Movies like Hot Summer Nights (1988)
The best movies like Hot Summer Nights (1988) are Bonjour Tristesse (1958), He's Out There (2018) and Infinity Pool (2023). If Hot Summer Nights hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedKiss Me Deadly (1955)7.2/10 from 434 votes
- NewestBone Lake (2025)Released 2025
- In GermanKokowääh (2011)Also in German
Bonjour Tristesse (1958)
A spoiled teenager spends the summer at the French Riviera with her rich, widower, playboy father, but when his old flame resurfaces, she resolves to keep her frivolous lifestyle at all costs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHe's Out There (2018)
On vacation at a remote lake house, a mother and her two young daughters must fight for survival after falling into a terrifying and bizarre nightmare conceived by a psychopath.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisInfinity Pool (2023)
While staying at an isolated island resort, James and Em are enjoying a perfect vacation of pristine beaches, exceptional staff, and soaking up the sun. But guided by the seductive and mysterious Gabi, they venture outside the resort grounds and find themselves in a culture filled with violence, hedonism, and untold horror. A tragic accident leaves them facing a zero tolerance policy for crime: either you'll be executed, or, if you’re rich enough to afford it, you can watch yourself die instead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMulligans (2008)
When Tyler Davidson brings his college buddy Chase home for the summer holidays a secret is revealed that threatens to tear his perfect family apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDaddy's Little Girl (2014)
After the police find Derek’s daughter brutally murdered on the beach, he vows to make the culprit suffer for his actions, even if that person is ‘part of the family.’ With careful research into the history of torture, Derek prepares himself and his basement for a week of brutal tactics that will make his daughter’s killer feel the pain that he has inflicted upon so many others. In a time when stranger danger is ever present, a single father learns that it’s the ones you trust most who have to be watched the closest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBone Lake (2025)
A couple’s romantic vacation at a secluded lakeside estate is upended when they are forced to share the mansion with a mysterious and attractive couple. In this darkly hilarious and seductive horror story, a dream getaway spirals into a nightmarish maze of sex, lies, and manipulation, bringing terrifying secrets to light and triggering a bloody battle for survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisKokowääh (2011)
Henry is a playboy who has no idea that he is the father of a beautiful, cute girl out of a One-night-Stand. Her mother left the daughter in front of Henry door after her husband realized after 8 years of marriage that he is not the father so their relationship now is breaking up... By the way: Kokowääh, is how a German (in this case an 8 Year old child) that has never heard the dish before - would pronounce "Coq Au Vin" (chicken in a wine sauce).
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTurkish for Beginners (2012)
During an emergency landing on a deserted island suddenly traumatized by antiauthoritarian education Lena Schneider together with the Turkish Super Macho Cem Öztürk must fight for survival. After initially Cem macho repulsive acts on Lena, a jellyfish in the water and sand in a bikini, she recognizes the time the romantic core behind his cool facade. Meanwhile, meet also their parents, who obdurate psychologist Doris and Metin Öztürk to work together to find their missing children. So both generations take an involuntary Turkish Basic Course for beginners.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Overnight (2015)
Alex, Emily, and their son, RJ, are new to Los Angeles. A chance meeting at the park introduces them to the mysterious Kurt, Charlotte, and Max. A family “playdate” becomes increasingly interesting as the night goes on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisFunny Games (2008)
When Ann, husband George, and son Georgie arrive at their holiday home they are visited by a pair of polite and seemingly pleasant young men. Armed with deceptively sweet smiles and some golf clubs, they proceed to terrorize and torture the tight-knit clan, giving them until the next day to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPretty Persuasion (2005)
A 15-year-old girl incites chaos among her friends and a media frenzy when she accuses her drama teacher of sexual harassment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisClient 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer (2010)
An in-depth look at the rapid rise and dramatic fall of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKiss Me Deadly (1955)
One evening, Hammer gives a ride to Christina, an attractive hitchhiker on a lonely country road, who has escaped from the nearby lunatic asylum. Thugs waylay them and force his car to crash. When Hammer returns to semi-consciousness, he hears Christina being tortured until she dies. Hammer, both for vengeance and in hopes that "something big" is behind it all, decides to pursue the case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRise of the Footsoldier 3 (2017)
In the late 1980s, Pat Tate journeys from peddling pills in Marbella to his time in prison, where he solidifies his power before his release to reclaim his turf.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Born Losers (1967)
A biker gang incites a reign of terror in a California coastal town that culminates in four teenage girls being raped. Vietnam veteran Billy Jack has had enough, however, and takes on the depraved bikers single-handedly. He rescues young Vicky Barrington from their clutches, but then has to contend with not only the thugs, but also the ineffectual and racist local lawmen, who have it out for the half-Native American Billy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBreath (2017)
A pair of teenagers in Western Australia looking to escape the monotony of life in a small town take up surfing lessons from a guy named Sando.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRampage (2009)
The boredom of small town life is eating Bill Williamson alive. Feeling constrained and claustrophobic in the meaningless drudgery of everyday life and helpless against overwhelming global dissolution, Bill begins a descent into madness. His shockingly violent plan will shake the very foundations of society by painting the streets red with blood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShame (2011)
