Movies like The Favorite (1989)
The best movies like The Favorite (1989) are Sahara (1983), Supercross (2005) and The Sheik (1921). If The Favorite hooked you with its adventure and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedGabriel's Inferno (2020)8.4/10 from 2,486 votes
- NewestMy Policeman (2022)Released 2022
Sahara (1983)
Intent on winning a competition in place of her distinguished late father, beautiful young heiress Dale takes on the guise of a man and competes in his spot, embarking on a car race that crosses the unforgiving Sahara desert.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSupercross (2005)
Faced with the suspicious death of their father, two brothers must motivate one another to get back on their bikes and take the Las Vegas Motocross Championships by storm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Sheik (1921)
Sheik Ahmed desperately desires feisty British socialite Diana, so he abducts her and carries her off to his luxurious tent-palace in the desert. The free-spirited Diana recoils from his passionate embraces and yearns to be released. Later, allowed to go into the desert, she escapes and makes her way across the sands...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBen-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)
Judah Ben-Hur, a wealthy Jewish prince in Jerusalem, is betrayed by his childhood friend, Roman tribune Messala, and wrongfully sent to the galley slaves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTaras Bulba (1962)
Ukraine, 16th century. While the Poles dominate the Cossack steppes, Andrei, son of Taras Bulba, a Cossack leader, must choose between his love for his family and his folk and his passion for a Polish woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWinter's Tale (2014)
A burglar falls for an heiress as she dies in his arms. When he learns that he has the gift of reincarnation, he sets out to save her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPeter Ibbetson (1935)
When his mother dies, young Peter Ibbetson leaves Paris and his best friend, Mary, behind to live with a severe uncle in England. Years later, Peter is an architect with little time for women, until he begins a project with the Duke and Duchess of Towers. When Peter and the duchess become great friends, she reveals that she is Mary — but the duke soon suspects his wife of infidelity and challenges Peter to a duel, threatening the pair's second chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlack Gold (2011)
On the Arabian Peninsula in the 1930s, two warring leaders come face to face. The victorious Nesib, Emir of Hobeika, lays down his peace terms to rival Amar, Sultan of Salmaah. The two men agree that neither can lay claim to the area of no man’s land between them called The Yellow Belt. In return, Nesib adopts Amar’s two boys Saleeh and Auda as a guarantee against invasion. Twelve years later, Saleeh and Auda have grown into young men. Saleeh, the warrior, itches to escape his gilded cage and return to his father’s land. Auda cares only for books and the pursuit of knowledge. One day, their adopted father Nesib is visited by an American from Texas. He tells the Emir that his land is blessed with oil and promises him riches beyond his wildest imagination. Nesib imagines a realm of infinite possibility, a kingdom with roads, schools and hospitals all paid for by the black gold beneath the barren sand. There is only one problem. The precious oil is located in the Yellow Belt.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 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 · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisGabriel's Inferno: Part III (2020)
The final part of the film adaption of the erotic romance novel Gabriel's Inferno written by an anonymous Canadian author under the pen name Sylvain Reynard.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisIn Secret (2014)
In 1860s Paris, a young woman, Therese, is trapped in a loveless marriage to the sickly Camille by her domineering aunt, Madame Raquin. She spends her days behind the counter of a small shop and her evenings watching Madame play dominos with an eclectic group. After she meets her husband’s alluring friend, Laurent, she embarks on an illicit affair that leads to tragic consequences. Based on Emile Zola’s novel, Thérèse Raquin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAli and Nino (2016)
Muslim prince Ali and Georgian aristocrat Nino have grown up in the Russian province of Azerbaijan. Their tragic love story sees the outbreak of the First World War and the world’s struggle for Baku’s oil. Ultimately they must choose to fight for their country’s independence or for each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAshes in the Snow (2018)
The coming-of-age tale of 16-year-old Lina Vilkas who is deported to Siberia amid Stalin's reign of terror in the Baltic region during WWII. An aspiring artist, she secretly documents her harrowing journey with her drawings.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFire with Fire (1986)
A tough, street-smart kid serving a sentence in a state youth reformatory meets a beautiful, innocent girl studying at a nearby convent. When forbidden love blossoms between them, they must fight the prison authorities, their parents and the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Policeman (2022)
In the late 1990s, the arrival of elderly invalid Patrick into Marion and Tom’s home triggers the exploration of seismic events from 40 years previous: the passionate relationship between Tom and Patrick at a time when homosexuality was illegal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGabriel's Inferno (2020)
An intriguing and sinful exploration of seduction, forbidden love, and redemption, Gabriel's Inferno is a captivating and wildly passionate tale of one man's escape from his own personal hell as he tries to earn the impossible--forgiveness and love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Fugitive Kind (1960)
