Movies like Layers (2021)
The best movies like Layers (2021) are The Taste of Tea (2004), Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989) and Princess (2008). If Layers hooked you with its fantasy, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex (2013)7.9/10 from 1,096 votes
- NewestA Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025)Released 2025
- In JapaneseThe Taste of Tea (2004)Also in Japanese
The Taste of Tea (2004)
A spell of time in the life of the five-piece Haruno family in rural Tochigi Prefecture. Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project. Uncle Ayano, a successful music producer, is looking to get his head together after living in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Sachiko is concerned with why she seems to be followed by a giant version of herself. As the lazy days pass by, each member of the family is followed in a series of episodic vignettes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLittle Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989)
A little boy whose dreams transcend reality is sucked into his own fantasy, which is everything he has dreamed of, until he unleashes an old secret that may not only destroy this perfect dream world but reality itself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrincess (2008)
A reclusive princess and a directionless young man embark on a quest to save the world's mythical creatures from becoming extinct.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025)
Sarah and David are single strangers who meet at a mutual friend’s wedding and soon, through a surprising twist of fate, find themselves on a funny, fantastical, sweeping adventure together where they get to re-live important moments from their respective pasts, illuminating how they got to where they are in the present... and possibly getting a chance to alter their futures.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHideaways (2011)
The elder one of each generation in the Furlong family is equipped with an extraordinary capacity. James discovers the nature of his at the time of an accident which causes the death of his father and his grandmother. Haunted by this mysterious evil he hides in a forest not to harm anybody. A few years later, Mae also takes refuge it in the forest and meets James.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Nutcracker (1993)
On Christmas Eve, a little girl named Marie falls asleep and dreams herself into a fantastic world in which her toys become larger than life. She meets up with the Nutcracker Prince who takes her on a journey to his kingdom and defends her from the Mouse King.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Loud House Movie (2021)
The Loud family travel to Scotland and discover they are descendants of Scottish royalty as they move into their giant ancestral castle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like this40 Acres (2025)
Hailey Freeman and her family are the last descendants of African American farmers who settled in rural Canada after the Civil War. In a famine-decimated near future, they now struggle to safeguard their farm, as they make one last stand against a vicious militia hell-bent on taking their 40 Acres.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMade in Heaven (1987)
Deceased drifter Mike arrives in Heaven and quickly falls for newborn soul Annie, soon to start her assignment on Earth. When Annie leaves, Mike follows. They spend the next three decades drifting back together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Willoughbys (2020)
When the four Willoughby children are abandoned by their selfish parents, they must learn how to adapt their Old-Fashioned values to the contemporary world in order to create something new: The Modern Family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex (2013)
While trying to prove to her family she can be mature and responsible, teen wizard Alex Russo conjures up a spell to rid herself of her bad qualities, unintentionally creating a Good and Evil Alex. When Evil Alex gets involved in a plan to take over the world by a dark wizard, Good Alex must find a way to save her family, humankind, and ultimately herself in an epic Good vs. Evil battle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisI Do, I Do, I Do (2015)
An architect heads to the altar with her fiancé, unsure of her marriage and their future. She relives her disastrous wedding day, put together by her fiance’s overbearing mother, over and over until, with the help of his brother, she begins to face her biggest fears and discover what she really wants in herself and in her life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnastasia: Once Upon a Time (2020)
Anastasia Romanov escapes through a portal when her family is threatened by Vladimir Lenin, and she finds herself in the year 1988, befriended by a young American girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
SnoozefestMovies 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 fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Unhealer (2021)
A botched faith healing bestows supernatural Shaman powers on a bullied teenager. When his lifelong tormentors pull a prank that kills someone he loves, he uses his powers for revenge and goes on a bloody rampage to settle the score.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisPastoral: To Die in the Country (1974)
A director faces creative block while working on his latest film – a reimagination of his adolescence growing up in a mountain village in rural Japan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Preacher's Wife (1996)
Good-natured Reverend Henry Biggs finds that his marriage to choir mistress Julia is flagging, due to his constant absence caring for the deprived neighborhood they live in. On top of all this, his church is coming under threat from property developer Joe Hamilton. In desperation, Biggs prays to God for help – which arrives in the form of an angel named Dudley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisKermit's Swamp Years (2002)
At 12 years old, Kermit the Frog and best friends Goggles and Croaker travel outside their homes in the swamps of the Deep South to do something extraordinary with their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Swan Princess: A Fairytale Is Born (2023)
Before becoming queen, Uberta lived a humble life with her husband Maximillian when she is suddenly thrust into royalty. Through triumph and tragedy, she learns the lessons needed to become a beloved Queen, all while raising the next generation of rulers. When it's time for Uberta to pass the royal scepter to Odette and Derek, rival Queen Wixom has plans of her own to ruin the kingdom's greatest coronation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDoraemon: Nobita and the Island of Miracles – Animal Adventure (2012)
Nobita and Doraemon use time tree Mochi and catch a big bird, which has been extinct for 500 years ago. To protect the animal, Nobita and Doraemon go to Beremon Island, overseen by a golden beetle named Herakles.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like Layers and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Layers?
The closest matches to Layers are The Taste of Tea (2004), Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989) and Princess (2008). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Layers?
Start with The Taste of Tea (2004), the closest match to Layers.
What is the highest-rated movie like Layers?
The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex (2013), rated 7.9/10 by 1,096 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Layers?
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Layers?
Yes: The Taste of Tea (2004), Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989) and Pastoral: To Die in the Country (1974).
How are movies similar to Layers chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Layers, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.