Brandon, a thirty-something man living in New York, eludes intimacy with women but feeds his deepest desires with a compulsive addiction to sex. When his younger sister temporarily moves into his apartment, stirring up bitter memories of their shared painful past, Brandon's life, like his fragile mind, gets out of control.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStrange Darling (2024)
Nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer’s vicious murder spree.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHard to Die (1990)
While doing the inventory for a lingerie outlet in a high rise office building, five attractive women are terrorized by a series of bizarre killings. They suspect that the strange janitor, who witnessed another series of killings six months previously, is at the bottom of the whole thing. Little do they know the real horror that they face in the end.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKesällä kello 5 (1963)
This Finnish romance tells of a young couple who vacation by the ocean. While there, the unsatisfied man decides he wants to end their relationship. Upon their return home, he has an overnight fling with another woman while his recently dumped girlfriend calmly waits outside his home. When the jilted woman begins to walk alone to her own apartment, she is struck by a passing car, and only then does the young man realize that he truly loves her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Mallorcas søde liv (1965)
Mallorca, the sunshine island where everyday life ends and life begins – at least when you want to go on vacation and enjoy days filled with experiences. "Our" travel group is the exception to the rule. A little travel-weary but full of expectations, the three Copenhagen office workers, Grethe, Inga, and Solvej, step off the plane at Palma Airport, where they are immediately welcomed by the highly professional guides, Ralf and Ivar, who assess the chances of new amorous experiences with their keen eyes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Nico and Dani (2000)
While his parents are away for the summer, 16-year-old Dani invites his best friend, the irrepressible Nico, to stay for the holidays. Jealously rears its head when Nico appears more interested in the local girls than in Dani. Hot summer nights and too many joints lead to experimentation which neither boy can talk about, a situation complicated by the appearance of the older and openly gay Julián, a published writer and old friend of Dani’s father.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
SnoozefestMovies like thisEn skärgårdsnatt (1953)
Different groups of people gather on an island in Stockholm's archipelago for a night of fun.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Camping (2006)
Plastic surgeon Michel Saint-Josse is on his way to Spain where he hopes to spend a stress-free holiday in a luxury hotel with his teenage daughter Vanessa. When his car breaks down near a camping, Michel accepts the offer of help from an extrovert gigolo camper named Patrick Chirac. Whilst their car is being repaired, Michel and Vanessa agree to stay in Patrick’s well proportioned tent, not knowing that, thanks to a series of mishaps, it will be their home for several days...
Why it matches: Similar story and style
SnoozefestMovies like thisEmil and the Detectives (2001)
The twelve-year-old Emil and his father are haunted by bad luck. To take a break from a series of family disasters, Emil is allowed to spend a few days with a friend of the family, the female priest Hummel in Berlin. In the train he runs across the slick Max Grundeis who anaesthetizes Emil and steals his savings of 1500 DM. When he finally arrives in Berlin, Emil and a gang of street kids, led by the cheeky girl Pony Hütchen, try to find the gangster, who haunts the posh Hotel Adlon as a hotel thief. Meanwhile, to prevent anyone from finding out about Emil's mishap, Gypsi, a member of the gang of kids, passes himself off as Emil, thus wreaking havoc on the home of the priest.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGoodbye, Don Glees! (2022)
Teen misfits Roma, Toto, and Drop call themselves the “Don Glees,” an informal name for their backyard adventures. One day, when the trio gets blamed for a nearby forest fire, they set off into the woods to prove their innocence. As disaster strikes their expedition, tensions flare between the friends as they realize that growing up has taken them on wildly different paths in life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008)
Four young women continue the journey toward adulthood that began with "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." Now three years later, these lifelong friends embark on separate paths for their first year of college and the summer beyond, but remain in touch by sharing their experiences with each other.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrincess Cyd (2017)
High school athlete Cyd Loughlin lives alone with her depressive father in South Carolina, perpetually longing to get away from it all. When her aunt, famous novelist Miranda Ruth, agrees to host her for a few weeks during the summer, Cyd jumps at the opportunity. While there, she falls for a girl in the neighborhood, even as she and her aunt gently challenge each other in the realms of sex and spirit.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSummer Things (2002)
Two couple of friends, one very rich, the other almost homeless, decide to go on Holiday. Julie, a single mother, joins them too. Once at seaside, it starts a complicate love cross among them that will involve also a transsexual, a jealous brother, a Latin Lover and another nervous stressed couple. Not to mention about the daughter of one of them that is secretly in Chicago with one of her father's employees... At the end of the summer, all of them will join the same party...
Why it matches: Similar story and style
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Hot Summer Nights?
The closest matches to Hot Summer Nights are Bonjour Tristesse (1958), He's Out There (2018) and Infinity Pool (2023). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Hot Summer Nights?
Start with Bonjour Tristesse (1958), the closest match to Hot Summer Nights.
What is the highest-rated movie like Hot Summer Nights?
Kiss Me Deadly (1955), rated 7.2/10 by 434 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Hot Summer Nights?
Bone Lake (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there German movies like Hot Summer Nights?
Yes: Kokowääh (2011), Turkish for Beginners (2012) and Emil and the Detectives (2001).
How are movies similar to Hot Summer Nights chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Hot Summer Nights, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.