Movies like Driving Lessons (2019)
The best movies like Driving Lessons (2019) are Fireworks Wednesday (2006), Tehran Taboo (2017) and Tatami (2024). If Driving Lessons hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Stoning of Soraya M. (2009)7.7/10 from 271 votes
- NewestIt Was Just an Accident (2025)Released 2025
Fireworks Wednesday (2006)
Rouhi, a young bride-to-be, is hired as a maid for an affluent family in Tehran. Upon arriving, she is suddenly thrust into an explosive domestic conflict. The wife is convinced her husband is having an affair and enlists Rouhi as a spy, to follow her husband, and confirm her suspicions. What Rouhi discovers, however, threatens not only their marriage but her own future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTehran Taboo (2017)
The lives of three strong-willed women and a young musician cross paths in Tehran’s schizophrenic society where sex, adultery, corruption, prostitution and drugs coexist with strict religious law. In this bustling modern metropolis, avoiding prohibition has become an everyday sport and breaking taboos can be a means of personal emancipation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTatami (2024)
Iranian female judokas Leila and her coach Maryam, travel to the Judo World Championship, intent on bringing home Iran’s first gold medal. Midway through the Judo World Championships, they receive an ultimatum from the Islamic Republic ordering Leila to fake an injury and lose, or she will be branded a traitor of the state. With her own and her family’s freedom at stake, Leila is faced with an impossible choice: comply with the Iranian regime as her coach Maryam implores her to do, or fight on, for the gold.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCircumstance (2011)
A wealthy Iranian family struggles to contain a teenager's growing sexual rebellion and her brother's newfound conservatism.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisXiu 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 · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisReading Lolita in Tehran (2024)
In 1979, amidst censorship and religious extremism, a revolutionary literature professor in Tehran gathers seven of her most dedicated female students to immerse themselves in banned literary classics.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Stoning of Soraya M. (2009)
In 1986 Iran, Sahebjam, whose car breaks down in a remote village, enters into a conversation with Zahra, who relays to him the story about her niece, Soraya, whose arranged marriage to an abusive tyrant ended in tragedy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 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 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 thisCall Me Crazy: A Five Film (2013)
A psychotherapist helps a law student cope with schizophrenia in one of five interconnected tales dealing with mental illness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWomen Without Men (2009)
Against the tumultuous backdrop of Iran's 1953 CIA-backed coup d'état, the destinies of four women converge in a beautiful orchard garden, where they find independence, solace and companionship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wind Will Carry Us (1999)
Irreverent city engineer Behzad comes to a rural Kurdish village in Iran to keep vigil for a dying relative. In the meanwhile the film follows his efforts to fit in with the local community and how he changes his own attitudes as a result.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 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 thisThe Color of Friendship (2000)
Mahree Bok lives on a farm in South Africa. Her father is a policeman who cannot hide his joy when activist Steve Biko is caught by the South African authorities. Piper Dellums is the daughter of a US congressman from California and who lives in a nice home in Washington DC. When Mahree is chosen to spend a semester at the Dellums' house, she doesn't expect that her host family would be black. Nor do her hosts suspect that she is not a black South African.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisArgo (2012)
As the Iranian revolution reaches a boiling point, a CIA 'exfiltration' specialist concocts a risky plan to free six Americans who have found shelter at the home of the Canadian ambassador.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGracie (2007)
A teenager faces an uphill battle when she fights to give women the opportunity to play competitive soccer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat Maisie Knew (2013)
In New York City, six-year-old Maisie is caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle between her self-absorbed parents—an aging rock singer mother and a distracted art dealer father. As both quickly marry new partners to strengthen their legal standing, Maisie is shuttled back and forth in an endless game of emotional point-scoring. Yet amid the chaos and upheaval, Maisie begins to find true comfort and affection in her new step-parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Girl in the Book (2015)
The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisIt Was Just an Accident (2025)
An unassuming mechanic is reminded of his time in an Iranian prison when he encounters a man he suspects to be his sadistic jailhouse captor.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSweatshop Girl (2023)
Inés works as a seamstress in a sweatshop where pregnancy tests are periodically administered. When she becomes pregnant, she is sure that her condition will get her fired. She does everything she can to keep it a secret.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Taste of Cherry (1997)
A middle-aged Tehranian man, Mr. Badii is intent on killing himself and seeks someone to bury him after his demise. Driving around the city, the seemingly well-to-do Badii meets with numerous people, including a Muslim student, asking them to take on the job, but initially he has little luck. Eventually, Badii finds a man who is up for the task because he needs the money, but his new associate soon tries to talk him out of committing suicide.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA temporary story (2022)
In the middle of a midlife crisis, Sacha leaves his girlfriend and moves into his grandparents' Airbnb. There he meets Marjan, a married Iranian woman. The involuntary encounter becomes a moment of new possibilities.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Dash Akol (1971)
Dash Akol is greatly respected in Shiraz as an honorable man who has lost his family's money through helping his friends. He has an enemy, however, named Kaka Rostam, a mean and spiteful person. Dash Akol, who is in his forties, falls in love with Marjan, daughter of the late Haji Samad, for whose estate he is the executor. But he keeps his love secret. One day a suitor asks for Marjan's hand, and Dash Akol considers it against his code of honor to refuse. On the night of the wedding, Dash Akol hands over responsibility for the family to the bridegroom. As he is leaving the house, however, Kaka Rostam is waiting for him and a fight ensues. Kaka Rostam stabs him in the back, but Dash Akol succeeds in killing him. On his deathbed, Dash Akol sends his parrot to Marjan with the confession of love he has taught it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Deer (1976)
An urban guerrilla, wounded after a bank robbery, seeks refuge with his childhood friend—only to discover that his friend has fallen into addiction. The guerrilla hides in his house and gradually begins to influence him, helping him regain his courage and strength. Eventually, he entrusts the stolen money to him…
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Everything Is Fine Here (TBA)
25-year-old Arghavan lives with her parents in Tehran, and intends to marry her fiancé, Hesam. One day, her short stories win her a grant to attend a writing workshop in Germany. Soon before she is to leave, however, Arghavan is abducted and raped. In a strict, conservative society where young women are expected to be virgins before marriage, this is a social catastrophe. Plagued by gossip and finding little solace, Arghavan's life begins turning into a nightmare.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Poverty (2009)
A haughty acclaimed newly married fashion designer named Iraj is shown the door by his boss after the boss's son arrives at Iran to take over his father's company. Iraj reluctant to promulgate the loss of his job, starts using his savings, trying to conceal the truth from his naive wife. Having squandered all the money he had on trivial matters, he tells his wife about being axed & that's when the tables turn on him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Chronicles of Her (2020)
Anthology film. Five heroines from five different, yet similar worlds face social and systematic oppression and injustice. We follow their journeys as they struggle for hope and a better life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Abigail's Dawning (2020)
Suffering from addiction and homelessness, Abigail wanders the city on a cold winter late afternoon, suffering withdrawal, slipping in and out of hallucinations and dreams as the cold sets in.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Driving Lessons?
The closest matches to Driving Lessons are Fireworks Wednesday (2006), Tehran Taboo (2017) and Tatami (2024). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Driving Lessons?
Start with Fireworks Wednesday (2006), the closest match to Driving Lessons.
What is the highest-rated movie like Driving Lessons?
The Stoning of Soraya M. (2009), rated 7.7/10 by 271 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Driving Lessons?
It Was Just an Accident (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Driving Lessons chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Driving Lessons, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.