Movies like My Life as a Dog (1985)
The best movies like My Life as a Dog (1985) are Wish You Were Here (1987), The Long Day Closes (1992) and Kitchen Stories (2003). If My Life as a Dog hooked you with its drama and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe 400 Blows (1959)8.0/10 from 2,429 votes
- NewestEchoes of the Rainbow (2010)Released 2010
Wish You Were Here (1987)
In a staid English seaside town after the Second World War, young Lynda grows up with her widowed father and younger sister. Rebellious Lynda has been swearing constantly from an early age. At sixteen, she becomes more exhibitionist and seeks out sexual encounters challenging the prevailing lower-middle class attitudes to sex.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Long Day Closes (1992)
Bud is a lonely and quiet boy whose moments of solace occur when he sits in rapture at the local cinema, watching towering and iconic figures on the movie screen. The movies give Bud the strength to get through another day as he deals with his oppressive school environment and his burgeoning homosexuality.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKitchen Stories (2003)
Swedish efficiency researchers come to Norway for a study of Norwegian men, to optimize their use of their kitchen. Folke Nilsson (Tomas Norström) is assigned to study the habits of Isak Bjørvik (Joachim Calmeyer). By the rules of the research institute, Folke has to sit on an umpire's chair in Isak's kitchen and observe him from there, but never talk to him. Isak stops using his kitchen and observes Folke through a hole in the ceiling instead. However, the two lonely men slowly overcome the initial post-war Norwegian-Swede distrust and become friends.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUmberto D. (1952)
When elderly pensioner Umberto Domenico Ferrari returns to his boarding house from a protest calling for a hike in old-age pensions, his landlady demands her 15,000-lire rent by the end of the month or he and his small dog will be turned out onto the street. Unable to get the money in time, Umberto fakes illness to get sent to a hospital, giving his beloved dog to the landlady's pregnant and abandoned maid for temporary safekeeping.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisA Dog of Flanders (1999)
Poor but happy, young Nello and his grandfather live alone, delivering milk as a livelihood, in the outskirts of Antwerp, a city in Flanders (the Flemish or Dutch-speaking part of modern-day Belgium). They discover a beaten dog (a Bouvier, a large sturdy dog native to Flanders) and adopt it and nurse it back to health, naming it Patrasche, the middle name of Nello's mother Mary, who died when Nello was very young. Nello's mother was a talented artist, and like his mother, he delights in drawing, and his friend Aloise is his model and greatest fan and supporter.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Kes (1970)
Bullied at school and ignored and abused at home by his indifferent mother and older brother, Billy Casper, a 15-year-old working-class Yorkshire boy, tames and trains his pet kestrel falcon whom he names Kes. Helped and encouraged by his English teacher and his fellow students, Billy finally finds a positive purpose to his unhappy existence.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThis Boy's Life (1993)
When a son and mother move to Seattle in hopes for a better life, the mother meets a seemingly polite man. Things go south when the man turns out to be abusive, endangering their lives. As the mother struggles to maintain hope in an impossible situation, the son has plans to escape.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKolya (1996)
After a fictitious marriage with a Russian emigrant, Cellisten Louka, a Czech man, must suddenly take responsibility for her son. However, it’s not long before the communication barrier is broken between the two new family members.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe 400 Blows (1959)
For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel, life is one difficult situation after another. Surrounded by inconsiderate adults, including his neglectful parents, Antoine spends his days with his best friend, Rene, trying to plan for a better life. When one of their schemes goes awry, Antoine ends up in trouble with the law, leading to even more conflicts with unsympathetic authority figures.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisPeppermint Soda (1977)
In the fall of 1963, Anne is becoming a teenager. She lives in Paris with her mother and her older sister, Frédérique. They're just back from summer at the beach with their father. School starts. A turbulent year awaits them both.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPonette (1996)
After losing her mother in a car accident that leaves her with a broken arm, 4-year-old Ponette struggles with anguish and fear. Left by her father with a caring aunt and her children, Ponette grieves, secretly hoping her mother will somehow come back. Confused by the religious explanations provided by adults, and challenged by the cruel taunts of a few children at school, little Ponette must make her way through her emotional turmoil.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmarcord (1973)
In an Italian seaside town, young Titta gets into trouble with his friends and watches various local eccentrics as they engage in often absurd behavior. Frequently clashing with his stern father and defended by his doting mother, Titta witnesses the actions of a wide range of characters, from his extended family to Fascist loyalists to sensual women, with certain moments shifting into fantastical scenarios.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAntonia's Line (1995)
After World War II, Antonia and her daughter, Danielle, go back to their Dutch hometown, where Antonia's late mother has bestowed a small farm upon her. There, Antonia settles down and joins a tightly-knit but unusual community. Those around her include quirky friend Crooked Finger, would-be suitor Bas and, eventually for Antonia, a granddaughter and great-granddaughter who help create a strong family of empowered women.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Girl (1991)
Vada Sultenfuss is obsessed with death. Her mother is dead, and her father runs a funeral parlor. She is also in love with her English teacher, and joins a poetry class over the summer just to impress him. Thomas J., her best friend, is "allergic to everything", and sticks with Vada despite her hangups. When Vada's father hires Shelly, and begins to fall for her, things take a turn to the worse...
