Movies like When I Smile My Eyes Close (2020)
The best movies like When I Smile My Eyes Close (2020) are Before I Wake (2016), Dream Scenario (2023) and Bedtime Stories (2008). If When I Smile My Eyes Close hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMagnolia (1999)7.7/10 from 4,233 votes
- NewestI Saw the TV Glow (2024)Released 2024
Before I Wake (2016)
An orphaned child's dreams—and nightmares—manifest physically as he sleeps.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDream Scenario (2023)
Hapless family man Paul Matthews finds his life turned upside down when millions of strangers suddenly start seeing him in their dreams. But when his nighttime appearances take a nightmarish turn, Paul is forced to navigate his newfound stardom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBedtime Stories (2008)
Skeeter Bronson is a down-on-his-luck guy who's always telling bedtime stories to his niece and nephew. But his life is turned upside down when the fantastical stories he makes up for entertainment inexplicably turn into reality. Can a bewildered Skeeter manage his own unruly fantasies now that the outrageous characters and situations from his mind have morphed into actual people and events?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMirrorMask (2005)
In a fantasy world of opposing kingdoms, a 15-year old girl must find the fabled MirrorMask in order to save the kingdom and get home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStill Breathing (1997)
Two lost souls: she a con-artist in L.A.; he a puppeteer in San Antonio have the same dream linking each with the other. He travels to L.A. to find this woman he has become obsessed with. She resists, afraid of his kooky ideas until she travels with him to San Antonio and meets his wise grandmother. Story of two disparate people linked by "fate" gets increasingly interesting as it rolls along.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlice in Wonderland (1933)
In Victorian England, a bored young girl dreams that she has entered a fantasy world called Wonderland, populated by even more fantastic characters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMagnolia (1999)
On one random day in the San Fernando Valley, a dying father, a young wife, a male caretaker, a famous lost son, a police officer in love, a boy genius, an ex-boy genius, a game show host and an estranged daughter will each become part of a dazzling multiplicity of plots, but one story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPaperhouse (1988)
A young girl lost in the loneliness and boredom of reality finds solace in an ill boy, whom she can visit in a surreal dream world that she drew in her school composition book.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSlumberland (2022)
A young girl discovers a secret map to the dreamworld of Slumberland, and with the help of an eccentric outlaw, she traverses dreams and flees nightmares, with the hope that she will be able to see her late father again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWaking Life (2001)
Waking Life is about a young man in a persistent lucid dream-like state. The film follows its protagonist as he initially observes and later participates in philosophical discussions that weave together issues like reality, free will, our relationships with others, and the meaning of life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)
Walter Mitty, a daydreaming writer with an overprotective mother, likes to imagine that he is a hero who experiences fantastic adventures. His dream becomes reality when he accidentally meets a mysterious woman who hands him a little black book. According to her, it contains the locations of the Dutch crown jewels hidden since World War II. Soon, Mitty finds himself in the middle of a confusing conspiracy, where he has difficulty differentiating between fact and fiction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Curse of the Cat People (1944)
Amy, the young, friendless daughter of Oliver and Alice Reed, befriends her father's late first wife and an aging, reclusive actress.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTigertail (2020)
A man reflects on the lost love of his youth and his long-ago journey from Taiwan to America as he begins to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBefore I Fall (2017)
Samantha Kingston has everything. Then, everything changes. After one fateful night, she wakes up with no future at all. Trapped into reliving the same day over and over, she begins to question just how perfect her life really was.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEvery Day (2018)
16-year old Rhiannon falls in love with a mysterious spirit named “A” that inhabits a different body every day. Feeling an unmatched connection, Rhiannon and “A” work each day to find each other, not knowing what the next day will bring.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Saw the TV Glow (2024)
In late-'90s suburbia, lonely teenager Owen meets Maddy, who introduces him to a mysterious late-night TV show — a vision of a supernatural world pulsing beneath their own. As time goes on, questions begin to arise about why the show sometimes seems more real than their own lives, as their view of reality begins to crack.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTed (2012)
John Bennett, a man whose childhood wish of bringing his teddy bear to life came true, now must decide between keeping the relationship with the bear or his girlfriend, Lori.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLady Driver (2020)
When a rebellious teen embarks on a solo summer journey to connect with her roots, she finds herself in a new world, geared up for the ride of her life, and discovers she had the drive in her all along.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTideland (2005)
Because of the actions of her irresponsible parents, a young girl is left alone on a decrepit country estate and survives inside her fantastic imagination.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlue Lagoon: The Awakening (2012)
Two high school students become stranded on a tropical island and must rely on each other for survival. They learn more about themselves and each other while falling in love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like When I Smile My Eyes Close?
The closest matches to When I Smile My Eyes Close are Before I Wake (2016), Dream Scenario (2023) and Bedtime Stories (2008). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after When I Smile My Eyes Close?
Start with Before I Wake (2016), the closest match to When I Smile My Eyes Close.
What is the highest-rated movie like When I Smile My Eyes Close?
Magnolia (1999), rated 7.7/10 by 4,233 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like When I Smile My Eyes Close?
I Saw the TV Glow (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to When I Smile My Eyes Close chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside When I Smile My Eyes Close, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.