Movies like The Alchemy of Ecstasy (1999)
The best movies like The Alchemy of Ecstasy (1999) are Time Is Up (2021), Newness (2017) and Summer Palace (2007). If The Alchemy of Ecstasy 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 ratedBelow Her Mouth (2017)6.8/10 from 1,335 votes
- NewestMexicali (2026)Released 2026
- In ChineseSummer Palace (2007)Also in Chinese
Time Is Up (2021)
Vivien, an accomplished student with a passion for physics, and Roy, a troubled young man, are involved in an accident that forces them to reclaim their lives one minute at the time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNewness (2017)
In contemporary Los Angeles, two millennials navigating a social media–driven hookup culture begin a relationship that pushes both emotional and physical boundaries.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSummer Palace (2007)
Yu Hong leaves her home village and starts university in Beijing, where she develops a consuming and compulsive relationship with another student. The student riots from 1989 then ensue and take a toll on their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLondon (2005)
London is a drug laden adventure that centers on a party in a New York loft where a young man is trying to win back his ex-girlfriend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe River (1997)
A young man develops severe neck pain after swimming in a polluted river for a movie shoot, but nobody can provide him any relief.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAsylum (2005)
A woman becomes very curious about one of her psychiatrist husband's inmates, a man who was found guilty in the murder and disfigurement of his former wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPetulia (1968)
Dr. Archie Bollen is having a midlife crisis. He's just divorced his wife and is establishing a new life for himself. One night, he catches the eye of Petulia Danner, a charming, free-spirited young woman. Petulia's vibrant personality hides her fear of her abusive husband, David, whose father is a powerful society figure. As Petulia and Archie's feelings for each other grow, they must decide what it is they truly want.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Time I Saw Paris (1954)
Reporter Charles Wills, in Paris to cover the end of World War II, falls for the beautiful Helen Ellswirth following a brief flirtation with her sister, Marion. After he and Helen marry, Charles pursues his novelistic ambition while supporting his new bride with a deadening job at a newspaper wire service. But when an old investment suddenly makes the family wealthy, their marriage begins to unravel — until a sudden tragedy changes everything.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFifty Shades Freed (2018)
Believing they have left behind shadowy figures from their past, newlyweds Christian and Ana fully embrace an inextricable connection and shared life of luxury. But just as she steps into her role as Mrs. Grey and he relaxes into an unfamiliar stability, new threats could jeopardize their happy ending before it even begins.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Golden Lotus: Love and Desire (1991)
A corrupt local official, Xi Men Qing, who lusts after women and money, pursues his brother's young wife, Lee Ping Er. Ping finds Men attractive, and under her drunken husband's nose, she and Men work their way through the illustrations of a pillow book, the "Golden Lotus." Men pursues the same feat with his fourth concubine, Pan Jing Lien, who lives in the compound next to Ping. Jing's jealousy compounds a tale of humiliation, childbirth, death, and depravity. Does karma or enlightenment await anyone?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Duke of Burgundy (2015)
Day in and day out, lovers Cynthia and Evelyn enact an elaborate sadomasochistic fantasy as mistress and maid. But as their ritual of domination and submission begins to turn stale, Cynthia yearns for something more conventional, while Evelyn tries to push their taboos even further.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMonday (2021)
A spark on a Friday can lead to a sizzling weekend fling, but what happens when you get to the inevitable Monday?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Golden Lotus (1974)
Golden Lotus is based, in part, on Jin Ping Mei, a famous erotic novel of ancient China. Li Han-Hsiang adapted part of the story into this film, which starts with Hsi Men Ching, a successful merchant, wooing Pan Chin Lien, the beautiful wife of one of the townspeople.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBelow Her Mouth (2017)
An unexpected affair quickly escalates into a heart-stopping reality for two women whose passionate connection changes their lives forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLockdown (2000)
Avery (Jones) returns to college as a competitive swimmer after getting his life back on track. But his life takes another unexpected turn when he and his two friends (Bonds, Casseus) are wrongly accused of murder and end up in prison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuburbia (1984)
When household tensions and a sense of worthlessness overcome Evan, he finds escape when he clings with the orphans of a throw-away society. The runaways hold on to each other like a family until a tragedy tears them apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJawbone (2017)
A former youth boxing champion, Jimmy McCabe is a man in search of hope but looking in all the wrong places. When he hits rock bottom he turns to his childhood boxing club and the only family he has left: gym owner Bill corner man Eddie and promoter Joe. Back in training, years after anyone thought he was a contender, he risks his life, as he tries to stand tall and regain his place in the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisConvict (2014)
