Movies like An American Summer (1991)
The best movies like An American Summer (1991) are Big Wednesday (1978), SubUrbia (1997) and Chloe and Theo (2015). If An American Summer 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 ratedMilk (2008)7.2/10 from 2,527 votes
- NewestOn Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024)Released 2024
Big Wednesday (1978)
Three 1960s California surfers fool around, drift apart and reunite years later to ride epic waves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
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 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 thisThe Good Half (2024)
Renn Wheeland returns home to Cleveland for his mother's funeral. Once there, he forges new relationships while healing old ones, before confronting his problems and trying to face his grief.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
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 thisHooking Up (2020)
Bailey and Darla embark upon a misguided and mutually deceitful form of therapy, one in which they must drive across the country, re-enacting Darla's colorful history as a sex addict. As their true motivations for the road trip come to light, the unlikely pair force one another to confront their issues, discovering that there might actually be more to love than just sex.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWild Oats (2016)
Everything changes for Eva when she receives an insurance settlement check accidentally made out for $5,000,000 instead of the expected $50,000. She and her best friend take the money and head out for the adventure of a lifetime.
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 thisA Dog Year (2009)
Jon Katz is close to burnout. He's a writer with writer's block; his wife has left for her sister's because he's emotionally distant; he rarely answers his phone. A kennel sends him a border collie that's undisciplined because of abuse. Despite a series of mishaps, Jon decides to keep trying with the dog, and he rents a dilapidated farm house to give the dog room to run. A local handyman refers Jon to a woman who might be able to help him train the dog. Reluctantly, Jon gives her a try. Is the dog the problem, or the owner?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOn Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024)
On an empty road in the middle of the night, Shula stumbles across the body of her uncle. As funeral proceedings begin around them, she and her cousins bring to light the buried secrets of their middle-class Zambian family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYoung Adult (2011)
A divorced writer from the Midwest returns to her hometown to reconnect with an old flame, who's now married with a family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisHousekeeping (1987)
In the Pacific Northwest during the 1950s, two young sisters whose mother has abandoned them wind up living with their Aunt Sylvie, whose views of the world and its conventions don't quite live up to most people's expectations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Meddler (2016)
With a new iPhone, an apartment near the Grove, and a comfortable bank account left to her by her beloved late husband, Marnie Minervini has happily relocated from New Jersey to Los Angeles to be near her daughter Lori, a successful (but still single) screenwriter, and smother her with motherly love. But when the dozens of texts, unexpected visits, and conversations dominated by unsolicited advice force Lori to draw strict personal boundaries, Marnie finds ways to channel her eternal optimism and forceful generosity to change the lives of others - as well as her own - and find a new purpose in life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCoupe de Ville (1990)
Meet the Libner brothers: Marvin, the oldest, is a sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. Buddy, the middle child, is a timid dreamer. Bobby, the youngest, is a handsome rebel in reform school. As kids, they fought a lot and as adults, they barely speak. In the summer of 1963, their tough and eccentric father, Fred, gives them a task: to bring a 1954 Cadillac, bought for their mother, Betty, from Detroit to Miami. As the trip goes on, the three brothers fight and begin to reconnect with each other, while trying to keep the Caddy in mint condition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSwingers (1996)
After 6 years together, Mike's girlfriend leaves him, so he travels to LA to be a star. Six months on, he's still not doing very well— so a few of his friends try to reconnect him to the social scene and hopefully help him forget his failed relationship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLittle Sister (2016)
After returning to her childhood home, young nun Colleen finds her old room exactly how she left it: painted black and covered in goth and metal posters. Her parents are happy enough to see her, but her brother is living as a recluse in the guesthouse since returning home from the Iraq war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Trip to Italy (2014)
Years after their successful restaurant review tour of Northern England, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are commissioned for a new tour in Italy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAirborne (1993)
