Movies like Donovan's Reef (1963)
The best movies like Donovan's Reef (1963) are Six Days Seven Nights (1998), Fool's Gold (2008) and Blue Hawaii (1961). If Donovan's Reef hooked you with its adventure and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Shop Around the Corner (1940)8.1/10 from 885 votes
- NewestMoana (2026)Released 2026
Six Days Seven Nights (1998)
In the South Pacific, in Polynesia, on the island of Makatea, Quinn Harris, a taciturn pilot, leads a quiet life, content to earn a living by transporting goods in his De Havilland Beaver. His life is exactly as he wants it to be—until he meets Robin Monroe, a sophisticated and determined woman, the assistant editor of a New York magazine, on vacation for a week with her boyfriend, Frank Martin. An urgent work assignment in Tahiti, the neighboring island, forces Robin to reluctantly hire Quinn to fly her there. But a violent storm forces them to make an emergency landing on a deserted island. This unlikely pair avoids each other at first, until they are forced to team up to escape the island... and evade the pirates who are after them. Danger and temptation are never far away...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFool's Gold (2008)
Treasure hunter Ben "Finn" Finnegan has sunk his marriage to Tess and his trusty boat in his obsessive quest to find the legendary Queen's Dowry. When he finds a vital clue that may finally pinpoint the treasure's whereabouts, he drags Tess and her boss, billionaire Nigel Honeycutt, along on the hunt. But Finn is not the only one interested in the gold; his former mentor-turned-enemy Moe Fitch, hired by rapper-turned-gangster Bigg Bunny, will stop at nothing to beat him to it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisBlue Hawaii (1961)
Just discharged GI Chad Gates returns to Hawaii, where he becomes a tour guide, defying his mother's wishes for him to join the family business.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFinding ʻOhana (2021)
Two Brooklyn siblings' summer in a rural Oahu town takes an exciting turn when a journal pointing to long-lost treasure sets them on an adventure, leading them to reconnect with their Hawaiian heritage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJust Go with It (2011)
While romancing Palmer, a much younger schoolteacher, plastic surgeon Danny Maccabee enlists his loyal assistant Katherine to pretend to be his soon to be ex-wife, in order to cover up a careless lie. When more lies backfire, Katherine's kids become involved, and everyone heads off for a weekend in Hawaii that will change all their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAdrift (2018)
Tami Oldham and Richard Sharp couldn't anticipate that they would be sailing directly into one of the most catastrophic hurricanes in recorded history. In the aftermath of the storm, Tami awakens to find Richard badly injured and their boat in ruins. With no hope of rescue, Tami must now find the strength and determination to save herself and the only man she has ever loved.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMoana 2 (2024)
After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana journeys alongside Maui and a new crew to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she's ever faced.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMoana (2026)
Teenage Moana answers the Ocean's call and, for the first time, voyages beyond the reef of her island of Motunui with infamous demigod Maui on an unforgettable journey to restore prosperity to her people.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 (2023)
Following the death of their patriarch Gus, the Portokalos family travels to Greece for a family reunion, and to deliver Gus' journal to his old friends.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisAloha Scooby-Doo! (2005)
The Mystery Gang goes to Hawaii for the Big Kahuna of Hanahuna Surfing Contest. However, the gang and the locals find the island invaded by the vengeful Wiki Tiki spirit and his demons.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhat's Love Got to Do with It? (2023)
Two childhood friends now in their thirties must decide whether to follow their heads or their hearts once the man decides to follow his parents' advice and enter into an arranged marriage in Pakistan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisiCarly: iGo to Japan (2008)
Carly, Sam and Freddie kick off their adventure in Japan on a tin can of a plane packed with caged possums and piloted by Spencer's odd acquaintance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSlumberland (2022)
A young girl discovers a secret map to the dreamworld of Slumberland, and with the help of an eccentric outlaw, she traverses dreams and flees nightmares, with the hope that she will be able to see her late father again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIt Started in Naples (1960)
Mike Hamilton, a Philadelphia lawyer, comes to Naples to settle the estate of his long estranged "black sheep" brother. Once there, he discovers that the deceased has left an 8 year old boy who is being raised by Michael's sister-in-law Lucia Curcio. To complicate matters, Lucia happens to be a sexy nightclub performer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove, Weddings & Other Disasters (2020)
A fussy celebrity caterer, a blind woman, a tour-bus guide and an inexperienced wedding planner search for love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTwo by Two: Overboard! (2020)
