Movies like Necessary and Unnecessary (2021)
The best movies like Necessary and Unnecessary (2021) are Adopt a Highway (2019), Anuja (2024) and The Young One (1960). If Necessary and Unnecessary hooked you with its drama, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDoctor Who: A Christmas Carol (2010)8.0/10 from 251 votes
- NewestEleanor the Great (2025)Released 2025
- In JapaneseThe Ballad of Narayama (1983)Also in Japanese
Adopt a Highway (2019)
Russ Millings has just been released from prison after serving 21 years for a 3rd strike conviction for possessing an ounce of marijuana. As he tries to adapt to a world he doesn’t recognize – including trying to learn how to use the internet – he finds an abandoned baby in a dumpster behind the fast food restaurant where he works as a dishwasher. Unsure of what to do, and caught between impulses of kindness and panic, Russ soon realizes this could be his chance at redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnuja (2024)
When a brilliant nine-year-old working in a sweatshop gets a chance to attend school, she must make a difficult choice for her and her sister's future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Young One (1960)
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBrotherly Love (2015)
West Philadelphia basketball star Sergio Taylor deals with the pressures of fame while his brother and sister have their own issues with ambition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHome (2021)
An ex-felon returns home from prison and must confront the demons of his past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Beautiful Country (2004)
After reuniting with his mother in Ho Chi Minh City, a family tragedy causes Binh to flee from Viet Nam to America. Landing in New York, Binh begins a road trip to Texas, where his American father is said to live.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wasp (2024)
Heather bumps into Carla, having not spoken to her in years, and presents her with a very unexpected proposition that could change both of their lives forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat Maisie Knew (2013)
In New York City, six-year-old Maisie is caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle between her self-absorbed parents—an aging rock singer mother and a distracted art dealer father. As both quickly marry new partners to strengthen their legal standing, Maisie is shuttled back and forth in an endless game of emotional point-scoring. Yet amid the chaos and upheaval, Maisie begins to find true comfort and affection in her new step-parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEleanor the Great (2025)
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Ballad of Narayama (1983)
In a small village in a valley everyone who reaches the age of 70 must leave the village and go to a certain mountain top to die. If anyone should refuse they would disgrace their family. Old Orin is 69. This winter it is her turn to go to the mountain. But first she must make sure that her eldest son Tatsuhei finds a wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPastoral: To Die in the Country (1974)
A director faces creative block while working on his latest film – a reimagination of his adolescence growing up in a mountain village in rural Japan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Kindness of Strangers (2019)
Clara and her two sons escape from her abusive husband with little more than their car and plan to start over in New York. After the car towed away, the family meets Alice, who gets them into an emergency shelter. While stealing food at a Russian restaurant called ‘Winter Palace’, Clara meets Marc, who has been given the chance to help the old eatery regain its former glory. The ‘Winter Palace’ soon becomes a place of unexpected encounters between people who are all undergoing some sort of crisis and whom fate has now brought together.
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 thisSAS: Red Notice (2021)
An off-duty SAS soldier, Tom Buckingham, must thwart a terror attack on a train running through the Channel Tunnel. As the action escalates on the train, events transpire in the corridors of power that may make the difference as to whether Buckingham and the civilian passengers make it out of the tunnel alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLike Someone in Love (2012)
An old man and a young woman meet in Tokyo. She knows nothing about him, he thinks he knows her. He welcomes her into his home, she offers him her body. But the web that is woven between them in the space of twenty four hours bears no relation to the circumstances of their encounter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cut (2025)
A retired boxer intends to return to the ring for one last shot at the title, but first he must make the weight. Holed up in a room in Las Vegas with an unscrupulous trainer, he embarks on an intensive and illegal weight-cutting program.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Garden of Sinners: Future Gospel - Extra Chorus (2013)
Mikiya Kokutou gives Shiki Ryougi a cat to watch, as he will be away for a little while. Though Shiki protests, he leaves the cat anyway, and Shiki is stuck trying to understand her new feline companion. But as luck would have it, the cat seems to have taken a liking to Mikiya and misses him. Later in another part of the city, Ririsu Miyazuki visits the place where her dear friend committed suicide. She intends to end her life as well, but she meets Fujino Asagami, a blind classmate with a traumatic past. Though the two girls don't have much in common, Asagami reminds Miyazuki of her lost friend and helps her understand her pain. Two months later, Mikiya elects to celebrate New Year's with Shiki instead of his family, which makes his sister Azaka very upset, leading to her spending the holiday with her school friends. As the snow begins to fall, Mikiya reflects on what he wishes for most of all: that Shiki's life be filled with happiness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDoctor Who: A Christmas Carol (2010)
Amy Pond and Rory Williams are trapped on a crashing space liner, and the only way the Eleventh Doctor can rescue them is to save the soul of a lonely old miser. But is Kazran Sardick, the richest man in Sardicktown, beyond redemption? And what is lurking in the fogs of Christmas Eve?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisFemale Prisoner Scorpion: #701's Grudge Song (1973)
Nami is once again on the run from the law but is saved by an old classmate who works at a strip club. Through a subsequent conversation they discover they both have a score to settle with a particular crooked cop. However, Nami has doubts about ever trusting a man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHelen (2009)
On the outside, Helen has it all – a loving family and a successful career – but when her suppressed mental illness resurfaces, the world crumbles around her. Crippled by depression, Helen finds solace through her friendship with Mathilda, a kindred spirit struggling with bipolar disorder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Necessary and Unnecessary?
The closest matches to Necessary and Unnecessary are Adopt a Highway (2019), Anuja (2024) and The Young One (1960). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Necessary and Unnecessary?
Start with Adopt a Highway (2019), the closest match to Necessary and Unnecessary.
What is the highest-rated movie like Necessary and Unnecessary?
Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol (2010), rated 8.0/10 by 251 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Necessary and Unnecessary?
Eleanor the Great (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Necessary and Unnecessary?
Yes: The Ballad of Narayama (1983), Pastoral: To Die in the Country (1974) and Like Someone in Love (2012).
How are movies similar to Necessary and Unnecessary chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Necessary and Unnecessary, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.