Movies like The Rules of the Game (1939)
The best movies like The Rules of the Game (1939) are Madame (2017), Moliere (2007) and Le Plaisir (1952). If The Rules of the Game hooked you with its drama and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedNinotchka (1939)7.5/10 from 462 votes
- NewestAi wa Tanken (Love is a Dagger) (2025)Released 2025
- In FrenchMoliere (2007)Also in French
Madame (2017)
Anne and Bob, a well-to-do American couple, have just moved to a beautiful manor house in romantic Paris. To impress their sophisticated friends, they decide to host a lavish dinner party, but must disguise their maid as a noblewoman to even out the number of guests. When the maid runs off with a wealthy guest, Anne must chase her around Paris to thwart the joyous and unexpected love affair.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisMoliere (2007)
Molière, a down-and-out actor-cum-playwright up to his ears in debt. When the wealthy Jourdain offers to cover that debt so that Molière's theatrical talents might help Jourdain win the heart of a certain widowed marquise, hilarity ensues.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLe Plaisir (1952)
Three stories about pleasure. The first one is about a man hiding his age behind a mask to keep going to balls and fancying women - pleasure and youth. Then comes the long tale of Madame Tellier taking her girls (whores) to the country for attending her niece's communion - pleasure and purity. And lastly, Jean the painter falls in love with his model - pleasure and death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBoyfriends and Girlfriends (1987)
Middle-class Parisian suburbs: Blanche and Léa, office worker and student, meet and become friends. Léa is going out with Fabien, but is thinking of leaving him. Blanche falls for Léa's handsome and witty friend Alexandre, but is tongue-tied whenever she meets him. Léa goes on holiday and Blanche, still smitten with the dashing Alexandre, begins to get to know Fabien.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Aviator's Wife (1981)
A student is devastated when he finds that his girlfriend is cheating on him. In order to find out why she did it, he decides to spy on her and her airline pilot lover. Then he sees the pilot with a blonde woman and he begins to follow them…
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWelcome to the Sticks (2008)
Although living a comfortable life in Salon-de-Provence, a charming town in the South of France, Julie has been feeling depressed for a while. To please her, Philippe Abrams, a post office administrator, her husband, tries to obtain a transfer to a seaside town, on the French Riviera, at any cost. The trouble is that he is caught red-handed while trying to scam an inspector. Philippe is immediately banished to the distant unheard of town of Bergues, in the Far North of France...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParis Can Wait (2016)
Anne is at a crossroads in her life. Long married to a successful, driven but inattentive movie producer, she unexpectedly finds herself taking a car trip from Cannes to Paris with Jacques, a business associate of her husband. What should be a seven-hour drive turns into a carefree two-day adventure replete with diversions involving picturesque sights, fine food and wine, humor, wisdom and romance - reawakening Anne's senses and giving her a new lust for life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisGoodbye Again (1961)
Middle-aged businesswoman Paula Tessier rejects the advances of her client's amusing 25-year-old son, Philip Van der Besh, but reconsiders when her longtime philandering partner begins yet another casual affair with a younger woman. She soon learns that May-December romances with older women are frowned upon in society.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMélo (1986)
In 1920s Paris, violinists and lifelong friends Pierre Belcroix and Marcel Blanc are happy with their lives, although Marcel has become famous and Pierre has not. Pierre is married to Romaine, a stylish young flapper. However, Marcel meets and falls in love with her, which Marcel little suspects.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Art of Love (2011)
Several interconnected chapters follow a variety of Parisian couples navigating love, desire, and relationships. Isabelle, frustrated by a year of celibacy, rejects her friend Zoé’s offer to "borrow" her husband and instead impersonates their mutual friend Amélie, who cannot bring herself to sleep with her close friend Boris. Meanwhile, the lonely Achille is stunned when his alluring new neighbor appears at his door in a negligee, proposing an affair. Elsewhere, middle-aged Emmanuelle struggles with an overwhelming attraction to every handsome man she encounters, threatening her marriage, while a young couple wrestles with jealousy. Each chapter delves into the unpredictability of love with humor and poignancy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisTwo English Girls (1971)
In the early 20th-century, Frenchman Claude meets Englishwoman Ann in Paris. Ann invites him to her family home, intending him for her sister Muriel. Claude falls for Muriel, but families demand year-long separation before approving marriage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAn Indian Tale (2017)
The life of two men changed unexpectedly when Ajith, an Indian sailor who was robbed and lost everything, appears out of nowhere in front of Pierre, a single and grumpy Frenchman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisNinotchka (1939)
A stern Russian woman sent to Paris on official business finds herself attracted to a man who represents everything she is supposed to detest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLady J (2018)
When a romance between a widow and a notorious libertine takes an unexpected turn, Mademoiselle de Joncquières becomes instrumental to one lover’s plans for revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAge of Panic (2013)
