Movies like Life Begins Here (1983)
The best movies like Life Begins Here (1983) are Lighting Up the Stars (2022), Love Is in the Air (2023) and The Bravest (2019). If Life Begins Here hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFlamin' Hot (2023)8.0/10 from 888 votes
- NewestSoul on Fire (2025)Released 2025
- In ChineseLighting Up the Stars (2022)Also in Chinese
Lighting Up the Stars (2022)
Having been released after serving his sentence, a funeral director accidentally crosses paths with a girl which brings about an unexpected change in his attitude towards life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLove Is in the Air (2023)
A fiercely independent pilot fighting to keep her family business afloat starts to fall for the man sent by corporate to ground her operation forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bravest (2019)
Based on real life events, the film revolves around the heroic efforts of a team of firefighters as they attempt to deal with a fire that breaks out at an oil refinery in Dalian.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSaturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960)
A 22-year-old factory worker lets loose on the weekends: drinking, brawling, and dating two women, one of whom is older and married.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like this24 City (2008)
As a decades-old state-run aeronautics munitions factory in downtown Chengdu, China is being torn down for the construction of the titular luxury apartment complex, director Jia Zhangke interviews various people affiliated with it about their experiences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSoul on Fire (2025)
After a horrific accident leaves his body scarred, a young boy strives to live and show everyone what is possible with the help of his family, his faith, his community, his longtime idol's kindness, and the entire city of St. Louis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAdopt a Highway (2019)
Russ Millings has just been released from prison after serving 21 years for a 3rd strike conviction for possessing an ounce of marijuana. As he tries to adapt to a world he doesn’t recognize – including trying to learn how to use the internet – he finds an abandoned baby in a dumpster behind the fast food restaurant where he works as a dishwasher. Unsure of what to do, and caught between impulses of kindness and panic, Russ soon realizes this could be his chance at redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOn Fire (2023)
Inspired by true and harrowing events, an ordinary man finds his world suddenly torn apart as devastating wildfires rip through the surrounding countryside. With precious moments ticking by, he must flee with his son and pregnant wife if they have any hope of surviving the rapid forces of mother nature.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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
SnoozefestMovies like thisFlamin' Hot (2023)
The inspiring true story of Richard Montañez, the Frito Lay janitor who channeled his Mexican American heritage and upbringing to turn the iconic Flamin' Hot Cheetos into a snack that disrupted the food industry and became a global pop culture phenomenon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisPicture Perfect (1997)
A young advertising executive's life becomes increasingly complicated when, in order to impress her boss, she pretends to be engaged to a man she has just met.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisTestament (1983)
It's just another day in the small town of Hamlin until something disastrous happens. Suddenly, news breaks that a series of nuclear warheads has been dropped along the Eastern Seaboard and, more locally, in California. As people begin coping with the devastating aftermath of the attacks — many suffer radiation poisoning — the Wetherly family tries to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDear John (2010)
While Sergeant John Tyree is home on two weeks leave from Germany, he meets Savannah after he dives into the ocean to retrieve Savannah's purse that had fallen off a pier. John eventually falls in love with Savannah, who promises to write to him until he returns from overseas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHellfighters (1968)
The adventures of oil well fire specialist Chance Buckman (based on real-life Red Adair), who extinguishes massive fires in oil fields around the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFinding Mr. Right (2013)
When Jiajia, a young woman in Beijing who lives a luxurious life provided by her wealthy boyfriend, gets pregnant, she goes to the United States, hoping that the baby will be born an American citizen. There she meets Frank who offers help and makes her think twice about who her Mr. Right really is.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Life Begins Here?
The closest matches to Life Begins Here are Lighting Up the Stars (2022), Love Is in the Air (2023) and The Bravest (2019). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Life Begins Here?
Start with Lighting Up the Stars (2022), the closest match to Life Begins Here.
What is the highest-rated movie like Life Begins Here?
Flamin' Hot (2023), rated 8.0/10 by 888 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Life Begins Here?
Soul on Fire (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like Life Begins Here?
Yes: Lighting Up the Stars (2022), The Bravest (2019) and 24 City (2008).
How are movies similar to Life Begins Here chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Life Begins Here, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.