Good-natured teen surfer Mitchell Goosen finds himself staying with his aunt and uncle in Cincinnati, Ohio when his parents head to Australia for work. There he meets his cousin, Wiley, and together they try to navigate the perils of high school—avoid the bullies, get the girl, and win a little respect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThunderstruck (2012)
After NBA star Kevin Durant switches talent with 16 year old Brian, the teenager becomes the star of his high school team, but Durant starts struggling and eventually learns an important lesson.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDuplex (2003)
When a young couple buys their dream home, they have no idea what the sweet little old lady upstairs is going to put them through!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisThe Candidate (1972)
Bill McKay is a candidate for the U.S. Senate from California. He has no hope of winning, so he is willing to tweak the establishment.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYouth in Revolt (2009)
As a fan of Albert Camus and Jean-Luc Godard, teenage Nick Twisp is definitely out of his element when his mother and her boyfriend move the family to a trailer park. When a pretty neighbor named Sheeni plays records by French crooners, it's love at first sight for frustrated and inexperienced Nick. Learning that she is dating someone, Nick launches a hilarious quest to find his way into Sheeni's heart -- and bed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Maginot Line (TBA)
A very stressed young woman is dismayed to find herself behaving like her own mother, with whom she has an extremely combative relationship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Milk (2008)
The true story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man ever elected to public office. In San Francisco in the late 1970s, Harvey Milk becomes an activist for gay rights and inspires others to join him in his fight for equal rights that should be available to all Americans.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHowl Coyote Howl (TBA)
After a bloody exchange with some bounty hunters, Anna, a veteran of the War in Afghanistan, and Gloria, her ill-prepared God-fearing friend, team up with a pair of coyotes to escape into Mexico.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Dangerous Minds (1995)
Former Marine Louanne Johnson lands a gig teaching in a pilot program for bright but underachieving teens at a notorious inner-city high school. After having a terrible first day, she decides she must throw decorum to the wind. When Johnson returns to the classroom, she does so armed with a no-nonsense attitude informed by her military training and a fearless determination to better the lives of her students -- no matter what the cost.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIntolerable Cruelty (2003)
A revenge-seeking gold digger marries a womanizing Beverly Hills lawyer with the intention of making a killing in the divorce.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLegion of the Dead (2001)
Two guys, handsome William and his side kick Luke have just started their trip through the beautiful California desert when they're kidnapped by the notorious Psycho Mike, The Kern River Killer. Securing their escape through hilarious means and the aid of an old friend they soon stumble into a small desert town where unbeknownst to them a mysterious tall Blond Man and his sadistic henchmen are killing people to create a Legion of the dead. Here's where it gets tricky. William falls in love with Geena, the beautiful waitress at the local restaurant and Luke spins out of control hormonally. The restaurant is suddenly attacked by the LEGION and the tall Blond Man gives an ultimatum to hand over Geena within two hours or he will personally come in to get her. What is the mysterious secret that Geena and the Blond Man share? The clock ticks as the ultimatum draws near. The fight against evil has just begun...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Kisses and Caroms (2006)
In California, Zack owns the "Breakingtime Billiards", a store that sells pool tables and game room supplies. He works with his girlfriend Jennifer; the sexy seller Tara; the installer of pool tables and best friend, the wolf David, and his idiot assistant Eddie. After having a threesome arranged by Jen with Tara, Zach breaks up his relationship with Jen, in spite of her bringing him up all the time. He tells his sexual experience to David while Jen asks for an advice to her psychologist Dr. Bob Johnson in his radio show. Along the day and after the visit of many peculiar clients, Zack concludes that Jen is his dream girl.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Like An American Summer and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like An American Summer?
The closest matches to An American Summer are Big Wednesday (1978), SubUrbia (1997) and Chloe and Theo (2015). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after An American Summer?
Start with Big Wednesday (1978), the closest match to An American Summer.
What is the highest-rated movie like An American Summer?
Milk (2008), rated 7.2/10 by 2,527 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like An American Summer?
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like An American Summer?
Yes: Big Wednesday (1978), SubUrbia (1997) and Chloe and Theo (2015).
How are movies similar to An American Summer chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside An American Summer, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.