Movies like Passing Through (1998)
The best movies like Passing Through (1998) are Orange County (2002), Dìdi (弟弟) (2024) and Indignation (2016). If Passing Through hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPast Lives (2023)7.7/10 from 2,545 votes
- NewestOne Mile: Chapter One (2026)Released 2026
Orange County (2002)
Shaun Brumder is a local surfer kid from Orange County who dreams of going to Stanford to become a writer and to get away from his dysfunctional family household. Except Shaun runs into one complication after another, starting when his application is rejected after his dim-witted guidance counselor sends in the wrong form.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDìdi (弟弟) (2024)
In 2008, during the last month of summer before high school begins, an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy learns what his family can't teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love your mom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIndignation (2016)
In 1951, Marcus Messner, a working-class Jewish student from New Jersey, attends a small Ohio college, where he struggles with anti-Semitism, sexual repression, and the ongoing Korean War.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeautiful Boy (2018)
After he and his first wife separate, journalist David Sheff struggles to help their teenage son, who goes from experimenting with drugs to becoming devastatingly addicted to methamphetamine.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Longest Ride (2015)
The lives of a young couple intertwine with a much older man as he reflects back on a lost love while he's trapped in an automobile crash.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOne Mile: Chapter One (2026)
After being released from special forces, a father tries to reconnect with his daughter by taking her on a tour of college, but they soon find themselves fighting for more than their lost relationship when a murderous cult pursues them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Kissing Booth (2018)
When teenager Elle's first kiss leads to a forbidden romance with the hottest boy in high school, she risks her relationship with her best friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe True Adventures of Wolfboy (2019)
Follows a young boy who runs away from home in the search of his estranged mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisAmerican Underdog (2021)
The true story of Kurt Warner, who went from a stockboy at a grocery store to a two-time NFL MVP, Super Bowl champion, and Hall of Fame quarterback.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPast Lives (2023)
After decades apart, childhood friends Nora and Hae Sung are reunited in New York for one fateful weekend as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSydney White (2007)
College freshman Sydney White arrives at Southern Atlantic University, determined to pledge her late mother's sorority. Unfortunately, she finds that the sisterhood has changed since her parent's day. Banished to a condemned house, Sydney joins forces with seven outcasts to take over the student government and win equal rights for nerd and noted alike.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTry Seventeen (2002)
Teenager Jones has opted not to go to college and is instead renting a room in a boarding house to work on his writing skills. Soon, Jones finds himself dividing his time between two women: a young actress named Lisa and a photographer named Jane. After Jane's ex-boyfriend arrives to help her recover from a car accident, Jones begins to understand just how much he cares for her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDope (2015)
Malcolm is carefully surviving life in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles while juggling college applications, academic interviews, and the SAT. A chance invitation to an underground party leads him into an adventure that could allow him to go from being a geek, to being dope, to ultimately being himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSidelined: The QB and Me (2025)
Dallas, a burdened but headstrong dancer, is determined to get into the best dance school in the country—her late mother’s alma mater. However, that dream is suddenly derailed when the cheeky yet secretly grieving football star, Drayton, crashes into her life with a unique story of his own. Will the two of them be able to grow into their dreams together, or will their dreams be sidelined?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat If (2014)
Medical-school dropout Wallace has been repeatedly burned by bad relationships. So while everyone around him, including his roommate Allan, seems to be finding the perfect partner, Wallace decides to put his love life on hold. It is then that he meets Chantry, an animator who lives with her longtime boyfriend Ben. Wallace and Chantry form an instant connection, striking up a close friendship. Still, there is no denying the chemistry between them, leading the pair to wonder, what if the love of your life is actually your best friend?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReality Bites (1994)
A small circle of friends suffering from post-collegiate blues must confront the hard truth about life, love and the pursuit of gainful employment. As they struggle to map out survival guides for the future, the Gen-X quartet soon begins to realize that reality isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHow High (2001)
Jamal and Silas, two ordinary guys who smoke something magical, pass their college entrance exams with flying colors and end up at Harvard. Ivy League ways are strange but Silas and Jamal take it in a stride -- until their supply of supernatural smoke runs dry. That's when they have to start living by their wits and rely on their natural resources to make the grade.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo One Gets Out Alive (2021)
An immigrant in search of the American dream is forced to take a room in a boarding house and soon finds herself in a nightmare from which she can't escape.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisJackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013)
86-year-old Irving Zisman is on a journey across America with the most unlikely companion: his 8 year-old grandson, Billy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like Passing Through and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Passing Through?
The closest matches to Passing Through are Orange County (2002), Dìdi (弟弟) (2024) and Indignation (2016). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Passing Through?
Start with Orange County (2002), the closest match to Passing Through.
What is the highest-rated movie like Passing Through?
Past Lives (2023), rated 7.7/10 by 2,545 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Passing Through?
One Mile: Chapter One (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Passing Through?
Yes: Orange County (2002), Dìdi (弟弟) (2024) and Indignation (2016).
How are movies similar to Passing Through chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Passing Through, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.