Movies like Life is Beautiful
The best movies like Life is Beautiful are Hounddog (2008), Love at the Shore (2017) and My Brilliant Career (1979). If Life is Beautiful hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedI Can't Think Straight (2008)7.5/10 from 341 votes
- NewestPicture This (2025)Released 2025
Hounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove at the Shore (2017)
Single mom Jenna Thompson only five weeks to deliver her next teen novel to her publisher. So, this year's annual beach vacation with her kids will be a working vacation. Upon arrival, the family soon meets their new next-door neighbor, confident, devil-may-care surfer Lucas McKinnon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Brilliant Career (1979)
A young woman who is determined to maintain her independence finds herself at odds with her family who wants her to tame her wild side and get married.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSeriously Single (2020)
While her free-living bestie urges her to embrace singlehood, a commitment-craving social media expert can't stop following the life of a former love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCast a Dark Shadow (1955)
Edward "Teddy" Bare is a ruthless schemer who thinks he's hit the big time when he kills his older wife, believing he will inherit a fortune. When things don't go according to plan, Teddy sets his sights on a new victim: wealthy widow Freda Jeffries. Unfortunately for the unscrupulous criminal, Freda is much more guarded and sassy than his last wife, making separating her from her money considerably more challenging.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHow to Marry a Millionaire (1953)
Three women set out to find eligible millionaires to marry, but find true love in the process.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Can't Think Straight (2008)
Tala, a London-based Palestinian, is preparing for her elaborate Middle Eastern wedding when she meets Leyla, a young British Indian woman who is dating her best friend. Spirited Christian Tala and shy Muslim Leyla could not be more different from each other, but the attraction is immediate and goes deeper than friendship. But Tala is not ready to accept the implications of the choice her heart has made for her and escapes back to Jordan, while Leyla tries to move on with her new-found life, to the shock of her tradition-loving parents. As Tala's wedding day approaches, simmering tensions come to boiling point and the pressure mounts for Tala to be true to herself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBed of Roses (1996)
The seeds of love are planted when Lisa, a high-powered investment banker, receives flowers from a secret admirer. But when his fairy-tale fantasies clash with her workaholic ways, they soon find out that sometimes, it's harder than it seems for love to conquer all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisPicture This (2025)
Single and without a man on the horizon, Pia runs a failing photography studio in London with her best friend Jay. As her sister Sonal prepares for marriage and her mother Laxmi urges her to partner up, a spiritual guru predicts Pia will meet the love of her life among her next five dates. With her family intervening, Pia embarks on a hilarious yet heartfelt quest for love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChasing Papi (2003)
Playboy Thomas Fuentes has so far been able to skate by in life on good looks and charm alone. But when his duplicitous relationships with three women -- impassioned waitress Cici, meticulous lawyer Lorena and bored socialite Patricia -- spiral out of control, he suffers a mental breakdown. His doctor recommends that he choose just one girlfriend -- but can he choose in time before they discover his deception?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHurry Sundown (1967)
A ruthless Southern opportunist tries to buy his cousin's land, and when thwarted, brings several tragedies to the lives of his loved ones.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPoint Blank (2019)
A nurse is forced to spring a wounded murder suspect from the hospital when the man’s brother kidnaps his pregnant wife and wants to make a trade.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIntroducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999)
An acclaimed stage performer, Dorothy still struggled with the challenge of her color, in a time that wouldn't let some stars in by the front door. Yet against the odds she beat out many more famous rivals for the role of "Carmen Jones", becoming the first black woman ever nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award. Marriages and affairs would break her heart, but her heart was strong. Seductive and easily seduced, she was born to be a star - with all the glory and all the pain of being loved, abused, cheated, glorified, undermined and undefeated. Here was a woman who wouldn't wait in the wings. Halle Berry stars as Dorothy Dandrige.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisForever in My Heart (2019)
Jenna and Charlie found love in Ireland but their dreams drove them apart. Five years later, they reunite and Jenna has to decide where her heart belongs—back home or in the Emerald Isle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPoison (2023)
When a poisonous snake slithers onto an Englishman's stomach in India, his associate and a doctor race to save him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Prince & Me 4: The Elephant Adventure (2010)
One year after their royal wedding, King Edvard and Queen Paige of Denmark receive an invitation to attend the wedding of Princess Myra of Sangyoon. Upon their arrival, Paige finds Myra is unhappy with her arranged marriage to the brooding and sinister Kah and is secretly in love with a young elephant handler named Alu.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Lost Husband (2020)
Trying to put her life back together after the death of her husband, Libby and her children move to her estranged Aunt's goat farm in central Texas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEffie Gray (2014)
A look at the mysterious relationship between Victorian art critic John Ruskin and his teenage bride Effie Gray.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShag (1989)
Summer of 1963. Carson is getting married to her boyfriend so her friends Melaina, Pudge and Luanne take her to Myrtle Beach for one last irresponsible weekend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRachel, Rachel (1968)
Rachel is a 35-year-old school teacher who has no man in her life and lives with her mother. When a man from the big city returns and asks her out, she begins to have to make decisions about her life and where she wants it to go.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like Life is Beautiful and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Life is Beautiful?
The closest matches to Life is Beautiful are Hounddog (2008), Love at the Shore (2017) and My Brilliant Career (1979). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Life is Beautiful?
Start with Hounddog (2008), the closest match to Life is Beautiful.
What is the highest-rated movie like Life is Beautiful?
I Can't Think Straight (2008), rated 7.5/10 by 341 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Life is Beautiful?
Picture This (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Kannada movies like Life is Beautiful?
The closest matches are in other languages.
How are movies similar to Life is Beautiful chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Life is Beautiful, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.