How to Find the Name of a Movie You Can't Remember

Run a Google search.

Include as much detail as you can remember about the movie. Type in the names of any actors, characters, or lines of dialogue from the flick. If you don’t know the year, at least include the decade or general era. Throw in the genre along with some keywords about the plot if you can, then scan through the search results. The film you’re looking for might pop up in a list, forum post, or essay in the search results! For example, you might search “black and white movie Humphrey Bogart detective,” “David Lynch rabbit film,” or, “movie where old man coaches female boxer.” You can adjust your search by using a “-“ to remove certain keywords from your search to narrow it down. For example, “dinosaur movie -Jurassic -Park” will pull up dinosaur flicks that aren’t Jurassic Park.

Use a film search engine.

There are a few websites designed specifically to help you remember a movie. The most powerful option out there is MovieSearch (https://www.moviesearch.online/). On this site, you can find the name of a movie by description. Enter any details, actors, or keywords you can recall to generate results. You may also try All Movie. This website provides filters to help you narrow down your search and identify your movie. Potential Movie Search searches might include, “romance Brad Pitt,” “two students go adventure in woods,” or, “horror movie 80s with guy in mask.”

Scour IMDb to find the title.

The Internet Movie Database will have tons of lists and results. IMDb has data on every film ever made, so your flick has to be there somewhere. Users publish easy-to-find lists based on genre, critical acclaim, personal interest, or cast. If you have even one bit of info you remember but you just can’t think of the name of a movie, search IMDb to pull a list of relevant results. Imdb also have option to search by plot. For example, if you can’t remember the name of a movie but you know the word “king” was in the title of the film, just search “king” in IMDb’s search bar and start scrolling.

Check an actor's filmography.

If you can remember a single cast member, look through their work. If you know that Jordan Peele had a cameo in a movie, go online and search “Jordan Peele filmography.” Scroll through the results and you’ll find the flick you’re looking for somewhere! You can find a full list of an actor’s or actress’s work by checking their personal page on IMDb. If you don’t remember any cast members but you know what they look like, search for the actor or actress online first. You could run an image search for something like, “white actress tall big nose” to find them.

Post on Filmfind.

Filmfind is a community dedicated to helping people remember movies! Sign up for a free account and then click the “post” button at the top of the page. Then, describe everything you can remember about the film. The dedicated community of film enthusiasts on Film Find won’t stop throwing out suggestions until you can identify the film.

Ask around on Reddit.

There are a few subreddits where users help others remember things. If you’ve never used Reddit, it’s a social media site based around different communities, called subreddits (always labeled as r/NameOfSubreddit). Post on one of the following subreddits to ask for help finding your film. Include as much information as you remember about the flick. r/TipOfMyTongue – This subreddit is dedicated to helping people remember anything they’ve forgotten about! r/WhatIsThatMovie – Similar to r/TipOfMyTongue, except it’s dedicated exclusively to movies. You may get better results here, but there are more users on r/TipOfMyTongue. r/Movies – This is a widely-used subreddit, but it’s dedicated more generally to anything film-related. You may get some help here.

Ask a friend.

If you saw the film with someone else, ask them if they recall the title. If it was an especially popular movie, you could just ask around or post on social media to reach out for help. Alternatively, if you’ve got a cinephile friend who knows a ton about movies, you could reach out to them and describe the film to see if they know it. You might call your friend and say, “Hey, can you help me find my movie? You and I watched it a few years ago—there was a guy stranded on an island. He had a volleyball for a friend. You remember it?”

Check your viewing history.

If you saw the film online recently, go through your history. If you saw it in theatres, search your browsing history—the odds are high you looked up reviews or showtimes for it. If you saw the film on Netflix, click here to pull up a list of the films you watched. For Amazon Prime, click here. On Hulu, your watch history is actually buried in your “Keep Watching” collection on the home screen. Unfortunately, Max (formerly known as HBO Max) and Disney+ do not allow you to access your viewing history.

Flip through a streaming service’s catalogue.

Even if Netflix or Max don’t have it, this may jog your memory. Peruse whatever streaming service you have and just look at the movies. Netflix, Max, Amazon Prime, and the other platforms have thousands of films, and it’s possible that you’ll stumble on your film if you keep browsing. Even if you don’t though, you may stumble on a similar movie, actor/actress, or keyword that jogs your memory and helps you recall the name of the movie you’re thinking of! Even looking at the thumbnails of the movie posters can help you remember. It’s pretty easy to find a movie if you can identify one actor or actress in it, since you can pull up their filmography. Keep an eye out for actors and actresses on the thumbnails—you may recognize a familiar face.

Go through the plot in your head.

This is a way of quizzing yourself, which can help jog your memory. Try to picture the opening scene in your head and then keep asking yourself, “What happened next?” Go through the film’s narrative in your mind and you just might uncover the film’s title. If that doesn’t work, try summarizing it out loud or sharing it with a friend. The deeper you go into your description, the higher the odds that you’ll remember.

Picture where you were when you saw it.

If you’re just barely holding on to a scrap of info, this may help you learn more. Try to remember the details. Where were you sitting? How old were you? Who was with you? How did the film make you feel? Close your eyes and try to feel what it was like when you first saw the movie. By revisiting the experience, you may uncover more details that you’d forgotten about.