Movies like May You Live in Interesting Times (2017)
The best movies like May You Live in Interesting Times (2017) are Therapy Done Right (2026), Deconstructing Harry (1997) and The Distinguished Citizen (2016). If May You Live in Interesting Times hooked you with its comedy and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDeconstructing Harry (1997)7.2/10 from 1,084 votes
- NewestTherapy Done Right (2026)Released 2026
- In SpanishTherapy Done Right (2026)Also in Spanish
Therapy Done Right (2026)
A psychoanalyst who's lost faith in traditional therapy crosses every boundary to help a blocked novelist in this cutting Argentine dark comedy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDeconstructing Harry (1997)
Writer Harry Block draws inspiration from people he knows, and from events that happened to him, sometimes causing these people to become alienated from him as a result.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Distinguished Citizen (2016)
After refusing big and prestigious awards all over the world, Mr. Mantovani, Literature Nobel Prize winner, accepts an invitation to visit his hometown in Argentina, which has been the inspiration for all of his books. It turns out that accepting this invitation is the worst idea of his life. Expect the unexpected when you have used real people as characters in your novels!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisListen Up Philip (2014)
Anger rages in Philip as he awaits the publication of his second novel. He feels pushed out of his adopted home city by the constant crowds and noise, a deteriorating relationship with his photographer girlfriend Ashley, and his own indifference to promoting the novel. When Philip's idol Ike Zimmerman offers his isolated summer home as a refuge, he finally gets the peace and quiet to focus on his favorite subject: himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBest Sellers (2021)
A cranky, retired author reluctantly embarks on a final book tour to help out a young publisher.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYoung Adult (2011)
A divorced writer from the Midwest returns to her hometown to reconnect with an old flame, who's now married with a family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisCan You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)
When a bestselling celebrity biographer is no longer able to get published because she has fallen out of step with current tastes, she turns her art form to deception.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSomewhere in Queens (2023)
Leo and Angela Russo live a simple life in Queens, surrounded by their overbearing Italian-American family. When their son finds success on his high school basketball team, Leo tears the family apart trying to make it happen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWinter Passing (2006)
Actress Reese Holden has been offered a small fortune by a book editor if she can secure for publication the love letters that her father, a reclusive novelist, wrote to her mother, who has since passed away. Returning to Michigan, Reese finds that an ex-grad student and a would-be musician have moved in with her father, who cares more about his new friends than he does about his own health and well-being.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Poet (2025)
An aging poet finds purpose mentoring Yurlady, a talented teen, though exposing her to the poetry scene might be unwise. His own poetic pursuits led nowhere, leaving him a stereotypical obscure writer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisOfficial Competition (2021)
When a billionaire entrepreneur impulsively decides to create an iconic movie, he demands the best. Renowned filmmaker Lola Cuevas is recruited to mastermind this ambitious endeavour. Completing the all-star team are two actors with massive talent but even bigger egos: Hollywood heartthrob Félix Rivero and radical theatre actor Iván Torres. Both are legends, but not exactly best friends. Through a series of increasingly eccentric trials set by Lola, Félix and Iván must confront not only each other but also their own legacies. Who will be left when the cameras finally start rolling?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Dog Year (2009)
Jon Katz is close to burnout. He's a writer with writer's block; his wife has left for her sister's because he's emotionally distant; he rarely answers his phone. A kennel sends him a border collie that's undisciplined because of abuse. Despite a series of mishaps, Jon decides to keep trying with the dog, and he rents a dilapidated farm house to give the dog room to run. A local handyman refers Jon to a woman who might be able to help him train the dog. Reluctantly, Jon gives her a try. Is the dog the problem, or the owner?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLady Windermere's Fan (1925)
A society woman believes her husband is having an affair, a misconception which may have dire personal consequences for all involved.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCorina (2025)
Corina is 20 years old and does not leave her house except to work in a publishing house located in the neighborhood where she lives. After making a serious mistake with the end of the company's most famous book saga, Corina must overcome her fears with the help of Carlos and embark on a journey in search of a mysterious writer to save her job and that of her colleagues.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Friend (2025)
New York City writer Iris finds her comfortable, solitary life thrown into disarray after her closest friend and mentor bequeaths her a Great Dane named Apollo. The huge dog immediately creates practical problems for Iris, from furniture destruction to eviction notices, as well as more existential ones. Yet as Iris finds herself unexpectedly bonding with Apollo, she begins to come to terms with her past, and her own creative inner life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKill the Jockey (2024)