Val Xavier, a drifter of obscure origins, arrives at a small town and gets a job in a store run by Lady Torrence. Her husband, Jabe M. Torrance, is dying of cancer. Val is pursued by Carol Cutere, the enigmatic local tramp-of-good-family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEndless Love (2014)
A privileged girl and a charismatic boy's instant desire sparks a love affair made only more reckless by parents trying to keep them apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Am David (2003)
A 12-year-old boy manages to flee a Communist concentration camp on his own, through sheer will and determination. All he has in his possession is a loaf of bread, a letter to deliver to someone in Denmark, and a compass to help get him there.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Black Pirate (1926)
A nobleman vows to avenge the death of his father by the hands of pirates. To this end, he infiltrates the pirate band; Acting in character, he single-handedly captures a merchant vessel, but things are complicated when he finds that there is a beautiful young woman of royal blood aboard.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Thief of Bagdad (1940)
When Prince Ahmad is blinded and cast out of Bagdad by the nefarious Jaffar, he joins forces with the scrappy thief Abu to win back his royal place, as well as the heart of a beautiful princess.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAladdin (1992)
In the boorish city of Agrabah, kind-hearted street urchin Aladdin and Princess Jasmine fall in love, although she can only marry a prince. He and power-hungry Grand Vizier Jafar vie for a magic lamp that can fulfill their wishes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Return of Jafar (1994)
The evil Jafar escapes from the magic lamp as an all-powerful genie, ready to plot his revenge against Aladdin. From battling elusive villains atop winged horses, to dodging flames inside an exploding lava pit, it's up to Aladdin - with Princess Jasmine and the outrageously funny Genie by his side - to save the kingdom once and for all.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnna and the King of Siam (1946)
In 1862, a young Englishwoman becomes royal tutor in Siam and befriends the King.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAngelique and the Sultan (1968)
Angélique is in a North African Muslim kingdom where she is now part of the Sultan's harem. She refuses to be bedded as her captors try to beat sense into her. She finally decides to escape with the help of two Christian prisoners.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisConquest 1453 (2012)
After the death of his father Murat II, young Mehmet II ascends to the Ottoman throne. After braving internal and external enemies, he decides to complete what he was destined to do: Conquer Constantinople.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this8 ½ Women (1999)
After his wife dies, middle-aged businessman Philip Emmenthal, at the prompting of his playboy son Storey, populates his Geneva villa with eight-and-a-half concubines. Three are from Kyoto, where Storey manages Pachinco palaces. Each has a distinctive personality: a nun, a child bearer, a gambler, a student of Kabuki, a horsewoman with a pet pig, a maid. As a year passes, the women begin asserting their own power.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisDance with Devils: Fortuna (2017)
Ritsuka Tachibana. She lives a calm and unchanging life. Ritsuka's older brother Lindo returns from studying abroad in the United Kingdom. Shikou Academy student council president Rem Kaginuki calls on the girl, and she begins having mysterious encounters with the student council members. Her life changed a little from that day, but Ritsuka expected nothing more. However, she comes home to find her mother collapsed with suspicious hooded men nearby. They were not human but devils, vampires, and exorcists seeking the Forbidden Grimoire. Ritsuka's former daily life crumbles around her, and she finds herself slowly becoming attracted to Rem, who helps her in her predicament. On the other hand, confusion deepens with regard to her brother who carries a secret. Ritsuka is unsure what path to choose as she finds herself at the center of a love story. (Source: ANN)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Four Women in the Harem (1965)
Sadık Pasha is a pleasure-loving and pious pasha who lives in a luxurious Ottoman mansion with his three wives. The balance of the mansion, already full of intrigue with three women, is completely disrupted when he wants to take a fourth wife, thinking that he needs to continue his lineage because he has no children.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Forbidden Daughters (1927)
Alva receives news from her long-lost husband, Russell, and goes to Africa in search of him. There, she finds that her husband is being "held prisoner" by a naked native princess, called Loma. Now, in order to bring Russell back home, Alva must show that she's better than the princess.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Like The Favorite and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Favorite?
The closest matches to The Favorite are Sahara (1983), Supercross (2005) and The Sheik (1921). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Favorite?
Start with Sahara (1983), the closest match to The Favorite.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Favorite?
Gabriel's Inferno (2020), rated 8.4/10 by 2,486 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Favorite?
My Policeman (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Favorite?
Yes: Sahara (1983), Supercross (2005) and The Sheik (1921).
How are movies similar to The Favorite chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Favorite, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.