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Movies like Modern Wives (1932)

The best movies like Modern Wives (1932) are Petulia (1968), Jungle Fever (1991) and Manhattan (1979). If Modern Wives hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. Petulia (1968)

    Dr. Archie Bollen is having a midlife crisis. He's just divorced his wife and is establishing a new life for himself. One night, he catches the eye of Petulia Danner, a charming, free-spirited young woman. Petulia's vibrant personality hides her fear of her abusive husband, David, whose father is a powerful society figure. As Petulia and Archie's feelings for each other grow, they must decide what it is they truly want.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  2. Jungle Fever (1991)

    A successful and married black man contemplates having an affair with a white girl from work. He's quite rightly worried that the racial difference would make an already taboo relationship even worse.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  3. Manhattan (1979)

    Manhattan explores how the life of a middle-aged television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  4. Fight Club (1999)

    A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  5. Possession (1981)

    A young woman left her family for an unspecified reason. The husband determines to find out the truth and starts following his wife. At first, he suspects that a man is involved. But gradually, he finds out more and more strange behaviors and bizarre incidents that indicate something more than a possessed love affair.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  6. Bronson (2009)

    A young man who was sentenced to 7 years in prison for robbing a post office ends up spending 30 years in solitary confinement. During this time, his own personality is supplanted by his alter ego, Charles Bronson.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  7. Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

    One evening, Hammer gives a ride to Christina, an attractive hitchhiker on a lonely country road, who has escaped from the nearby lunatic asylum. Thugs waylay them and force his car to crash. When Hammer returns to semi-consciousness, he hears Christina being tortured until she dies. Hammer, both for vengeance and in hopes that "something big" is behind it all, decides to pursue the case.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  8. Unfaithful (2002)

    A New York suburban couple's marriage goes dangerously awry when the wife indulges in an adulterous fling.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  9. Beck 04 - Eye for an Eye (1998)

    In this film Beck and his team are trying to find a serial killer, whose victims are spread all over Sweden. An obvious connection is that all the victims are women, and they were all in the same class, and Beck thinks that a scandal back in the past has something to do with the murders. But no one wants to talk about the past and it becomes a struggle to find the perpetrator before the final murder - only one woman is still alive.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  10. Asylum (2005)

    A woman becomes very curious about one of her psychiatrist husband's inmates, a man who was found guilty in the murder and disfigurement of his former wife.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  11. Middle of the Night (1959)

    Jerry Kingsley is a wealthy garment manufacturer left lonely in his 50s when his wife dies. Despite the difference in their ages, he strikes up a romance with divorced 24-year-old receptionist Betty. The relationship is dismissed by his daughter, Lillian, discouraged by his sister, Evelyn, and denounced by Betty's mother. But when Jerry begins to mention marriage, even Betty is forced to confront her ambivalence.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  12. Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998)

    Young teen girl Xiu Xiu is sent away to a remote corner of the Sichuan steppes for manual labor in 1975 (sending young people to there was a part of Cultural Revolution in China). A year later, she agrees to go to even more remote spot with a Tibetan saddle tramp Lao Jin to learn horse herding.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  13. The Echo (2008)

    An ex-prisoner moves to an old apartment, where one gets to see in the middle of a domestic problem between a police officer, his wife and his daughter. When he tries to intervene, he will be caught in a mysterious curse.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  14. Murphy's Law (1986)

    A tough police detective escapes from custody after being framed and arrested for the murder of his ex-wife, and must now find the real killer and prove his innocence.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  15. Original Sin (2001)

    A young man is plunged into a life of subterfuge, deceit and mistaken identity in pursuit of a femme fatale whose heart is never quite within his grasp.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  16. You Should Have Left (2020)

    In an effort to repair their relationship, a couple books a vacation in the countryside for themselves and their daughter. What starts as a perfect retreat begins to fall apart as one loses their grip on reality, and a sinister force tries to tear them apart.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  17. Fear (1996)

    Nicole Walker always dreamed of being swept away by someone special — someone strong, sexy and sensitive who would care for her more than anything else in the world. David is all that and more: a modern-day knight who charms and seduces her, body and soul. But her perfect boyfriend is not all he seems to be. His sweet facade masks a savage, dark side that will soon transform Nicole's dream into a nightmare.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  18. Swallow (2020)

    Hunter, a newly pregnant housewife, finds herself increasingly compelled to consume dangerous objects. As her husband and his family tighten their control over her life, she must confront the dark secret behind her new obsession.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  19. The Prophecy (1995)

    The angel Gabriel comes to Earth to collect a soul which will end the stalemated war in Heaven. However, it is hidden inside of a Native American girl and only a former priest and a schoolteacher can stop him.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  20. Your Friends & Neighbors (1998)

    Restless and unhappy, two couples get caught up in infidelity and deception. Barry is a sullen businessman married to Mary, a writer who is unsatisfied with their relationship. Mary begins an affair with Jerry, a smug theater professor and husband of her friend, Terri, who is also a writer. Adding to the adulterous mix are Cary, a callous doctor, and Cheri, an art-gallery assistant.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

Like Modern Wives and something else?

Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies like Modern Wives?

The closest matches to Modern Wives are Petulia (1968), Jungle Fever (1991) and Manhattan (1979). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after Modern Wives?

Start with Petulia (1968), the closest match to Modern Wives.

What is the highest-rated movie like Modern Wives?

Fight Club (1999), rated 8.4/10 by 33,309 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like Modern Wives?

You Should Have Left (2020) is the most recent release on this list.

How are movies similar to Modern Wives chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Modern Wives, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.

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