Movies like Diwali (2013)
The best movies like Diwali (2013) are American History X (1998), Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (2014) and Napoleon Dynamite (2004). If Diwali hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAmerican History X (1998)8.3/10 from 13,136 votes
- NewestJoe's College Road Trip (2026)Released 2026
American History X (1998)
Derek Vineyard is paroled after serving 3 years in prison for killing two African-American men. Through his brother, Danny Vineyard's narration, we learn that before going to prison, Derek was a skinhead and the leader of a violent white supremacist gang that committed acts of racial crime throughout L.A. and his actions greatly influenced Danny. Reformed and fresh out of prison, Derek severs contact with the gang and becomes determined to keep Danny from going down the same violent path as he did.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAlexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (2014)
Alexander's day begins with gum stuck in his hair, followed by more calamities. Though he finds little sympathy from his family and begins to wonder if bad things only happen to him, his mom, dad, brother, and sister all find themselves living through their own terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNapoleon Dynamite (2004)
A listless and alienated teenager decides to help his new friend win the class presidency in their small western high school, while he must deal with his bizarre family life back home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBreaking Away (1979)
Dave, nineteen, has just graduated high school, with his three friends: the comical Cyril, the warm hearted but short-tempered Moocher, and the athletic, spiteful but good-hearted Mike. Now, Dave enjoys racing bikes and hopes to race the Italians one day, and even takes up the Italian culture, much to his friends' and parents' annoyance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this13: The Musical (2022)
After moving from New York City to Indiana, a 12 year old navigates his parents' divorce, his impending bar mitzvah and his new school's social circles.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYou Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah (2023)
Stacy and Lydia are BFFs who've always dreamed about having epic bat mitzvahs. But things start to go comically awry when a popular boy and middle school drama threatens their friendship and their rite of passage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhere Hands Touch (2018)
Germany, 1944. Leyna, the fifteen-year-old daughter of a white German mother and a black African father, meets Lutz, a compassionate member of the Hitler Youth whose father is a prominent Nazi soldier, and they form an unlikely connection in this quickly changing world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisFences (2016)
In 1950s Pittsburgh, a frustrated African-American father struggles with the constraints of poverty, racism, and his own inner demons as he tries to raise a family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLiberty Heights (1999)
This semi-autobiographical film by Barry Levinson follows various members of the Kurtzman clan, a Jewish family living in suburban Baltimore during the 1950s. As teenaged Ben completes high school, he falls for Sylvia, a black classmate, creating inevitable tensions. Meanwhile, Ben's brother, Van, attends college and becomes smitten with a mysterious woman while their father tries to maintain his burlesque business.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAdam Resurrected (2008)
After again attempting to commit murder, a Jewish man with a mysterious past and extraordinary intelligence, charisma, and body control returns to an insane asylum, where he makes a startling discovery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisApt Pupil (1998)
One day in 1984, Todd Bowden, a brilliant high school boy fascinated by the history of Nazism, stumbles across an old man whose appearance resembles that of Kurt Dussander, a wanted Nazi war criminal. A month later, Todd decides to knock on his door.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJojo Rabbit (2019)
Jojo, a lonely German boy during World War II has his world shaken when he learns that his single mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their home. Influenced by a buffoonish imaginary version of Adolf Hitler, he begins to question his beliefs and confront the conflict between propaganda and his own humanity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisFerris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
After high school slacker Ferris Bueller successfully fakes an illness in order to skip school for the day, he goes on a series of adventures throughout Chicago with his girlfriend Sloane and best friend Cameron, all the while trying to outwit his wily school principal and fed-up sister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Believer (2001)
A hardcore US racist skinhead who, because of his intelligence, leads a gang dedicated to fighting the enemy: the supposed American-Jewish conspiracy for domination. However, he's hiding a secret: he's Jewish-born, a brilliant scholar whose questioning of the tenets of his faith has left him angry and confused, turning against those who he thinks have a tragic history of their own making.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAdventures in Public School (2018)
A socially-awkward, home-schooled kid forces his way into public school against his suffocating, but loving, mother's wishes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRebel Without a Cause (1955)
After moving to a new town, troublemaking teen Jim Stark is supposed to have a clean slate, although being the new kid in town brings its own problems. While searching for some stability, Stark forms a bond with a disturbed classmate, Plato, and falls for local girl Judy. However, Judy is the girlfriend of neighborhood tough, Buzz. When Buzz violently confronts Jim and challenges him to a drag race, the new kid's real troubles begin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFreedom Writers (2007)
A young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves, and pursue education beyond high school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisShiva Baby (2021)
College student Danielle must cover her tracks when she unexpectedly runs into her sugar daddy at a shiva - with her parents, ex-girlfriend and family friends also in attendance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Jungle Book (1967)
The boy Mowgli makes his way to the man-village with Bagheera, the wise panther. Along the way he meets jazzy King Louie, the hypnotic snake Kaa and the lovable, happy-go-lucky bear Baloo, who teaches Mowgli "The Bare Necessities" of life and the true meaning of friendship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJoe's College Road Trip (2026)
To teach his sheltered grandson about the real world, Madea's foul-mouthed brother Joe takes the college-bound teen on a raucous cross-country road trip.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Diwali?
The closest matches to Diwali are American History X (1998), Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (2014) and Napoleon Dynamite (2004). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Diwali?
Start with American History X (1998), the closest match to Diwali.
What is the highest-rated movie like Diwali?
American History X (1998), rated 8.3/10 by 13,136 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Diwali?
Joe's College Road Trip (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Diwali?
Yes: American History X (1998), Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (2014) and Napoleon Dynamite (2004).
How are movies similar to Diwali chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Diwali, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.