Movies like The First Born (1921)
The best movies like The First Born (1921) are The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020), The Magic of Ordinary Days (2005) and Nobody Has to Know (2022). If The First Born hooked you with its drama and romance, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Secret: Dare to Dream (2020)7.4/10 from 700 votes
- NewestNobody Has to Know (2022)Released 2022
The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020)
A widow with three children hires a handyman to fix her house during a major storm. When not doing home repairs, he shares his philosophy of believing in the power of the universe to deliver what we want.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Magic of Ordinary Days (2005)
Pregnant out of wedlock, an educated young woman is pressured by her father into an arranged marriage with a lonely farmer in this drama set during WWII.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNobody Has to Know (2022)
After a stroke and no memories from his past, Phil encounters Millie who inhabits a desert part of Isle of Lewis. She will shortly entrust him with his deepest secret : they were in love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLovely, Still (2009)
A holiday fable that tells the story of an elderly man discovering love for the first time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Sleeping Dictionary (2003)
In the 1930s, British officer John Truscott journeys to a remote village in colonial Malaysia to educate and Westernize the local Iban population. There, he's introduced to the lovely Selima. In keeping with tradition, Selima is assigned to sleep with Truscott and teach him the native language and customs. But when they fall in love, both colonists and natives object to their plans to marry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlamingo Road (1949)
A stranded carnival dancer takes on a corrupt political boss when she marries into small-town society.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSalome (1953)
In the reign of emperor Tiberius, Gallilean prophet John the Baptist preaches against King Herod and Queen Herodias. The latter wants John dead, but Herod fears to harm him due to a prophecy. Enter beautiful Princess Salome, Herod's long-absent stepdaughter. Herodias sees the king's dawning lust for Salome as her means of bending him to her will. But Salome and her lover Claudius are–contrary to Scripture–nearing conversion to the new religion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisDeparture (2016)
An English mother and her teenage son spend a week preparing the sale of their remote holiday house in the South of France. Fifteen-year-old Elliot struggles with his dawning sexuality and an increasing alienation from his mother, Beatrice. She in turn is confronted by the realisation that her marriage to his father, Philip, has grown loveless and the life she knows is coming to an end. When an enigmatic local teenager, Clément, quietly enters their lives, both mother and son are compelled to confront their desires and, finally, each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Lost Husband (2020)
Trying to put her life back together after the death of her husband, Libby and her children move to her estranged Aunt's goat farm in central Texas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChristmas Cottage (2008)
Inspired by the picturesque paintings of Thomas Kinkade, The Christmas Cottage tells the semi-autobiographical tale of how a young boy is propelled to launch a career as an artist after he learns that his mother is in danger of losing the family home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Brilliant Career (1979)
A young woman who is determined to maintain her independence finds herself at odds with her family who wants her to tame her wild side and get married.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPeter Ibbetson (1935)
When his mother dies, young Peter Ibbetson leaves Paris and his best friend, Mary, behind to live with a severe uncle in England. Years later, Peter is an architect with little time for women, until he begins a project with the Duke and Duchess of Towers. When Peter and the duchess become great friends, she reveals that she is Mary — but the duke soon suspects his wife of infidelity and challenges Peter to a duel, threatening the pair's second chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe History of Love (2016)
The story of a long-lost book that mysteriously reappears and connects an old man searching for his son with a girl seeking a cure for her mother's loneliness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Valentine's Match (2020)
Fired from her job as a reality TV host, Natalie returns home for Valentine's Day, only to find herself running the town festival's auction with her ex-fiancé thanks to two scheming mothers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThey Won't Believe Me (1947)
On trial for murdering his girlfriend, philandering stockbroker Larry Ballentine takes the stand to claim his innocence and describe the actual, but improbable sounding, sequence of events that led to her death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPride and Prejudice (1940)
In early 19th century England, Mr and Mrs Bennet's five unmarried daughters vie for the affections of rich and eligible Mr Bingley and his status-conscious friend, Mr Darcy, who have moved into their neighbourhood. While Bingley takes an immediate liking to eldest daughter Jane, Darcy has difficulty adapting to local society and repeatedly clashes with second-eldest Elizabeth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMagnificent Obsession (1954)
