Movies like In the Spirit (1990)
The best movies like In the Spirit (1990) are Night Shift (1982), Psycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer (2025) and The Odd Couple (1968). If In the Spirit hooked you with its comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Apartment (1960)8.2/10 from 2,848 votes
- NewestCaught Stealing (2025)Released 2025
Night Shift (1982)
A nebbish of a morgue attendant gets shunted back to the night shift where he is shackled with an obnoxious neophyte partner who dreams of the "one great idea" for success. His life takes a bizarre turn when a prostitute neighbor complains about the loss of her pimp. His partner, upon hearing the situation, suggests that they fill that opening themselves using the morgue at night.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPsycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer (2025)
A struggling writer in the midst of a divorce befriends a retired serial killer who incidentally becomes his marriage counselor by day, and killing counselor for his next book by night.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Odd Couple (1968)
In New York, Felix, a neurotic news writer who just broke up with his wife, is urged by his chaotic friend Oscar, a sports journalist, to move in with him, but their lifestyles are as different as night and day are, so Felix's ideas about housekeeping soon begin to irritate Oscar.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisManhattan Murder Mystery (1993)
A middle-aged couple suspects foul play when their neighbor's wife suddenly drops dead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAfter the Thin Man (1936)
After returning to San Francisco, Nick and Nora Charles are drawn into the disappearance of Nora’s cousin’s husband. When he is found murdered, suspicion falls on the troubled family, and Nick reluctantly resumes his detective work. With Nora eagerly at his side, the pair follows a trail of jealousy, blackmail, secret relationships, and long-buried family scandals.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVery Bad Things (1998)
Kyle Fisher has one last night to celebrate life as a single man before marrying Laura, so he sets out to Vegas with four of his best buddies. But a drug and alcohol filled night on the town with a stripper who goes all the way, turns into a cold night in the desert with shovels when the stripper goes all the way into a body bag after dying in their bathroom. And that's just the first of the bodies to pile up before Kyle can walk down the aisle...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEating Raoul (1982)
A prudish married couple feel put upon by the swingers living in their apartment building. One night, by accident, they discover a way to both rid themselves of the “perverts” down the hall and simultaneously realize their dream of opening a restaurant.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLittle Murders (1971)
A young nihilistic New Yorker copes with pervasive urban violence, obscene phone calls, rusty water pipes, electrical blackouts, paranoia, and ethnic-racial conflict during a typical summer of the 1970s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDate Night (2010)
Phil and Claire Foster fear that their mild-mannered relationship may be falling into a stale rut. During their weekly date night, their dinner reservation leads to their being mistaken for a couple of thieves—and now a number of unsavoury characters want Phil and Claire killed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnalyze This (1999)
Countless wiseguy films are spoofed in this film that centers on the neuroses and angst of a powerful Mafia racketeer who suffers from panic attacks. When Paul Vitti needs help dealing with his role in the "family," unlucky shrink Dr. Ben Sobel is given just days to resolve Vitti's emotional crisis and turn him into a happy, well-adjusted gangster.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFaster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)
A trio of thrill-seeking go-go dancers kidnap a young girl and attempt to seduce an old rancher and his two sons out of their small fortune, but their scheme doesn't play out as intended.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBullets Over Broadway (1994)
After young playwright, David Shayne obtains funding for his play from gangster Nick Valenti, Nick's girlfriend Olive miraculously lands the role of a psychiatrist—but not only is she a bimbo who could never pass for a psychiatrist—she's a dreadful actress. David puts up with the leading man who is a compulsive eater, the grand dame who wants her part jazzed up, and Olive's interfering hitman/bodyguard—but, eventually he must decide whether art or life is more important.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCaught Stealing (2025)
Burned-out ex-baseball player Hank Thompson unexpectedly finds himself embroiled in a dangerous struggle for survival amidst the criminal underbelly of late 1990s New York City, forced to navigate a treacherous underworld he never imagined.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Way to Treat a Lady (1968)
Christopher Gill is a psychotic killer who uses various disguises to trick and strangle his victims. Moe Brummel is a single and harassed New York City police detective who starts to get phone calls from the strangler and builds a strange alliance as a result. Kate Palmer is a swinging, hip tour guide who witnesses the strangler leaving her dead neighbor's apartment and sets her sights on the detective. Moe's live-in mother wishes her son would be a successful Jewish doctor like his big brother.
