Movies like New Year (2002)
The best movies like New Year (2002) are Eleanor the Great (2025), Hounddog (2008) and A Veteran's Christmas (2018). If New Year hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBabel (2006)7.2/10 from 4,248 votes
- NewestThe Thistle in the Kiss (2025)Released 2025
- In ChineseCaught by the Tides (2024)Also in Chinese
Eleanor 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 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 Veteran's Christmas (2018)
Captain Grace Garland, a decorated U.S. veteran, returns home after two tours of Search and Rescue in Afghanistan. After being separated from her beloved K9 partner, Grace must rediscover the magic of Christmas. When she finds herself stranded in the town of River’s Crossing a couple weeks before Christmas, the local judge, Joe Peterson, offers her a place to stay on his property and takes it upon himself to show Grace everything she has been missing; Christmas, family, community, and love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCaught by the Tides (2024)
Years after her boyfriend left her for the big city and promised to bring her there after he’s settled down, a Chinese woman sets out on a journey to be reunited with him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlood Ties (2013)
Two brothers, on either side of the law, face off over organized crime in Brooklyn during the 1970s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAngels in the Snow (2015)
The affluent, yet troubled Montgomery family hits the road for a special Christmas in the mountains.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCome Sunday (2018)
Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Young One (1960)
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBack to Back, Face to Face (1994)
Wang Shuangli is Deputy Director of the local Cultural Centre, and hopes to be appointed Director. However Old Ma is brought in from the country and installed as Director. This starts a long train of events with Wang's cronies using the bureaucracy to try to oust the new director.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 thisThe Good Neighbor (2022)
A nightmarish evening unfolds for neighbors David and Robert when they accidentally hit a woman on her bike and flee the scene. While David is increasingly plagued by feelings of guilt, Robert shows no remorse and becomes overbearing and possessive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBrotherly Love (2015)
West Philadelphia basketball star Sergio Taylor deals with the pressures of fame while his brother and sister have their own issues with ambition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 Christmas Shoes (2002)
Two separate stories mesh - in the first, a young music teacher, Maggie Andrews, begins dying of a heart condition and her son Nathan tries to get a pair of Christmas shoes for her before she dies. In the second, lawyer Robert Layton and his wife Kate are slowly drifting apart and the matter comes to a head during Christmas when Kate takes over for Maggie for the school choir.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoly Lands (2019)
When lapsed Jew and former cardiologist Harry suddenly decides to spend his retirement as a pig farmer in Nazareth, Israel, the move deeply shocks his family and his new neighbours. Back in New York, Harry’s ex-wife Monica is trying to manage the lives of their adult children, Annabelle and David, as well as her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBuddha Mountain (2011)
In Chengdu, China, a retired female opera singer named Master Chang takes in a trio of young tenants into her boarding home. The tenants include a rock singer and a college student who has run away from home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Bramble House Christmas (2017)
While settling his father’s estate, Finn Conrad becomes suspicious as to why the man left a nurse $100,000. His dad knew her for less than two months before he died. Just before Christmas, Finn wants what to reclaim what he considers his family’s money, going undercover to investigate the bed and breakfast the nurse has recently taken over. When Finn meets Willa, he discovers she’s not a conniving gold digger at all, but a woman in need who put the money to good use. When she discovers his true identity, will it keep Willa from ever trusting him again?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Trials of Cate McCall (2013)
In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSalomé (2013)
After the lewd and frenetic Dance of the Seven Veils, and with the solemn pledge from the very lips of Herod himself that she could have whatever her heart desires up to half his kingdom, wanton and proud young Salomé comes before her king with an unreasonable demand. Beguiled by John the Baptist, and then scorned for the sake of his god, lascivious Salomé—encouraged by her mother, the vindictive, Herodias—commands that John be executed and his head delivered on a silver platter.
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 thisLove, Lies and Hybrids (2021)
When Jessica and her lover, Sophia, escape to a mountain cabin for a week’s holiday at the end of the year, Jessica’s fiancé, Daniel, shows up to surprise her but is actually the one who receives a surprise.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Thistle in the Kiss (2025)
Declan has had no luck with the holidays: his girlfriend Stephanie broke up with him on the way to Christmas dinner. He's managed to keep it secret until New Year's Day, when his car breaks down and his sister Rachel shows up to help him fix it. Crumbling under her relentless curiosity, Declan is now on a crash course to confront the poor decisions of his life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Indiscreet (1931)
A young woman jeopardizes the relationship with the man she loves when a no-account from her past shows up.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
X2000 (1998)
The day after New Year's Eve in 2000. A man groggily awakes from an apparently wild New Year's Eve party to find both slumbering partners and unexpected activity.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Boys Go to Jupiter (2025)
A teenager in suburban Florida desperately hustles to make $5,000 in this dreamy and surreal animated coming-of-age story.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Always on My Mind (2012)
The love story of four people who meet during the New Year's Day in the city of Vientiane, Laos.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Jump (2012)
The lives of four twenty-somethings collide one fateful New Year's Eve in this twisty, blackly comic crime thriller set amidst the ancient walls of Derry, Northern Ireland, in a night of fast talk, accidents and intrigue. Johnny, a small-time crook, and Marie, a dissatisfied shop assistant, are both looking for a fresh start. Greta is on the verge of taking her own life and Pearse has a bounty on his head for asking difficult questions about his missing brother Eddie Kelly. As the clock ticks down to midnight and the night's events expertly fall into place, Jump weaves an existential portrait of the characters' lives as their hopes, fears and secrets are revealed
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Babel (2006)
Tragedy strikes a married couple vacationing in the Moroccan desert, which jumpstarts an interlocking story involving four different families.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCulpable (1960)
A criminal confronts the police by firing at them with a machine gun from the first floor of a villa on the outskirts of Buenos Aires and occasionally shooting down a policeman. The gunman has time to reflect, to load his gun, to run from one window to the other. Whoever leads the police notices the futility of his efforts and suspends the fire.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
95th Annual National Christmas Tree Lighting (2017)
On November 30, 2017 the National Park Service and National Park Foundation will present the annual National Christmas Tree Lighting. Popular entertainers and a United States military band add to the celebratory evening.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Like New Year and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like New Year?
The closest matches to New Year are Eleanor the Great (2025), Hounddog (2008) and A Veteran's Christmas (2018). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after New Year?
Start with Eleanor the Great (2025), the closest match to New Year.
What is the highest-rated movie like New Year?
Babel (2006), rated 7.2/10 by 4,248 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like New Year?
The Thistle in the Kiss (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like New Year?
Yes: Caught by the Tides (2024), Back to Back, Face to Face (1994) and Buddha Mountain (2011).
How are movies similar to New Year chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside New Year, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.