Movies like Recess (1987)
The best movies like Recess (1987) are Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade (2003), Recess Christmas: Miracle On Third Street (2001) and Recess: School's Out (2001). If Recess hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Recess
Quick picks
- Highest ratedInner Workings (2016)7.8/10 from 313 votes
- NewestSarah's Oil (2025)Released 2025
Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade (2003)
Everyone's favorite fourth graders have graduated! It's an all-new school year for the kids — and the gang hits the fifth grade running! But they're stopped in their tracks when they discover some unwelcome changes — no pizza, no playground... no lockers! And to make things worse, their teacher turns out to be the cantankerous Miss Finster! It's all too much for T.J., who is determined to find a way to stand up for what the gang believes in and improve the school they love! The fifth grade brings out the best in everyone... even Miss Finster and Principal Prickly!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRecess Christmas: Miracle On Third Street (2001)
Principal Prickly gets his car stuck in a snowbank and decides it has to be the Recess gang's fault, but the teachers look back and remember all the good times they've had with T.J. and the rest of the gang.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRecess: School's Out (2001)
The school year is finally ending, and T.J. Detweiler is looking forward to summer. But boredom quickly sets in when his friends leave for camp — until T.J. uncovers an evil plot to do away with summer vacation! A crazy former principal, Dr. Benedict, is planning to use a laser beam to alter the weather and create permanent winter. Faced with the dire threat of year-round school, T.J. rounds up the RECESS gang and bands together with some unexpected allies — Miss Finster and Principal Prickly — in a nonstop adventure to save everyone's summer break.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInto the Storm (2014)
As a new day begins in the town of Silverton, its residents have little reason to believe it will be anything other than ordinary. Mother Nature, however has other plans. In the span of just a few hours, an unprecedented onslaught of powerful tornadoes ravages Silverton. Storm trackers predict that the worst is still to come, as terrified residents seek shelter, and professional storm-chasers run toward the danger, hoping to study the phenomenon close up and get a once-in-a-lifetime shot.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInner Workings (2016)
This is the story of the internal struggle between a man's Brain—a pragmatic protector who calculates his every move, and his Heart—a free-spirited adventurer who wants to let loose.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRecess: All Growed Down (2003)
T.J. and The Recess Gang are kidnapped by the Third Street School's kindergartners, who are in turn being bullied by a new kid in their class.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSnoopy Presents: Lucy's School (2022)
The Peanuts gang is anxious about starting at a new school in the fall, inspiring Lucy to start her own school instead. She soon learns that teaching isn't as easy as it sounds and that change can be a good thing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPlan B (2021)
After a regrettable first sexual encounter, a straight-laced high school student and her slacker best friend have 24 hours to hunt down a Plan B pill in America's heartland.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiddle School: The Worst Years of My Life (2016)
A quiet teenage artist Rafe Katchadorian has a wild imagination and is sick of middle school and the rules that have been put before him. Rafe and his best friend Leo have come up with a plan: break every rule in the school hand book and as you expect trouble follows.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMac & Devin Go to High School (2012)
A comedy that follows two high school students -- one overachiever struggling to write his valedictorian speech, the other a senior now going on his 15th year of school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLevel 16 (2018)
The teenage girls of Vestalis Academy are meticulously trained in the art of being “clean girls,” practicing the virtues of perfect femininity. But what exactly are they being trained for? Vivien intends to find out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoller (2021)
In a forgotten pocket of Southern Ohio where American manufacturing and opportunity are drying up, a determined young woman finds a ticket out when she is accepted to college. Alongside her older brother, Ruth Avery joins a dangerous scrap metal crew in order to pay her way. Together, they spend one brutal winter working the scrap yards during the day and stealing valuable metal from the once thriving factories by night. With her goal in sight, Ruth finds that the ultimate cost of an education for a girl like her may be more than she bargained for, and she soon finds herself torn between a promising future and the family she would leave behind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fallout (2021)
In the wake of a school tragedy, Vada, Mia and Quinton form a unique and dynamic bond as they navigate the never linear, often confusing journey to heal in a world that feels forever changed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSummer School (1987)
A high-school gym teacher has big plans for the summer, but is forced to cancel them to teach a "bonehead" English class for misfit goof-off students. Fortunately, his unconventional brand of teaching fun field trips begins to connect with them, and even inspires ardor in some.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJessica Darling's It List (2016)
Jessica Darling – a smart, witty, opinionated girl heading into 7th grade – was never too concerned about where she'd fit in the middle school hierarchy. But before her first day of school, her older sister — the super popular Bethany, now in college—decides to help out by giving her the “It List”—a cheat sheet on how to navigate the middle school maze and rise to the top of the popularity chain. The instructions appear simple enough to follow, but, like life, nothing is as easy as it seems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Final (2010)
A group of high school outcasts get revenge on the students that torment them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSarah's Oil (2025)
Sarah Rector, a Black girl born in early 20th-century Oklahoma Indian Territory, believes there is oil beneath the barren land she’s allotted, and her faith proves right. As greedy oil sharks close in, Sarah turns to family, friends, and some Texas wildcatters to maintain control of her oil-rich land, eventually becoming among the nation's first Black female millionaires—at eleven years old.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisTeen Beach 2 (2015)
When characters from the movie musical “Wet Side Story” get stuck in the real world, teens Brady and Mack must find a way to return them home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChemical Hearts (2020)
When a hopelessly romantic high school senior falls for a mysterious new classmate, it sets them both on an unexpected journey that teaches them about love, loss, and most importantly themselves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Recess?
The closest matches to Recess are Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade (2003), Recess Christmas: Miracle On Third Street (2001) and Recess: School's Out (2001). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Recess?
Start with Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade (2003), the closest match to Recess.
What is the highest-rated movie like Recess?
Inner Workings (2016), rated 7.8/10 by 313 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Recess?
Sarah's Oil (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there German movies like Recess?
The closest matches are in other languages.
How are movies similar to Recess chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Recess, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.