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Northerners (1992)
A black comedy set in the 1960s in a small Netherlands community, populated by a cast of eccentrics, all of whom hold a range of sexual obsessions and frustrated desires.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSaint Ralph (2005)
This Canadian made comedy/drama, set in Hamilton, Ontario in 1954, is a sweet and - at times - goofy story that becomes increasingly poignant as the minutes tick by. It's the fictional tale of a wayward 9th grader, Ralph (Adam Butcher), who is secretly living on his own while his widowed, hospitalized mother remains immersed in a coma. Frequently in trouble with Father Fitzpatrick (Gordon Pinsent), the principal of his all-boys, Catholic school, Ralph is considered something of a joke among peers until he decides to pull off a miracle that could save his mother, i.e., winning the Boston Marathon. Coached by a younger priest and former runner, Father Hibbert (Campbell Scott), whose cynicism has been lifted by the boy's pure hope, Ralph applies himself to his unlikely mission, fending off naysayers and getting help along a very challenging path from sundry allies and friends.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Cave of the Yellow Dog (2005)
The little nomad girl, Nansal, finds a baby dog in the Mongolian veld, who becomes her best friend - against all rejections of her parents. A story about a Mongolian family of nomads - their traditional way of life and the rising call of the City.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisValentin (2002)
Valentin, an 8-year-old boy living with his grandmother in late-1960s Buenos Aires, is surrounded by problems in his family he finds only himself capable of solving.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Spirit of the Beehive (1973)
In 1940, in the immediate aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, a young girl living on the Castilian plain is haunted after attending a screening of James Whale's 1931 film Frankenstein and hearing from her sister that the monster is not dead, instead existing as a spirit inhabiting a nearby barn.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Steamroller and the Violin (1961)
Seven year old Sasha practices violin every day to satisfy the ambition of his parents. Already withdrawn as a result of his routines, Sasha quickly regains confidence when he accidentally meets and befriends worker Sergei, who works on a steamroller in their upscale Moscow neighborhood.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLocal Hero (1983)
An American oil company sends a man to Scotland to buy up an entire village where they want to build a refinery. But things don't go as expected.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFanny and Alexander (1982)
As children in the loving Ekdahl family, Fanny and Alexander enjoy a happy life with their parents, who run a theater company. After their father dies unexpectedly, however, the siblings end up in a joyless home when their mother, Emilie, marries a stern bishop. The bleak situation gradually grows worse as the bishop becomes more controlling, but dedicated relatives make a valiant attempt to aid Emilie, Fanny and Alexander.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBabette's Feast (1987)
A French housekeeper with a mysterious past brings quiet revolution in the form of one exquisite meal to a circle of starkly pious villagers in late 19th century Denmark.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Father's Glory (1990)
Raised by his science teacher father, Joseph Pagnol, and seamstress mother Augustine, young Marcel grows up during the turn of the century in awe of his rationalist dad. When the family takes a summer vacation in the countryside, Marcel becomes friends with Lili, who teaches him about rural life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Children of the Marshland (1999)
The film is set in Marais, a quiet region along the banks of Loire river in 1918. Riton is afflicted with a bad-tempered wife and three unruly children. Garris lives alone with his recollections of World War I trenches. Their daily life consists of seasonal work and visits from their two pals: Tane, the local train conductor and Amédée, a dreamer and voracious reader of classics.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMon oncle Antoine (1971)
Set in cold rural Quebec at Christmas time, we follow the coming of age of a young boy and the life of his family which owns the town's general store and undertaking business.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEchoes of the Rainbow (2010)
Told through the eyes of sticky-fingered eight-year-old boy Big Ears, Echoes of the Rainbow takes place in a close-knit grassroots community in 1960s Hong Kong. Big Ears' mother and father run the neighborhood shoe store, and his older brother Desmond is every family's dream son - an outstanding athlete with grades worthy of Hong Kong's best school.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSweetie (1989)
The buttoned-down, superstitious Kay is attempting to lead a normal existence with her new boyfriend Louis. That’s until Sweetie, her rampaging, devil-may-care sister, returns home after an absence, exposing the rotten roots of their family and placing a strain on Kay and Louis’ relationship.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Simple-Minded Murderer (1982)
The feeble-minded Sven's mother dies and he gets work as a farm-hand at the rich, affluent Höglund's farm. He has to work without pay and sleeps together with the cows. He meets the disabled Anna who is the first one to treat him as an adult. One day he has had enough of Höglund's maltreatment and moves in with Anna's family. Plot by Mattias Thuresson.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Red Balloon (1956)
A young boy discovers a stray balloon, which seems to have a mind of its own, on the streets of Paris. The two become inseparable, yet the world’s harsh realities finally interfere.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like My Life as a Dog?
The closest matches to My Life as a Dog are Wish You Were Here (1987), The Long Day Closes (1992) and Kitchen Stories (2003). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after My Life as a Dog?
People who watched My Life as a Dog most often go on to Wish You Were Here (1987), The Long Day Closes (1992) and Kitchen Stories (2003).
What is the highest-rated movie like My Life as a Dog?
The 400 Blows (1959), rated 8.0/10 by 2,429 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like My Life as a Dog?
Echoes of the Rainbow (2010) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to My Life as a Dog chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside My Life as a Dog, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.