Movies like This Special Friendship (1964)
The best movies like This Special Friendship (1964) are Regular Lovers (2005), Wild Reeds (1994) and Christopher and His Kind (2011). If This Special Friendship 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 Fire Within (1963)7.6/10 from 253 votes
- NewestMy Policeman (2022)Released 2022
- In FrenchRegular Lovers (2005)Also in French
Regular Lovers (2005)
1968 and 1969 in Paris: during and after the student and trade union revolt. François is 20, a poet, dodging military service. He takes to the barricades, but won't throw a Molotov cocktail at the police. He smokes opium and talks about revolution with his friend, Antoine, who has an inheritance and a flat where François can stay. François meets Lilie, a sculptor who works at a foundry to support herself. They fall in love. A year passes; François continues to write, talk, smoke, and be with Lilie. Opportunities come to Lilie: what will she and François do?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWild Reeds (1994)
As the Algerian War draws to a close, a teenager with a girlfriend starts feeling homosexual urges for two of his classmates: a country boy, and a French-Algerian intellectual.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChristopher and His Kind (2011)
In 1931, budding author Christopher Isherwood goes to Berlin at the invitation of his friend W. H. Auden for the gay sex that abounds in the city. He falls for street sweeper Heinz, paying medical bills for the boy's sickly mother, to the disapproval of her other son, Nazi Gerhardt.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNaked Childhood (1969)
Handed over to foster care by his mother—who's unwilling to give up permanent custody—the now-adolescent François understands that nothing in life is permanent, and his increasingly erratic actions reflect this knowledge.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJust a Question of Love (2000)
After his gay cousin dies from hepatitis, young Laurent, who lives with his best friend Carole, falls in love with Cedric, a plant scientist. He's afraid to inform his conservative parents that he is gay.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGates of the Night (1946)
In post-Liberation Paris, a man reunites with a friend and meets the woman of his dreams, only to discover her brother's dark past.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Brother (2018)
15-year-old Tom is going to spend another calm summer with his parents and younger sister at their summer house. But by fate, another family comes to spend some time with them, with their 17-year-old son Félix. In the unforgettable summer, Félix will introduce Tom to new things...
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
You Are Not Alone (1978)
Young teenager Bo is too sensitive for the hothouse atmosphere of a boarding school run by a cold, unfeeling would-be man of the cloth. Lonely and scared, he finds a soulmate in the headmaster's son Kim with whom he forms a bond of friendship... that slowly grows into something more.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBoys (2018)
When Jonas was 14 he met the charismatic but mysterious Nathan. In addition to guiding him in grappling with his sexuality, Jonas soon confronts something dark and even dangerous about his new friend. Now an attractive, sexually assured adult, memories from this time still haunt Jonas.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGames of Love and Chance (2003)
A group of teenagers living in a housing project in the outskirts of Paris rehearse a scene from Marivaux's play of the same name. Krimo is determined not to take part, but after developing feelings for Lydia, he quickly assumes the main role and love interest in the play.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisL'Enfant Secret (1979)
Jean-Baptiste, a filmmaker, and Elie, an actress, fall in love. To fight their unhappiness, they cling to their children: Jean-Baptiste to his film and Elie to her young son.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & drama
Come Undone (2000)
Story of two gorgeous, young French boys who begin a passionate relationship that boils over and threatens to destroy both their lives. Shy 18-year-old Mathieu is on summer vacation in the south of France. He spends his days lazily sunning himself at the beach, until he spies the handsome Cédric and falls in love.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhite Wedding (1989)
A philosophy professor has an illicit affair with one of his students, a bright yet troubled girl who lives alone.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClement (2001)
Benoit turns 13 and develops an intense crush on his godmother, Marion. As they lie on beaches in the summer, she humors him by talking about the mysteries of women.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Because of a Boy (2002)
When Vincent finds himself a victim of outing in his high school, he must accept to live with the drastic changes it provokes, and redefine his relationships with his friends and family.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fire Within (1963)
Depressed Alain Leroy leaves the clinic where he was detoxified. He meets friends, acquaintances and women, trying to find a reason to continue living.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLe Petit Soldat (1963)
Despite his lack of political convictions, photojournalist Bruno Forestier is roped into a paramilitary group waging a shadow war in Geneva against the Algerian independence movement.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Curtain Raiser (2006)
Bruno, a young Frenchman, is frustrated by his girlfriend's constant lack of punctuality. He decides to end their relationship the next time she is late again.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Graduate First (1978)
A slice of life of a group of young working class friends in a Northern French village coming to the end of their school years and embarking upon adult life. The film follows the choices and decisions made for their futures.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Summer Dress (1996)
It's summer. Sébastien loves the singer Sheila. Lucia loves boys. As for Frédéric, all he wants to do is work on his tan.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSound and Fury (1988)
This drama depicts the misery of neglected children in big cities. 13 years old Bruno is of a good family, but since the death of his grandmother he spends most of his time alone, in a phantasy world, while his mother is away at work. But then he befriends the violent Jean-Roger, who's from a severely disturbed family, where nobody cares what he's doing. In school Jean-Roger drives their teacher into despair just for fun. To separate the two boys, she starts to stimulate Bruno's interests by giving him extra lessons. When Jean-Roger fears loosing his one and only friend, he becomes even more aggressive.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Priest and the Girl (1966)
In a small town in Minas Gerais, the arrival of a young priest causes a commotion in the conservative atmosphere of the place, aggravated by the sudden attraction this priest feels for a beautiful girl. This forbidden love affair soon turns into an unbridled passion.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & drama
The Student (1988)
An ambitious teaching student's finals studies are interrupted by a passionate affair with a jazz musician.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Leather Boys (1964)
Reggie and Dot are a young South London couple who get married before they really get to know each other. After the marriage, they quickly begin to drift apart. Dot seems content to pursue her own interests, until Reggie meets Pete, a fellow cyclist, and begins to explore his own identity.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
L'Amour fou (1969)
A troubled marriage is tested by the couple's involvement in a theatrical production of Racine’s Andromaque.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Two of Us (1967)
A story of the caring friendship formed between a crusty, old anti-Semite and an eight-year-old Jewish boy who goes to live with him during World War II.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSong of Love (1972)
Two prisoners in complete isolation, separated by the thick brick walls, and desperately in need of human contact, devise a most unusual kind of communication.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Policeman (2022)
In the late 1990s, the arrival of elderly invalid Patrick into Marion and Tom’s home triggers the exploration of seismic events from 40 years previous: the passionate relationship between Tom and Patrick at a time when homosexuality was illegal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Object of My Affection (1998)
A pregnant New York social worker begins to develop romantic feelings for her gay best friend, and decides she'd rather raise her child with him, much to the dismay of her overbearing boyfriend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisFire with Fire (1986)
A tough, street-smart kid serving a sentence in a state youth reformatory meets a beautiful, innocent girl studying at a nearby convent. When forbidden love blossoms between them, they must fight the prison authorities, their parents and the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like This Special Friendship?
The closest matches to This Special Friendship are Regular Lovers (2005), Wild Reeds (1994) and Christopher and His Kind (2011). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after This Special Friendship?
People who watched This Special Friendship most often go on to Regular Lovers (2005), Wild Reeds (1994) and Christopher and His Kind (2011).
What is the highest-rated movie like This Special Friendship?
The Fire Within (1963), rated 7.6/10 by 253 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like This Special Friendship?
My Policeman (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like This Special Friendship?
Yes: Regular Lovers (2005), Wild Reeds (1994) and Naked Childhood (1969).
How are movies similar to This Special Friendship chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside This Special Friendship, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.