Movies like The Thousand and One Nights (2018)
The best movies like The Thousand and One Nights (2018) are Skin (2009), The Young One (1960) and The Visit (1964). If The Thousand and One Nights hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCharm City Kings (2020)7.8/10 from 508 votes
- NewestOmaha (2025)Released 2025
Skin (2009)
Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Young One (1960)
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Visit (1964)
Carla Zachanassian had a child by Serge Miller as a teenager. When Serge refused to marry her, she was driven out of town. By her own wit and cunning, she has returned as a multi-millionaire for a visit. The town lays out the red carpet expecting big things from Carla, only to learn that her sole purpose is to see Serge Miller killed...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKisses (2008)
Two kids, Dylan and Kylie, run away from home on Christmas Day and spend a night of magic and terror on the streets of inner-city Dublin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe River (1984)
Tom and Mae Garvey are a Tennessee farming couple battling violent floods to save their land. In addition to natural disasters, the Garveys fight to stop a selfish land developer and a local corporation from foreclosing on their farm. While Mae stays at home to care for their children and tend to the crops, Tom finds work as a scab at a steel mill to preserve his family's property.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Road Dance (2022)
A young girl lives in the Outer Hebrides in a small village in the years just before WWI. Isolated and hard by the shore, her life takes a dramatic change when a terrible tragedy befalls her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCharm City Kings (2020)
Mouse desperately wants to join The Midnight Clique, the infamous Baltimore dirt bike riders who rule the summertime streets. When Midnight’s leader, Blax, takes 14-year-old Mouse under his wing, Mouse soon finds himself torn between the straight-and-narrow and a road filled with fast money and violence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972)
Middle-aged widow Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her daughters Ruth and Matilda are struggling to survive in a society they barely understand. Beatrice dreams of opening an elegant tea room but does not have the wherewithal to achieve her lofty goal. Epileptic Ruth is a rebellious adolescent, while shy but highly intelligent and idealistic Matilda seeks solace in her pets and school projects, including one designed to show how small amounts of radium affect marigolds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Color of Friendship (2000)
Mahree Bok lives on a farm in South Africa. Her father is a policeman who cannot hide his joy when activist Steve Biko is caught by the South African authorities. Piper Dellums is the daughter of a US congressman from California and who lives in a nice home in Washington DC. When Mahree is chosen to spend a semester at the Dellums' house, she doesn't expect that her host family would be black. Nor do her hosts suspect that she is not a black South African.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Together Now (2020)
An optimistic, talented teen clings to a huge secret: she's homeless and living on a school bus. When tragedy strikes, can she learn to accept a helping hand?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Attack (2012)
An Arab surgeon living in Tel Aviv discovers a dark secret about his wife in the aftermath of a suicide bombing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat Maisie Knew (2013)
In New York City, six-year-old Maisie is caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle between her self-absorbed parents—an aging rock singer mother and a distracted art dealer father. As both quickly marry new partners to strengthen their legal standing, Maisie is shuttled back and forth in an endless game of emotional point-scoring. Yet amid the chaos and upheaval, Maisie begins to find true comfort and affection in her new step-parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSalomé (2013)
After the lewd and frenetic Dance of the Seven Veils, and with the solemn pledge from the very lips of Herod himself that she could have whatever her heart desires up to half his kingdom, wanton and proud young Salomé comes before her king with an unreasonable demand. Beguiled by John the Baptist, and then scorned for the sake of his god, lascivious Salomé—encouraged by her mother, the vindictive, Herodias—commands that John be executed and his head delivered on a silver platter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGirl in the Box (2016)
The true story of 20-year-old Colleen Stan, a hitchhiking woman abducted by a young couple and held captive for seven years, during which time she's tortured and forced to live as a slave to her captors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCardboard Boxer (2016)
Gentle and broken, a homeless man fights others on video for money but soon finds comfort in an unlikely friend and the lost diary of a young girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHerself (2020)
Struggling to provide her daughters with a safe, happy home, Sandra decides to build one - from scratch. Using all her ingenuity to make her ambitious dream a reality, Sandra draws together a community to lend a helping hand to build her house and ultimately recover her own sense of self.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHounddog (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 · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEl Chicano (2019)
A pair of twin brothers from East L.A. choose to live their lives differently and end up on opposite sides of the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisXiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998)
Young teen girl Xiu Xiu is sent away to a remote corner of the Sichuan steppes for manual labor in 1975 (sending young people to there was a part of Cultural Revolution in China). A year later, she agrees to go to even more remote spot with a Tibetan saddle tramp Lao Jin to learn horse herding.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOmaha (2025)
A young girl and her brother are awoken by their father and loaded into the car on an early morning in 2008. As they road trip across the American West, she discovers the truth about their seemingly spontaneous journey.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKoşar Adım (2020)
Omar is a young man who started out as a taxi driver. To get rid of his financial problems, he returns to the place he once went to gamble. He gambles away money that doesn't belong to him, and his way out of this situation takes him to a darker spot.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Fermuar Ucu (2020)
Asya works in a clothing store and also takes care of her mother and younger brother. It needs a new coat for cold weather in winter. However, he cannot balance the money.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
About The Fire On Rabbi Nissim Street (2020)
The house of Judah was burned. An absurd document demanding payment of the fire brigade drags the boy to the fire station to object.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Sprinkles (2020)
While babysitting Charlotte, 17-year-old Julianne decides to take a pregnancy test. Before seeing the result, the 7-year-old interrupts Julianne's work and pulls her into her pure, childlike universe.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Cleaner (2018)
A public toilet cleaner is concerned about her pregnancy test on a normal day of her work.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The White Tree (2018)
He who robs us of our dreams robs us of our life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Wedding Photo (2020)
Reyhan's dream is to take photos with her wedding gown. Go to the photo studio, her wedding dress was taken in a hurry, but Reyhan does not speak out for her dream. Father-in-law has spent money on everything but has a different account with the photographer than the previous year. For this reason, there is a dispute between the photographer and father-in-law and Reyhan cannot take pictures.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Anoush (2020)
Anoush, a little girl, goes to borrow a wedding dress from a distant relative for her brother's wedding. Leyla, a teacher, comes home as a second intruder. Leyla has just been appointed to the village school. She learns that the village school had been abandoned many years ago and that there is no children in the school age. On the other hand, Anoush could not learn to write although he could read because her teacher resigned and left the village. Transportation between villages takes place once a day. Anoush and Leyla are forced to spend the night in the same house. Will the two passengers get what they want despite the long road?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
At a Riverside (2020)
As a civilian group with a woman about to give birth fleeing to the safe zone from the Serbian genocide with a sizzling radio, they find that they are not by the river with the dog barking they hear, but they are on the side of something else ...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Guard (2020)
Kamil earns his living as a watchman at a seaside location with his family. As people leave their summer homes and get ready for winter, it seems that a harsh and calm winter awaits Kamil and his family. Besides the financial difficulties Kamil had, he was left completely alone with his internal conflict.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Thousand and One Nights?
The closest matches to The Thousand and One Nights are Skin (2009), The Young One (1960) and The Visit (1964). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Thousand and One Nights?
Start with Skin (2009), the closest match to The Thousand and One Nights.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Thousand and One Nights?
Charm City Kings (2020), rated 7.8/10 by 508 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Thousand and One Nights?
Omaha (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Thousand and One Nights?
Yes: Skin (2009), The Young One (1960) and The Visit (1964).
How are movies similar to The Thousand and One Nights chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Thousand and One Nights, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.