Movies like The Prohibited Area (1981)
The best movies like The Prohibited Area (1981) are Chungking Express (1994), Comrades, Almost a Love Story (1996) and The Etruscan Smile (2018). If The Prohibited Area hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedChungking Express (1994)8.0/10 from 2,343 votes
- NewestGreenland 2: Migration (2026)Released 2026
Chungking Express (1994)
Two melancholic Hong Kong policemen fall in love: one with a mysterious underworld figure, the other with a beautiful and ethereal server at a late-night restaurant.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisComrades, Almost a Love Story (1996)
Jun arrives in Hong Kong from mainland China, hoping to be able to earn enough money to marry his girlfriend back home. He meets the streetwise Qiao and they become friends. As friendship turns into love, problems develop, and although they seem meant for each other they somehow keep missing out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Etruscan Smile (2018)
Rory MacNeil, a rugged old Scotsman, reluctantly leaves his beloved isolated Hebridean island and travels to San Francisco to seek medical treatment. Moving in with his estranged son, Rory sees his life transformed through a newly found bond with his baby grandson.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Ted Kramer is a career man for whom his work comes before his family. His wife Joanna cannot take this anymore, so she decides to leave him. Ted is now faced with the tasks of housekeeping and taking care of himself and their young son Billy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLittle Man (2006)
After leaving prison, dwarf criminal Calvin Sims joins his moron brother Percy in stealing an expensive huge diamond from a jewelry store for the mobster Walken. They are chased by the police, and Calvin hides the stone in the purse of executive Vanessa Edwards, whose husband Darryl Edwards wants to have a baby. Percy convinces Calvin to dress like a baby and be left in front of the Edwards' house to get inside the house and retrieve the diamond. Darryl and Vanessa keep Calvin for the weekend and decide to adopt him, while Walken threatens Darryl to get the stone back.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisMy Life (1993)
It seems that Bob Jones has everything a man could want, namely a fulfilling job and a beautiful, pregnant wife, Gail. But Bob's life is turned upside-down when he is diagnosed with cancer and given four months to live -- not even enough time to see his first child's birth. To cleanse himself of demons in his remaining days, Bob makes a video diary, hoping to pass along some wisdom to his future child. Along the way, he discovers a lot about himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Calm Beyond (2020)
A young woman lives, hidden in plain sight in a ruined Hong Kong building after a tsunami destroyed the city - a castaway on a concrete island. Her concealed existence is changed forever when a small child literally floats into her life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them (2014)
A New York couple's relationship is tested after the loss of their child. This film is the wide-released combination of the original two :him and :her volumes that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlready Tomorrow in Hong Kong (2016)
Ruby, a Chinese American toy designer from LA, visits Hong Kong for the first time on business. Finding herself stranded, she meets Josh, an American expat who shows her the city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Rain People (1969)
When a housewife finds out she is pregnant, she runs out of town looking for freedom to reevaluate her life decisions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Out-of-Towners (1999)
The adventures of married couple Henry and Nancy Clark, vexed by misfortune while in New York City for Henry's job interview.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisLife Itself (2018)
As a young New York couple goes from college romance to marriage and the birth of their first child, the unexpected twists of their journey create reverberations that echo over continents and through lifetimes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFor Keeps (1988)
Young high school couple Darcy Elliot and Stan Bobrucz are one year from graduation, with promising futures ahead of them. But their paths take a drastic turn when Darcy becomes pregnant. Unwilling to go through an abortion or an adoption — despite their parents' pleas — Darcy and Stan decide to sacrifice their college experiences and degrees in order to keep and raise the baby. After a quick marriage, the two realize it won't be as easy as they thought.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Domestics (2018)
A young husband and wife must fight to return home in a post-apocalyptic mid-western landscape ravaged by gangs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Marine 6: Close Quarters (2018)
Jake Carter and another former Marine, Luke Trapper, join forces to rescue a young kidnapped girl from a gang of international criminals.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGreenland 2: Migration (2026)
Having found the safety of the Greenland bunker after the comet Clarke decimated the Earth, the Garrity family must now risk everything to embark on a perilous journey across the wasteland of Europe to find a new home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisElizabethtown (2005)
Drew Baylor is fired after causing his shoe company to lose hundreds of millions of dollars. To make matters worse, he's also dumped by his girlfriend. On the verge of ending it all, Drew gets a new lease on life when he returns to his family's small Kentucky hometown after his father dies. Along the way, he meets a flight attendant with whom he falls in love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her (2014)
Told from the woman's perspective, the story of a couple trying to reclaim the life and love they once knew and pick up the pieces of a past that may be too far gone.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClash by Night (1952)
An embittered woman seeks escape in marriage, only to fall for her husband’s best friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Prohibited Area?
The closest matches to The Prohibited Area are Chungking Express (1994), Comrades, Almost a Love Story (1996) and The Etruscan Smile (2018). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Prohibited Area?
Start with Chungking Express (1994), the closest match to The Prohibited Area.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Prohibited Area?
Chungking Express (1994), rated 8.0/10 by 2,343 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Prohibited Area?
Greenland 2: Migration (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Prohibited Area chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Prohibited Area, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.