Movies like Out of Focus (2025)
The best movies like Out of Focus (2025) are Chloe and Theo (2015), Don't Think Twice (2016) and Dear Eleanor (2016). If Out of Focus hooked you with its drama and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAccepted (2006)6.5/10 from 1,877 votes
- NewestDear David (2023)Released 2023
Chloe 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 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 thisDear Eleanor (2016)
Two teenage girls travel across the U.S. in 1962, during the chaos of the Cuban missile crisis, in search of Eleanor Roosevelt.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Laurel-Hardy Murder Case (1930)
The boys think their days of fishing to feed themselves have come to an end, when Stan's rich uncle Ebenezer dies leaving a large estate. But they soon learn that Ebenezer was murdered and all the relatives, including Stan, are suspects.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHello Sister, Goodbye Life (2006)
A college student must take care of her 7-year-old half sister after the death of their parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOliver the Eighth (1934)
Barbershop owners Stan and Ollie answer an ad in the newspaper from a wealthy widow looking for a husband. Ollie only mails in his response and is invited to the widow's mansion. Stan discovers his unmailed letter and insists on tagging along. At the mansion, the widow's creepy butler informs them that the woman is crazy. She was once jilted by an Oliver and now her hobby is marrying Olivers and then slitting their throats. Now the boys must figure out how to escape.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTowed in a Hole (1932)
Although they are successful fishmongers, Stan convinces Ollie that they should become fishermen too, but making a boat seaworthy isn't an easy task.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOur Wife (1931)
Oliver is making plans to marry his sweetheart Dulcy with Stan as his best man, but the plans are thwarted when Dulcy's father sees a picture of Ollie and forbids the marriage. The couple plan to elope, and run away to a Justice of the Peace. After typical Laurel and Hardy blundering, they manage to sneak the girl away from her father's house.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOne Good Turn (1931)
Down and out Stan and Ollie beg for food from a friendly old lady who provides them with sandwiches. While eating, they overhear the lady's landlord tell her he's going to throw her out because she can't pay her mortgage. They don't realize that the old lady is really rehearsing for a play. Stan and Ollie decide to help the old lady by selling their car. During the auction a drunk puts a wallet in Stan's pocket. Ollie accuses Stan of robbing the old lady, but when the truth is revealed Stan takes revenge on Ollie.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAccepted (2006)
A high school slacker who's rejected by every school he applies to opts to create his own institution of higher learning, the South Harmon Institute of Technology, on a rundown piece of property near his hometown.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThicker Than Water (1935)
Oliver's in trouble with his wife after missing a payment on their furniture, having given the money to Stanley, who used it instead to pay Mrs. Hardy for his room and board. At Stan's suggestion Ollie then withdraws the couple's savings from the bank to pay for the furniture and inadvertently pays virtually the whole amount at an auction for a grandfather clock which is soon crushed under a passing truck. Mrs Hardy then unintentionally causes serious injuries to Ollie requiring him to be rushed to hospital for a blood transfusion. The doctor conscripts Stan to be the unwilling blood donor. Problems occur with the transfusion and when Stan and Ollie leave the hospital they appear to have morphed into each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeau Hunks (1931)
Stan and Ollie join the French Foreign Legion after Ollie's sweetheart rejects him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Kiss Before Dying (1956)
A college student tries to get rich quick by wooing two wealthy sisters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMe and My Pal (1933)
On the morning of his wedding to oil baron Peter Cucumber's daughter, Ollie receives a jigsaw puzzle from Stan as a wedding gift. The boys soon become absorbed in the puzzle. A taxi driver, butler, policeman and messenger boy join in as well.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Girl Most Likely To... (1973)
An ugly girl undergoes plastic surgery and becomes beautiful. She then takes revenge on all the people who mistreated her when she was ugly.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBe Big! (1931)
Stan and Ollie are on their way to Atlantic City with their wives, when Ollie gets a phone call from a lodge buddy telling him that a stag party is taking place that night in their honor. Ollie pretends to be sick and sends the wives on ahead, promising that he and Stan will meet them in the morning. The pair dress in their lodge gear, but their wives return having missed their train. With no obvious escape route, Stan and Ollie take to a bed in fear and in response to Stan's plea of "What'll I do?", Ollie replies "Be big!".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hoose-Gow (1929)
