Movies like Santa Barbara (2022)
The best movies like Santa Barbara (2022) are Lucca's World (2025), The King of Havana (2015) and To Let (2006). If Santa Barbara hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAll About My Mother (1999)7.6/10 from 2,142 votes
- NewestHot Milk (2025)Released 2025
- In SpanishLucca's World (2025)Also in Spanish
Lucca's World (2025)
Determined to help her son, who has cerebral palsy, Bárbara takes her family to India for an experimental treatment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe King of Havana (2015)
Recently escaped from reformatory, Reinaldo struggles to get by in the streets of Havana in the late 90s, one of the worst decades for Cuban society. Hopes, disillusionment, rum, good humor and above all hunger, accompany him in his wanderings, until he meets Magda and Yunisleidy, survivors like himself. In one or the other's arms, he will try to escape the material and moral misery surrounding him, living love, passion, tenderness and uninhibited sex to the limit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTo Let (2006)
Mario and Clara, his pregnant girlfriend, try to find a new apartment to settle in as soon as possible, so they go to visit one in a distant neighborhood that seems abandoned. Once there, things are not as they expected.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Chosen Ones (2015)
Sofia, 14 years old, is in love with Ulises. Because of him, in spite of him, she is forced into a prostitution network in Mexico. To set her free, Ulises will have to find another girl to replace her. Adapted from Jorge Volpi’s novel, set in the world of juvenile prostitution.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGoodbye (2019)
Seville, Spain. Juan Santos, a convicted petty criminal, gets out of jail for a day to celebrate with Triana, his wife, the first communion of their daughter Estrella.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBird Box Barcelona (2023)
After a mysterious force decimates the world’s population, Sebastian must navigate his own survival journey through the desolate streets of Barcelona. As he forms uneasy alliances with other survivors and they try to escape the city, an unexpected and even more sinister threat grows.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like this25th Hour (2002)
On the eve of a seven-year prison sentence, a New York drug dealer spends his final day of freedom confronting his past, his relationships, and the choices that led to his downfall in a city still reeling from 9/11.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIn the Heights (2021)
The story of Usnavi, a bodega owner who has mixed feelings about closing his store and retiring to the Dominican Republic or staying in Washington Heights.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUtama (2022)
In the Bolivian altiplano, Virginio and Sisa, an elderly Quechua couple who have lived a quiet life for years, face an impossible dilemma during an unusually long drought: resist or be defeated by the hostile environment and the relentless passage of time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLive Flesh (1997)
When Victor attempts to seduce Elena, all he gets for his trouble is a one-way, six-year ticket to prison, where he concentrates on strengthening his mind, his body... and his desire for vengeance on the man who put him there. After his release and still madly in love with her, Victor will stop at nothing to win her over even if means revenge, for Elena has married David, the cop who sent him to prison!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRosa's Wedding (2020)
Rosa is about to turn 45 and realises that she's always lived her life to serve everyone else. So she decides to leave it all behind, take charge of her life and fulfil her dream of starting her own business.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMemories of Underdevelopment (1968)
In the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs incident, Sergio chooses to stay behind in Cuba while his wife and family escape to neighboring Miami. Alone in a brave new world, Sergio observes the constant threat of foreign invasion while chasing young women all over Havana. He finally meets Elena, a young girl he seeks to mould into the image of his ex-wife, but at what cost to himself?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSleep Tight (2011)
César, an unhappy concierge, maintains a peculiar relationship with the very diverse inhabitants of the upper-class apartment building where he works in Barcelona.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHot Milk (2025)
Rose and her daughter Sofia travel to the Spanish seaside town of Almería to consult with the shamanic Dr. Gomez, a physician who could possibly hold the cure to Rose’s mystery illness, which has left her bound to a wheelchair. But in the sultry atmosphere of this sun-bleached town Sofia, who has been trapped by her mother’s illness all her life, finally starts to shed her inhibitions, enticed by the persuasive charms of enigmatic traveller Ingrid.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisAll About My Mother (1999)
Following the tragic death of her teenage son, Manuela travels from Madrid to Barcelona in an attempt to contact the long-estranged father the boy never knew. She reunites with an old friend, an outspoken transgender sex worker, and befriends a troubled actress and a pregnant, HIV-positive nun.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEl encanto (2020)
Bruno is thirty years old and has a girlfriend, Juliana, with whom he is about to celebrate a decade of love.He loves her, but feels that she no longer captivates him. She wants to be a mother. He doesn't know if he wants to take that step. He fears it could be a mistake, perhaps Juliana is not the woman of his life or perhaps it is too soon. To make matters worse, he is attracted to Lara, his new sexy and young employee. Further confused, Bruno only finds comfort in the company of his father and his old bass. This confusion pushes Bruno to reunite with an old love: music.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEat Pray Love (2010)
A married woman realizes how unhappy her marriage really is, and that her life needs to go in a different direction. After a painful divorce, she takes off on a round-the-world journey to "find herself".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
Two girlfriends on a summer holiday in Spain become enamored with the same painter, unaware that his ex-wife, with whom he has a tempestuous relationship, is about to re-enter the picture.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBarcelona (1994)
During the 1980s, uptight Ted Boynton is a salesman working in the Barcelona office of a Chicago-based company. He receives an unexpected visit from his cousin Fred, a naval officer who has come to Spain on a public relations mission for a U.S. fleet. Not exactly friends in the past, Ted and Fred strike up relationships with women in the Spanish city and experience conflicts -- Ted with his employer, and Fred with the Barcelona community.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBiutiful (2010)
This is a story of a man in free fall. On the road to redemption, darkness lights his way. Connected with the afterlife, Uxbal is a tragic hero and father of two who's sensing the danger of death. He struggles with a tainted reality and a fate that works against him in order to forgive, for love, and forever.
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 Santa Barbara?
The closest matches to Santa Barbara are Lucca's World (2025), The King of Havana (2015) and To Let (2006). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Santa Barbara?
Start with Lucca's World (2025), the closest match to Santa Barbara.
What is the highest-rated movie like Santa Barbara?
All About My Mother (1999), rated 7.6/10 by 2,142 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Santa Barbara?
Hot Milk (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like Santa Barbara?
Yes: Lucca's World (2025), The King of Havana (2015) and To Let (2006).
How are movies similar to Santa Barbara chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Santa Barbara, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.