Movies like The Lifeguard (2013)
The best movies like The Lifeguard (2013) are Just Before I Go (2015), Meet Bill (2007) and The Wackness (2008). If The Lifeguard 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 ratedMy First Summer (2020)8.0/10 from 290 votes
- NewestSaltburn (2023)Released 2023
Just Before I Go (2015)
Ted Morgan has been treading water for most of his life. After his wife leaves him, Ted realizes he has nothing left to live for. Summoning the courage for one last act, Ted decides to go home and face the people he feels are responsible for creating the shell of a person he has become. But life is tricky. The more determined Ted is to confront his demons, to get closure, and to withdraw from his family, the more Ted is yanked into the chaos of their lives. So, when Ted Morgan decides to kill himself, he finds a reason to live.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMeet Bill (2007)
A mild-mannered bank executive mentors a teenage con artist and tries to make a career change as a doughnut merchant.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wackness (2008)
Set in New York City in the sweltering summer, The Wackness tells the story of a troubled teenage drug dealer, who trades pot for therapy sessions with a drug-addled psychiatrist. Things get more complicated when he falls for one of his classmates, who just happens to be the doctor's daughter. This is a coming-of-age story about sex, drugs, music and what it takes to be a man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove & Sex (2000)
When her rather explicit copy is rejected, magazine journalist Kate is asked by her editor to come up with an article on loving relationships instead, and to do so by the end of the day. This gets Kate thinking back over her own various experiences, and to wondering if she is in much of a position to write on the subject.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStrictly Sexual (2008)
Two successful women, sick and tired of dating and relationships, decide to keep two young men in their pool house for strictly sexual purposes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisXX/XY (2002)
Three friends begin a dangerous three-way relationship that spirals out of control, leading to dire consequences that haunt them ten years later.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHow to Please a Woman (2022)
When her all-male house-cleaning business gets out of control, a mature woman must embrace her own sexuality, if she is to make a new life for herself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAccording to Greta (2009)
Dumped on her grandparents for the summer by her indifferent mother, acerbic and self-destructive teenager Greta disrupts the elderly couple's staid life on the Jersey Shore. Eventually, a romance helps Greta face down her demons.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMainstream (2021)
A young woman thinks she’s found a path to internet stardom when she starts making YouTube videos with a charismatic stranger – until the dark side of viral celebrity threatens to ruin them both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBroadcast News (1987)
A high-strung news producer finds herself in a love triangle between a talented but self-doubting reporter and a charming news anchor who embodies the growing trivialization of news that she is determined to fight against.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy First Summer (2020)
Isolated on a remote property, 16-year-old Claudia finds her world transformed when a spirited girl named Grace wanders into her garden.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSomeone to Watch Over Me (1987)
Claire Gregory, an upper class New York personality, witnesses a murder in a luxurious nightclub. Detective Mike Keegan, recently promoted, is assigned to protect her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisSnow Angels (2007)
Waitress Annie has separated from her suicidal alcoholic husband, Glenn. Glenn has become an evangelical Christian, but his erratic attempts at getting back into Annie's life have alarmed her. High school student Arthur works at Annie's restaurant, growing closer to a new kid in town, Lila, after class. When Glenn and Annie's daughter goes missing, the whole town searches for her, as he increasingly spirals out of control.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStealing Home (1988)
Billy Wyatt, a former high school and minor-league baseball player, receives a telephone call from his mother revealing that his former child-sitter, and later in his teens, his first love, Katie Chandler, has died. Wyatt returns home to deal with this tragedy, reminiscing over his childhood growing up with his father, Katie, and best friend Alan Appleby.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSaltburn (2023)
Struggling to find his place at Oxford University, student Oliver Quick finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton, who invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family's sprawling estate, for a summer never to be forgotten.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNewness (2017)
In contemporary Los Angeles, two millennials navigating a social media–driven hookup culture begin a relationship that pushes both emotional and physical boundaries.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll the Bright Places (2020)
Two teens facing personal struggles form a powerful bond as they embark on a cathartic journey chronicling the wonders of Indiana.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTwo Lovers (2008)
A depressed man moves back in with his parents following a recent heartbreak and finds himself with two women.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisImaginary Heroes (2004)
Matt Travis is good-looking, popular, and his school's best competitive swimmer, so everyone is shocked when he inexplicably commits suicide. As the following year unfolds, each member of his family struggles to recover from the tragedy with mixed results.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOn the Edge (2001)
A suicidal young man is committed to a Dublin psychiatric hospital where he meets new friends who greatly influence his life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBack for Good (2017)
An actress confronts her quarter-life crisis by breaking up with New York City and returning home to win back the love of her life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
American Pie 2 (2001)
After a year apart - attending different schools, meeting different people - the guys rent a beach house and vow to make this the best summer ever. As it turns out, whether that will happen or not has a lot to do with the girls. Between the wild parties, outrageous revelations and yes, a trip to band camp, they discover that times change and people change, but in the end, it's all about sticking together.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican Splendor (2003)
An original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDamn Poverty! (2009)
Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace prize winner, is known in the whole world as the banker of the poor, because he pioneered and tested a funding system in Bangladesh: by lending little sums of money to the less well-off with no interest, and returning it by installments gained with their work, people are able to get free from extreme misery. Thus, what can happen if three boys, just graduated, who live in Naples, try to import this funding system that subverts every economic rule?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Letter to America (1999)
Two friends from Odesa try to compose a video message to their pals, emigrants to the United States. One of them rents his apartment to a tricky girl who invents various excuses not to pay the rent. An exceptional story about people on the verge of despair who nonetheless manage to enjoy life, even if these joys are beyond good and evil.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
YOYO (2017)
Caroline can't stand that she is a virgin...and then the world ends. In post-apocalyptic LA, after a dust storm has wiped out the planet, she is convinced that Francis was sent as the man to pop her cherry. YOYO is a heartfelt, dark comedy about finding meaning in life, even when life ceases to exist.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Isolde (1989)
After librarian Isolde attempts suicide, she leaves her politician husband for a younger student with a dark past. Isolde's former husband, however, has something else in mind for the young man.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Wings of Christmas (2013)
The film's protagonists get an opportunity to make a wish. Consequently, their lives take the path they themselves ordained. Several "coincidences" bring them everything they wanted and they have the chance to experience their wishes. We are not only responsible in our lives for everything that we do, but also for everything we say, we think and desire.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Lifeguard?
The closest matches to The Lifeguard are Just Before I Go (2015), Meet Bill (2007) and The Wackness (2008). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Lifeguard?
Start with Just Before I Go (2015), the closest match to The Lifeguard.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Lifeguard?
My First Summer (2020), rated 8.0/10 by 290 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Lifeguard?
Saltburn (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Lifeguard?
Yes: Just Before I Go (2015), Meet Bill (2007) and The Wackness (2008).
How are movies similar to The Lifeguard chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Lifeguard, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.