Movies like The Ballad of Betty & Joe (2008)
The best movies like The Ballad of Betty & Joe (2008) are My Wife's Relations (1922), Sing: Thriller (2024) and You're Darn Tootin' (1928). If The Ballad of Betty & Joe hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPaperman (2012)8.0/10 from 1,852 votes
- NewestSketch (2025)Released 2025
My Wife's Relations (1922)
Buster and a woman are mistakenly married and her initially unfriendly family begins to treat him nicely when they come to believe he has a large inheritance awaiting him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSing: Thriller (2024)
Buster Moon dreams up a star-studded spectacle set to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in this animated short featuring characters from the hit "Sing" films.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYou're Darn Tootin' (1928)
Members of a municipal band, Stanley and Oliver seem to be always following someone else's lead, rather than that of the temperamental conductor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisHard Luck (1921)
A down on his luck young man makes several attempts at committing suicide but fails them too. He then finds himself becoming more confident through a series of petty adventures, to such an extent that this becomes his undoing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNimic (2020)
A professional cellist has an encounter with a stranger on the subway which has unexpected and far-reaching ramifications on his life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisToot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (1953)
Professor Owl gives a lecture on the evolution of Western musical instruments, starting with the advent of rudimentary brass, woodwind, string and percussion instruments by ancient cave dwellers at the dawn of history.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Corner in Wheat (1909)
On a whim, a greedy tycoon decides to corner the world market in wheat. This doubles the price of bread, forcing grain producers into charity lines and others further into poverty. The film contrasts the differences between the lives of those who work to grow the wheat and the life of the man who dabbles in its sale for profit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBig Business (1929)
Stan and Ollie play door-to-door Christmas tree salesmen in California. They end up getting into an escalating feud with grumpy would-be customer James Finlayson, with his home and their car being destroyed in the melee.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPaperman (2012)
An urban office worker finds that paper airplanes are instrumental in meeting a girl in ways he never expected.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisShanghaied (1915)
A shipowner intends to scuttle his ship on its last voyage to get the insurance money. Charlie, a tramp in love with the owner's daughter, is grabbed by the captain and promises to help him shanghai some seamen. The daughter stows away to follow Charlie. Charlie assists in the galley and attempts to serve food during a gale.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOnce (2007)
A vacuum repairman moonlights as a street musician and hopes for his big break. One day a Czech immigrant, who earns a living selling flowers, approaches him with the news that she is also an aspiring singer-songwriter. The pair decide to collaborate, and the songs that they compose reflect the story of their blossoming love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDaft Punk Unchained (2015)
Daft Punk Unchained is the first film about the pop culture phenomenon that is Daft Punk, the duo with 12 million albums sold worldwide and seven Grammy Awards. Throughout their career Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo have always resisted compromise and the established codes of show business. They have remained determined to maintain control of every link in the chain of their creative process. In the era of globalisation and social networks, they rarely speak in public and neither do they show their faces on TV. This documentary explores this unprecedented cultural revolution revealing a duo of artists on a permanent quest for creativity, independence and freedom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1912)
Dr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisLorenzo (2004)
A cat named Lorenzo is dismayed to discover that his tail has developed a personality of its own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDestino (2003)
Short film to a song of love lost and rediscovered, a woman sees and undergoes surreal transformations. Her lover's face melts off, she dons a dress from the shadow of a bell and becomes a dandelion, ants crawl out of a hand and become Frenchmen riding bicycles. Not to mention the turtles with faces on their backs that collide to form a ballerina, or the bizarre baseball game.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSketch (2025)
When a young girl’s sketchbook falls into a strange pond, her drawings come to life—chaotic, real, and on the loose. As the town descends into chaos, her family must reunite and stop the monsters they never meant to unleash.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeing James Bond (2021)
Daniel Craig candidly reflects on his 15 year adventure as James Bond. Including never-before-seen archival footage from Casino Royale to the upcoming 25th film No Time To Die, Craig shares his personal memories in conversation with 007 producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Dog's Life (1918)
The Tramp and his dog companion struggle to survive in the inner city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll Wet (1927)
Oswald takes a job as a lifeguard to keep an eye on Miss Rabbit, who in turn stages a boating accident hoping Oswald will come to save her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pawnshop (1916)
A pawnbroker's assistant deals with his grumpy boss, his annoying co-worker and some eccentric customers as he flirts with the pawnbroker's daughter, until a perfidious crook with bad intentions arrives at the pawnshop.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHomesick Scientists (2011)
Four field researchers want to go home. Unfortunately, one of them apparently lost his mind. Since the return is not possible, as long as they remain in this state, ignited a controversy about what to do with him. Where do they come back and what was the object of their research, now becomes a much more important question.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Get Street Smart: A Kid's Guide to Stranger Dangers (1995)
An alien named Corny fights off repeated attempts at abduction/molestation. Featuring such wisdom as: "There are so many ways to kidnap kids"
Why it matches: Similar story and style
BEYOND SIGHT (2025)
In Beyond Sight, Dália is a teenager desperate to belong, even if it means adopting the cruel prejudices of her toxic group of friends. But when an unexpected accident leaves her blind, Dália finds herself on the other side of the judgment she once inflicted. Struggling to adapt, she crosses paths with a mysterious doctor who offers her a chance to regain her sight—through an experimental substance that promises not just vision, but a transformation into her best self: Zoe.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Explorers (2017)
Explorers is a idealistic look at the future of space travel, seen from the perspective of those who dare to venture into the unknown.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Cursive II (2006)
Lin Hwai-min's Cursive II is inspired by the aesthetics of calligraphy. Set to music by John Cage, it is an exquisite meditation on the balancing of opposites presented in delicate simplicity, allowing no distraction from the details of the dance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
I'm the Police (2014)
Two guys in their early twenties, a hitchhiking Dutch student and a Swedish police officer with a broken police car, meet each other on a Swedish country road. On their way to the gas station, their suspicious understanding gradually changes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
South of Heaven (2019)
When his boyfriend shows up unannounced, Elias' religious family learns their son's darkest secret.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Peregrine (2023)
When a boy is pushed by his Father to steal a rare Peregrine egg, he finds strength in the natural world to stand up to his Father and experiences his first sense of freedom.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Strings (2010)
In a certain rural town, a girl calls her senior to a shrine after school to give him a love letter. As she reaches for the letter, a red string suddenly appears on her left hand. Ignoring her senior, she chases after the red string. Along the way, various things happen, but an unexpected ending awaits the girl.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Dear Director (2015)
During the summer of 1980, the American jazz concert pianist Kazzrie Jaxen writes a 16 pages long letter to director Ingmar Bergman. His film 'From the Life of the Marionettes' have sent her on a dramatic inner journey, making her realize that she is not alone in her own body.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Ballad of Betty & Joe?
The closest matches to The Ballad of Betty & Joe are My Wife's Relations (1922), Sing: Thriller (2024) and You're Darn Tootin' (1928). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Ballad of Betty & Joe?
Start with My Wife's Relations (1922), the closest match to The Ballad of Betty & Joe.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Ballad of Betty & Joe?
Paperman (2012), rated 8.0/10 by 1,852 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Ballad of Betty & Joe?
Sketch (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Ballad of Betty & Joe?
Yes: My Wife's Relations (1922), Sing: Thriller (2024) and You're Darn Tootin' (1928).
How are movies similar to The Ballad of Betty & Joe chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Ballad of Betty & Joe, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.