Movies like Children in the Cinema (1958)
The best movies like Children in the Cinema (1958) are Cinema Paradiso (1988), La Dolce Villa (2025) and Il Sorpasso (1962). If Children in the Cinema hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCinema Paradiso (1988)8.4/10 from 5,054 votes
- NewestSolo Mio (2026)Released 2026
- In ItalianCinema Paradiso (1988)Also in Italian
Cinema Paradiso (1988)
A filmmaker recalls his childhood, when he fell in love with the movies at his village's theater and formed a deep friendship with the theater's projectionist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisLa Dolce Villa (2025)
When his daughter decides to buy a crumbling Tuscan villa, Eric rushes to Italy to talk her out of it — and instead finds beauty, romance and new purpose.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIl Sorpasso (1962)
Roberto, a shy law student in Rome, meets Bruno, a forty-year-old exuberant, capricious man, who takes him for a drive through the Roman and Tuscany countries in the summer. When their journey starts to blend into their daily lives though, the pair’s newfound friendship is tested.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003)
Lizzie McGuire has graduated from middle school and takes a trip to Rome, Italy with her class. And what was supposed to be only a normal trip, becomes a teenager's dream come true.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn the Name of the Father (1971)
In 1958 Angelo, a rich and spoiled boy, enters a religious school, where students are tired of its vice-rector, and the strict rules and old-fashioned teaching methods of priests. Soon, Angelo exerts strong leadership among his peers and incites turmoil among them, helped by intellectual Franco and shy Camma. They expel the prefect from the school, organize a Grand Guignol show, and disappear the corpse of an old professor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRome in Love (2019)
An unknown actress lands the role of a lifetime in Rome. Paired with an American journalist writing a profile, she will discover surprises about love and life in the eternal city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAvanti! (1972)
A successful businessman travels to Italy to arrange for the return of his tycoon father's body, only to learn that dear old dad died with his longtime mistress.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Roof (1956)
Under provincial Italian law at the time, once a roof is erected, the occupants cannot be evicted from a building. This film follows the efforts of a family to erect the roof on a house overnight so that a newlywed couple can have their own home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAn American in Rome (1954)
Nando Moriconi is a young Italian living in Rome obsessed with all-things American.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChristmas in Rome (2019)
An independent-minded American tour guide is fired from her job in Rome just before Christmas. She crosses paths with an American executive named Oliver, who wants to buy a high-end Italian ceramics company. Oliver hires Angela to be his tour guide around the Eternal City, as the owner of the ceramics company won’t sell it to him until he learns “the heart and soul of Rome.” But is there another heart and soul that he may win?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSolo Mio (2026)
After Matt's dreams of a picturesque Italian wedding are shattered when his fiancée leaves him at the altar, he embarks on his planned honeymoon across Italy alone, immersing himself in the country's vibrant culture, food, and beauty, meeting Gia along the way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Comfort of Strangers (1990)
An Italian diplomat's son follows and seduces English lovers in Venice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisP.O. Box Tinto Brass (1995)
A successful erotic film producer from Rome regularly receives letters from female fans seeking his advice on how to spice up their sex lives. Thanks to his years of experience in both the film business and the sex industry, he has all sorts of tips at the ready and, in an emergency, is happy to make a house call himself to demonstrate his qualities in person.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBellissima (1952)
Film director Blasetti is looking for a little girl for his new movie. Along with other mothers, Maddelena takes her daughter to Cinecittà, hoping she’ll be selected and become a star. She is ready to sacrifice anything for little Maria.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTotòtruffa '62 (1961)
Antonio, a former variety actor, keeps his daughter in an excellent boarding school by organizing small scams with his friend and colleague Felice. Commissioner Malvasia good-naturedly persecuted him. When their respective unsuspecting children fall in love, the two fathers make peace.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTo Rome with Love (2012)
Four tales unfold in the Eternal City: While vacationing in Rome, architect John encounters a young man whose romantic woes remind him of a painful incident from his own youth; retired opera director Jerry discovers a mortician with an amazing voice, and he seizes the opportunity to rejuvenate his own flagging career; a young couple have separate romantic interludes; a spotlight shines on an ordinary man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisFinally Dawn (2024)
A young Roman woman during the 1950s is on the verge of becoming engaged to a man. She goes to Cinecittà to do an audition as an extra and is thrust into this almost infinite night during which she discovers herself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisL'immensità (2022)
Clara and Felice struggle to raise their three children in 1970s Rome. The eldest, Andrea, is transgender and yearns for another life where he gets to live as the boy he knows himself to be. Clara instinctively strives to protect her son by escaping into their imaginations to defuse family tensions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrimavera (2025)
A talented violinist, Cecilia, confined in an orphanage, meets Vivaldi who becomes her teacher. Under his mentorship and through his music, she gains courage to break free from the life she was destined for and pursue her passion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMisunderstood (2014)
Rome, 1984, Aria is nine-year-old girl. On the verge of divorce, Aria's infantile and selfish parents are too preoccupied with their careers and extra-marital affairs to properly tend to any of Aria's needs. While her two older sisters are pampered, Aria is treated with cold indifference. Yet she yearns to love and to be loved. At school, Aria excels academically but is considered a misfit by everyone. She is misunderstood. Aria finds comfort in her cat - Dac and in her best friend - Angelica. Thrown out of both parents' homes, abandoned by all, even her best friend, Aria finally reaches the limit of what she can bear. She makes an unexpected decision in her life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Children in the Cinema?
The closest matches to Children in the Cinema are Cinema Paradiso (1988), La Dolce Villa (2025) and Il Sorpasso (1962). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Children in the Cinema?
Start with Cinema Paradiso (1988), the closest match to Children in the Cinema.
What is the highest-rated movie like Children in the Cinema?
Cinema Paradiso (1988), rated 8.4/10 by 5,054 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Children in the Cinema?
Solo Mio (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Italian movies like Children in the Cinema?
Yes: Cinema Paradiso (1988), Il Sorpasso (1962) and In the Name of the Father (1971).
How are movies similar to Children in the Cinema chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Children in the Cinema, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.