Movies like Illicit Desire (1986)
The best movies like Illicit Desire (1986) are I Believe in Unicorns (2015), Hounddog (2008) and One Million Yen Girl (2008). If Illicit Desire hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Trials of Cate McCall (2013)6.4/10 from 321 votes
- NewestMagazine Dreams (2025)Released 2025
- In JapaneseOne Million Yen Girl (2008)Also in Japanese
I Believe in Unicorns (2015)
Feeling awkward and isolated, an imaginative and strong-willed teenage girl runs away from home with an older punk rock drifter.
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 thisOne Million Yen Girl (2008)
A 21-year-old girl is released from prison, only to deal with the neighborhood gossip about her and family conflicts. She decides to save one million yen, move to where no one knows her and keep repeating the process.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIron Jawed Angels (2004)
Defiant young activists take the women's suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Trials of Cate McCall (2013)
In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Girl in the Book (2015)
The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBastard Out of Carolina (1996)
A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCall Me Crazy: A Five Film (2013)
A psychotherapist helps a law student cope with schizophrenia in one of five interconnected tales dealing with mental illness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFrom Straight A's to XXX (2017)
When a change of circumstances leaves Miriam unable to pay her college tuition, she makes a surprising decision: to start performing in adult films, using the pseudonym Belle Knox. Miriam lies to her family and her friends at school, keeping her double life a secret. But soon rumours spread and Miriam becomes the subject of vicious online attacks and unwanted attention. Miriam fights back: she talks to the media, saying her new line of work empowers her as a feminist. But her confident stand has unintended consequences. Miriam is shunned by her conservative family and her colleagues in the adult film world. One impulsive decision has quickly spiralled out of control - and Miriam's problems are just beginning.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like this1 Chance 2 Dance (2014)
When a 17-year old aspiring dancer is uprooted in her high school senior year, she finds herself divided between two boys, and she will have one last shot at making her dream a reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTeen Spirit (2019)
A shy teenager living on the Isle of Wight dreams of pop stardom. With the help of an unlikely mentor, she enters a singing competition that will test her integrity, talent, and ambition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPimp (2018)
An urban love story set on the hard streets of the Bronx. A struggling female pimp, named Wednesday, grows up learning the game from her dad. Once he's gone she's left to look out for her prostitute mother and girlfriend Nikki.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Safety of Objects (2002)
In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRitual (2000)
A disillusioned filmmaker has an encounter with a young woman who has a ritual of repeating "Tomorrow is my birthday" everyday. He tries to communicate with her through his video camera.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTalhotBlond (2012)
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMagazine Dreams (2025)
Aspiring bodybuilder Killian Maddox struggles to find human connection in an exploration of celebrity and violence. Nothing deters him from his fiercely protected dream of superstardom, not even the doctors who warn him of the permanent damage he causes to himself with his quest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLucky Them (2013)
More interested in partying and flirting with young musicians than work, veteran rock journalist Ellie Klug has one last chance to prove her value to her magazine’s editor: a no-stone-unturned search to discover what really happened to long lost rock god, Matt Smith, who also happens to be her ex-boyfriend. Teaming up with an eccentric amateur documentary filmmaker, Ellie hits the road in search of answers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVesper (2022)
After the collapse of Earth's ecosystem, Vesper, a 13-year-old girl struggling to survive with her paralyzed Father, meets a mysterious Woman with a secret that forces Vesper to use her wits, strength and bio-hacking abilities to fight for the possibility of a future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStrange Weather (2016)
Years after her son's suicide, a woman longs to confront both the past and a friend of his who took his business idea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisRascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid (2023)
Finally, the day of Mai's high school graduation has arrived. While Sakuta eagerly waits for his girlfriend, an elementary schooler who looks exactly like her appears before him. Suspicious, and for all the wrong reasons... Meanwhile, Sakuta and Kaede's father suddenly calls, saying that their mother wants to see her daughter. She was hospitalized because Kaede's condition had been too much for her to bear, so what could she possibly want now?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPainful Bliss: Final Twist (1977)
A young executive has a really bad night after an encounter with a crazed bisexual wannabe yakuza and his horny girlfriend.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Swapping Wives (2017)