Reckless playboy Bob Merrick crashes his speedboat, requiring emergency attention from the town’s only resuscitator while a local hero, Dr. Phillips, dies waiting for the life-saving device. Merrick then tries to right his wrongs with the doctor’s widow, Helen, falling in love with her in the process.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKitty Foyle (1940)
A hard-working, white-collar girl falls in love with a young socialite, but meets with his family's disapproval.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Ring of Endless Light (2002)
When 15-year-old Vicky Austin, her sister Suzy and little brother Rob visit their grandfather on Seven Bay Island, Vicky faces several unexpected challenges. Her beloved grandfather, retired Reverend Eaton, seems to be seriously ill, but tries to pretend that nothing is wrong. Vicky met the rich but emotionally troubled Zachary Gray the previous summer, and he reappears to renew the acquaintance. Another boy, 17-year-old Adam Eddington, recruits Vicky to help him with a research project, working with a dolphin called Basil. Vicky discovers she can communicate telepathically with the dolphin and his mate - and possibly with Adam as well
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Finds You in Valentine (2016)
Kennedy Blaine, a Californian girl, inherits a ranch in the small town of Valentine in Nebraska. Before she sells the property, she decides to spend the summer in her house and learn more about her family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSally Bishop (1932)
Sally Bishop, a headstrong young girl falls for a trashy novelist and insidiously enters his household. This prompts her former fiancé to conspire with the author's wife to expose her foolishness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Love in Exile (1936)
When a king suddenly abdicates, his subjects are lead to believe that it is for the love of a foreigner in this romance. In reality, he is stepping down so avaricious businessmen can crown their own man king. The deposed monarch spends his exile on the Riviera, while the woman, filled with guilt because he stepped down for her, lives in Holland. Interestingly enough, Edward VIII the King of England abdicated for the love of American woman Wallis Simpson a few weeks after this British film was released.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Woman to Woman (1947)
A Canadian officer, David Anson, who falls for French dancer Nicolette Bonnett during wartime, has a child with her, and returns heartbroken after her death from a weak heart, only for his wife to adopt the son, linking their lives across continents and tragedy, exploring themes of love, duty, and lost time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Smooth The Edges (TBA)
A young woman, soon to be Gypsy bride, decides to take a stance against traditional norms and find herself a job much against the liking of her fiance. When her background becomes a burden she can’t shake, she enters her latest job interview and calls them out for their prejudice.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Water Lily (1919)
Genevieve Connors, a young woman from the slums who is given a chance at a better life through the help of a wealthy family, but faces class prejudice and is later involved in a criminal plot.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Briggs Family (1940)
During the Second World War, a special constable and former solicitor is called upon to defend his son who is accused of the theft of a car
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Warning (1915)
Robert Denman, a manager at a construction company, loses everything he has to the throws of alcoholism.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Under Two Flags (1912)
English officer Bertie Cecil falls into severe financial distress and is falsely accused of a forged note. To protect the honor of a lady and cover for his younger brother (the real culprit), Bertie remains silent and accepts the appearance of guilt. Facing ruin and arrest, Bertie flees England and joins the French Foreign Legion (or Chasseurs d'Afrique) in Algeria under an assumed name. His English girlfriend travels to Africa to find him. Meanwhile, Cigarette, the fierce "child of the regiment" and camp follower develop deep feelings for Bertie. Following dangerous military conflicts and acts of self-sacrifice in the desert, Bertie's name is eventually cleared, allowing him to return to England.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Tin Gods (1932)
A concert pianist loses his hearing but finds a new sense of purpose by helping others. A British drama film directed by F.W. Kraemer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
This Acting Business (1933)
A lighthearted look at the personal struggles of two newlywed stage performers who are driven to separation by their interfering parents.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The First Born?
The closest matches to The First Born are The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020), The Magic of Ordinary Days (2005) and Nobody Has to Know (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The First Born?
Start with The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020), the closest match to The First Born.
What is the highest-rated movie like The First Born?
The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020), rated 7.4/10 by 700 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The First Born?
Nobody Has to Know (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The First Born?
Yes: The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020), The Magic of Ordinary Days (2005) and Nobody Has to Know (2022).
How are movies similar to The First Born chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The First Born, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.