Movies like A Defense (2021)
The best movies like A Defense (2021) are Sorry, Baby (2025), Coach Carter (2005) and Ararat (2002). If A Defense hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
A Defense
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFor Sama (2019)8.2/10 from 323 votes
- NewestNight Always Comes (2025)Released 2025
Sorry, Baby (2025)
Agnes feels stuck. Unlike her best friend, Lydie, who’s moved to New York and is now expecting a baby, Agnes still lives in the New England house they once shared as graduate students, now working as a professor at her alma mater. A ‘bad thing’ happened to Agnes a few years ago and, since then, despite her best efforts, life hasn’t gotten back on track.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCoach Carter (2005)
Based on a true story, in which Richmond High School head basketball coach Ken Carter made headlines in 1999 for benching his undefeated team due to poor academic results.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisArarat (2002)
Interrogated by a customs officer, a young man recounts how his life was changed during the making of a film about the Armenian genocide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStarter for 10 (2006)
In 1985, against the backdrop of Thatcherism, Brian Jackson enrolls in the University of Bristol, a scholarship boy from seaside Essex with a love of knowledge for its own sake and a childhood spent watching University Challenge, a college quiz show. At Bristol he tries out for the Challenge team and falls under the spell of Alice, a lovely blond with an extensive sexual past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight Always Comes (2025)
Facing eviction in a city her family can no longer afford, a woman plunges into a desperate and increasingly dangerous all-night search to raise $25,000.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBirdy (1984)
Two young men are seriously affected by the Vietnam War. One of them has always been obsessed with birds - but now believes he really is a bird, and has been sent to a mental hospital. Can his friend help him pull through?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Care a Lot (2021)
A court-appointed legal guardian defrauds her older clients and traps them under her care. But her latest mark comes with some unexpected baggage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGuilty by Suspicion (1991)
Owing to his alleged involvement with communist parties, film director David Merrill is forbidden from working in Hollywood. He decides to fight for his rights and faces numerous challenges.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisQueen of the Ring (2025)
In a time when pro wrestling for women was illegal all over the country, a small town single mother embraces the danger to change culture as she dominates America's most masculine sport to become the first million dollar female athlete in history.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Gambler (2014)
Literature professor Jim Bennett leads a secret life as a high-stakes gambler. Always a risk-taker, Bennett bets it all when he borrows from a gangster and offers his own life as collateral. Staying one step ahead, he pits his creditor against the operator of an illicit gambling ring while garnering the attention of Frank, a paternalistic loan shark. As his relationship with a student deepens, Bennett must risk everything for a second chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Woman in the Window (1944)
A seductive woman gets an innocent professor mixed up in murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)
A dramatization of the American general and his court martial for publically complaining about High Command's dismissal and neglect of the aerial fighting forces.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pelican Brief (1993)
A law student's theory about the recent deaths of two Supreme Court justices embroils her in a far-reaching web of murder, corruption, and greed.
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 thisPromising Young Woman (2020)
A young woman, traumatized by a tragic event in her past, seeks out vengeance against those who crossed her path.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Rewrite (2014)
An Oscar-winning writer in a slump leaves Hollywood to teach screenwriting at a college on the East Coast, where he falls for a single mom taking classes there.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMr. Frost (1990)
Frost is arrested and committed for murder after he is apprehended burying his victims in the garden. However, even while under psychiatric care and tight hospital security, it becomes obvious that Mr. Frost is not all he seems to be.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFor Sama (2019)
A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while cataclysmic conflict rises around her. Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival as Waad wrestles with an impossible choice– whether or not to flee the city to protect her daughter’s life, when leaving means abandoning the struggle for freedom for which she has already sacrificed so much.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHere Comes the Boom (2012)
A high school biology teacher moonlights as a mixed-martial arts fighter in an effort to raise money to save the school's music program.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStop-Loss (2008)
A veteran soldier returns from his completed tour of duty in Iraq, only to find his life turned upside down when he is arbitrarily ordered to return to field duty by the Army.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like A Defense?
The closest matches to A Defense are Sorry, Baby (2025), Coach Carter (2005) and Ararat (2002). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after A Defense?
Start with Sorry, Baby (2025), the closest match to A Defense.
What is the highest-rated movie like A Defense?
For Sama (2019), rated 8.2/10 by 323 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like A Defense?
Night Always Comes (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like A Defense?
Yes: Sorry, Baby (2025), Coach Carter (2005) and Ararat (2002).
How are movies similar to A Defense chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside A Defense, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.