A sexy sister-in-law instead of a quiet wife! An innocent sister-in-law instead of a horny wife! Two men struggle with their sex lives and they decide to swap wives. Jong-woo is frustrated with his wife Jae-hee because she's so silent in bed. He talks to Ji-yeong about this and she tells him she hasn't had satisfying sex ever with her quiet husband Min-soo. Jong-woo and Ji-yeong find out they enjoy various positions and plays and end up spending a night together. Meanwhile, Jae-hee and Min-soo also want something soft and affectionate and the couples can't be stopped now...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Devil Angel (1995)
Chi Kit worked in a stock company. One day, the stock market crashed and Chi Kit ran into bankruptcy. He called his girlfriend Siu Suen and told her everything. Siu Suen loved Chi Kit so much that she took all her savings and ran away with him to Singapore to hide away from their debts. Unfortunately, Chi Kit met a wealthy woman with an interesting proposal, and it changed everything.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Boys of Cellblock Q (1992)
The Boys of Cellblock Q is set within the bowels of the Sunnyvale Labor Farm. Without the presence of women, the prisoners indulge in regular trysts with one another, make full use out of the jail's supply of priests, turn the eyes several policemen, and help a young convict learn the ins and outs of the prison community.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Red Bikini (2017)
A couples' trip to Pattaya turns into hell when each others' secrets come out into the open! Soo-jeong and Tae-hyeon decide to go abroad with Sang-jin and Ji-hyeon to celebrate Ji-hyeon's birthday. However, Ji-hyeon can't make it last minute and the three set off. However the local tour guide tricks them into losing everything they've got. Then they meet Lizzie, who Sang-jin falls for right away. They cross the line and Soo-jeong who secretly had a crush on Sang-jin, films them quietly. She then threatens Sang-jin to tell Ji-hyeon with the video of their affair and demands he takes her in. Tae-hyeon finds out about everything and the dreamy vacation turns into hell...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Siren the Ghost Story (1993)
Minayo plays the legendary "Siren," a ghost who lives forever by sucking men's life force. She skillfully seduces men using her body as bait, and those who fall prey to her turn into mummified corpses.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Siren the Ghost Story Again (1994)
Disappearances... What if a magical fairy beyond human knowledge is lurking in the shadows of incidents that could occur in our daily lives? Mysterious disappearances and slaughters in a seemingly peaceful and ordinary port town are so bizarre that all the bodies found have been mummified. Detective Junpei investigates this mysterious case. His father, who was also a detective, disappeared 20 years ago while investigating another strange case.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Hotaru Special (2007)
Hotaru Amami is a female detective who uses her knowledge of the law and her beautiful body as weapons. Together with her assistant, Mizuno , a law student, she works day and night to eliminate crimes that prey on women. Can they successfully trap the powerful con artists who appear one after another and save their clients? Two beautiful women put their bodies on the line in this definitive sexy detective story. (Compiles scenes from the four New Hotaru films).
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Siren the Ghost Story Forever (1995)
Suddenly, men abandon their jobs and families and come to the sea for no reason at all. Their disappearance was connected to an incredibly powerful force. One chilly day, when Cassiopeia shines strangely, two men suddenly arrive at the beach house "Kaijotei," asking to be allowed to stay here. The two men, who did not know each other and had no relation to each other, were drawn to the same beach for unknown reasons. Kazuhiko and Ayako, two lovers who run a beach pavilion, have no choice but to accept the two men, who are not moving even with their leverage, since it is out of season and there are no bathers. A few days later, a new man named Furuta arrives. Furuta is an expert in astronomical observation, and he senses something unusual in the way the stars have been shining these past few days.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Soul Desires (2001)
Liam, although has everything - health, money, women, he, as ever, approaches the embodiment of his dream - to open the coolest erotic nightclub in Hollywood. He and his partners decide to open the club. But Liam has a problem. Goldberg, one of his partners who does not belong to the most honest people, has a clairvoyant clause that if the club does not open at a proper and agreed date, he will withdraw from the tug. Construction is prolonging, and Liam and other partners are in a time of stress. They need to get the money quickly because they will all face a serious disaster if they miss the deadline. He is in search of beautiful girls for night club, but first of all he has to choose them. One of the girls will do everything she can to be chosen.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Illicit Desire?
The closest matches to Illicit Desire are I Believe in Unicorns (2015), Hounddog (2008) and One Million Yen Girl (2008). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Illicit Desire?
Start with I Believe in Unicorns (2015), the closest match to Illicit Desire.
What is the highest-rated movie like Illicit Desire?
The Trials of Cate McCall (2013), rated 6.4/10 by 321 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Illicit Desire?
Magazine Dreams (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Illicit Desire?
Yes: One Million Yen Girl (2008), Ritual (2000) and Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid (2023).
How are movies similar to Illicit Desire chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Illicit Desire, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.