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Movies like The Diary (1982)

The best movies like The Diary (1982) are Your Friends & Neighbors (1998), Shades of Desire (2023) and The Little Death (2014). If The Diary hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. Your Friends & Neighbors (1998)

    Restless and unhappy, two couples get caught up in infidelity and deception. Barry is a sullen businessman married to Mary, a writer who is unsatisfied with their relationship. Mary begins an affair with Jerry, a smug theater professor and husband of her friend, Terri, who is also a writer. Adding to the adulterous mix are Cary, a callous doctor, and Cheri, an art-gallery assistant.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

  2. Shades of Desire (2023)

    After her twin sister Aubrey goes missing, Jennifer uncovers the scandalous, secret double-life that Aubrey leads - and that has put both of them in danger.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  3. The Little Death (2014)

    A comedy film that looks into the loosely connected lives of people with strange sexual fantasies.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  4. In the Blood (2014)

    When her husband goes missing during their Caribbean vacation, a woman sets off on her own to take down the men she thinks are responsible.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

  5. The Man from Elysian Fields (2001)

    A failed novelist's inability to pay the bills strains relations with his wife and leads him to work at an escort service, where he becomes entwined with a wealthy woman whose husband is a successful writer.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

  6. Jungle Fever (1991)

    A successful and married black man contemplates having an affair with a white girl from work. He's quite rightly worried that the racial difference would make an already taboo relationship even worse.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  7. Original Sin (2001)

    A young man is plunged into a life of subterfuge, deceit and mistaken identity in pursuit of a femme fatale whose heart is never quite within his grasp.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  8. All About the Benjamins (2002)

    Bounty hunter Bucum Jackson teams with the small-time con artist, Reggie Wright, that he is pursuing, in an attempt to locate a missing stash of diamonds and a lottery ticket worth millions of dollars. Bucum and Reggie find themselves in a race to the finish as they embark on an unlikely partnership that should -- when all is said and done -- prove beneficial to them both.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

  9. Unfaithful (2002)

    A New York suburban couple's marriage goes dangerously awry when the wife indulges in an adulterous fling.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  10. The Duke of Burgundy (2015)

    Day in and day out, lovers Cynthia and Evelyn enact an elaborate sadomasochistic fantasy as mistress and maid. But as their ritual of domination and submission begins to turn stale, Cynthia yearns for something more conventional, while Evelyn tries to push their taboos even further.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  11. Phantasm II (1988)

    Mike, after his release from a psychiatric hospital, teams up with his old pal Reggie to hunt down the Tall Man, who is at it again. A mysterious, beautiful girl has also become part of Mike's dreams, and they must find her before the Tall Man does.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  12. Newness (2017)

    In contemporary Los Angeles, two millennials navigating a social media–driven hookup culture begin a relationship that pushes both emotional and physical boundaries.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  13. Shortbus (2006)

    In post-9/11 New York City, an eclectic group of citizens find their lives entangled, personally, romantically, and sexually, at Shortbus, an underground Brooklyn salon infamous for its blend of art, music, politics, and carnality.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  14. Hard to Die (1990)

    While doing the inventory for a lingerie outlet in a high rise office building, five attractive women are terrorized by a series of bizarre killings. They suspect that the strange janitor, who witnessed another series of killings six months previously, is at the bottom of the whole thing. Little do they know the real horror that they face in the end.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  15. Edward II (1991)

    England, 14th century. King Edward II falls in love with Piers Gaveston, a young man of humble origins, whom he honors with favors and titles of nobility. The cold and jealous Queen Isabella conspires with the evil Mortimer to get rid of Gaveston, overthrow her husband and take power…

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  16. The Devil's Double (2011)

    A chilling vision of the House of Saddam Hussein comes to life through the eyes of the man who was forced to become the double of Hussein's sadistic son.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  17. Rise of the Footsoldier (2007)

    Carlton Leach rises from one of the most feared generals of the football terraces to becoming a member of a notorious gang of criminals who rampaged their way through London and Essex in the late '80s and early '90s.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  18. Querelle (1982)

