Movies like The Pursuit of Unhappiness (2012)
The best movies like The Pursuit of Unhappiness (2012) are The Trouble with Angels (1966), Dreamgirls (2015) and Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus (2019). If The Pursuit of Unhappiness hooked you with its comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedInvader Zim: Enter the Florpus (2019)7.4/10 from 265 votes
- NewestMy Best Friend, His Girlfriend and Me (2026)Released 2026
- In GermanDreamgirls (2015)Also in German
The Trouble with Angels (1966)
Mary and her friend, Rachel, are new students at St. Francis Academy, a boarding school run by the iron fist of Mother Superior. The immature teens grow bored and begin playing pranks on both the unsuspecting nuns and their unpleasant classmates, becoming a constant thorn in Mother Superior's side. However, as the years pass, Mary and Rachel slowly mature and begin to see the nuns in a different light.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDreamgirls (2015)
Parallel love stories of three young women in Berlin: Hannah - an unhappy attorney who sexually demeans herself in order to get at least some love and romance, Leni who runs a coffee shop and has just been ditched by her long term boyfriend, and Vivienne who ends up falling in love with a puppy-eyed pasta designer with 21 dogs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisInvader Zim: Enter the Florpus (2019)
ZIM discovers his almighty leaders never had any intention of coming to Earth and he loses confidence in himself for the first time in his life, which is the big break his human nemesis, Dib has been waiting for.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBibi Blocksberg and the Secret of Blue Owls (2004)
Poor Bibi - due to her bad marks in maths she has to spend the whole summer in the boarding school of Altenberg to scrape through a series of exams - otherwise she'd stay down in school, being forced to repeat the year. No camping, no white-water rafting, no vacation at all. So it doesn't surprise anyone that the young witch is quite disgruntled when arriving at Altenberg Castle. Her roommate is a touchy unpleassant fashion victim and headmaster Quirin Bartels is so muddle-headed that he can't even remember the names of his students properly. But then Bibi makes friends with Elea, a girl wheelchair-bound since a terrible accident where she also lost her beloved parents. Now Bibi is determined to help the sensitive Elea, searching a way to heal her from her palsy legs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBack to the Beach (1987)
A former beach boy and his wife go to California to visit their daughter and become part of the new beach scene.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisLittle Big League (1994)
When the owner of the Minnesota Twins passes away, he bequeaths the team to his preteen grandson. The newly minted head honcho quickly appoints himself manager, causing unrest in an organization that struggles to take orders from a 12-year-old.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Best Friend, His Girlfriend and Me (2026)
Olli and Matze are best friends living, working and planning to travel the world together — until Matze's romance with Rebecca turns it all upside down.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCadet Kelly (2002)
Hyperactive teenager Kelly is enrolled into a military school when her new stepfather becomes the Commandant. At first she has problems fitting in and taking orders until she tries out for the drill team.
