eight (1997)
A stranger mentors a young Reno gambler who weds a hooker and befriends a vulgar casino regular.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHardball (2001)
An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTalhotBlond (2012)
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Gambler (2014)
Literature professor Jim Bennett leads a secret life as a high-stakes gambler. Always a risk-taker, Bennett bets it all when he borrows from a gangster and offers his own life as collateral. Staying one step ahead, he pits his creditor against the operator of an illicit gambling ring while garnering the attention of Frank, a paternalistic loan shark. As his relationship with a student deepens, Bennett must risk everything for a second chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
When illegal card dealer and recovering heroin addict Frankie Machine gets out of prison, he decides to straighten up. Armed with nothing but an old drum set, Frankie tries to get honest work as a drummer. But when his former employer and his old drug dealer re-enter his life, Frankie finds it hard to stay clean and eventually finds himself succumbing to his old habits.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHome Run (2013)
A pro ball player with a substance abuse problem is forced into rehab in his hometown, finding new hope when he gets honest about his checkered past, and takes on coaching duties for a misfit Little League team
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCasino (1995)
In Las Vegas, two best friends-a casino executive and a Mafia enforcer--compete for a gambling empire and a fast-living, fast-loving socialite.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisFierce People (2006)
A massage therapist looking to overcome her addictions and reconnect with her son, whose father is an anthropologist in South America studying the Yanomani people, moves in with a wealthy ex-client in New Jersey.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEmbattled (2020)
The eldest son of a ruthlessly tough MMA champion must fight his way out of the abusive cycle his father has continued.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLight Sleeper (1992)
John LeTour is a recovering drug user who suffers insomnia and still deals to a high-end New York clientele, even though he’s trying to move on from the business. John’s professional midlife crisis becomes something more acute — and dangerous — when he re-encounters an old flame while a string of seemingly drug-related murders rocks the city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrouble Man (1972)
It seems that masked men are knocking over the floating crap games of Chalky and Pete. Chalky and Pete hire the cool, loose, elegant Mr. T to fix things. Then, the masked manipulators set up the death of a collector for a rival gang lord. It looks like it's up to T to hold a gang war from breaking out, keep the police off his back, and earn his fee from Chalky and Pete.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Rose Seller (1998)
Monica is 13 years old and has already created her own world, on the street, where she fights courageously to defend what little she has: her friends, her boyfriend, who sells drugs, and her dignity and pride that makes no concessions to anyone. On Christmas night, like every night, she sells roses to make a living. But life brings her a new appointment with loneliness, poverty, drugs and death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisWhat Doesn't Kill You (2008)
Two childhood friends from South Boston turn to crime as a way to get by, ultimately causing a strain in their personal lives and their friendship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCroupier (1998)
Jack Manfred is an aspiring writer who to make ends meet, takes a job as a croupier. Jack remains an observer, knowing that everything in life is a gamble and that gamblers are born to lose. Inevitably, he gets sucked into the world of the casino which takes its toll on his relationships and the novel he is writing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBugsy (1991)
New York gangster Ben 'Bugsy' Siegel takes a brief business trip to Los Angeles. A sharp-dressing womanizer with a foul temper, Siegel doesn't hesitate to kill or maim anyone crossing him. In L.A. the life, the movies, and most of all strong-willed Virginia Hill detain him while his family wait back home. Then a trip to a run-down gambling joint at a spot in the desert known as Las Vegas gives him his big idea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Air I Breathe (2007)
A gambler’s bet spiraling into chaos, a gangster's prophetic visions, a pop star’s dark entanglement, a doctor’s desperate race against time to rescue his beloved... Four interconnected stories reveal life unfolding through four emotional pillars — joy, passion, grief, and love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Smile Back (2015)
Laney is an attractive, intelligent suburban wife and devoted mother of two adorable children. She has the perfect husband who plays basketball with the kids in the driveway, a pristine house, and a shiny SUV for carting the children to their next activity. However, just beneath the façade lie depression and disillusionment that send her careening into a secret world of reckless compulsion. Only very real danger will force her to face the painful root of her destructiveness and its crumbling effect on those she loves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiller's Crossing (1990)
Set in 1929, a political boss and his advisor have a parting of the ways when they both fall for the same woman.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Gamblers (2007)
General arrives in Baden-Baden with his stepdaughter Polina and his mother, seeking social standing and respite. Secretly, they chase casino fortunes alongside a French businessman and beauty. Alexej, Polina’s tutor, struggles with his own gambling past while falling for her. When the wealthy “Babushka” dies, the family’s financial woes vanish, freeing Alexej to court Polina. Yet he loses everything in a sudden winning streak that upends loyalties and reveals the world’s true stakes: love, money, and chance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bad Lieutenant (1992)
While investigating a young nun's rape, a corrupt New York City police detective, with a serious drug and gambling addiction, tries to change his ways and find forgiveness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Debt Of Maximillian (2020)
Maximillian (Max) has a serious addiction his family knows nothing about. He places bets with his friend Charlie, but Charlie has become disappointed with Max's lack of control. Max starts to beg family and friends for large sums of money, but no one's willing to help. Even his successful older brother has doubts about why he needs the money. His younger brother Kyle might be his only hope, but he's in a little bit of trouble pocketing money from his "side" gig. With bank letters threatening to take his house, he becomes more desperate for quick money. He thinks all he needs is just one more sure bet to keep him above water, but luck plays a wicked game.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Duchess (2008)
A chronicle of the life of 18th century aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who was reviled for her extravagant political and personal life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCurse of the Stone Hand (1965)
Hands sculpted in stone, hidden in the niches of an ancient house, are regarded as sources of a curse by the present inhabitant, a country gambling addict. Indeed, he goes to an early grave after experiencing bankruptcy. The house passes to another family, one of whose sons becomes obsessed with the hands. (A cross-editing of principal material from two Chilean films, LA CASA ESTA VACIA and LA DAMA DE LA MUERTE, with the addition of new American-made footage, to create a single story.)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
West of Sunshine (2018)
A father has less than a day to pay back a debt to a violent loan shark, while looking after his young son.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Lucky Number Slevin (2006)
Slevin is mistakenly put in the middle of a personal war between the city’s biggest criminal bosses. Under constant watch, Slevin must try not to get killed by an infamous assassin and come up with an idea of how to get out of his current dilemma.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDoubleDown (2023)
Inspired by true events, DoubleDown is the story of Ali, a student struggling with money, his relationship and his crippling gambling addiction. Ali promises his girlfriend, Lea, that his next game will be his last and he must fight the temptation to play another round and double down on his chances.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Sexual Roulette (1997)
When a young couple loses all of their money at a casino, the husband performs certain "favours" in order to work the debt off, while his wife is unaware of this kinky arrangement.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like El dinero no es la vida?
The closest matches to El dinero no es la vida are The Gambler (1974), Rounders (1998) and House of Games (1987). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after El dinero no es la vida?
Start with The Gambler (1974), the closest match to El dinero no es la vida.
What is the highest-rated movie like El dinero no es la vida?
Casino (1995), rated 8.0/10 by 6,874 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like El dinero no es la vida?
DoubleDown (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like El dinero no es la vida?
Yes: The Rose Seller (1998).
How are movies similar to El dinero no es la vida chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside El dinero no es la vida, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.