Movies like The Secret Life of Edward James (1978)
The best movies like The Secret Life of Edward James (1978) are They'll Love Me When I'm Dead (2018), Becoming Jane (2007) and While We're Young (2015). If The Secret Life of Edward James hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedJim & Andy: The Great Beyond - Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton (2017)7.5/10 from 761 votes
- NewestThe Sweet East (2023)Released 2023
They'll Love Me When I'm Dead (2018)
As his life comes to its end, famous Hollywood director Orson Welles puts it all on the line at the chance for renewed success with the film The Other Side of the Wind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBecoming Jane (2007)
Though young Jane Austen's financially strapped parents expect her to marry the nephew of wealthy Lady Gresham, Jane herself knows that such a union will destroy her creativity and sense of self-worth. Instead, she becomes involved with Tom Lefroy, a charming but penniless apprentice lawyer who gives her the knowledge of the heart she needs for her future career as a novelist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhile We're Young (2015)
An uptight documentary filmmaker and his wife find their lives loosened up a bit after befriending a free-spirited younger couple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
Three childhood friends, Martha, Walter and Sam, share a terrible secret. Over time, the ambitious Martha and the pusillanimous Walter have married. She is a cold businesswoman; he is the district attorney: a perfect combination to dominate the corrupt city of Iverstown at will. But the unexpected return of Sam, after years of absence, deeply disturbs the life of the odd couple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJust Before I Go (2015)
Ted Morgan has been treading water for most of his life. After his wife leaves him, Ted realizes he has nothing left to live for. Summoning the courage for one last act, Ted decides to go home and face the people he feels are responsible for creating the shell of a person he has become. But life is tricky. The more determined Ted is to confront his demons, to get closure, and to withdraw from his family, the more Ted is yanked into the chaos of their lives. So, when Ted Morgan decides to kill himself, he finds a reason to live.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJim & Andy: The Great Beyond - Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton (2017)
Through the lens of his stunningly immersive performance as Andy Kaufman, Jim Carrey ponders the meaning of life, reality, identity and career.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMotherless Brooklyn (2019)
New York City, 1957. Lionel Essrog, a private detective living with Tourette syndrome, tries to solve the murder of his mentor and best friend, armed only with vague clues and the strength of his obsessive mind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFinal Portrait (2017)
Paris, 1964. The Swiss sculptor and painter Alberto Giacometti, one of the most accomplished and respected artists of his generation, asks his friend, the American writer James Lord, to sit for a portrait, assuring him that it will take no longer than two or three hours, an afternoon at the most.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFierce People (2006)
A massage therapist looking to overcome her addictions and reconnect with her son, whose father is an anthropologist in South America studying the Yanomani people, moves in with a wealthy ex-client in New Jersey.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLittle Ashes (2008)
About the young life and loves of artist Salvador Dalí, filmmaker Luis Buñuel and writer Federico García Lorca.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisBurden of Dreams (1982)
The Amazon rain forest, 1979. The crew of Fitzcarraldo (1982), a film directed by German director Werner Herzog, soon finds itself with problems related to casting, tribal struggles and accidents, among many other setbacks; but nothing compared to dragging a huge steamboat up a mountain, while Herzog embraces the path of a certain madness to make his vision come true.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAn Unmarried Woman (1978)
A wealthy woman from Manhattan's Upper East Side struggles to deal with her new identity and her sexuality after her husband of 16 years leaves her for a younger woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Royal Tenenbaum and his wife Etheline had three children and then they separated. All three children are extraordinary --- all geniuses. Virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums was subsequently erased by two decades of betrayal, failure, and disaster. Most of this was generally considered to be their father's fault. "The Royal Tenenbaums" is the story of the family's sudden, unexpected reunion one recent winter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisElegy (2008)
Cultural critic David Kepesh finds his life -- which he indicates is a state of "emancipated manhood" -- thrown into tragic disarray by Consuela Castillo, a well-mannered student who awakens a sense of sexual possessiveness in her teacher.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)
In 1958 New York Diane Arbus is a housewife and mother who works as an assistant to her husband, a photographer employed by her wealthy parents. Respectable though her life is, she cannot help but feel uncomfortable in her privileged world. One night, a new neighbor catches Diane's eye, and the enigmatic man inspires her to set forth on the path to discovering her own artistry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Sweet East (2023)
A picaresque journey through contemporary America, undertaken by a young woman granted access to the strange sects and cults that proliferate in this country by a series of gatekeepers eager to win her over.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dark Corner (1946)
Ex-con turned private investigator Bradford Galt suspects someone is following him and maybe even trying to kill him. With the assistance of his spunky secretary, Kathleen Stewart, he dives deep into a mystery in search of answers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSunday Bloody Sunday (1971)
Recently divorced career woman Alex Greville begins a romantic relationship with glamorous mod artist Bob Elkin, fully aware that he's also intimately involved with middle-aged doctor Daniel Hirsh. For both Alex and Daniel, the younger man represents a break with their repressive pasts, and though both know that Bob is seeing both of them, neither is willing to let go of the youth and vitality he brings to their otherwise stable lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBedrooms and Hallways (1998)
At the suggestion of a straight friend, gay man Leo joins a men’s group, where he causes some upsets by declaring his attraction to one of its members.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Secret Life of Edward James?
The closest matches to The Secret Life of Edward James are They'll Love Me When I'm Dead (2018), Becoming Jane (2007) and While We're Young (2015). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Secret Life of Edward James?
Start with They'll Love Me When I'm Dead (2018), the closest match to The Secret Life of Edward James.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Secret Life of Edward James?
Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond - Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton (2017), rated 7.5/10 by 761 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Secret Life of Edward James?
The Sweet East (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Secret Life of Edward James?
Yes: They'll Love Me When I'm Dead (2018), Becoming Jane (2007) and While We're Young (2015).
How are movies similar to The Secret Life of Edward James chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Secret Life of Edward James, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.