Movies like Moonlight (2016)

Name: Moonlight
Released: 2016

10 films to watch after Moonlight, ranked by how well they match its tone — not just its genre.

The tender, heartbreaking story of a young man’s struggle to find himself, told across three defining chapters in his life as he experiences the ecstasy, pain, and beauty of falling in love, while grappling with his own sexuality.

1

A Single Man (2009)

Fit 78%

Shares Drama with Moonlight.

Set in Los Angeles in 1962, at the height of the Cuban missile crisis, is the story of a British college professor who dwells on the past and cannot see his future. We follow him through a single day, where a series of events and encounters ultimately lead him to decide if there is a meaning to life after the death of his long time partner, Jim.
2

My Own Private Idaho (1991)

Fit 75%

Shares Drama with Moonlight.

Mike Waters is a hustler afflicted with narcolepsy. Scott Favor is the rebellious son of a mayor. Together, the two travel from Portland, Oregon to Idaho and finally to the coast of Italy in a quest to find Mike's estranged mother. Along the way they turn tricks for money and drugs, eventually attracting the attention of a wealthy benefactor and sexual deviant.
3

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Fit 74%

Shares Drama with Moonlight.

Joe Buck is a wide-eyed hustler from Texas hoping to score big with wealthy New York City women; he finds a companion in Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo, an ailing swindler with a bum leg and a quixotic fantasy of escaping to Florida.
4

Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)

Fit 71%

Shares Drama with Moonlight.

The story of two radically different men thrown together in a Latin American prison cell. One is Valentin, a journalist being tortured for his political beliefs. The other is Molina, a gay window-dresser who fills their lonely nights by spinning romantic fantasies drawn from memories of old movies.
5

Nickel Boys (2024)

Fit 70%

Shares Drama with Moonlight.

Chronicles the powerful friendship between two young Black teenagers navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida.
6

Beautiful Boy (2018)

Fit 69%

Shares Drama with Moonlight.

After he and his first wife separate, journalist David Sheff struggles to help their teenage son, who goes from experimenting with drugs to becoming devastatingly addicted to methamphetamine.
7

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)

Fit 67%

Shares Drama with Moonlight.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1991. High school freshman Charlie is a wallflower, always watching life from the sidelines, until two senior students, Sam and her stepbrother Patrick, become his mentors, helping him discover the joys of friendship, music and love.
8

The Boys in the Band (1970)

Fit 64%

Shares Drama with Moonlight.

Harold is celebrating a birthday, and his friend Michael has drafted some other friends to help commemorate the event. As the evening progresses, an unexpected guest shows up, the alcohol flows, the knives come out, and dormant and unspoken emotions are unleashed.
9

The Florida Project (2017)

Fit 63%

Shares Drama with Moonlight.

The story of a precocious six year-old and her ragtag group of friends whose summer break is filled with childhood wonder, possibility and a sense of adventure while the adults around them struggle with hard times.
10

The Chronology of Water (2025)

Fit 60%

Shares Drama with Moonlight.

Plagued by an abusive childhood, a woman finds escape in competitive swimming, sexual experimentation, toxic relationships, and addiction before ultimately finding her voice through writing.