Movies like Instinct (2019)
The best movies like Instinct (2019) are Welcome to Chechnya (2020), A Month in the Country (1987) and My Policeman (2022). If Instinct hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMy Policeman (2022)7.5/10 from 799 votes
- NewestGirls Like Girls (2026)Released 2026
Welcome to Chechnya (2020)
This searing investigative work shadows a group of activists risking unimaginable peril to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ program raging in the repressive and closed Russian republic. Unfettered access and a remarkable approach to protecting anonymity exposes this under-reported atrocity–and an extraordinary group of people confronting evil.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Month in the Country (1987)
A destitute WWI veteran is hired to help carry out restoration work on a medieval mural in a rural Yorkshire church. While living in the quiet village, he forms a close friendship with an archaeologist and begins to come to terms with his trauma.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBehind the Candelabra (2013)
Based on the autobiographical novel, the tempestuous 6-year relationship between Liberace and his (much younger) lover, Scott Thorson, is recounted.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBoy Meets Girl (2014)
In Kentucky, a transgender woman and her best male friend lament the lack of eligible partners and step across old boundaries of love and romance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSingle All the Way (2021)
Desperate to avoid his family’s judgment about his perpetual single status, Peter convinces his best friend Nick to join him for the holidays and pretend that they’re now in a relationship. But when Peter’s mother sets him up on a blind date with her handsome trainer James, the plan goes awry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
SnoozefestMovies like thisNowhere (1997)
In Los Angeles, a colorful assortment of bohemians try to make sense of their intersecting lives. The moody Dark Smith, his bisexual girlfriend, her lesbian lover and their shy gay friend plan on attending the wildest party of the year. But they'll only make it if they can survive the drug trips, suicides, trysts, mutilations and alien abductions that occur as one surreal day unfolds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShortbus (2006)
In post-9/11 New York City, an eclectic group of citizens find their lives entangled, personally, romantically, and sexually, at Shortbus, an underground Brooklyn salon infamous for its blend of art, music, politics, and carnality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
The story of two radically different men thrown together in a Latin American prison cell. One is Valentin, a journalist being tortured for his political beliefs. The other is Molina, a gay window-dresser who fills their lonely nights by spinning romantic fantasies drawn from memories of old movies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOn Swift Horses (2025)
Returning from the Korean War, Lee wants to begin a new life with his wife Muriel in California. But when his charismatic brother Julius arrives, their lives begin to change. Julius’s rebellious streak rubs off on Muriel, who secretly steps into the world of race horse gambling. Here she meets a new lover, a fellow woman looking to break free from her restrictive life. Meanwhile, Julius travels to Las Vegas, where he falls in love with a young man he meets at the card tables.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLooking: The Movie (2016)
Patrick returns to San Francisco for the first time in almost a year to celebrate a momentous event with his old friends. In the process, he must face the unresolved relationships he left behind and make difficult choices about what’s important to him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGirls Like Girls (2026)
After her mother's passing, 17-year-old Coley navigates new feelings of intimacy with Sonya in rural Oregon, where both girls must overcome their mutual uncertainties and self-doubt to embrace their connection.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYou're So Cupid (2010)
Fraternal twin sisters Emma and Lilly are as different as night and day. Emma, the beautiful blonde tomboy, would rather be riding a horse than anything else in the world. While Lilly, her shy redheaded twin, loves to be left alone to curl up with a good book. Emma and Lilly have an insatiable desire to play matchmaker, because their father is actually Cupid. Life gets complicated when they discover they're in love with the same guy and they become bitter rivals as they try to win his affection. But can Emma and Lily overcome their problems and use their matchmaking skills to bring their parents back together?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAkron (2015)
Benny, a college freshman at the University of Akron, Ohio meets and falls for fellow freshman Christopher at a football game. With the support of their families and friends they embark on a new relationship. But a tragic event in the past involving their mothers soon comes to light and threatens to tear them apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Fake Boyfriend (2022)
A young man in a tricky situation follows the advice of his unconventional best friend and uses social media to create a fake boyfriend to keep his awful ex-lover out of his life. But everything backfires when he meets the real love of his life, and breaking up with his fake boyfriend proves hard to do.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Perfect Ending (2012)
This intimate drama follows Rebecca, a woman who has kept her sexuality a secret from her friends but chooses to reveal it to a stranger. While Rebecca's revelations may not yield the results she expects, a perfect ending is still in reach.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTalking To My Mother (2014)
A young Asian American man struggles for both personal happiness and the love of his mother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Thing About Harry (2020)
Two high school enemies, uber-jock Harry and out-and-proud Sam, are forced to share a car ride to their Missouri hometown for a friend's engagement party on Valentine's Day. Things take a turn when Sam learns Harry has come out.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRichard & Gilbert (2015)
A small village is haunted by strange and awful murders. The scared villagers turn to two officials in search for help to solve the crimes. The investigations point to a very perfidious kind of murders: All victims were nibbled off shortly before or after their death. Could an animal be the cause of the strange bite tracks in face and arms of the dead bodies?
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Regular Guys (1996)
Christoph, cop and self-confident macho, has trouble with his fiance. After a long night he wakes up in the arms of Edgar, a good-looking, gay auto-mechanic. His live gets more and more troublesome after his girl friend throws him out of their apartment and as last resort he moves to Edgars place. Working together with a new, good-looking, very self-confident, female collegue, but living with a good-looking gay guy makes him pretty uncertain about his sexuality and his role as a cop. Written by Konstantin Articus
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Boys on Film 24: Happy Endings (2024)
Let BOYS ON FILM move, inspire and uplift you with this stunning collection of 11 new gay short films, marking the final physical edition of the series. The 11 short films are: We Collide (2023); Firsts (2022); Sea Sparkles [Noctilucas] (2022); Aloof [מנגד] (2020); The Rev (2021); Prelude [Preludio] (2019); Beautiful Stranger (2021); You Like That (2023); Thursday, Friday, Saturday [Jeudi, vendredi, samedi] (2021); The Unknown Man [L'homme inconnu] (2021); S.A.M. (2020).
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Wedding Banquet (1993)
A Taiwanese-American man is happily settled in New York with his American boyfriend. He plans a marriage of convenience to a Chinese woman in order to keep his parents off his back and to get the woman a green card. Chaos follows when his parents arrive in New York for the wedding.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSomething Like Summer (2017)
Something Like Summer traces the tumultuous relationship of Ben and Tim, secret high school sweethearts who grow over the years into both adulthood enemies and complicated friends.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
SnoozefestMovies like thisSerbis (2008)
A struggling family owns a Filipino porn theater where prostitutes conduct their business.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Unknown Cyclist (1998)
A man's dying wish is for the people in his life to participate in a 450-mile charity bicycle ride through Northern California.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Like Instinct and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Instinct?
The closest matches to Instinct are Welcome to Chechnya (2020), A Month in the Country (1987) and My Policeman (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Instinct?
Start with Welcome to Chechnya (2020), the closest match to Instinct.
What is the highest-rated movie like Instinct?
My Policeman (2022), rated 7.5/10 by 799 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Instinct?
Girls Like Girls (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Instinct?
Yes: Welcome to Chechnya (2020), A Month in the Country (1987) and My Policeman (2022).
How are movies similar to Instinct chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Instinct, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.