Movies like California Girls (1985)
The best movies like California Girls (1985) are Love Don't Co$t a Thing (2003), Trust (1990) and Jack Goes Boating (2010). If California Girls hooked you with its comedy and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest rated¿Quieres ser mi hijo? (2023)8.4/10 from 378 votes
- NewestMaintenance Required (2025)Released 2025
Love Don't Co$t a Thing (2003)
A high school outcast pays a cheerleader to pose as his girlfriend so he can be considered cool.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTrust (1990)
After being thrown away from home, pregnant high school dropout Maria meets Matthew, a highly educated and extremely moody electronics repairman. The two begin an unusual romance built on their sense of mutual admiration and trust.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJack Goes Boating (2010)
A limo driver's blind date sparks a tale of love, betrayal, friendship and grace—centered on two working-class New York City couples.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Best You Can (2025)
Cynthia Rand is a buttoned-up New Yorker married to a brilliant professor 25 years her senior. She begins feeling the effects of her husband’s advancing age on their relationship, just as her world is turned upside down by the arrival of sharp but chronically underachieving security guard Stan Olszewski in this smart rom-com that reunites Bacon and Sedgwick on screen for the first time in 20 years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOnce Upon a Time in the Midlands (2002)
Though Dek leads a simple and happy life with his girlfriend Shirley and her 12-year-old daughter Marlene, his grand, televised marriage proposal puts his devotion to the test—especially as Marlene's long-absent biological father, Jimmy, looms in the background.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYoung People Fucking (2007)
On a Tuesday night, five couples have separate sexual adventures. Matt and Kris, friends for years, want to have an only-once, no-strings good time. Abby and Andrew, married, celebrate his birthday, but it's marred by angst and miscommunication. Mia and Eric are exes, making sure they are over each other. Jaime and Ken work together and this is a first date. Inez and Gord invite his roommate, Dave, to join them. By the time each couple has gone through a prelude, foreplay, sex, an interlude, orgasm, and afterglow, they've answered basic questions: can sex be anonymous, are we bored, is our marriage really finished, does anyone tell the truth, and how do we make someone happy?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLove Jones (1997)
Darius Lovehall is a young black poet in Chicago who starts dating Nina Moseley, a beautiful and talented photographer. While trying to figure out if they've got a "love thing" or are just "kicking it," they hang out with their friends, talking about love and sex. Then Nina tests the strength of Darius' feelings and sets a chain of romantic complications into motion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSitting in Bars with Cake (2023)
Extrovert Corinne convinces Jane, a shy, talented baker, to commit to a year of bringing cakes to bars, to help her meet people and build confidence. But when Corinne receives a life-altering diagnosis, the pair faces a challenge unlike anything they've experienced before.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIrreplaceable You (2018)
A stunning cancer diagnosis spurs Abbie to seek a future girlfriend for fiancé and childhood sweetheart Sam, who's clueless when it comes to dating.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMaintenance Required (2025)
Charlie, the fiercely independent owner of an all-female mechanic shop, is forced to reevaluate her future when a flashy corporate competitor moves in across the street. Seeking comfort, she turns to an anonymous online confidant - unaware she's confiding in Beau, the very rival threatening her business. As sparks fly both online and off, the truth threatens to blow everything apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Sassy Girl (2008)
A guy has his life planned out until he is wooed, groomed and then dumped by an elusive woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlaying It Cool (2014)
A young man meets and instantly falls in love with an engaged woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisMarked Men: Rule + Shaw (2025)
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 the person he truly is. She lives by other people’s rules; he makes his own. But a short skirt, too many birthday cocktails, and spilled secrets lead to a night neither can forget. Now, Shaw and Rule must figure out how a girl like her and a guy like him are supposed to be together without destroying their love…or each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHow I Got Into College (1989)
High school senior Marlon Bowne is smitten with overachieving classmate Jessica Kailo. But, if he wants to have a shot with her, he'll have to find a way to get into Ramsey College, Jessica's top choice of schools. It won't be easy, since the college is highly selective and Marlon's grades are hardly impressive. That means the lovelorn teen will have to find a way to score high on the SATs and win over the college admissions committee.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like this¿Quieres ser mi hijo? (2023)
Lu, a conformist woman in her forties, learns that her 15-year partner has been having extramarital affairs. Starting from scratch, she gets involved in an unexpected relationship with a young womanizer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Incredible Jessica James (2017)
