Movies like The Wait (2021)
The best movies like The Wait (2021) are Requiem for a Dream (2000), The Canterville Ghost (1996) and Risa and the Wind Phone (2026). If The Wait hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedRequiem for a Dream (2000)8.0/10 from 11,469 votes
- NewestUntil the End of the World (2026)Released 2026
- In SpanishRisa and the Wind Phone (2026)Also in Spanish
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island residents are shattered when their addictions run deep.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Canterville Ghost (1996)
When a teenaged girl moves to England, with her brothers and parents into the ancient Canterville Hall, she's not at all happy. Especially as there's a ghost and a mysterious re-appearing bloodstain on the hearth. She campaigns to go back home, and her dad, believing the ghost's pranks are Ginny's, is ready to send her back. But then Ginny actually meets the elusive 17th-century Sir Simon de Canterville (not to mention the cute teenaged duke next door), and she sets her hand to the task of freeing Sir Simon from his curse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRisa and the Wind Phone (2026)
Risa, after her father's death, discovers she has the ability to communicate with him from beyond the grave. As she explores this supernatural connection, she faces emotional challenges and family secrets that will test her faith in what she thought was possible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBrand Upon the Brain! (2007)
After returning home to his long-estranged mother upon a request from her deathbed, a man raised by his parents in an orphanage has to confront the childhood memories that have long haunted him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Zero Theorem (2013)
A computer hacker's goal to discover the reason for human existence continually finds his work interrupted thanks to the Management; this time, they send a teenager and lusty love interest to distract him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Experiment (2010)
20 men are chosen to participate in the roles of guards and prisoners in a psychological study that ultimately spirals out of control.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDC Showcase: Death (2019)
Vincent, an artist with unresolved inner demons, meets a mysterious girl who helps him come to terms with his creative legacy… and eventual death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisKisses (2008)
Two kids, Dylan and Kylie, run away from home on Christmas Day and spend a night of magic and terror on the streets of inner-city Dublin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTideland (2005)
Because of the actions of her irresponsible parents, a young girl is left alone on a decrepit country estate and survives inside her fantastic imagination.
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 thisGirl in the Box (2016)
The true story of 20-year-old Colleen Stan, a hitchhiking woman abducted by a young couple and held captive for seven years, during which time she's tortured and forced to live as a slave to her captors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack Mirror (2011)
A nameless drifter navigates a barren landscape punctuated by satellite dishes, radio towers and droning airplanes. Stopping periodically in anonymous hotel rooms, she makes attempts to connect to an unidentified second party.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Good Neighbor (2016)
Two high school filmmakers decide to create the illusion of a haunting on an unsuspecting neighbor.
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 thisByzantium (2013)
Residents of a coastal town learn, with deadly consequences, the secret shared by the two mysterious women who have sought refuge at a local boarding house, the Byzantium.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUntil the End of the World (2026)
Manuel's life is upended when Esmeralda, his lost love from 15 years ago, calls unexpectedly. Despite being set to marry another, he rediscovers Esmeralda, and they realize their love transcends time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Miracle of Marcelino (1955)
Left on the doorstep of a monastery as an infant, Marcelino was raised by the monks. He was well-cared for but lonely and missed having a mother. One day he found a special friend in the forbidden attic, hanging on a cross. A friend that would repay Marcelino's kindness by granting him one heart-felt wish.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSecrets of the Heart (1997)
Javi and his friend Carlos visit an old house on the outskirts of a small Spanish village. According to his brother Juan this is a haunted house and one can hear the voices of the dead. Later he is intrigued with a room which is always closed (the room where his father was found dead). He is so interested in these mysteries that he starts to investigate all the secrets of these dead people and their stories.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStaring at Strangers (2022)
Carpenter Sergio runs away and hides in a closet after his boss fired him. When the closet arrives at its buyer's house, he decides to stay there, hiding in his new home living with an unknown family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Beaver (2011)
Suffering from a severe case of depression, toy company CEO Walter Black begins using a beaver hand puppet to help him open up to his family. With his father seemingly going insane, adolescent son Porter pushes for his parents to get a divorce.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAgreement (2017)
Se-young goes to an agreement with the woman her husband raped.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bien parecidas (2021)
María allows Cecilia to dye her hair while they wait for Agustín's rehabilitation therapy to finish. This simple fact will change the way mother and daughter perceive their relationship and help them cope with the difficult time they are experiencing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Platelayer (1957)
A group of plate-layers are packing the stone-bed under the rail with their pickaxes. They swing their picks in a coordinated, rhythmic way, thereby creating a sequence of rings, when they hit the stones or the rail, which sounds almost as music. When a train passes by, they stand silent beside the rail for a while, and then start the rhythmic beats again.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Scatterbrains (2022)
For some women to gain freedom, they must forget to remember.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
An Urban Allegory (2024)
A ballet dancer is late for an audition for a show inspired by Plato's Allegory of the Cave. She arrives with her seven-year-old son, Jay, and begs the director to give her a chance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Across My Land (2017)
Father and son 'minutemen' patrol the American/Mexican border near their home in Nogales, Arizona.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Iníon an Fhiaclóra (2000)
New kid Rory falls in love with the dentist's daughter Genie, and discovers painfully that falling in love can mean losing not only your teeth but your life....
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Grass Snake (2009)
The film tells the story of two blind men who stand on the side of a road between oil wells and beg, and the conflict between them. The young blind man, who was born blind, sees the old blind man, who later lost his sight, as his rival. Each blind man represents a large crowd in himself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Metanoia (2022)
Carlo has an episode of anxiety caused by a memory from his childhood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like The Wait and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Wait?
The closest matches to The Wait are Requiem for a Dream (2000), The Canterville Ghost (1996) and Risa and the Wind Phone (2026). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Wait?
Start with Requiem for a Dream (2000), the closest match to The Wait.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Wait?
Requiem for a Dream (2000), rated 8.0/10 by 11,469 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Wait?
Until the End of the World (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like The Wait?
Yes: Risa and the Wind Phone (2026), Until the End of the World (2026) and The Miracle of Marcelino (1955).
How are movies similar to The Wait chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Wait, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.