Two misfit castaways struggle to reunite an unorthodox family, out-run a volcano, and negotiate a peace deal on a creaking Ark.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWedding Crashers (2005)
John and his buddy Jeremy are emotional criminals who know how to use a woman's hopes and dreams for their own carnal gain. Their modus operandi: crashing weddings. Normally, they meet guests who want to toast the romantic day with a random hook-up. But when John meets Claire, he discovers what true love – and heartache – feels like.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThis Little Love of Mine (2021)
Laura Price is a successful San Francisco lawyer on the cusp of promotion – a far cry from her childhood growing up on a tropical island with best friends Chip and Gem. When the firm’s biggest client – Chip’s grandfather – asks Laura to travel to the island and deliver a contract to make Chip his heir, she leaves behind her practice and fiancé Owen to convince her childhood friend to sign a contract that will make him a billionaire.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReap the Wild Wind (1942)
The Florida Keys in 1840, where the implacable hurricanes of the Caribbean scream, where the salvagers of Key West, like the intrepid and beautiful Loxi Claiborne and her crew, reap, aboard frail schooners, the harvest of the wild wind, facing the shark teeth of the reefs to rescue the sailors and the cargo from the shipwrecks caused by the scavengers of the sea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYours, Mine & Ours (2005)
Admiral Frank Beardsley returns to New London to run the Coast Guard Academy, his last stop before a probable promotion to head the Guard. A widower with eight children, he runs a loving but tight ship, with charts and salutes. The kids long for a permanent home. Helen North is a free spirit, a designer whose ten children live in loving chaos, with occasional group hugs. Helen and Frank, high school sweethearts, reconnect at a reunion, and it's love at first re-sighting. They marry on the spot. Then the problems start as two sets of kids, the free spirits and the disciplined preppies, must live together. The warring factions agree to work together to end the marriage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChristmas à la Carte (2021)
When food correspondent, Carly, gets a shot at her own show, she is sent to Angel Heights to help Grant open his diner and film it as a Holiday special for her TV show. Will Grant and Carly open their hearts too?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Just Friends (2005)
While visiting his hometown during Christmas, a man comes face-to-face with his old high school crush whom he was best friends with – a woman whose rejection of him turned him into a ferocious womanizer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRoyally Yours, This Christmas (2023)
A royal prince falls in love with a single mother and hotel housekeeper at Christmastime after he mistakes her for a wealthy hotel guest.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Immer wieder Weihnachten (TBA)
Liv has to work during christmas time but is gifted a vacation to Fuerteventura from her husband.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & comedy
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand one another, without realising that they are falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBoxing Day 2 (TBA)
Melvin and Lisa return in this highly anticipated sequel to the 2021 romantic comedy, which is rumoured to introduce Lisa's family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & comedy
Bad Santa (2003)
You'd better watch out - Willie T. Soke is coming to town, and he doesn't care if you've been naughty or nice. Willie's favorite holiday tradition is to fill his sacks with loot lifted from shopping malls across the country. But this year his plot gets derailed by a wisecracking store detective, a sexy bartender, and a kid who's convinced Willie is the real Santa Claus.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLittle Women (1994)
Four sisters come of age in America in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Order (2003)
For centuries, a secret Order of priests has existed within the Church. A renegade priest, Father Alex Bernier, is sent to Rome to investigate the mysterious death of one of the Order's most revered members. Following a series of strangely similar killings, Bernier launches an investigation that forces him to confront unimaginable evil.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisJack Frost (1998)
A father who can't keep his promises dies in a car accident. One year later, he returns as a snowman, who has one final chance to put things right with his son before he is gone forever.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like Donovan's Reef and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Donovan's Reef?
The closest matches to Donovan's Reef are Six Days Seven Nights (1998), Fool's Gold (2008) and Blue Hawaii (1961). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Donovan's Reef?
Start with Six Days Seven Nights (1998), the closest match to Donovan's Reef.
What is the highest-rated movie like Donovan's Reef?
The Shop Around the Corner (1940), rated 8.1/10 by 885 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Donovan's Reef?
Moana (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Donovan's Reef?
Yes: Six Days Seven Nights (1998), Fool's Gold (2008) and Blue Hawaii (1961).
How are movies similar to Donovan's Reef chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Donovan's Reef, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.