Set in the dark and old Parramatta prison built by the original convicts our lead character Ray a war veteran finds himself serving 18 months for manslaughter after defending his fiance. He soon realizes that the prison boss has it in for him and does everything possible to break Ray even going after his fiance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrippled Avengers (1978)
A group of martial artists seek revenge after being crippled by Tu Tin-To, a martial arts master, and his son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMexicali (2026)
A former special forces contractor is forced out of retirement as an avocado farmer in Mexico when local gangsters try to force him and his family off their farm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Sister's Friend 2 (2017)
Sang-woo's daily life changes 180 degrees ever since his sister's friend Jeong-hee comes to live in their house. Everytime he sees her walking around the house with wet hair and wearing just a big T-shirt, he gets erotic thoughts. He dreams of having sex with her just once until one day, he does. However, since then, Jeong-hee can't forget the night with Sang-woo and how much better he was than her fiance and starts coming back to his room...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Married Woman Boutique: Women Indulging in Scandalous Love Affair (2002)
Kimie steps into a boutique each day to support her household in place of her husband, who is unable to work due to heart disease—while her own spirit aches with longing. She surrenders willingly to the irresistible pull of Tsukuda, the dashing apparel‐maker’s salesman whose whispered promises slip between her legs like silk. Kenji, burning to reclaim his former glory, watches his world unravel when he discovers the affair that simmered beneath Kimie’s restraint. And as the truth of Kimie’s glowing secret—her pregnancy—dawns on him, his reproaches choke in his throat, meeting instead a startling, fervent embrace from the woman he thought he knew…
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Kiskisan (2003)
Jojo grew in the house of his wicked Lola Susana who never taught him to be a rightful person. He became an image of his grandmother--- deceitful, arrogant and very greedy. He intentionally destroys the lives of his brothers and his sister without knowing that his own actions leads to his own downfall.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Yellow House (2023)
A company employee who went to deliver goods at his president's request secretly sees the president's wife masturbating out of loneliness and takes a video of it. She may be distressed when she is caught by her husband's employee, but she becomes more attached to a man who is more compatible with her than to a husband who is not interested in her, and she keeps thinking about that man.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
9 Songs (2004)
Matt, a young glaciologist, soars across the vast, silent, icebound immensities of the South Pole as he recalls his love affair with Lisa. They meet at a mobbed rock concert in a vast music hall - London's Brixton Academy. They are in bed at night's end. Together, over a period of several months, they pursue a mutual sexual passion whose inevitable stages unfold in counterpoint to nine live-concert songs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisSeductress's Ruptured Hole (2023)
Scene 1. A couple who used to have sex every chance they got gradually becomes tired, and after thinking about it, the husband talks to his friend. The friend suggested sending his wife to his home. The man gradually stimulates his friend's wife, and his accumulated desire explodes. Scene 2. A newbie reporter took the risk of visiting a perverted man's house to catch a scoop. In the end, she gives her body in exchange for an interview.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
A Love Affair Between a Male Friend and a Married Woman (2023)
An erotic film about a junior boyfriend.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Undressing Housekeeper (2023)
Mi-na works as a housekeeper at Seung-mo's house. Mi-na is being sexually abused by Seung-mo every time. She can't tell the truth to her boyfriend, Hyeon-goo, and is getting tired of Hyeon-goo, who only lives unemployed for her later years as an excuse for her job.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Swapping: 2-to-1 (2023)
Se-hee is doing home training. Ji-eun, her roommate, introduces her to her boyfriend's best friend, Kang-hyeon, as her home trainer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
I'm Daddy's Woman (2023)
Before remarriage, four people's family cohabitation began to build friendship and trust in order to become a true family!! Bo-ri, who only had a mother in her family, now has a stepdad and a step-brother!! However, Bo-ri only complains about her stepdad and her step-brother. Although her body is an adult, her immature little daughter keeps looking like a woman!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Like The Alchemy of Ecstasy and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Alchemy of Ecstasy?
The closest matches to The Alchemy of Ecstasy are Time Is Up (2021), Newness (2017) and Summer Palace (2007). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Alchemy of Ecstasy?
Start with Time Is Up (2021), the closest match to The Alchemy of Ecstasy.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Alchemy of Ecstasy?
Below Her Mouth (2017), rated 6.8/10 by 1,335 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Alchemy of Ecstasy?
Mexicali (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like The Alchemy of Ecstasy?
Yes: Summer Palace (2007), The River (1997) and The Golden Lotus: Love and Desire (1991).
How are movies similar to The Alchemy of Ecstasy chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Alchemy of Ecstasy, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.