Movies like Life is... (2016)
The best movies like Life is... (2016) are Drive My Car (2021), Educating Rita (1983) and River (2023). If Life is... hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Life is...
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDead Poets Society (1989)8.3/10 from 13,172 votes
- NewestMiller's Girl (2024)Released 2024
- In JapaneseDrive My Car (2021)Also in Japanese
Drive My Car (2021)
Yusuke Kafuku, a stage actor and director, still unable, after two years, to cope with the loss of his beloved wife, accepts to direct Uncle Vanya at a theater festival in Hiroshima. There he meets Misaki, an introverted young woman, appointed to drive his car. In between rides, secrets from the past and heartfelt confessions will be unveiled.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEducating Rita (1983)
Rita, a witty 26-year-old hairdresser, wants to 'discover' herself, so she joins the Open University where she meets the disillusioned professor of literature, Dr. Frank Bryant. His marriage has failed, his new girlfriend is having an affair with his best friend and he can't get through the day without downing a bottle or two of whisky. What Frank needs is a challenge... and along comes Rita.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRiver (2023)
The one-hundred-year-old Fujiya inn stands in the quiet region of Kyoto. Mikoto is standing in front of the Kibune river at the back of the building when she is called back to work. But two minutes later, she finds herself back at the river again. The whole inn seems to be stuck in a time loop!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDead Poets Society (1989)
At an elite, old-fashioned boarding school in New England, a passionate English teacher inspires his students to rebel against convention and seize the potential of every day, courting the disdain of the stern headmaster.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisVanya on 42nd Street (1994)
An uninterrupted rehearsal of Chekhov's 'Uncle Vanya' plays out by a company of actors. The setting: their run-down theater with an unusable stage and crumbling ceiling. The play is shown act by act with the briefest of breaks to move props or for refreshments. The lack of costumes, real props and scenery is soon forgotten.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMadeline's Madeline (2018)
Madeline has become an integral part of a prestigious physical theater troupe. When the workshop's ambitious director pushes the teenager to weave her rich interior world and troubled history with her mother into their collective art, the lines between performance and reality begin to blur. The resulting battle between imagination and appropriation rips out of the rehearsal space and through all three women's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Corn Is Green (1945)
When a teacher reads an essay written by Morgan Evans, one of the boys, moved by his rough poetry she decides to hold classes in her house and believes that Morgan is smart enough to attend Oxford.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Browning Version (1951)
Andrew Crocker-Harris has been forced from his position as the classics master at an English public school due to poor health. As he winds up his final term, he discovers not only that his wife, Millie, has been unfaithful to him with one of his fellow schoolmasters, but that the school's students and faculty have long disdained him. However, an unexpected act of kindness causes Crocker-Harris to re-evaluate his life's work.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPerfect Stranger (2007)
A journalist goes undercover to ferret out businessman Harrison Hill as her best friend's killer. Posing as one of his temps, she enters into a game of online cat-and-mouse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like this10 Items or Less (2006)
An actor who is considering the role of a supermarket manager arrives at a grocery store on the outskirts of Los Angeles to do some field research. He subsequently becomes stranded, without a car or cell phone, and accepts a ride home with Scarlet, a cashier who is about to interview for a new job. The actor rediscovers the essence of his craft while helping Scarlet gain the confidence she needs to change her life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEvery Day a Good Day (2018)
A university student attends a Japanese tea ceremony near her house with her cousin. There she has the Japanese tea ceremony in her life and it's there for her during moments when she is sad or happy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Teahouse of the August Moon (1957)
In post-WWII Japan, an American captain is brought in to help build a school, but the locals want a teahouse instead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAdrift in Tokyo (2007)
A thug offers to pay a law student's gambling debt if the student will accompany him on a trip across Tokyo.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWorld's Greatest Dad (2009)
In the wake of a freak accident, Lance suffers the worst tragedy and the greatest opportunity of his life. He is suddenly faced with the possibility of fame, fortune and popularity, if he can only live with the knowledge of how he got there.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlan 75 (2022)
In a Japan of the near future, the government program Plan 75 encourages senior citizens to be voluntarily euthanized to remedy a super-aged society. An elderly woman whose means of survival are vanishing, a pragmatic Plan 75 salesman, and a young Filipino laborer face choices of life and death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlashbacks of a Fool (2008)
An aging Hollywood star, Joe Scott, lives a life of narcissistic hedonism, observed by his laconic personal assistant, Ophelia. The death of his childhood best friend, Boots, takes our protagonist, and the movie, into an extended flashback to a sea-side town in 1970s Britain.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStardust Memories (1980)
While attending a retrospect of his work, a filmmaker recalls his life and his loves: the inspirations for his films.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiller's Girl (2024)
A talented young writer embarks on a creative odyssey when her teacher assigns a project that entangles them both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFollowing (1999)
Bill, an idle, unemployed aspiring writer, walks the crowded streets of London following randomly chosen strangers, a seemingly innocent entertainment that becomes dangerous when he crosses paths with a mysterious character.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRushmore (1998)
When a beautiful first-grade teacher arrives at a prep school, she soon attracts the attention of an ambitious teenager named Max, who quickly falls in love with her. Max turns to the father of two of his schoolmates for advice on how to woo the teacher. However, the situation soon gets complicated when Max's new friend becomes involved with her, setting the two pals against one another in a war for her attention.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Life is...?
The closest matches to Life is... are Drive My Car (2021), Educating Rita (1983) and River (2023). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Life is...?
Start with Drive My Car (2021), the closest match to Life is....
What is the highest-rated movie like Life is...?
Dead Poets Society (1989), rated 8.3/10 by 13,172 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Life is...?
Miller's Girl (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Life is...?
Yes: Drive My Car (2021), River (2023) and Every Day a Good Day (2018).
How are movies similar to Life is... chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Life is..., then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.