Movies like Brain Drain (1998)
The best movies like Brain Drain (1998) are Official Competition (2021), The House of Tomorrow (2019) and Almost Friends (2017). If Brain Drain hooked you with its drama and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest rated¡Que viva México! (2023)7.4/10 from 213 votes
- NewestVera and the Pleasure of Others (2024)Released 2024
- In SpanishOfficial Competition (2021)Also in Spanish
Official Competition (2021)
When a billionaire entrepreneur impulsively decides to create an iconic movie, he demands the best. Renowned filmmaker Lola Cuevas is recruited to mastermind this ambitious endeavour. Completing the all-star team are two actors with massive talent but even bigger egos: Hollywood heartthrob Félix Rivero and radical theatre actor Iván Torres. Both are legends, but not exactly best friends. Through a series of increasingly eccentric trials set by Lola, Félix and Iván must confront not only each other but also their own legacies. Who will be left when the cameras finally start rolling?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe House of Tomorrow (2019)
The film tells futurist, architect, and inventor R. Buckminster Fuller's incredible story through two teens hoping to get laid, become punk gods, and survive high school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlmost Friends (2017)
A man in his mid-20s, still living at home with his mother and stepfather, puts all his eggs in one basket: the girl who works at his local coffee shop. The problem is, she has a serious boyfriend. As they become closer, the line between friendship and intimacy is blurred, and the situation forces both to examine where they are in their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVera and the Pleasure of Others (2024)
Seventeen-year-old Vera earns money by secretly renting out an apartment to teenagers seeking privacy, all while eavesdropping from behind a closed door. As she listens, her own desires awaken.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDown the Rabbit Hole (2024)
Raised in opulence and culture, a boy's life contrasts with the darkness that seeps in from his father's criminal activities in this dark comedy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLandline (2017)
A teenager living with her sister and parents in Manhattan during the 1990s discovers that her father is having an affair.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFamily Weekend (2013)
A 16-year-old girl takes her parents hostage after they miss her big jump-roping competition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPatricia, A Hidden Passion (2020)
Patricia is a successful couples therapist. Your marriage is going through a bad time. But when she meets a student, Pablo will transform her own beliefs about sex.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Tit and the Moon (1994)
A child does not stand the idea of having a new brother and dreams about drinking milk from the breasts of his mother again. The child asks the moon to bring him a tit only for him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like this¡Que viva México! (2023)
After his grandfather's death, a man travels with his wife and kids to his hometown, where chaos ensues with his relatives over the inheritance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLitus (2019)
A group of friends reunited after the suicide of one of them must face all the secret and lies between them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Own Love Song (2010)
A wheelchair-bound singer and her best friend embark on a roadtrip to Memphis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGloria (2013)
Gloria is a 58-year-old divorcée. Her children have all left home but she has no desire to spend her days and nights alone. Determined to defy old age and loneliness, she rushes headlong into a whirl of singles’ parties on the hunt for instant gratification – which only leads to repeated disappointment and enduring emptiness. But when Gloria meets Rodolfo, an ex-naval officer seven years her senior, she begins to imagine the possibility of a permanent relationship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLa negra Tomasa (1992)
Based on the infamous song by the same name "La Negra Tomasa". This is a comical adventure based in a barrio in Mexico. César Bono plays a police office, Alfonso Zayas a ladies' man and Roberto Ballesteros a dangerous loan shark who abducts Tomasa out of passion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSomewhere in Queens (2023)
Leo and Angela Russo live a simple life in Queens, surrounded by their overbearing Italian-American family. When their son finds success on his high school basketball team, Leo tears the family apart trying to make it happen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChloe and Theo (2015)
A young woman, Chloe, living by her wits on the streets of New York City, has a chance meeting with a wise Inuit Eskimo, Theo, who was sent to New York by his elders to provide a message to the people of the world – We either change our destructive was or be destroyed by them. Chloe, who has been searching for something to believe in, becomes inspired by Theo and , with the help of a kind lawyer, Monica, the three of them present Theo’s story to the United Nations in hopes of creating a better future for all of us.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisIt Runs in the Family (2003)
