Movies like The Archivists (2020)
The best movies like The Archivists (2020) are How to Talk to Girls at Parties (2017), Press Play (2022) and Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020). If The Archivists hooked you with its music and science fiction, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedGhosts (1997)8.1/10 from 305 votes
- NewestAfterburn (2025)Released 2025
How to Talk to Girls at Parties (2017)
In 1970s London, a teenage outsider named Enn falls in love with a rebellious alien girl named Zan, who has come to Earth for a party. Together, they navigate the complexities of intergalactic culture and the trials of first love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPress Play (2022)
Laura and Harrison have the picture-perfect romance built on the foundation of a shared love of music. After a deadly accident, Laura gets the chance to save the love of her life when she discovers that their mixtape can transport her back in time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBill & Ted Face the Music (2020)
Yet to fulfill their rock and roll destiny, the stakes are higher than ever for the now middle-aged Bill and Ted who set out on a new adventure when a visitor from the future warns them that only their song can save life as we know it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisHeavy Metal (1981)
The embodiment of ultimate evil, a glowing orb terrorizes a young girl with bizarre stories of dark fantasy, eroticism and horror.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like this2073 (2024)
Inspired by Chris Marker's iconic 1962 featurette La Jetée; the year is 2073—a not-so-distant dystopian future—and the setting is New San Francisco, the scorched-earth tech-dominant police state where democracy and personal freedom have been well and truly obliterated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAfterburn (2025)
Set against the backdrop of a postapocalyptic Earth whose Eastern Hemisphere was destroyed by a massive solar flare, leaving what life remains mutated from radiation and fallout. The story revolves around a group of treasure hunters who extract such objects as the Mona Lisa, the Rosetta Stone and the Crown Jewels while facing rival hunters, mutants and pirates.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Time for Nuts (2006)
Scrat comes across a time machine and is transported to various times all in pursuit of his beloved acorn.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVesper (2022)
After the collapse of Earth's ecosystem, Vesper, a 13-year-old girl struggling to survive with her paralyzed Father, meets a mysterious Woman with a secret that forces Vesper to use her wits, strength and bio-hacking abilities to fight for the possibility of a future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHelp! (1965)
An obscure Eastern cult that practices human sacrifice pursues Ringo after he unknowingly puts on a ceremonial ring (that, of course, won't come off). On top of that, a pair of mad scientists, members of Scotland Yard, and a beautiful but dead-eyed assassin all have their own plans for the Fab Four.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDoctor Who: The Night of the Doctor (2013)
The Doctor struggles to help the only remaining crewmember of a crashing gunship. The people of the planet below offer to save his life, but at a dear cost to the life he's lived for hundreds of years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisGhosts (1997)
In the town of Normal Valley, an eccentric magician named Maestro entertains the local children every day in his spooky mansion. One stormy night, the town's mayor leads a group of angry citizens to the mansion in an attempt to run Maestro out of town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCode 8 Part II (2024)
In a world where superpowered people are heavily policed by robots, an ex-con teams up with a drug lord he despises to protect a teen from a corrupt cop.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGhost Recon: Alpha (2012)
Ghost Recon: Alpha sees a team led by Ghost Leader infiltrate a trade at a Russian depot between a general and a mysterious other figure.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDestino (2003)
Short film to a song of love lost and rediscovered, a woman sees and undergoes surreal transformations. Her lover's face melts off, she dons a dress from the shadow of a bell and becomes a dandelion, ants crawl out of a hand and become Frenchmen riding bicycles. Not to mention the turtles with faces on their backs that collide to form a ballerina, or the bizarre baseball game.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStewie Griffin: The Untold Story (2005)
The maniacal baby of the Griffin family, Stewie, meets his future self. In doing this he discovers that his future image is not what he has anticipated because of a near death experience.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Zero Theorem (2013)
A computer hacker's goal to discover the reason for human existence continually finds his work interrupted thanks to the Management; this time, they send a teenager and lusty love interest to distract him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTitan A.E. (2000)
A young man finds out that he holds the key to restoring hope and ensuring survival for the human race, while an alien species called the Drej are bent on mankind's destruction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Rutles: All You Need Is Cash (1978)
The story of the rise and fall of the Pre-Fab Four.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMarvel One-Shot: The Consultant (2011)
Agent Coulson informs Agent Sitwell that the World Security Council wishes Emil Blonsky to be released from prison to join the Avengers Initiative. As Nick Fury doesn't want to release Blonsky, the two agents decide to send a patsy to sabotage the meeting...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisApparat (TBA)
A middle aged, married couple spend a night at their desert cabin. What was planned as an anniversary getaway erupts into a brutalizing void of two tortured souls.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Mi Vida Me Pasa (2024)
Arturo Urbiola, independent singer/songwriter, talks about the influence music has had on his life, it's impact, and what's in store for his artistic career after becoming a father.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
The Uncanny Valley (2021)
Desperate for a clue to a mysterious case, an Investigator pushes for a last-minute interview with his only witness: a corrupt A.I. Now the Investigator has 10 minutes to find out what the A.I. knows before it is dismantled by the scientists.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Daybreak Express (1957)
Set to a classic Duke Ellington recording "Daybreak Express", this is a five-minute short of the soon-to-be-demolished Third Avenue elevated subway station in New York City.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Vandal (2021)
Set in a world not unlike mid-20th century America, The Vandal centers on Harold, whose tormented search for peace from traumatic loss results in an unexpectedly destructive awakening after he undergoes a lobotomy. When the procedure “turns his mind inside out” and his great love is suddenly gone, Harold’s desperate search intensifies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Athena (2017)
Two technicians are stranded on a foreign planet by an unexplained explosion and must act fast to stay alive when their rescue team turns out to be a hit squad.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
The Burden (2017)
A shopping center along a large highway is the scene of an apocalyptic musical. Animation with a strong sense of form set to auto-tuned music by Klungan. About liberation through great catastrophy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Return (2008)
Polish animator Anna Błaszczyk’s humorous short—a collage of drawing, cut-out, and computer animation—was inspired by Stanisław Lem’s 1961 novel Return from the Stars, a time-paradox tale of an astronaut who returns to Earth after many years away.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrankenstein (1910)
Frankenstein, a young medical student, trying to create the perfect human being, instead creates a misshapen monster. Made ill by what he has done, Frankenstein is comforted by his fiancée; but on his wedding night he is visited by the monster.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Impossible Voyage (1904)
Using every known means of transportation, several savants from the Geographic Society undertake a journey through the Alps to the Sun which finishes under the sea.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Archivists?
The closest matches to The Archivists are How to Talk to Girls at Parties (2017), Press Play (2022) and Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Archivists?
Start with How to Talk to Girls at Parties (2017), the closest match to The Archivists.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Archivists?
Ghosts (1997), rated 8.1/10 by 305 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Archivists?
Afterburn (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Archivists?
Yes: How to Talk to Girls at Parties (2017), Press Play (2022) and Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020).
How are movies similar to The Archivists chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Archivists, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.