Stan and Ollie arrive as new inmates at a prison after apparently taking part in a hold-up raid, a raid they tell a prison officer they were only watching. The usual mayhem ensues.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDonald's Better Self (1938)
Schoolboy Donald is torn between his angel and devil sides, though in Donald's case, the devil side isn't hard to resist. But the smoking he's encouraged to do turns him green and gives him regrets, and when the good side shows up and kicks evil's butt, Donald cheers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDaria in 'Is It College Yet?' (2002)
All vile things must come to an end, and for Daria Morgendorffer that means it's time to look beyond high school to college. Our little girl has grown up so fast. It's time for higher learning, lowered expectations, and a heavy dose of sarcasm. Life can't suck more after high school, can it?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBelow Zero (1930)
Street musicians Stan and Ollie have no success earning money in the dead of winter in a bad neighborhood. Their instruments are destroyed in an argument with a woman, but their luck seems to turn when Stan finds a wallet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisState and Main (2000)
The residents of a small Vermont town don't know what hit them when a beleaguered Hollywood film crew brings a chaotic shoot to their quaint village.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAt the Drive-In (2017)
Unable to purchase a $50,000 digital projector, a group of film fanatics in rural Pennsylvania fight to keep a dying drive-in theater alive by screening only vintage 35mm film prints and working entirely for free.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Reprise (2019)
A man and a woman who run into each other on a film set were actually lovers in the past. As they play the roles of a couple in the movie, they think about the relationship they once had.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Lens Within Me (TBA)
A film student from Long Island, who cut his dying father’s cough out of the home movies at thirteen, spends four years filming everyone but himself — until one festival slot, a rival’s film, and the footage he’s been cutting force him to choose between the safe version and the true one.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
By Player (2000)
The film is a series of vignettes from Taiji Tonoyama's life and film clips, interspersed with a dialogue to camera by Nobuko Otowa, addressing the camera as if she is addressing Tonoyama himself, recollecting events in his life. The film focuses on Tonoyama's alcohol dependence and his various sexual relationships, as well as his film work with Shindo.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Graveyard Feeder (2013)
Cemetery caretaker Burke Sawyer and his deceased father, Pop Sawyer, team up to investigate a creature feeding on the dead underground.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
I Blame Society (2020)
A struggling filmmaker senses her peers are losing faith in her ability to succeed, so she decides to prove herself by finishing her last abandoned film and committing the perfect murder.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
I Know When You Dead (2020)
Siena is able to see signs that people will die. The sign appeared on Brama, someone she loves. Siena tries hard to prevent Brama's death.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Paris When It Sizzles (1964)
Hollywood producer Alexander Meyerheimer has hired drunken writer Richard Benson to write his latest movie. Benson has been in Paris supposedly working on the script for months, but instead has spent the time living it up. Benson now has just two days to the deadline and thus hires a temporary secretary, Gabrielle Simpson, to help him finish on time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDear David (2023)
A secret fantasy blog might jeopardize the promising future of Laras, a talented student, when the blog is revealed to her entire school.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Out of Focus?
The closest matches to Out of Focus are Chloe and Theo (2015), Don't Think Twice (2016) and Dear Eleanor (2016). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Out of Focus?
Start with Chloe and Theo (2015), the closest match to Out of Focus.
What is the highest-rated movie like Out of Focus?
Accepted (2006), rated 6.5/10 by 1,877 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Out of Focus?
Dear David (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Out of Focus?
Yes: Chloe and Theo (2015), Don't Think Twice (2016) and Dear Eleanor (2016).
How are movies similar to Out of Focus chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Out of Focus, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.