Remo's self-destructive behavior overshadows his talent. Abril, an upcoming jockey, is pregnant with Remo's baby and has to decide between the child or continuing to race. They both race for Sirena, a businessman who saved Remo's life in the past but now is determined to find him, dead or alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Words (2012)
The Words follows young writer Rory Jansen who finally achieves long sought after literary success after publishing the next great American novel. There's only one catch - he didn't write it. As the past comes back to haunt him and his literary star continues to rise, Jansen is forced to confront the steep price that must be paid for stealing another man's work, and for placing ambition and success above life's most fundamental three words.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Most Hated Woman in America (2017)
The true story of Madalyn Murray O'Hair -- iconoclast, opportunist, and outspoken atheist -- from her controversial rise to her untimely demise.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShirley (2020)
A famous horror writer finds inspiration for her next book after she and her husband take in a young couple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNeverwas (2005)
Zach Riley is a psychiatrist, who leaves a job at a prestigious university, to take up a job at the privately run mental institution, Millwood. What he doesn't reveal at the time of his appointment is that this was the very place where his novelist father, T.L. Pierson, spent many years of his life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNurse Betty (2000)
What happens when a person decides that life is merely a state of mind? If you're Betty, a small-town waitress and soap opera fan from Fair Oaks, Kansas, you refuse to believe that you can't be with the love of your life just because he doesn't really exist. After all, life is no excuse for not living. Traumatized by a savage event, Betty enters into a fugue state that allows -- even encourages -- her to keep functioning... in a kind of alternate reality.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe World According to Garp (1982)
A struggling young writer finds his life and work dominated by his unfaithful wife and his radical feminist mother, whose best-selling manifesto turns her into a cultural icon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOrange County (2002)
Shaun Brumder is a local surfer kid from Orange County who dreams of going to Stanford to become a writer and to get away from his dysfunctional family household. Except Shaun runs into one complication after another, starting when his application is rejected after his dim-witted guidance counselor sends in the wrong form.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmanda & Jack Go Glamping (2017)
With his marriage and career against the ropes, dejected author Jack Spencer travels with his wife, Amanda, to an isolated glamping retreat in search of a spark. When a surprise double booking finds their private retreat anything but private, Jack spins into a comedic exploration of love, lost dreams, small-town-wisdom, and friendship with a miniature donkey to get over himself before he loses all he holds dear.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Coast to Coast (2004)
Barnaby and Maxine Pierce, an embattled married couple in Connecticut, are on the verge of divorce. Their son is getting married in California and they decide to drive across the country to attend. Along the way, as they visit family and friends, they reflect on their tattered relationship and the events that transpired to create the estrangement.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Liebesgruß an einen Engel (2008)
When a love letter falls into Sara's hands that is not meant for her, but whose addressee remains unclear, her curiosity is aroused. The words on the paper have caused something in her to resound, which she wants to trace. The surprising path of feelings makes its way through the jungle of life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The Actress (2011)
The banker Vagif Fataliyev is found murdered in his own house. During the investigation, two more murders occur one after the other.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Genius (2016)
New York in the 1920s. Max Perkins, a literary editor is the first to sign such subsequent literary greats as Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. When a sprawling, chaotic 1,000-page manuscript by an unknown writer falls into his hands, Perkins is convinced he has discovered a literary genius.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFactotum (2005)
This drama centers on Hank Chinaski, the fictional alter-ego of "Factotum" author Charles Bukowski, who wanders around Los Angeles, CA trying to live off jobs which don't interfere with his primary interest, which is writing. Along the way, he fends off the distractions offered by women, drinking and gambling.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like May You Live in Interesting Times?
The closest matches to May You Live in Interesting Times are Therapy Done Right (2026), Deconstructing Harry (1997) and The Distinguished Citizen (2016). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after May You Live in Interesting Times?
Start with Therapy Done Right (2026), the closest match to May You Live in Interesting Times.
What is the highest-rated movie like May You Live in Interesting Times?
Deconstructing Harry (1997), rated 7.2/10 by 1,084 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like May You Live in Interesting Times?
Therapy Done Right (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like May You Live in Interesting Times?
Yes: Therapy Done Right (2026), The Distinguished Citizen (2016) and A Poet (2025).
How are movies similar to May You Live in Interesting Times chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside May You Live in Interesting Times, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.