Movies like Lapse (1981)
The best movies like Lapse (1981) are Chronos (1985), Vegas Vacation (1997) and Real Life (1979). If Lapse hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedParis, Texas (1984)8.1/10 from 2,374 votes
- NewestRose of Nevada (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchThe Beaches of Agnès (2008)Also in French
Chronos (1985)
Carefully picked scenes of nature and civilization are viewed at high speed using time-lapse cinematography in an effort to demonstrate the history of various regions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVegas Vacation (1997)
The Griswold family hits the road again for a typically ill-fated vacation, this time to the glitzy mecca of slots and showgirls—Las Vegas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReal Life (1979)
A pushy, narcissistic filmmaker persuades a Phoenix family to let him and his crew film their everyday lives, in the manner of the ground-breaking PBS series "An American Family".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBait (2019)
Martin Ward is a cove fisherman, without a boat. His brother Steven has repurposed their father’s vessel as a tourist tripper, driving a wedge between the brothers. With their childhood home now a getaway for London money, Martin is displaced to the estate above the picturesque harbour. As his struggle to restore the family to their traditional place creates increasing friction with tourists and locals alike, a tragedy at the heart of the family changes his world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGrey Gardens (1976)
Edie Bouvier Beale and her mother, Edith, two aging, eccentric relatives of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, are the sole inhabitants of a Long Island estate. The women reveal themselves to be misfits with outsized, engaging personalities. Much of the conversation is centered on their pasts, as mother and daughter now rarely leave home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Beautiful Country (2004)
After reuniting with his mother in Ho Chi Minh City, a family tragedy causes Binh to flee from Viet Nam to America. Landing in New York, Binh begins a road trip to Texas, where his American father is said to live.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Beaches of Agnès (2008)
Filmmaking icon Agnès Varda, the award-winning director regarded by many as the grandmother of the French new wave, turns the camera on herself with this unique autobiographical documentary. Composed of film excerpts and elaborate dramatic re-creations, Varda's self-portrait recounts the highs and lows of her professional career, the many friendships that affected her life and her longtime marriage to cinematic giant Jacques Demy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSkin (2009)
Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBe My Cat: A Film for Anne (2015)
An aspiring Romanian filmmaker goes to horrific extremes to convince Hollywood actress Anne Hathaway to star in his film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoliday in Handcuffs (2007)
A ne’er-do-well thirty-something attempts to appease her family by kidnapping herself an attractive boyfriend for the family Christmas. Despite unlikely odds and dysfunctional family moments, the two fall in love and share a magical Christmas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Wild Moment (2015)
Antoine and Laurent, old friends, spend their vacation in Corsica with their respective daughters: seventeen-year-old Louna and eighteen-year-old Marie. One evening at the beach, Louna seduces Laurent. Louna is in love, but for Laurent it was nothing more than a momentary distraction. Without revealing her lover's name, Louna confides in her father, who tries by any means to discover who his daughter's lover is. How long will the secret be able to be kept hidden?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisFamily (2018)
Kate Stone is career-focused with a brash attitude that keeps relationships at an arm's length. When her estranged brother calls asking her to baby-sit her tween niece Maddie, Kate reluctantly agrees to help. But baby-sitting overnight unexpectedly turns into a week, and Kate's life spins into chaos. As Maddie reveals stories of being bullied and of wanting to run away and be a Juggalo, the two form a unique bond.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMr. Bean's Holiday (2007)
Mr. Bean wins a trip to Cannes where he unwittingly separates a young boy from his father and must help the two reunite. On the way he discovers France, bicycling and true love, among other things.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRomy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997)
Two not-too-bright party girls reinvent themselves for their high school reunion. Armed with a borrowed Jaguar, new clothes and the story of their success as the inventors of Post-It notes, Romy and Michele descend on their alma mater, but their façade crumbles quickly.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParis, Texas (1984)
A man wanders out of the desert not knowing who he is. His brother finds him, and helps to pull his memory back of the life he led before he walked out on his family and disappeared four years earlier.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAftersun (2022)
Sophie reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father twenty years earlier. Memories fill the gaps between camcorder footages as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the troubled man she didn't.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
Told in flashback form, the film traces the rise and fall of a tough, ambitious Hollywood producer, Jonathan Shields, as seen through the eyes of various acquaintances, including a writer, James Lee Bartlow; a star, Georgia Lorrison; and a director, Fred Amiel. He is a hard-driving, ambitious man who ruthlessly uses everyone on the way to becoming one of Hollywood's top movie makers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRose of Nevada (2026)
When a fishing boat, the Rose of Nevada, lost with all hands 30 years ago, mysteriously reappears in the old harbour of a forgotten Cornish village, for those who remember, it’s surely a sign. The boat must go out to sea again and maybe then the luck of the devastated village will turn. Young father Nick and enigmatic newcomer Liam join captain Murgey, and they head to sea. But when they return, satisfied with their haul, something is amiss – they’ve slipped back in time, and the villagers greet them as if they are the original crew.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWeekend (1967)
A supposedly idyllic weekend trip to the countryside turns into a never-ending nightmare of traffic jams, revolution, cannibalism and murder as French bourgeois society starts to collapse under the weight of its own consumer preoccupations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLiving in Oblivion (1995)
Low-budget independent filmmaker Nick Reve tries to keep everything together as his production is plagued with an insecure actress, a megalomaniac star, a pretentious beret-wearing director of photography, and lousy catering.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this
Like Lapse and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Lapse?
The closest matches to Lapse are Chronos (1985), Vegas Vacation (1997) and Real Life (1979). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Lapse?
Start with Chronos (1985), the closest match to Lapse.
What is the highest-rated movie like Lapse?
Paris, Texas (1984), rated 8.1/10 by 2,374 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Lapse?
Rose of Nevada (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like Lapse?
Yes: The Beaches of Agnès (2008), One Wild Moment (2015) and Weekend (1967).
How are movies similar to Lapse chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Lapse, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.