Movies like In Waves (2026)
The best movies like In Waves (2026) are Aya of Yop City (2013), Persepolis (2007) and I Lost My Body (2019). If In Waves hooked you with its animation and romance, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedYour Name. (2016)8.5/10 from 13,183 votes
- NewestButterfly (2025)Released 2025
- In FrenchAya of Yop City (2013)Also in French
Aya of Yop City (2013)
While Aya has dreams of becoming a doctor, her two best friends, Adjoua and Bintou, just like to hang out and spend their evenings dancing, drinking and flirting with boys. Their ambition is to follow Plan C: Combs, Clothes and Chasing Men! But big trouble comes to town when Adjoua realizes she’s pregnant, and the baby’s father is the spoiled son of one of the richest and most feared men in the whole country.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPersepolis (2007)
In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Satrapi watches events through her young eyes and her idealistic family of a long dream being fulfilled of the hated Shah's defeat in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. However as Marji grows up, she witnesses first hand how the new Iran, now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, has become a repressive tyranny on its own.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisI Lost My Body (2019)
A story of Naoufel, a young man who is in love with Gabrielle. In another part of town, a severed hand escapes from a dissection lab, determined to find its body again.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Life as a Zucchini (2016)
After his mother’s death, Zucchini is befriended by a kind police officer, Raymond, who accompanies him to his new foster home filled with other orphans his age. There, with the help of his newfound friends, Zucchini eventually learns to trust and love as he searches for a new family of his own.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Girl Without Hands (2016)
A poor miller gets tricked by the Devil and accidentally sells his daughter for a bit of gold. But Satan can't take her because she's too pure and has wept on her hands. So Satan orders the miller to cut her hands off. It's the beginning of the young girl's journey towards freedom.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBombay Rose (2019)
Amidst the bustle of a magnetic and multifaceted city, the budding love between two dreamers is tested by duty and religious divides.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Angel (2016)
Once upon a time there was Louise and her friend, the magician. But his last trick left a bitter taste in her mouth. He disappeared in a curtain of smoke… never to appear again. This is too much for the young woman. Devastated by endless grief, Louise is sent to a psychiatric asylum, resigned to the idea that she will swallow pills till the end of her days. Yet nine months later she gives birth to a child who is likely to have a big problem for his future class pictures, since he’s invisible. But Louise doesn’t care. He’s her angel and, wanting to protect him from this cruel world, she decides to keep his existence a secret. Years later, Louise’s angel has grown up. He even managed to find a girlfriend; Madeleine. The two become inseparable, for Madeleine never judges him. And for good reason: she’s blind.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Silent Voice: The Movie (2016)
Shouya Ishida starts bullying the new girl in class, Shouko Nishimiya, because she is deaf. But as the teasing continues, the rest of the class starts to turn on Shouya for his lack of compassion. When they leave elementary school, Shouko and Shouya do not speak to each other again... until an older, wiser Shouya, tormented by his past behaviour, decides he must see Shouko once more. He wants to atone for his sins, but is it already too late...?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisJosep (2020)
February 1939. Overwhelmed by the flood of Republicans fleeing Franco's dictatorship, the French government's solution consists in confining the Spanish refugees in concentration camps where they have no other choice than to build their own shelters, feed off the horses which have carried them out of their country, and die by the hundred for lack of hygiene and water... In one of these camps, two men, separated by barbwire, will become friends. One is a guard the other is Josep Bartoli (Barcelona 1910 - New York 1995), a cartoonist who fights against the Franco regime.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Breadwinner (2017)
A headstrong young girl in Afghanistan, ruled by the Taliban, disguises herself as a boy in order to provide for her family.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYour Name. (2016)
High schoolers Mitsuha and Taki are complete strangers living separate lives. But one night, they suddenly switch places. Mitsuha wakes up in Taki’s body, and he in hers. This bizarre occurrence continues to happen randomly, and the two must adjust their lives around each other.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAway (2019)
After suffering a plane crash on a mysterious island, a young man embarks on an epic journey through forests, deserts and mountains trying to escape the shadow of a huge dark spirit.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSummer Days with Coo (2007)
A small, lone Kappa miraculously survives over 200 years into modern day Japan, when he is found by young Koichi. Coo, who is secretly adopted by Koichi's family, searches with his new human friend for unpopulated places in hopes of finding any remaining of his kind.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEntergalactic (2022)
Ambitious artist Jabari attempts to balance success and love when he moves into his dream Manhattan apartment and falls for his next-door neighbor.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlind Willow, Sleeping Woman (2023)
A lost cat, a giant talkative frog and a tsunami help a bank employee without ambition, his frustrated wife and a schizophrenic accountant to save Tokyo from an earthquake and find a meaning to their lives.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Butterfly (2025)
