Movies like Dear Dakanda (2005)
The best movies like Dear Dakanda (2005) are Newness (2017), Time Is Up (2021) and Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between (2022). If Dear Dakanda hooked you with its romance and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLife in a Year (2020)8.2/10 from 2,026 votes
- NewestThe Death of Michael Mouse (2025)Released 2025
Newness (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 thisTime 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 thisHello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between (2022)
Clare and Aidan make a pact to break up before college — no regrets, no broken hearts. But will one epic goodbye date offer them a last chance at love?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fugitive Kind (1960)
Val Xavier, a drifter of obscure origins, arrives at a small town and gets a job in a store run by Lady Torrence. Her husband, Jabe M. Torrance, is dying of cancer. Val is pursued by Carol Cutere, the enigmatic local tramp-of-good-family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Everlasting (2016)
Bridger is a young outsider who's always wanted more. He and his mother flee an abusive home, eventually finding a small town in the middle of nowhere. Once there, Bridger finds true acceptance with another misfit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPurple Hearts (2022)
An aspiring musician agrees to a marriage of convenience with a soon-to-deploy Marine, but a tragedy soon turns their fake relationship all too real.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFire with Fire (1986)
A tough, street-smart kid serving a sentence in a state youth reformatory meets a beautiful, innocent girl studying at a nearby convent. When forbidden love blossoms between them, they must fight the prison authorities, their parents and the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMarked Men: Rule + Shaw (2025)
Shaw Landon has loved Rule Archer from the moment she laid eyes on him. Rule, a fiery-tempered rebel tattoo artist, doesn’t have time for a good girl pre-med student like Shaw — even if she’s the only one who can see the person he truly is. She lives by other people’s rules; he makes his own. But a short skirt, too many birthday cocktails, and spilled secrets lead to a night neither can forget. Now, Shaw and Rule must figure out how a girl like her and a guy like him are supposed to be together without destroying their love…or each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Secret: Dare to Dream (2020)
A widow with three children hires a handyman to fix her house during a major storm. When not doing home repairs, he shares his philosophy of believing in the power of the universe to deliver what we want.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlind (2017)
A novelist is blinded in a car crash that killed his wife and several years later rediscovers his passion for life and writing when he embarks on an affair with the neglected wife of an indicted businessman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMoonlight Mile (2002)
As he copes with the death of his fiancee along with her parents, a young man must figure out what he wants out of life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSee You Soon (2019)
A U.S. soccer star suffers a career-threatening injury in the run-up to the World Cup, and during his recovery, embarks on an epic romance with a Russian single mom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisWinter Spring Summer or Fall (2024)
Remi and Barnes, two very different teenagers, meet by chance in the winter of their senior year, then spend four days together over the course of a year that will change their lives forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOn the Edge (2001)
A suicidal young man is committed to a Dublin psychiatric hospital where he meets new friends who greatly influence his life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaria's Lovers (1984)
A World War II prisoner returns home to his childhood sweetheart. However, back home, he discovers that he has to compete to win her love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLife in a Year (2020)
A 17 year old finds out that his girlfriend is dying, so he sets out to give her an entire life, in the last year she has left.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisLovely, Still (2009)
A holiday fable that tells the story of an elderly man discovering love for the first time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJan Dara: The Beginning (2012)
Jan, a young boy, grows up without a mother and is often insulted by his father. He struggles with his life as he longs to be with several women, even Madame Boonleung, his father's lover.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisNot Easily Broken (2009)
A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEmpire Records (1995)
The employees of an independent music store learn about each other as they try to stop the store from being absorbed by a large chain.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCarmen (2022)
In a small Mediterranean village, Carmen has looked after her brother, the local priest, for her entire life. When the Church abandons Carmen, she is mistaken for the new priest. Carmen begins to see the world, and herself, in a new light.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
An Affair to Remember! (2023)
A wife reveals to her younger husband that she is having an affair.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Another Affair to Remember! (2023)
Jean-Jacques Garbo is deeply dismayed by his wife's infidelity when he suddenly has inklings of another love affair.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Love Actually (2003)
Eight very different couples deal with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
After discovering his high school crush can't date until her brash older sister does, a lovesick teen enlists a bad-boy classmate to woo her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCrush (2022)
When an aspiring young artist is forced to join her high school track team, she uses it as an opportunity to pursue the girl she's been harboring a long-time crush on. But she soon finds herself falling for an unexpected teammate and discovers what real love feels like.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Emperor of Paris (2018)
Paris, France, early 19th century. The legendary convict François Vidocq lives in disguise trying to escape from a tragic past that torments him. When, after an unfortunate event, he crosses paths with the police chief, he makes a bold decision that will turn the ruthless mastermind of the Parisian underworld against him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Death of Michael Mouse (2025)
A lyrical mediation on the life, love, and journey of infamous star Mickey Mouse as he reunites with an ex-girlfriend after he is let go by Disney.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Unicorn (2017)
A young girl of 13 lives with her mother on an isolated property. They are awaiting the return of their father and husband. But instead, another man appears, transforming the relationship between the mother and daughter. Based on two short stories by Brazilian poet Hilda Hilst.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Dear Dakanda and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Dear Dakanda?
The closest matches to Dear Dakanda are Newness (2017), Time Is Up (2021) and Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Dear Dakanda?
Start with Newness (2017), the closest match to Dear Dakanda.
What is the highest-rated movie like Dear Dakanda?
Life in a Year (2020), rated 8.2/10 by 2,026 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Dear Dakanda?
The Death of Michael Mouse (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Dear Dakanda chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Dear Dakanda, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.