Burned by a bad breakup, a struggling New York City playwright makes an unlikely connection with a divorced app designer she meets on a blind date.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Right Kind of Wrong (2013)
A stubborn idealist spies a bride on her way to her wedding and immediately falls in love with her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisDinner in America (2022)
An on-the-lam punk rocker and a young woman obsessed with a local band go on an unexpected and epic journey together through the decaying suburbs of the American Midwest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFrench Girl (2024)
Sweet Gordon, an affable English teacher in Brooklyn, has beaten the odds; a French Girl has fallen in love with him and he’s fallen even harder back. But their future is thrown into limbo when she interviews for an executive chef position in her hometown of Quebec City. To Gordon’s dismay her future boss also happens to be her former lover, a celebrity Chef with oceanic eyes and a hit TV show. Good luck Gordon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMeet Cute (2022)
A wildly inventive deconstruction of the romantic comedy built around the question: What would you do if you could travel to your loved ones’ past, heal their traumas, fix their problems, and change them into the perfect partner?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisGarden State (2004)
Andrew returns to his hometown for his mother’s funeral, a journey that reconnects him with old friends. The trip coincides with his decision to stop taking his powerful antidepressants. A chance meeting with Sam—a girl also struggling with various maladies—opens up the possibility of rekindling emotional connections, confronting his psychologist father, and perhaps beginning a new life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Heartbreak Kid (2007)
Eddie, the 40-year-old confirmed bachelor finally says "I do" to the beautiful and sexy Lila. But during their honeymoon in Mexico, the woman of his dreams turns out to be a total nightmare, and the guy who could never pull the trigger realizes he’s jumped the gun.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Sure Thing (1985)
Gib, a beer-guzzling slob, and Alison, an uptight Ivy-Leaguer, are an unlikely duo stuck together on a cross-country trip during Christmas break. At first they get on each other's nerves but, as time passes, they find their divergent natures complement each other. Now they need to realize what they've already found before it's too late.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGrease (1978)
Australian good girl Sandy and greaser Danny fell in love over the summer. But when they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance despite their eccentric friends?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOn the Waterfront (1954)
A prizefighter-turned-longshoreman with a conscience goes up against labor leaders to expose corruption, extortion, and murder among the union ranks.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLittle Miss Sunshine (2006)
A family loaded with quirky, colorful characters piles into an old van and road trips to California for little Olive to compete in a beauty pageant.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHappiness (1998)
The lives of several individuals intertwine as they go about their lives in their own unique ways, engaging in acts which society as a whole might find disturbing in a desperate search for human connection.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFremont (2023)
Donya, a lonely Afghan refugee and former translator, spends her twenties drifting through a meager existence in Fremont, California. Shuttling between her job writing fortunes for a fortune cookie factory and sessions with her eccentric therapist, Donya suffers from insomnia and survivor's guilt over those still left behind in Kabul as she desperately searches for love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008)
Nick cannot stop obsessing over his ex-girlfriend, Tris, until Tris' friend Norah suddenly shows interest in him at a club. Thus begins an odd night filled with ups and downs as the two keep running into Tris and her new boyfriend while searching for Norah's drunken friend, Caroline, with help from Nick's band mates. As the night winds down, the two have to figure out what they want from each other.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wrestler (2008)
Aging wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson is long past his prime but still ready and rarin' to go on the pro-wrestling circuit. After a particularly brutal beating, however, Randy hangs up his tights, pursues a serious relationship with a long-in-the-tooth stripper, and tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter. But he can't resist the lure of the ring and readies himself for a comeback.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like California Girls?
The closest matches to California Girls are Love Don't Co$t a Thing (2003), Trust (1990) and Jack Goes Boating (2010). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after California Girls?
Start with Love Don't Co$t a Thing (2003), the closest match to California Girls.
What is the highest-rated movie like California Girls?
¿Quieres ser mi hijo? (2023), rated 8.4/10 by 378 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like California Girls?
Maintenance Required (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like California Girls?
Yes: Love Don't Co$t a Thing (2003), Trust (1990) and Jack Goes Boating (2010).
How are movies similar to California Girls chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside California Girls, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.