Movies like The Circle (1989)
The best movies like The Circle (1989) are A Corner in Wheat (1909), Anuja (2024) and The Neighbors' Window (2019). If The Circle hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedReservoir Dogs (1991)7.5/10 from 222 votes
- NewestEleanor the Great (2025)Released 2025
A Corner in Wheat (1909)
On a whim, a greedy tycoon decides to corner the world market in wheat. This doubles the price of bread, forcing grain producers into charity lines and others further into poverty. The film contrasts the differences between the lives of those who work to grow the wheat and the life of the man who dabbles in its sale for profit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnuja (2024)
When a brilliant nine-year-old working in a sweatshop gets a chance to attend school, she must make a difficult choice for her and her sister's future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Neighbors' Window (2019)
The story of a middle-aged woman with small children whose life is shaken up when two free-spirited twenty-somethings move in across the street.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHands of Stone (2016)
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Enforcer (2022)
A noir thriller set in Miami, the film follows an enforcer who discovers his femme fatale boss has branched out into cyber sex trafficking, putting a young runaway he’s befriended at risk. He sacrifices everything to save the young girl from the deadly organization he’s spent his life building.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisA Movie (1958)
Bruce Conner's landmark experimental film consisting entirely of found footage edited to a new score.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEleanor the Great (2025)
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBastard Out of Carolina (1996)
A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGirl in the Box (2016)
The true story of 20-year-old Colleen Stan, a hitchhiking woman abducted by a young couple and held captive for seven years, during which time she's tortured and forced to live as a slave to her captors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe River (1984)
Tom and Mae Garvey are a Tennessee farming couple battling violent floods to save their land. In addition to natural disasters, the Garveys fight to stop a selfish land developer and a local corporation from foreclosing on their farm. While Mae stays at home to care for their children and tend to the crops, Tom finds work as a scab at a steel mill to preserve his family's property.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFast Girls (2012)
A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (2004)
The story of golf icon and legend, Bobby Jones, who retired from competition at the tender age of 28.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisReservoir Dogs (1991)
Short film made with the help of the Sundance Film Institute and serving as a proof-of-concept for the subsequent feature film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRogue Agent (2022)
Conman Robert Freegard poses as an undercover MI5 agent and kidnaps countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt, until the woman who fell for him brings him to justice.
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 thisIron Jawed Angels (2004)
Defiant young activists take the women's suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Congress (2013)
An aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job, though the consequences of her decision affect her in ways she didn't consider.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Dinner with Hervé (2018)
An unlikely friendship evolves over one wild night in LA between a struggling journalist and actor Hervé Villechaize, the world's most famous gun-toting dwarf, resulting in life-changing consequences for both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Nest (2020)
Rory is an ambitious entrepreneur who brings his American wife and kids to his native country, England, to explore new business opportunities. After abandoning the sanctuary of their safe American suburban surroundings, the family is plunged into the despair of an archaic '80s Britain and their unaffordable new life in an English manor house threatens to destroy the family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAgreement (2017)
Se-young goes to an agreement with the woman her husband raped.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bien parecidas (2021)
María allows Cecilia to dye her hair while they wait for Agustín's rehabilitation therapy to finish. This simple fact will change the way mother and daughter perceive their relationship and help them cope with the difficult time they are experiencing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Platelayer (1957)
A group of plate-layers are packing the stone-bed under the rail with their pickaxes. They swing their picks in a coordinated, rhythmic way, thereby creating a sequence of rings, when they hit the stones or the rail, which sounds almost as music. When a train passes by, they stand silent beside the rail for a while, and then start the rhythmic beats again.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Scatterbrains (2022)
For some women to gain freedom, they must forget to remember.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
An Urban Allegory (2024)
A ballet dancer is late for an audition for a show inspired by Plato's Allegory of the Cave. She arrives with her seven-year-old son, Jay, and begs the director to give her a chance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Across My Land (2017)
Father and son 'minutemen' patrol the American/Mexican border near their home in Nogales, Arizona.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Iníon an Fhiaclóra (2000)
New kid Rory falls in love with the dentist's daughter Genie, and discovers painfully that falling in love can mean losing not only your teeth but your life....
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Grass Snake (2009)
The film tells the story of two blind men who stand on the side of a road between oil wells and beg, and the conflict between them. The young blind man, who was born blind, sees the old blind man, who later lost his sight, as his rival. Each blind man represents a large crowd in himself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Metanoia (2022)
Carlo has an episode of anxiety caused by a memory from his childhood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like The Circle and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Circle?
The closest matches to The Circle are A Corner in Wheat (1909), Anuja (2024) and The Neighbors' Window (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Circle?
Start with A Corner in Wheat (1909), the closest match to The Circle.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Circle?
Reservoir Dogs (1991), rated 7.5/10 by 222 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Circle?
Eleanor the Great (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Circle chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Circle, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.