A Jewish North African middle-aged man's swim in the sea triggers memories of his earlier life as an Olympic swimmer before and after World War II.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
The Illusionist (2010)
A French illusionist travels to Scotland to work. He meets a young woman in a small village. Their ensuing adventure in Edinburgh changes both their lives forever.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGirl Picture (2022)
Best friends Mimmi and Rönkkö support each other unconditionally. They want to live adventurous lives, loaded with experiences and passion. Emma on the contrary has given her whole life to figure skating. Nothing gets between her and success. But when the girls meet, life opens whole new paths, and they all rocket in new directions. While Mimmi and Emma experience the earth moving effects of first love, Rönkkö is on a quest to find pleasure. Three Fridays is all it takes to turn their worlds upside down.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMillennium Actress (2002)
Documentary filmmaker Genya Tachibana has tracked down the legendary actress Chiyoko Fujiwara, who mysteriously vanished at the height of her career. When he presents her with a key she had lost and thought was gone forever, the filmmaker could not have imagined that it would not only unlock the long-held secrets of Chiyoko’s life... but also his own.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisIn the Shadow of the Cypress (2023)
Living in a house by the sea with his daughter, a former captain who has post-traumatic stress disorder leads a tough and secluded life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
The Red Turtle (2016)
The dialogue-less film follows the major life stages of a castaway on a deserted tropical island populated by turtles, crabs and birds.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSilhouette of Your Voice (2017)
Kohei, a deaf university student, meets lively Taichi and finds rare connection. But as their bond deepens, Kohei must confront his fear of growing too close.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & drama
Chico & Rita (2010)
Chico is a young piano player with big dreams. Rita is a beautiful singer with an extraordinary voice. Music and romantic desire unites them, but their journey - in the tradition of the Latin ballad, the bolero - brings heartache and torment.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Glassworker (2024)
A young glassworker-in-training living with his pacifist father finds his apprenticeship upended by an impending war and the arrival of an army colonel to their seaside town.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMia and the Migoo (2008)
One night Mia has a premonition. So after saying a few words of parting at her mother’s grave, she sets out on a cross continent journey, though mountains and jungles in search of her father, who has been trapped in a landslide at a construction site on a remote tropical lake. In the middle of the lake stands the ancient Tree of Life, watched over by innocent, bumbling forest spirits called the Migoo, who grow and change shape as they please, morphing from small childlike beings to petulant giants. The Migoo have been disrupting the construction to protect this sacred site – and now together with Mia they join in a fight to find Mia’s father and save the Tree, with the future of life on Earth hanging in the balance.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both animation
Shelter (2007)
Forced to give up his dreams of art school, Zach works dead-end jobs to support his sister and her son. Questioning his life, he paints, surfs and hangs out with his best friend, Gabe. When Gabe's older brother returns home for the summer, Zach suddenly finds himself drawn into a relationship he didn't expect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPoetic Justice (1993)
Still grieving after the murder of her boyfriend, hairdresser Justice writes poetry to deal with the pain of her loss. Unable to get to Oakland to attend a convention because of her broken-down car, Justice gets a lift with her friend, Iesha, and Iesha's postal worker boyfriend, Chicago. Along for the ride is Chicago's co-worker, Lucky, to whom Justice grows close after some initial problems. But is she ready to open her heart again?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKeith (2008)
Natalie is high school royalty, but her queen bee status falls apart when she falls for the new guy at school. Although Keith ignores her at first, they soon become friends -- even though Natalie suspects that Keith has something to hide. As the free-spirited Keith shows Natalie how to embrace what life offers, they grow closer -- until a secret tests the bounds of their relationship
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKiss and Cry (2017)
A romantic drama based on the story of Carley Allison, a promising 18 year old figure skater and singer who made medical history in her fight against a rare 1 in 3.5 billion type of sarcoma.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlue Lagoon: The Awakening (2012)
Two high school students become stranded on a tropical island and must rely on each other for survival. They learn more about themselves and each other while falling in love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like In Waves?
The closest matches to In Waves are Aya of Yop City (2013), Persepolis (2007) and I Lost My Body (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after In Waves?
People who watched In Waves most often go on to Aya of Yop City (2013), Persepolis (2007) and I Lost My Body (2019).
What is the highest-rated movie like In Waves?
Your Name. (2016), rated 8.5/10 by 13,183 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like In Waves?
Butterfly (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like In Waves?
Yes: Aya of Yop City (2013), Persepolis (2007) and I Lost My Body (2019).
How are movies similar to In Waves chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside In Waves, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.