Movies like Max (2019)
The best movies like Max (2019) are Pauline (2009), Savage Nights (1992) and Giant Little Ones (2019). If Max hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAll Too Well: The Short Film (2021)8.0/10 from 302 votes
- NewestLa Gradiva (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchPauline (2009)Also in French
Pauline (2009)
A young woman chronicles her childhood of neglect and isolation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSavage Nights (1992)
Jean is young, gay, and promiscuous. Only after he meets one or two women, including Laura, does he come to realize his bisexuality. Jean has to overcome a personal crisis and a tough choice between Laura and his male lover Samy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGiant Little Ones (2019)
Two popular teen boys, best friends since childhood, discover their lives, families, and girlfriends dramatically upended after an unexpected incident occurs on the night of a 17th birthday party.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPretty Boy (2015)
Sean is taken to a motel and is given a prostitute for his 18th birthday by his father. He must sleep with her to "fix" his questionable homosexuality. "Pretty Boy" is a coming of age story of a young bullied teen, Sean, struggling with his sexuality and the hardships of high school. After his father finds some questionable magazines in his room, this devout Christian will go to any lengths to get his son to find the light and "perform" the way a man should. Sean is introduced to Katie, a prostitute that understands the stigmas of modern society and helps him see the true light that is within him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Brother the Devil (2012)
Fourteen-year-old Mo is a lonely, sensitive boy whose hunger for the rant and banter of buddies makes him prone to tread dangerous territories. He idolizes his handsome older brother, Rashid, a charismatic, well-respected member of a local gang, whose drug dealing enables “Rash” to provide for his family. Aching to be seen as a tough guy himself, Mo takes a job that unlocks a fateful turn of events and forces the brothers to confront their inner demons. It turns out that hate is easy. It is love and understanding that take real courage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Love You, I Don't (1976)
The petite waitress Johnny works and lives in a truck-stop, where she's lonely and longs for love. She develops a crush on the garbage truck driver Krassky, although her sleazy boss Boris warns her that he's gay.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Little Prince(ss) (2021)
When Gabriel, a 7-year-old Chinese kid who loves ballet, becomes friends with Rob, another Chinese kid from school, Rob’s dad gets suspicious about Gabriel's feminine behavior and decides to intervene.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLa Gradiva (2026)
Amid the ancient ruins of Pompeii, a group of French teenagers on a class trip to Naples grapple with anxiety and exhilaration ahead of their high school graduation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFlow (1996)
A filmmaker talks about his work and love life with an unseen friend behind the camera. We also watch four of his short films.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFrom Straight A's to XXX (2017)
When a change of circumstances leaves Miriam unable to pay her college tuition, she makes a surprising decision: to start performing in adult films, using the pseudonym Belle Knox. Miriam lies to her family and her friends at school, keeping her double life a secret. But soon rumours spread and Miriam becomes the subject of vicious online attacks and unwanted attention. Miriam fights back: she talks to the media, saying her new line of work empowers her as a feminist. But her confident stand has unintended consequences. Miriam is shunned by her conservative family and her colleagues in the adult film world. One impulsive decision has quickly spiralled out of control - and Miriam's problems are just beginning.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAll Too Well: The Short Film (2021)
Short film featuring the extended version of the song “All Too Well” by Taylor Swift. A troubled couple's romance blossoms before it eventually falls apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThree Nights a Week (2022)
When young Baptiste meets Cookie Kunty, a young Parisian drag queen, he feels compelled to start a new photographic project.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAn Englishman in New York (2009)
Biographical drama based on the last 20 years of Crisp's life. The literary figure and gay iconoclast emigrated to New York in 1981 and lived there until his death. The film observes Crisp in both his public and private lives, from his seemingly cavalier response to the outbreak of AIDS to his tender relationship with his friend Patrick Angus and his own response to growing old.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKiller's Kiss (1955)
Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack Mirror (2011)
A nameless drifter navigates a barren landscape punctuated by satellite dishes, radio towers and droning airplanes. Stopping periodically in anonymous hotel rooms, she makes attempts to connect to an unidentified second party.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPacifiction (2022)
Island of Tahiti. French government official De Roller is a calculating man with impeccable manners, capable of dealing with both high society and the locals he frequents in shady joints.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Boys in the Band (2020)
At a birthday party in 1968 New York, a surprise guest and a drunken game leave seven gay friends reckoning with unspoken feelings and buried truths.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIf Anything Happens I Love You (2020)
Grieving parents journey through an emotional void as they mourn the loss of a child after a tragic school shooting.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Death & Life of John F. Donovan (2019)
A decade after the death of an American TV star, a young actor reminisces about the written correspondence he once shared with the former, as well as the impact those letters had on both their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPimp (2018)
An urban love story set on the hard streets of the Bronx. A struggling female pimp, named Wednesday, grows up learning the game from her dad. Once he's gone she's left to look out for her prostitute mother and girlfriend Nikki.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDrop by Sometimes (2013)
Emmy works the night shift in the drugstore that night. She is a young girl, enormously fat and old-fashioned. While she, like every other night, kindly serves the customers in the late hours, does not even remotely sense danger...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Ashes and Dust (2020)
When her grandfather unexpectedly dies, Ane is forced to leave the big city and return to her hometown. Her homecoming leads to a tense reencounter with the women in her family that takes a bizarre turn when she becomes suspicious of the funeral parlour's actions.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Eloy x Manzano (2026)
YouTube documentary about the controversial relationship between filmmaker Eloy de la Iglesia and young actor José Luis Manzano, creators of such iconic films as Navajeros (1980) and Overdose (1983), and key figures of Spanish quinqui cinema.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Casus Belli (2010)
All kinds of people are waiting in seven different queues. The first person of each queue becomes the last of the next one, thus creating an enormous human line. But at the end of the line, it all begins backwards again.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Canicas (2021)
A couple decide their path by figuring out whether they would stop for a diamond or stick to their marbles. The two start a conversation in which honesty doesn't seem to be an option.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Everything Is Illuminated (2005)
A young Jewish American man endeavors—with the help of eccentric, distant relatives—to find the woman who saved his grandfather during World War II—in a Ukrainian village which was ultimately razed by the Nazis.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSummer Storm (2004)
Tobi and Achim, the pride of the local crew club, have been the best of friends for years and are convinced that nothing will ever stand in the way of their friendship. They look forward to the upcoming summer camp and the crew competition. Then the gay team from Berlin arrives and Tobi is totally confused. The evening before the races begin, the storm that breaks out is more than meteorological.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMala Noche (1987)
Walt is a lonely convenience store clerk who has fallen in love with a Mexican migrant worker named Johnny. Though Walt has little in common with the object of his affections — including a shared language — his desire to possess Johnny prompts a sexual awakening that results in a tangled love triangle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCapote (2005)
A biopic of writer Truman Capote and his assignment for The New Yorker to write the non-fiction book "In Cold Blood".
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLuElla’s Quilt (2025)
Some sweet memories hide bitter truths...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Max?
The closest matches to Max are Pauline (2009), Savage Nights (1992) and Giant Little Ones (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Max?
Start with Pauline (2009), the closest match to Max.
What is the highest-rated movie like Max?
All Too Well: The Short Film (2021), rated 8.0/10 by 302 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Max?
La Gradiva (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like Max?
Yes: Pauline (2009), Savage Nights (1992) and I Love You, I Don't (1976).
How are movies similar to Max chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Max, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.