Movies like Penumbra (2003)
The best movies like Penumbra (2003) are Suburbia (1984), David Lynch: The Art Life (2017) and Puzzle (2018). If Penumbra hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Big Short (2015)7.4/10 from 10,244 votes
- NewestDory's Reef Cam (2020)Released 2020
Suburbia (1984)
When household tensions and a sense of worthlessness overcome Evan, he finds escape when he clings with the orphans of a throw-away society. The runaways hold on to each other like a family until a tragedy tears them apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDavid Lynch: The Art Life (2017)
An intimate journey through the formative years of David Lynch's life. From his idyllic upbringing in small town America to the dark streets of Philadelphia, we follow Lynch as he traces the events that have helped to shape one of cinema's most enigmatic directors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPuzzle (2018)
After years of caring exclusively for the needs of her husband and children, Agnes, a devoted housewife living in a small town near New York, has found something she really enjoys doing: solving puzzles.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAs I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000)
A compilation of over 30 years of private home movie footage shot by Lithuanian-American avant-garde director Jonas Mekas, assembled by Mekas "purely by chance", without concern for chronological order.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDory's Reef Cam (2020)
Dive into the waters below and watch the aquatic wildlife from the world of Nemo and Dory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisUnthinkable (2010)
The government gets wind of a plot to destroy America involving a trio of nuclear weapons for which the whereabouts are unknown. It's up to a seasoned interrogator and an FBI agent to find out exactly where the nukes are.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Audrey Hepburn Story (2000)
The film spans from Hepburn's early childhood to the 1950s which details her life as a Dutch ballerina, coming to grips with her parents' divorce, and enduring life in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II. She then settles in the U.S. where she succeeds in making it big as a movie actress, in such movies as Breakfast at Tiffany's.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSmart People (2008)
Professor Lawrence Wetherhold might be imperiously brilliant, monumentally self-possessed and an intellectual giant -- but when it comes to solving the conundrums of love and family, he's as downright flummoxed as the next guy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Big Short (2015)
The men who made millions from a global economic meltdown.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Squid and the Whale (2005)
Based on the true childhood experiences of Noah Baumbach and his brother, The Squid and the Whale tells the touching story of two young boys dealing with their parents' divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSirocco (1951)
A mysterious American gets mixed up with gunrunners in Syria.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNude (2017)
NUDE explores perceptions of nudity in art by chronicling the creative process of photographer David Bellemere as he's commissioned by NU Muses founder Steve Shaw to shoot a fine art calendar of nude photographs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Vanishing (1993)
The boyfriend of an abducted woman never gives up the search as the abductor looks on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Happiest Days of Your Life (1950)
Nutbourne College, an old established, all-boys, boarding school is told that another school is to be billeted with due to wartime restrictions. The shock is that it's an all-girls school that has been sent. The two head teachers are soon battling for the upper hand with each other and the Ministry. But a crisis (or two) forces them to work together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrue Grit (1969)
The murder of her father sends a teenage tomboy on a mission of 'justice', which involves avenging her father's death. She recruits a tough old marshal, 'Rooster' Cogburn because he has 'true grit', and a reputation of getting the job done.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisToo Big to Fail (2011)
An intimate look at the epochal financial crisis of 2008 and the powerful men and women who decided the fate of the world's economy in a matter of a few weeks.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSlums of Beverly Hills (1998)
In 1976, a teenage girl struggles to cope while living with her neurotic lower-middle-class family of nomads on the outskirts of Beverly Hills.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Girl from the Song (2017)
A young musician travels to Burning Man, a psychedelic festival in the middle of the Nevada desert, in an attempt to get the impetuous girl he has fallen in love with.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHailey Dean Mysteries: Murder, With Love (2016)
Former prosecutor-turned-therapist Hailey Dean is a powerhouse, Mensa bright, and acutely observant. During a tragic week, one of her patients loses her parents to separate fatal accidents along with millions of dollars that has seemingly vanished into thin air. When the police begin to question Hailey's patient, shes knows she is innocent. But who is the culprit?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Mambo Kings (1992)
The Mambo Kings tells the story of César and Nestor Castillo, brothers and aspiring musicians who flee from Cuba to America in search of the American Dream.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Penumbra?
The closest matches to Penumbra are Suburbia (1984), David Lynch: The Art Life (2017) and Puzzle (2018). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Penumbra?
Start with Suburbia (1984), the closest match to Penumbra.
What is the highest-rated movie like Penumbra?
The Big Short (2015), rated 7.4/10 by 10,244 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Penumbra?
Dory's Reef Cam (2020) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Penumbra?
Yes: Suburbia (1984), David Lynch: The Art Life (2017) and Puzzle (2018).
How are movies similar to Penumbra chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Penumbra, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.