Movies like I Am the Architect (2012)
The best movies like I Am the Architect (2012) are *batteries not included (1987), The Fountainhead (1949) and The Stepfather (2009). If I Am the Architect hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedEx Machina (2015)7.6/10 from 14,794 votes
- NewestBrave the Dark (2025)Released 2025
*batteries not included (1987)
In a soon to be demolished block of apartments, the residents resist the criminal methods used to force them to leave so a greedy tycoon can build his new skyscraper. When tiny mechanical aliens land for a recharge, they decide to stay and help out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fountainhead (1949)
An uncompromising, visionary architect struggles to maintain his integrity and individualism despite personal, professional and economic pressures to conform to popular standards.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Stepfather (2009)
Michael Harding returns home from military school to find his mother happily in love and living with her new boyfriend, David. As the two men get to know each other, Michael becomes more and more suspicious of the man who is always there with a helpful hand. Is he really the man of her dreams or could David be hiding a dark side?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Book of Love (2017)
After tragedy strikes Henry and Penny, he befriends a tenacious young girl and discovers she is constructing a raft to sail across the Atlantic to find her lost father. Together, along with some unlikely friends, they set forth to construct the vessel and subsequently rebuild their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Lake House (2006)
When architect Alex Wyler moves into an unusual glass house on stilts over a lake, he discovers a note from the previous tenant in the mailbox--but no one's lived in the house for years. He replies and soon discovers that he's corresponding with a doctor named Kate Forster. Their correspondence, only through the 'magical' mailbox, turns romantic and their paths cross in unexpected ways, but when they try to truly connect, danger looms. They must try to unravel the mystery behind their extraordinary romance before it's too late.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCity of Ember (2008)
For generations, the people of the City of Ember have flourished in an amazing world of glittering lights. But Ember's once powerful generator is failing and the great lamps that illuminate the city are starting to flicker. Now, two teenagers, in a race against time, must search Ember for clues that will unlock the ancient mystery of the city's existence, before the the lights go out forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Belly of an Architect (1987)
Stourley Kracklite, a driven, detail-obsessed architect, travels from America to Rome with his much younger wife, Louisa, to oversee an architectural homage to a personal hero, 18th-century master builder Etienne-Louis Boullée. En route by train, Stourley and Louisa conceive a much-wanted child — but Stourley's obsession with his wife's expanding belly, her perceived infidelity, and his own recurrent bouts of abdominal pain reach epic and dangerous proportions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Kiss (2006)
Michael has a great job, has his 4 best friends, and is in love with a beautiful girl at 30. He loves Jenna but his life seems predictable until someone else enters his life. It seems that everybody's having relationship problems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEquals (2015)
A futuristic love story set in a world where emotions have been eradicated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Changeling (1980)
After a tragic event happens, composer John Russell moves to Seattle to try to overcome it and build a new and peaceful life in a lonely big house that has been uninhabited for many years. But, soon after, the obscure history of such an old mansion and his own past begin to haunt him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBrave the Dark (2025)
When Mr. Deen discovers one of his students has been living out of his car and thrown into jail, he decides to bail him out. Determined to curb Nate’s self-destructive behavior, Deen quickly discovers a host of dark secrets slowly tearing Nate apart. What began as a good deed becomes a desperate fight to save Nate from his own demons. As Nate spirals deeper into despair, Deen must decide how far he’s willing to go to save a kid on the brink of losing everything—even himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDie Alone (2024)
Lost in a world reclaimed by nature and overrun by mysterious creatures, Ethan, a young man with amnesia navigates the dangerous landscape in search of his lost love Emma. His journey takes an unexpected turn when he encounters Mae, a hardened and eccentric survivor. Together, Ethan and Mae face threats both human and otherwise before a fateful encounter with Kai unravels a secret that lies just beyond Ethan's fractured memory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisElysium (2013)
In the year 2159, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Rhodes, a hard line government official, will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium. That doesn’t stop the people of Earth from trying to get in, by any means they can. When unlucky Max is backed into a corner, he agrees to take on a daunting mission that, if successful, will not only save his life, but could bring equality to these polarized worlds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Invisible Man (2020)
When Cecilia's abusive ex takes his own life and leaves her his fortune, she suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of coincidences turn lethal, Cecilia works to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAdam (2009)
Adam, a lonely man with Asperger's Syndrome, develops a relationship with his upstairs neighbor, Beth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDon't Worry Darling (2022)
Alice and Jack are lucky to be living in the idealized community of Victory, the experimental company town housing the men who work for the top-secret Victory Project and their families. But when cracks in their idyllic life begin to appear, exposing flashes of something much more sinister lurking beneath the attractive façade, Alice can’t help questioning exactly what they’re doing in Victory, and why.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Driver (2019)
After a plague of the undead decimates human life on Earth, a former hit man (Mark Dacascos), his wife, and daughter live quietly in a survivalist compound. But when their base is attacked, a massive explosion summons a swarm of the undead. They escape and must seek out the Haven, a rumored sanctuary up north, while the father teaches his daughter to shoot, drive, and survive before time runs out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWakefield (2017)
A man's nervous breakdown causes him to leave his wife and live in his attic for several months.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEx Machina (2015)
Caleb, a coder at the world's largest internet company, wins a competition to spend a week at a private mountain retreat belonging to Nathan, the reclusive CEO of the company. But when Caleb arrives at the remote location he finds that he will have to participate in a strange and fascinating experiment in which he must interact with the world's first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisModel Shop (1969)
While trying to raise money to prevent his car from being repossessed, George is attracted to Lola, a Frenchwoman who works in a "model shop", an establishment that rents out beautiful pin-up models to photographers. George spends his last twelve dollars to photograph Lola, and discovers that she is as unhappy as he.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like I Am the Architect?
The closest matches to I Am the Architect are *batteries not included (1987), The Fountainhead (1949) and The Stepfather (2009). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after I Am the Architect?
Start with *batteries not included (1987), the closest match to I Am the Architect.
What is the highest-rated movie like I Am the Architect?
Ex Machina (2015), rated 7.6/10 by 14,794 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like I Am the Architect?
Brave the Dark (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like I Am the Architect?
Yes: *batteries not included (1987), The Fountainhead (1949) and The Stepfather (2009).
How are movies similar to I Am the Architect chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside I Am the Architect, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.