Movies Like Behind City Lights

If you liked Behind City Lights (1945), a romance and crime movie directed by John English, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
City Girl (1930)
★ 7.5/10Also drama and romance
A waitress from Chicago falls in love with a man from rural Minnesota and marries him, with the intent of living a better life - but life on the farm has its own challenges.
2
Home by Spring (2018)
★ 6.4/10Also drama and romance
When an ambitious event planner gets an opportunity she can’t refuse, she goes undercover as her boss and returns to her rural hometown. With the help of her family and the man she left behind, she pulls off the…
3
Killer Heat (2024)
★ 5.8/10Also crime and drama
An expat PI is hired to investigate a suspicious death in Crete, Greece, where jealousies run deep amongst the victim's powerful family.
4
The Lost Husband (2020)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and romance
Trying to put her life back together after the death of her husband, Libby and her children move to her estranged Aunt's goat farm in central Texas.
5
Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between (2022)
★ 6.1/10Also romance and drama
Clare and Aidan make a pact to break up before college — no regrets, no broken hearts. But will one epic goodbye date offer them a last chance at love?
6
They Live by Night (1949)
★ 6.8/10Also crime and romance
An escaped convict, injured during a robbery, falls in love with the woman who nurses him back to health, but their relationship seems doomed from the beginning.
7
In Secret (2014)
★ 6.1/10Also drama and crime
In 1860s Paris, a young woman, Therese, is trapped in a loveless marriage to the sickly Camille by her domineering aunt, Madame Raquin. She spends her days behind the counter of a small shop and her evenings watching…
8
Fallen Angel (1945)
★ 6.6/10Also crime and drama
An unemployed drifter, Eric Stanton wanders into a small California town and begins hanging around the local diner. While Eric falls for the lovely waitress Stella, he also begins romancing a quiet and well-to-do woman…
9
Marked Men: Rule + Shaw (2025)
★ 6.7/10Also romance and drama
Shaw Landon has loved Rule Archer from the moment she laid eyes on him. Rule, a fiery-tempered rebel tattoo artist, doesn’t have time for a good girl pre-med student like Shaw — even if she’s the only one who can see…
10
Maria's Lovers (1984)
★ 6/10Also drama and romance
A World War II prisoner returns home to his childhood sweetheart. However, back home, he discovers that he has to compete to win her love.
11
The Magic of Ordinary Days (2005)
★ 7.5/10Also drama and romance
Pregnant out of wedlock, an educated young woman is pressured by her father into an arranged marriage with a lonely farmer in this drama set during WWII.
12
Love Finds You in Valentine (2016)
★ 6.4/10Also drama and romance
Kennedy Blaine, a Californian girl, inherits a ranch in the small town of Valentine in Nebraska. Before she sells the property, she decides to spend the summer in her house and learn more about her family.
13
Purple Hearts (2022)
★ 8/10Also romance and drama
An aspiring musician agrees to a marriage of convenience with a soon-to-deploy Marine, but a tragedy soon turns their fake relationship all too real.
14
Time Is Up (2021)
★ 6.5/10Also romance and drama
Vivien, an accomplished student with a passion for physics, and Roy, a troubled young man, are involved in an accident that forces them to reclaim their lives one minute at the time.
15
Not Easily Broken (2009)
★ 6.3/10Also drama and romance
A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.
16
Love Everlasting (2016)
★ 7.4/10Also romance and drama
Bridger is a young outsider who's always wanted more. He and his mother flee an abusive home, eventually finding a small town in the middle of nowhere. Once there, Bridger finds true acceptance with another misfit.
17
In Cold Blood (1967)
★ 7.5/10Also crime and drama
After a botched robbery results in the brutal murder of a rural family, two drifters elude police, in the end coming to terms with their own mortality and the repercussions of their vile atrocity.
18
The Parts You Lose (2019)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and crime
An unlikely friendship unfolds between a young deaf boy, Wesley, and a fugitive criminal who takes refuge in an abandoned barn on the family’s rural North Dakota farm.
19
The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020)
★ 7.4/10Also drama and romance
A widow with three children hires a handyman to fix her house during a major storm. When not doing home repairs, he shares his philosophy of believing in the power of the universe to deliver what we want.
20
Newness (2017)
★ 6.1/10Also romance and drama
In contemporary Los Angeles, two millennials navigating a social media–driven hookup culture begin a relationship that pushes both emotional and physical boundaries.