Movies Like Laughing through the dark

If you liked Laughing through the dark (2026), a drama movie directed by Alex Yu, here are 19 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Haute Couture (2021)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
Esther is at the end of her career as Head Seamstress at Dior Avenue Montaigne workshop. One day, she gets her handbag stolen in the metro by a 20 years old girl, Jade. Instead of calling the police she decides to take…
2
Chaos (2001)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
A bourgeois couple, modern yet conventional. One night by accident, a young prostitute barges into their lives. Hounded down, beaten up, threatened, she will continue to struggle, with the help of a well off lady…
3
Eleanor the Great (2025)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
4
What Maisie Knew (2013)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
In New York City, a young girl is caught in the middle of her parents' bitter custody battle.
5
Houria (2023)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
A young woman who is passionate about ballet dancing and experiences a trauma, and then she meets other women who have experienced similar situations and they find a creative way to pursue their passion.
6
Bastard Out of Carolina (1996)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as…
7
Violette (2013)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
Born out of wedlock early in the last century, Violette Leduc meets Simone de Beauvoir in postwar Saint-Germain-des-Près. An intense lifelong relationship develops between the two women authors, based on Violette's…
8
Breathe (2014)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
Charlie, a 17-year-old girl tortured by doubt, is thrilled when she becomes friends with Sarah, but when Sarah tires of Charlie and looks for a new friend, their relationship takes an ominous turn.
9
Here (2024)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
An odyssey through time and memory, centered on a place in New Jersey where—from wilderness, and then, later, from a home—love, loss, struggle, hope and legacy play out between couples and families over generations.
10
A Single Girl (1995)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
A young Parisian must make major decisions about pregnancy, a job, and her boyfriend.
11
Hadewijch (2009)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
A troubled young woman is thrown out of a convent and forms a relationship with a radical Muslim.
12
The Passengers of the Night (2022)
★ 6.9/10Also drama
On election night in 1981, celebrations spill out onto the street and there is an air of hope and change throughout Paris. But for Elisabeth, her marriage is coming to an end and she will now have to support herself…
13
Young Mothers (2025)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
Housed in a shelter for young mothers, Jessica, Perla, Julia, Ariane, and Naïma, all of whom have grown up in difficult circumstances, struggle to obtain a better life for themselves and their children.
14
Les Indésirables (2023)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
A local activist and a budding young mayor clash over the best path forward for their impoverished suburb.
15
Skin (2009)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.
16
Secret Name (2021)
★ 6/10Also drama
Nelie escaped a miserable existence by becoming a frontline nurse in 1914. One day, she takes the identity of Rose, a young woman from a good family, who dies in front of her. She presents herself in her place at…
17
The Search (2014)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
A woman who works for a non-governmental organization (NGO) forms a special relationship with a young boy in war-torn Chechnya.
18
Wild Diamond (2024)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
Liane, 19 years old, daring and fiery, lives with her mother and little sister under the dusty sun of Fréjus in the South of France. Obsessed with beauty and the need to become “someone”, she sees reality TV as her…
19
Élisa (1995)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
Marie has had a tough childhood ever since her mother Elisa committed suicide. She has spent most of her life in an orphanage and now makes a living as a small time criminal in Paris. Now she wants to unravel her past…