This is the story of a dysfunctional New York family, and their attempts to reconcile
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSubUrbia (1997)
A group of suburban teenagers try to support each other through the difficult task of becoming adults.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDon't Think Twice (2016)
An improv group deals with several crises, including the loss of their lease and one member hitting the big time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDirt (2018)
In search of a lifeline for his struggling off road racing team, a man takes on a young car thief looking for a second chance, but as their worlds collide, they must struggle to forge a successful alliance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMe and Orson Welles (2008)
New York, 1937. A teenager hired to star in Orson Welles' production of Julius Caesar becomes attracted to a career-driven production assistant.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpun (2003)
Over the course of three days, Ross, a college dropout addicted to crystal-meth, encounters a variety of oddball folks – including a stripper named Nikki and her boyfriend, the local meth producer, The Cook – but all he really wants to do is hook up with his ex-girlfriend, Amy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStupid Boy (2004)
This coming-of-age drama deals with a young man, realizing who he really is and which things he will never do...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Strawberry and Chocolate (1993)
In 1979 Cuba, flamboyant gay artist Diego attempts to seduce straitlaced David, an idealistic young communist, and fails dismally. But David conspires to be "friends" with Diego so he can monitor the artist's subversive life for the state. As Diego and David discuss politics, individuality and personal expression in Castro's Cuba, a genuine friendship develops between the two.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Year of the First Kiss (2002)
31 year-old Tristan remembers the time when he was 15 and had just hit puberty. But he is not alone in this, he is with a large group of friends: Specki, a fat kid who is always stuffing himself, Streusel, a cheeky boy covered with spots, Tümai, a pretty Turkish girl, Kerstin, best friend of Tümai and very sporty, Elrond, with a heavy stutter, but regardless extremely popular and good looking, Lars and Simone, so far the only couple in the class who spend most of their time smooching and Long Jana, a girl who is at least 6 foot tall and extremely skinny.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
The Curiosity of Chance (2006)
It’s the ‘80s once again, new wave angst and genderbending fashion are all the rage, but new kid at school, Chance Marquis, is trying to find new ways to stand out. Being an odd and somewhat awkward teenager makes him the target of the school bully. To deal with this dilemma, Chance turns to the opposite ends of the high school spectrum for help. On one side is the flamboyant drag queen and at the other, the varsity jock, Levi Sparks with whom Chance develops a unique friendship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Man of My Life (2006)
A man vacationing in the country with his wife and children finds ideas he has of himself unexpectedly challenged.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Like Love (2014)
An offbeat love story about campus life around the An Zi Yan and Mai Ding who start military training as college acquaintances, Mai Ding was the one who made the first move to An Zi Yan, they have a good relationship and gradually felt sparks. After their relationship strengthens, their relationship is obstructed by their family and friends, like An Zi Yan’s sister Ansul who has a difficult attitude. An Zi Yan secretly asks help from his ex-girlfriend Bai Xiao Si. Based off the best-selling novel of the same name by Angelina.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Oi! Warning (1999)
A young man gets caught up in a conflict between his friends, a skinhead and a gay anarchist.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Brain Drain and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Brain Drain?
The closest matches to Brain Drain are Official Competition (2021), The House of Tomorrow (2019) and Almost Friends (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Brain Drain?
Start with Official Competition (2021), the closest match to Brain Drain.
What is the highest-rated movie like Brain Drain?
¡Que viva México! (2023), rated 7.4/10 by 213 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Brain Drain?
Vera and the Pleasure of Others (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like Brain Drain?
Yes: Official Competition (2021), Vera and the Pleasure of Others (2024) and Down the Rabbit Hole (2024).
How are movies similar to Brain Drain chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Brain Drain, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.