Movies like Despertar (2011)
The best movies like Despertar (2011) are Roma (2018), Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) and Heatwave (2022). If Despertar hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBrief Encounter (1945)7.7/10 from 748 votes
- NewestYour Place or Mine (2023)Released 2023
- In SpanishRoma (2018)Also in Spanish
Roma (2018)
In 1970s Mexico City, two domestic workers help a mother of four while her husband is away for an extended period of time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAlice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
After her husband dies, Alice and her son, Tommy, leave their small New Mexico town for California, where Alice hopes to make a new life for herself as a singer. Money problems force them to settle in Arizona instead, where Alice takes a job as waitress in a small diner.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHeatwave (2022)
A woman's life takes an unexpected turn when she falls for her boss's wife. She must soon defend herself as she becomes entangled in a web of malice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSex, Shame & Tears (1999)
A comedic drama featuring two couples and two old friends in Mexico City. Tomas visits Carlos and Ana, while Miguel and Andrea are joined by Maria. The presence of guests triggers lust, rejection, infidelities, reconciliation and other consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMidaq Alley (1995)
Heated tempers, frustrated desires and dashed hopes plague a diverse group of individuals whose lives cross paths in Mexico City. There is the bar-owner's son, Chava, who yearns to emigrate to America. A poor barber, Abel, is madly in love with the gorgeous Alma, who eventually becomes a high-class prostitute. Finally, there is Susanita, the desperate spinster who pursues many love affairs in hopes of finding a husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAlanis (2017)
A young Buenos Aires mother finds employment as a sex worker and struggles to live under the same laws that are supposed to protect her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYour Place or Mine (2023)
When best friends and total opposites Debbie and Peter swap homes for a week, they get a peek into each other's lives that could open the door to love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGod's Crooked Lines (2022)
Alice Gould, a private investigator, pretends to be mentally ill in order to enter a psychiatric hospital and gather evidence for the case she is working on: the death of a patient in unclear circumstances.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBrief Encounter (1945)
Returning home from a shopping trip to a nearby town, bored suburban housewife Laura Jesson is thrown by happenstance into an acquaintance with virtuous doctor Alec Harvey. Their casual friendship soon develops during their weekly visits into something more emotionally fulfilling than either expected, and they must wrestle with the potential havoc their deepening relationship would have on their lives and the lives of those they love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThird Person (2014)
An acclaimed novelist struggles to write an analysis of love in one of three stories, each set in a different city, that detail the beginning, middle and end of a relationship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Bridges of Madison County (1995)
Photographer Robert Kincaid wanders into the life of housewife Francesca Johnson for four days in the 1960s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShirley (2020)
A famous horror writer finds inspiration for her next book after she and her husband take in a young couple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSweet November (2001)
Nelson is a man devoted to his advertising career in San Francisco. One day, while taking a driving test at the DMV, he meets Sara. She is very different from the other women in his life. Nelson causes her to miss out on taking the test and later that day she tracks him down. One thing leads to another and Nelson ends up living with her through a November that will change his life forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpanglish (2004)
Mexican immigrant and single mother Flor Moreno finds housekeeping work with Deborah and John Clasky, a well-off couple with two children of their own. When Flor admits she can't handle the schedule because of her daughter, Cristina, Deborah decides they should move into the Clasky home. Cultures clash and tensions run high as Flor and the Claskys struggle to share space while raising their children on their own, and very different, terms.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRiff-Raff (1991)
Stevie, fresh from prison in Scotland, finds a job on a London construction site. Working conditions are poor and most of the men are working under aliases, due to immigration status and to not conflict with unemployment. Some help Stevie secure housing, squatting in a council estate. Then Stevie meets Susan, from Ireland, an aspiring singer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Girls (2019)
Sofía, a well-to-do socialite and her husband must wrestle with the impact of Mexico's 1982 economic crisis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWorking Girl (1988)
When a secretary's idea is stolen by her boss, she takes a risky chance to reclaim it by impersonating him and running the project from his position.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEat Pray Love (2010)
A married woman realizes how unhappy her marriage really is, and that her life needs to go in a different direction. After a painful divorce, she takes off on a round-the-world journey to "find herself".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmores Perros (2000)
A fatalistic car crash in Mexico city sets off a chain of events in the lives of three people: a supermodel, a young man wanting to run off with his sister-in-law, and a homeless man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Obscure Spring (2014)
Igor is a plumber; Pina serves coffee. It is winter and they both deeply desire each other, but they are not free. In trying to figure out how to realize their love, she decides to make a lion costume for her little son and he decides to buy a photocopying machine for his wife. Spring will come at last and with it the consummation of love, filling their lives with hope and sex.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Despertar?
The closest matches to Despertar are Roma (2018), Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) and Heatwave (2022). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Despertar?
Start with Roma (2018), the closest match to Despertar.
What is the highest-rated movie like Despertar?
Brief Encounter (1945), rated 7.7/10 by 748 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Despertar?
Your Place or Mine (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like Despertar?
Yes: Roma (2018), Sex, Shame & Tears (1999) and Midaq Alley (1995).
How are movies similar to Despertar chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Despertar, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.