    French sailor Querelle arrives in Brest and starts frequenting a strange whorehouse. He discovers that his brother Robert is the lover of the lady owner, Lysiane. Here, you can play dice with Nono, Lysiane's husband: if you win, you are allowed to make love with Lysiane; if you lose, you have to make love with Nono... Querelle loses on purpose.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  19. Fifty Shades Freed (2018)

    Believing they have left behind shadowy figures from their past, newlyweds Christian and Ana fully embrace an inextricable connection and shared life of luxury. But just as she steps into her role as Mrs. Grey and he relaxes into an unfamiliar stability, new threats could jeopardize their happy ending before it even begins.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  20. Gummo (1997)

    Teenagers Solomon and Tummler kill time in Xenia, Ohio, a small town that has never recovered from the tornado that ravaged the community in the 1970s.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  21. The Fall of Communism as Seen in Gay Pornography (1998)

    Every image in The Fall of Communism as Seen in Gay Pornography comes from gay erotic videos produced in Eastern Europe since the introduction of capitalism. The video provides a glimpse of young men responding to the pressures of an unfamiliar world, one in which money, power and sex are now connected.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style

  22. Title 18 (2022)

    An experimental short film made as part of a multi-media triptych, originally screened alongside a fashion collection and an art-installation. Drawing from Papa Yorick’s (Director and fashion designer) thesis “Men Are My Cumrag”, the film reenacts eight mainstay gay porn scripts, incorporating and parodying tropes and clichés, that explore masculine identities within the gay porn industry, through a satirical and critical lens.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style

  23. Without a Mom (2011)

    Two gay dads fumble to provide their straight son with meaningful support after the loss of his first real love.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style

  24. I'm a Porn Star (2013)

    I'm a Porn Star follows the lives of guys in the neighborhood who are likely a lot more famous than you - at least on the Internet. There are an estimated 370 million pornographic websites on-line. Porn is now a thirteen BILLION dollar business. So who's doing all this moonlighting? Turns out -- probably some people you know.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style

  25. Straight Guy Watches Gay Porn for the First Time (2026)

    When Janek, a straight Polish guy watches gay porn for the first time, his world is turned upside down. Battling with unsettling new thoughts, he is put into a journey of self-discovery.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style

  26. Knife+Heart (2018)

    In the summer of 1979, gay porn producer Anne sets out to film her most ambitious film yet, but her actors are picked off, one by one, by a mysterious killer.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style

  27. The Fluffer (2001)

    Self-effacing, boyish Sean moves to LA to pursue a career in movies but finds it tougher than he imagined. He stumbles onto porn star Johnny Rebel - a handsome, muscled dream of men and women alike - who awakens Sean’s deep obsession.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style

  28. The Day I've Been Fucked in Front of the Entire World (2023)

    Remodeling of a pornographic scene in which I shot for a major French studio. It was a question of reappropriating these images (originally categorized as "hard") to extract their erotic and perhaps even romantic potential.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style

  29. Tips (2016)

    Mario (Thiago Cazado) is in debt. To pay the bills, he displays the body on a famous porn site.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style

  30. Hustler White (1996)

    Reminiscent of Sunset Boulevard, the action is transposed from the silver screen's old backlots to contemporary male prostitution and the pornographic industry.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style

Like The Diary and something else?

Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies like The Diary?

The closest matches to The Diary are Your Friends & Neighbors (1998), Shades of Desire (2023) and The Little Death (2014). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after The Diary?

Start with Your Friends & Neighbors (1998), the closest match to The Diary.

What is the highest-rated movie like The Diary?

The Little Death (2014), rated 6.7/10 by 555 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like The Diary?

Straight Guy Watches Gay Porn for the First Time (2026) is the most recent release on this list.

Are there English movies like The Diary?

Yes: Your Friends & Neighbors (1998), Shades of Desire (2023) and The Little Death (2014).

How are movies similar to The Diary chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Diary, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.

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