Movies like Barely Managing (2017)
The best movies like Barely Managing (2017) are The Tenant (1976), The Union (2024) and Safe House (2025). If Barely Managing hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Tenant (1976)7.6/10 from 1,282 votes
- NewestSafe House (2025)Released 2025
The Tenant (1976)
A quiet and inconspicuous man rents an apartment in Paris where he finds himself drawn into a rabbit hole of dangerous paranoia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Union (2024)
A New Jersey construction worker goes from regular guy to aspiring spy when his long-lost high school sweetheart recruits him for an espionage mission.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSafe House (2025)
Trapped in a high-security safe house after a terrorist attack in downtown Los Angeles, six government agents realize they must survive not just the enemy outside, but the potential traitor among them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThree Days of the Condor (1975)
When bookish CIA researcher Joe Turner finds all his co-workers dead, he, together with a woman he has kidnapped, must work together to outwit those responsible until he determines who he can really trust.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSamaritan (2022)
Thirteen year old Sam Cleary suspects that his mysteriously reclusive neighbor Mr. Smith is actually the legendary vigilante Samaritan, who was reported dead 25 years ago. With crime on the rise and the city on the brink of chaos, Sam makes it his mission to coax his neighbor out of hiding to save the city from ruin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEquilibrium (2002)
In a dystopian future, a totalitarian regime maintains peace by subduing the populace with a drug, and displays of emotion are punishable by death. A man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overthrow the system.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Odd Couple (1968)
In New York, Felix, a neurotic news writer who just broke up with his wife, is urged by his chaotic friend Oscar, a sports journalist, to move in with him, but their lifestyles are as different as night and day are, so Felix's ideas about housekeeping soon begin to irritate Oscar.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe November Man (2014)
An ex-CIA operative is brought back in on a very personal mission and finds himself pitted against his former pupil in a deadly game involving high level CIA officials and the Russian president-elect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Ninth Configuration (1980)
Army psychiatrist Colonel Kane is posted to a secluded gothic castle housing a military asylum. With a reserved calm, he indulges the inmates' delusions, allowing them free rein to express their fantasies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Siege (1998)
The secret US abduction of a suspected terrorist from his Middle East homeland leads to a wave of terrorist attacks in New York. An FBI senior agent and his team attempt to locate and decommission the enemy cells, but must also deal with an Army General gone rogue and a female CIA agent of uncertain loyalties.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dark Tower (2017)
A boy haunted by visions of a parallel world aids its disillusioned guardian in preventing the destruction of the nexus of universes known as the Dark Tower.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisInsurgent (2015)
Beatrice Prior must confront her inner demons and continue her fight against a powerful alliance which threatens to tear her society apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe New Mutants (2020)
Five young mutants, just discovering their abilities while held in a secret facility against their will, fight to escape their past sins and save themselves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDuplex (2003)
When a young couple buys their dream home, they have no idea what the sweet little old lady upstairs is going to put them through!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAsylum (1972)
A young psychiatrist applies for a job at a mental asylum and must pass a test by interviewing four patients. He must figure out which of the patients, is in fact, the doctor that he would be replacing if hired.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHard Luck (1921)
A down on his luck young man makes several attempts at committing suicide but fails them too. He then finds himself becoming more confident through a series of petty adventures, to such an extent that this becomes his undoing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this*batteries not included (1987)
In a soon to be demolished block of apartments, the residents resist the criminal methods used to force them to leave so a greedy tycoon can build his new skyscraper. When tiny mechanical aliens land for a recharge, they decide to stay and help out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Kissing Booth 2 (2020)
With college decisions looming, Elle juggles her long-distance romance with Noah, changing relationship with bestie Lee and feelings for a new classmate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMemoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)
After a freak accident, an invisible yuppie runs for his life from a treacherous CIA official while trying to cope with his new life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisMy Spy The Eternal City (2024)
JJ, a veteran CIA agent, reunites with his protégé Sophie, in order to prevent a catastrophic nuclear plot targeting the Vatican.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Barely Managing?
The closest matches to Barely Managing are The Tenant (1976), The Union (2024) and Safe House (2025). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Barely Managing?
Start with The Tenant (1976), the closest match to Barely Managing.
What is the highest-rated movie like Barely Managing?
The Tenant (1976), rated 7.6/10 by 1,282 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Barely Managing?
Safe House (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Barely Managing?
Yes: The Tenant (1976), The Union (2024) and Safe House (2025).
How are movies similar to Barely Managing chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Barely Managing, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.