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 thisShadows and Fog (1991)
With a serial strangler on the loose, a bookkeeper wanders around town searching for the vigilante group intent on catching the killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMuch Ado About Nothing (2013)
A modern retelling of Shakespeare's classic comedy about two pairs of lovers with different takes on romance and a way with words.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Night at McCool's (2001)
On an ordinary night, in an ordinary part of town, a beautiful young woman walks into a bar. Her name is Jewel, and before long she is chatting to bartender Randy. The pair leave together, but he ends up getting into a tussle with her criminal boyfriend, who she then shoots dead, later persuading Randy to take the rap for her. But this isn't the end of it, as both Randy's cousin Carl and the detective assigned to the murder case also fall for Jewel's charms and find themselves caught up in the ensuing events. It seems that any man who meets Jewel falls instantly in love with her, and she's going to use this fully to her own advantage, leaving a trail of havoc in her wake. It also seems that she is going to get away with it - that is, until Randy decides to hire a hitman...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Out-of-Towners (1970)
A trip to New York for a job interview turns into a trip to hell for a small town couple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSong of the Thin Man (1947)
While attending a glamorous jazz cruise on New York’s East River, Nick and Nora Charles witness the fatal shooting of a wealthy patron. When suspicion falls on a young bandleader and his musicians, the couple steps in to clear their friends and uncover the real killer. Their investigation leads through a lively world of jazz clubs, radio personalities, high society, and backstage rivalries, where almost everyone has a secret and the next clue may be hidden in the music.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPocketful of Miracles (1961)
A New York gangster and his girlfriend attempt to turn street beggar Apple Annie into a society lady when the peddler learns her daughter is marrying royalty.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBreakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Holly Golightly is an eccentric New York City playgirl determined to marry a Brazilian millionaire. But when young writer Paul Varjak moves into her apartment building, her past threatens to get in their way.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisArsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Mortimer Brewster, a newspaper drama critic, playwright, and author known for his diatribes against marriage, suddenly falls in love and gets married; but when he makes a quick trip home to tell his two maiden aunts, he finds out his aunts' hobby - killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Important Witness (1933)
A freelance stenographer is hired for a job, but when she arrives at the address she was given, she finds that a murder has taken place there--and she is arrested for it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Too Much Harmony (1933)
A singer is involved with two women in his life, one a "good" girl and one a "bad" one."
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The King of Comedy (1982)
Aspiring comic Rupert Pupkin attempts to achieve success in show business by stalking his idol, a late night talk-show host who craves his own privacy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Apartment (1960)
Bud Baxter is a minor clerk in a huge New York insurance company, until he discovers a quick way to climb the corporate ladder. He lends out his apartment to the executives as a place to take their mistresses. Although he often has to deal with the aftermath of their visits, one night he's left with a major problem to solve.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisScoop (2006)
An American journalism student in London scoops a big story, and begins an affair with an aristocrat as the incident unfurls.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Terminal (2004)
An Eastern European tourist unexpectedly finds himself stranded in JFK airport, and must take up temporary residence there.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMen in Black (1997)
After a police chase with an otherworldly being, a New York City cop is recruited as an agent in a top-secret organization established to monitor and police alien activity on Earth: the Men in Black. Agent K and new recruit Agent J find themselves in the middle of a deadly plot by an intergalactic terrorist who has arrived on Earth to assassinate two ambassadors from opposing galaxies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like this
Like In the Spirit and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like In the Spirit?
The closest matches to In the Spirit are Night Shift (1982), Psycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer (2025) and The Odd Couple (1968). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after In the Spirit?
Start with Night Shift (1982), the closest match to In the Spirit.
What is the highest-rated movie like In the Spirit?
The Apartment (1960), rated 8.2/10 by 2,848 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like In the Spirit?
Caught Stealing (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like In the Spirit?
Yes: Night Shift (1982), Psycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer (2025) and The Odd Couple (1968).
How are movies similar to In the Spirit chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside In the Spirit, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.