Movies like Modern Love (1978)
The best movies like Modern Love (1978) are They Won't Believe Me (1947), Same Time Next Week (2017) and Afterglow (1997). If Modern Love hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest rated¿Quieres ser mi hijo? (2023)8.4/10 from 378 votes
- NewestOne Night Only (2026)Released 2026
They Won't Believe Me (1947)
On trial for murdering his girlfriend, philandering stockbroker Larry Ballentine takes the stand to claim his innocence and describe the actual, but improbable sounding, sequence of events that led to her death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSame Time Next Week (2017)
Sara deals with her grief by trying to complete her late husband’s bucket list. Injuring herself on one of the tasks leads her to meet Dr. Ryan. A widower himself, Ryan begins to help Sara complete the bucket list. The two get close and Sara doesn’t want to betray her husband’s memory, so she stops seeing Ryan. However, Ryan doesn’t give up and helps Sara realize that everyone deserves a second chance at love
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAfterglow (1997)
Lucky Mann is a builder equally handy at repairs and seduction. The latest housewife to succumb to his charms is Marianne, unhappily married to corporate exec Jeffrey. When Jeffrey becomes enraptured by Lucky’s wife Phyllis, the four get caught in a love quadrangle that reignites their marriages.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Touch of Class (1973)
Steve, a happily married American man living in London meets Vicki, an English divorcée and run off to Marbella for a rollicking week of sex. They then return to London to set up a cozy menage, despite the fact that he loves his wife and children, and now realize that he and Vicki have also fallen in love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlower Shop Mystery: Mum's the Word (2016)
Abby Knight, a former lawyer turned proud flower shop owner is starting over after the death of her husband with the support from her father, a new business and her daughter off to college. Life is good in the peaceful town of New Chapel but when a black SUV rams her prized vintage car, she’s determined to track down the driver. She begrudgingly accepts the help of a new neighbor, the handsome and charming ex-Marine Marco Salvare who just bought the bar down the street.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlease Don't Eat the Daisies (1960)
Drama critic Larry Mackay, his wife Kate and their four sons move from their crowded Manhattan apartment to an old house in the country. While housewife Kate settles into suburban life, Larry continues to enjoy the theater and party scene of New York.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWest Side Story (1961)
In Manhattan’s Upper West Side, rival gangs of Polish-Americans and newly arrived Puerto Ricans clash for control of the neighborhood, even as two young members from opposite sides fall dangerously in love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMuch Ado About Nothing (2013)
A modern retelling of Shakespeare's classic comedy about two pairs of lovers with different takes on romance and a way with words.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIsn't It Romantic (2019)
For a long time, Natalie, an Australian architect living in New York City, had always believed that what she had seen in rom-coms is all fantasy. But after thwarting a mugger at a subway station only to be knocked out while fleeing, Natalie wakes up and discovers that her life has suddenly become her worst nightmare—a romantic comedy—and she is the leading lady.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Choice (2016)
Travis and Gabby first meet as neighbors in a small coastal town and wind up in a relationship that is tested by life's most defining events.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCousins (1989)
When Larry and Maria learn that their respective spouses are cheating on them, they try to turn the tables on them by pretending to have an affair. However, they soon find themselves falling in love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican Beauty (1999)
Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisEveryone Says I Love You (1996)
A New York girl sets her father up with a beautiful woman in a shaky marriage while her half sister gets engaged.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFar from Heaven (2002)
In 1950s Connecticut, a housewife's life is upended by a marital crisis and mounting racial tensions in society.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this¿Quieres ser mi hijo? (2023)
Lu, a conformist woman in her forties, learns that her 15-year partner has been having extramarital affairs. Starting from scratch, she gets involved in an unexpected relationship with a young womanizer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Time Traveler's Wife (2009)
Due to a genetic disorder, handsome librarian Henry DeTamble involuntarily zips through time, appearing at various moments in the life of his true love, the beautiful artist Clare Abshire.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLove by Chance (2016)
Claire, an ambitious pastry chef, is busy running her new restaurant, but her meddling mom is preoccupied with her lack of love life. Without her knowledge, Claire’s mother finds her the perfect man, but when Claire finds out it wasn’t fate that brought them together, it could ruin the relationship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisWe Live in Time (2024)
An up-and-coming chef and a recent divorcée find their lives forever changed when a chance encounter brings them together, in a decade-spanning, deeply moving romance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Last Time I Saw Paris (1954)
Reporter Charles Wills, in Paris to cover the end of World War II, falls for the beautiful Helen Ellswirth following a brief flirtation with her sister, Marion. After he and Helen marry, Charles pursues his novelistic ambition while supporting his new bride with a deadening job at a newspaper wire service. But when an old investment suddenly makes the family wealthy, their marriage begins to unravel — until a sudden tragedy changes everything.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Night Only (2026)
Two love-starved strangers crash into each other on the one night of the year when single people are allowed to have sex.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Modern Love?
The closest matches to Modern Love are They Won't Believe Me (1947), Same Time Next Week (2017) and Afterglow (1997). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Modern Love?
Start with They Won't Believe Me (1947), the closest match to Modern Love.
What is the highest-rated movie like Modern Love?
¿Quieres ser mi hijo? (2023), rated 8.4/10 by 378 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Modern Love?
One Night Only (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Modern Love?
Yes: They Won't Believe Me (1947), Same Time Next Week (2017) and Afterglow (1997).
How are movies similar to Modern Love chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Modern Love, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.