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 thisMr. Bones (2001)
A medicine man is sent looking for the son of his tribal king, and brings back an American golfer and a host of goons intent on keeping him in the golf tournament.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Manny (2015)
Young industrialist Clemens Klina doesn't have time for his children and accidentally hires a man who actually came to him, seeking revenge, as a nanny for them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRookie of the Year (1993)
When the cast comes off his once broken arm, a 12-year-old boy can throw a 100-mile-an-hour fastball, and the Chicago Cubs want him as their new pitcher.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSneakerella (2022)
When El, an aspiring sneaker designer from Queens, meets Kira King, the fiercely independent daughter of legendary basketball star and sneaker tycoon Darius King, sparks fly as the two bond over their mutual affinity for sneakers. With a little nudge from his best friend and a sprinkle of Fairy Godfather magic, El finds the courage to use his talent to pursue his dream of becoming a ‘legit’ sneaker designer in the industry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisSketch (2025)
When a young girl’s sketchbook falls into a strange pond, her drawings come to life—chaotic, real, and on the loose. As the town descends into chaos, her family must reunite and stop the monsters they never meant to unleash.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEasy Money (1983)
To inherit his mother-in-law's colossal fortune, a hard living gambling addict must change his unhealthy ways before it gets the best of him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMen in the City 2 (2011)
The sequel of the "Men in the city" movie which reunites all the characters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMen in the City (2009)
Follows six very different men and their struggles with women, family and work. Yet, they are somehow connected to each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBuddy (2013)
Inexperienced guardian angel, Buddy arrives to assist Eddie with getting his life back on track, but instead only causes more chaos.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTaylor Tomlinson: Quarter-Life Crisis (2020)
Comedian Taylor Tomlinson is halfway through her 20s — and she's over it. From dating losers to a failed engagement, she takes aim at her life choices.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBuffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)
Blonde, bouncy Buffy is your typical high school cheerleader. But all that changes when a strange man informs her she's been chosen by fate to kill vampires.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisRavenous (1999)
After arriving at his new, remote Army outpost, Capt. John Boyd and his regiment aid a wounded frontiersman who recounts a horrifying tale of a wagon train murdered by its supposed guide – a vicious U.S. Army colonel gone rogue. Fearing the worst, the regiment heads out into the wilderness to verify the gruesome claims.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDandelion (2025)
In 1970s Los Angeles, rebellious queer teen Margaret gets thrown out of yet another foster placement and finds herself in the company of a mysterious social worker who's tasked with finding her a new home before the break of dawn. At odds and forced to travel the city together, Margaret realizes that running may not be her only option.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Detention 101 (2023)
Four adults are detained in their apartments with only each other and a computer for online company. They each come from a different class with differing views but they all have one defining purpose to understand why they are really being held hostage in their own homes. The AI refuses to reveal the reason.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Raspberry Magic (2010)
An eleven-year-old science enthusiast turns her raspberry-growing project into an emotional mission to reunite her family after her father leaves and her mother falls into depression.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Private Parts (1997)
The life and career of shock-jock superstar Howard Stern is recounted from his humble beginnings to his view from the top. Possessing a desire to be an on-air personality since childhood, Stern meanders through the radio world, always with his supportive wife, Alison, by his side. Landing a gig in Washington, D.C., Stern meets Robin Quivers, who will become his long-time partner in crime. When the two move to New York, they face the wrath of NBC executives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSticky Notes (2017)
The story of an emotionally detached backup dancer named Athena, who must return home to Florida to help care for her estranged father, Jack, after he gets diagnosed with cancer. There, she must contend with Jack’s irresponsible lifestyle, while looking after six year old Honey Bunny, who is only beginning to grasp the err in Jack’s ways.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Buddha Wild: Monk in a Hut (2008)
Buddhist monks open up about the joys and challenges of living out the precepts of the Buddha as a full-time vocation. Controversies swirling within modern monastic Buddhism are examined, from celibacy and the role of women to racism and concerns about the environment.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Joe Dirt (2001)
Joe Dirt is a janitor with a mullet hairdo, acid-washed jeans and a dream to find the parents that he lost at the Grand Canyon when he was a belligerent, trailer park-raised eight-year-old. Now, blasting Van Halen in his jacked-up economy car, the irrepressibly optimistic Joe hits the road alone in search of his folks.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Pursuit of Unhappiness?
The closest matches to The Pursuit of Unhappiness are The Trouble with Angels (1966), Dreamgirls (2015) and Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Pursuit of Unhappiness?
Start with The Trouble with Angels (1966), the closest match to The Pursuit of Unhappiness.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Pursuit of Unhappiness?
Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus (2019), rated 7.4/10 by 265 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Pursuit of Unhappiness?
My Best Friend, His Girlfriend and Me (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there German movies like The Pursuit of Unhappiness?
Yes: Dreamgirls (2015), Bibi Blocksberg and the Secret of Blue Owls (2004) and My Best Friend, His Girlfriend and Me (2026).
How are movies similar to The Pursuit of Unhappiness chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Pursuit of Unhappiness, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.