Dynamic Watchlist Hub: May 11, 2026

10 Best Movies Like Unexpected Joy

If you loved Unexpected Joy, we've curated the perfect watchlist for you based on shared genres, themes, and directorial style.

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Expert Review & Ratings

See our full critical analysis and audience score for Unexpected Joy.

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#1
My Joy

My Joy

2010★ 6.3

Why watch this? A perfect follow-up to Unexpected Joy for fans of Drama. It captures a similar emotionally gripping atmosphere.

Georgy is driving a load of freight into Russia when, after an unpleasant encounter with the police at a border crossing, he finds himself giving a lift to a strange old man with d...

#2
My Friend Ivan Lapshin

My Friend Ivan Lapshin

1985★ 6.8

Why watch this? A perfect follow-up to Unexpected Joy for fans of Drama. It captures a similar emotionally gripping atmosphere.

Russian provincial town in the middle of the 1930s Stalin's Great Purge. Ivan Lapshin, the head of the local police, does what he has to do. And he does it well....

#3
Come Sunday

Come Sunday

2018★ 5.8

Why watch this? A perfect follow-up to Unexpected Joy for fans of Drama. It captures a similar emotionally gripping atmosphere.

Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell....

#4
An Unfinished Piece for Player Piano

An Unfinished Piece for Player Piano

1977★ 7.0

Why watch this? A perfect follow-up to Unexpected Joy for fans of Drama. It captures a similar emotionally gripping atmosphere.

On a summer day in late 19th century Russia, a group of bourgeois friends and acquaintances gather at a dilapidated country estate....

#5
The End of St. Petersburg

The End of St. Petersburg

1927★ 6.7

Why watch this? A perfect follow-up to Unexpected Joy for fans of Drama. It captures a similar emotionally gripping atmosphere.

Shortly before the outbreak of WWI, a peasant from rural Russia arrives in St. Petersburg to find work....

#6
The Safety of Objects

The Safety of Objects

2002★ 6.5

Why watch this? A perfect follow-up to Unexpected Joy for fans of Drama. It captures a similar emotionally gripping atmosphere.

In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, an...

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