May 6, 2012. Cable news reporter Laetitia is covering the French presidential elections, while Vincent, her ex-husband, demands to see their two young daughters. It's a manic Sunday in Paris: two agitated girls, a frazzled babysitter, a needy new boyfriend, a grumpy lawyer and France cut in half!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisKitty Foyle (1940)
A hard-working, white-collar girl falls in love with a young socialite, but meets with his family's disapproval.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Love Lost (2023)
A single father, Étienne, is preparing for his daughter Rosa to leave home, but his life is upended when he sees his long-lost wife, Valérie, on TV, forcing a confrontation with the past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnd the Party Goes On (2023)
In Marseille, Rosa, 60, dedicated her life to family and politics with the same sense of duty. Everyone considers her unwavering, until the day she falls in love with Henri. For the first time, Rosa is afraid to commit. Between the pressure of his family, politics and a desire to indulge in her feelings, the conflict is difficult to sustain.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFour Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle (1987)
Two young girls meet, Reinette from the countryside and Mirabelle from Paris, and decide to take a flat together in Paris where they attend University. Four successive stories about their daily lives illustrate the very different views, characters and relation to the world of these two friends.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Four Musketeers (1974)
The Four Musketeers defend the queen and her dressmaker from Cardinal Richelieu and Milady de Winter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDownsizing (2017)
A kindly occupational therapist undergoes a new procedure to be shrunken to four inches tall so that he and his wife can help save the planet and afford a nice lifestyle at the same time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisVeni Vidi Vici (2024)
The Maynards and their children lead an almost perfect billionaire family life. Amon is a passionate hunter, but doesn’t shoot animals, as the family's wealth allows them to live totally free from consequences.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (2009)
Paris 1913. Coco Chanel is infatuated with the rich and handsome Boy Capel, but she is also compelled by her work. Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring is about to be performed. The revolutionary dissonances of Igor's work parallel Coco's radical ideas. She wants to democratize women's fashion; he wants to redefine musical taste. Coco attends the scandalous first performance of The Rite in a chic white dress. The music and ballet are criticized as too modern, too foreign. Coco is moved but Igor is inconsolable.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHow Funny (This Country Is) (2010)
Three freshly graduated adults try to educate young beggars to become street vendors, but are opposed by their fathers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Dinner at Eight (1933)
An ambitious New York socialite plans an extravagant dinner party as her businessman husband, Oliver, contends with financial woes, causing a lot of tension between the couple. Meanwhile, their high-society friends and associates, including the gruff Dan Packard and his sultry spouse, Kitty, contend with their own entanglements, leading to revelations at the much-anticipated dinner.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSailor Beware (1952)
Meeting in a navy recruiting line, Al Crowthers and Melvin Jones become friends. Al has tried to enlist before, but was always rejected. He keeps trying so that he can impress women. Melvin, is allergic to women's cosmetics and his doctor prescribed ocean travel, so he decided to join the navy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Secrets of the City (1955)
An industrial plant gets into difficulties. The factory owner then decides to sell the company and makes all the employees redundant. How do the dismissed employees deal with the new situation?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Madame X (1929)
A young, unfaithful wife and mother is thrown out by her cold, unforgiving husband, the Attorney General of France. She is barred from ever seeing her three year old son again despite her earnest attempts to make amends. For many years the mother seeks refuge overseas and in Absinthe. In the end, her son, a young and promising lawyer unknowingly defends her in court. Ruth Chatterton gives a marvelous performance in this early talkie in her portrayal of Madame X.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Ai wa Tanken (Love is a Dagger) (2025)
Amelia and Wes have had a falling out in Japan, a foreign land neither of them are accustomed to. While doing some soul-searching on her own, Amelia begins to notice that she's being stalked by a strange man. Wes pleads with her to come back for her own safety - but Amelia's about to find that sometimes the most familiar faces are the most misgiving.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like The Rules of the Game and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Rules of the Game?
The closest matches to The Rules of the Game are Madame (2017), Moliere (2007) and Le Plaisir (1952). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Rules of the Game?
Start with Madame (2017), the closest match to The Rules of the Game.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Rules of the Game?
Ninotchka (1939), rated 7.5/10 by 462 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Rules of the Game?
Ai wa Tanken (Love is a Dagger) (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like The Rules of the Game?
Yes: Moliere (2007), Le Plaisir (1952) and Boyfriends and Girlfriends (1987).
How are movies similar to The Rules of the Game chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Rules of the Game, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.