Movies like Backwards
The best movies like Backwards are Dick Johnson Is Dead (2020), The Father (2020) and Knox Goes Away (2024). If Backwards hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Backwards
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMemento (2000)8.2/10 from 17,014 votes
- NewestFather Mother Sister Brother (2025)Released 2025
Dick Johnson Is Dead (2020)
With this inventive portrait, director Kirsten Johnson seeks a way to keep her 86-year-old father alive forever. Utilizing moviemaking magic and her family’s dark humor, she celebrates Dr. Dick Johnson’s last years by staging fantasies of death and beyond. Together, dad and daughter confront the great inevitability awaiting us all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Father (2020)
A man refuses all assistance from his daughter as he ages and, as he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and even the fabric of his reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisKnox Goes Away (2024)
A contract killer, after being diagnosed with a fast-moving form of dementia, is presented with the opportunity to redeem himself by saving the life of his estranged adult son. But to do so, he must race against the police closing in on him as well as the ticking clock of his own rapidly deteriorating mind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThis Is Where I Leave You (2014)
When their father passes away, four grown, world-weary siblings return to their childhood home and are requested -- with an admonition -- to stay there together for a week, along with their free-speaking mother and a collection of spouses, exes and might-have-beens. As the brothers and sisters re-examine their shared history and the status of each tattered relationship among those who know and love them best, they reconnect in hysterically funny and emotionally significant ways.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Kid (2000)
An unhappy, disliked image consultant gets a second shot at life when he is mysteriously confronted by an eight-year-old version of himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn the Shadow of the Moon (2019)
In 1988, Philadelphia police officer Thomas "Locke" Lockhart, hungry to become a detective, begins tracking a serial killer whose crimes defy scientific explanation. When the killer mysteriously resurfaces nine years later, Locke's obsession with finding the truth threatens to destroy his career, his family, and possibly his sanity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Home (2025)
A troubled man starts working at a retirement home and realizes its residents and caretakers harbor sinister secrets. As he investigates the building and its forbidden fourth floor, he starts to uncover connections to his own past and upbringing as a foster child.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Love My Dad (2022)
A hopelessly estranged father catfishes his son in an attempt to reconnect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisFather Mother Sister Brother (2025)
Estranged siblings reunite after years apart, forced to confront unresolved tensions and reevaluate their strained relationships with their emotionally distant parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJack (1996)
Born with a rare condition that makes him age four times faster than normal, ten-year-old Jack Powell looks like a forty-year-old man. After years of homeschooling, he enters public school for the first time, eager to make friends and live like any other kid—only to discover that growing up too fast means learning some of life’s hardest lessons early.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMagnolia (1999)
On one random day in the San Fernando Valley, a dying father, a young wife, a male caretaker, a famous lost son, a police officer in love, a boy genius, an ex-boy genius, a game show host and an estranged daughter will each become part of a dazzling multiplicity of plots, but one story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIris (2001)
True story of the lifelong romance between novelist Iris Murdoch and her husband John Bayley, from their student days through her battle with Alzheimer's disease.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnd When Did You Last See Your Father? (2007)
The story of a son's conflicting memories of his dying father.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Joel Barish, heartbroken that his girlfriend underwent a procedure to erase him from her memory, decides to do the same. However, as he watches his memories of her fade away, he realises that he still loves her, and may be too late to correct his mistake.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRudderless (2014)
A grieving father in a downward spiral stumbles across a box of his recently deceased son's demo tapes and lyrics. Shocked by the discovery of this unknown talent, he forms a band in the hope of finding some catharsis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJules (2023)
A flying saucer lands in the backyard of an elderly suburbanite with memory problems, who forms a bond with the scared alien inside.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSeconds (1966)
An unhappy middle-aged banker agrees to a procedure that will fake his death and give him a completely new look and identity; one that comes with its own price.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMemento (2000)
Leonard Shelby is tracking down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The difficulty of locating his wife's killer, however, is compounded by the fact that he suffers from a rare, untreatable form of short-term memory loss. Although he can recall details of life before his accident, Leonard cannot remember what happened fifteen minutes ago, where he's going, or why.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRobot & Frank (2012)
Curmudgeonly old Frank lives by himself. His routine involves daily visits to his local library, where he has a twinkle in his eye for the librarian. His grown children are concerned about their father’s well-being and buy him a caretaker robot. Initially resistant to the idea, Frank soon appreciates the benefits of robotic support – like nutritious meals and a clean house – and eventually begins to treat his robot like a true companion. With his robot’s assistance, Frank’s passion for his old, unlawful profession is reignited, for better or worse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeath at a Funeral (2010)
Aaron's father's funeral is today at the family home, and everything goes wrong: the funeral home delivers the wrong body, his cousin accidentally drugs her fiancé, and Aaron's successful younger brother, Ryan, flies in from New York, broke but arrogant. To top it all off, a mysterious stranger wants a word with Aaron.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Backwards?
The closest matches to Backwards are Dick Johnson Is Dead (2020), The Father (2020) and Knox Goes Away (2024). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Backwards?
Start with Dick Johnson Is Dead (2020), the closest match to Backwards.
What is the highest-rated movie like Backwards?
Memento (2000), rated 8.2/10 by 17,014 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Backwards?
Father Mother Sister Brother (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Backwards?
Yes: Dick Johnson Is Dead (2020), The Father (2020) and Knox Goes Away (2024).
How are movies similar to Backwards chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Backwards, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.