Movies like Cardboard Island (2026)
The best movies like Cardboard Island (2026) are Love and Monsters (2020), Haunted Mansion (2023) and Drop Dead Fred (1991). If Cardboard Island hooked you with its adventure and fantasy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Holdovers (2023)7.6/10 from 2,777 votes
- NewestDRAWN OUT (2025)Released 2025
Love and Monsters (2020)
Seven years since the Monsterpocalypse began, Joel Dawson has been living underground in order to survive. But after reconnecting over radio with his high school girlfriend Aimee, Joel decides to venture out to reunite with her, despite all the dangerous monsters that stand in his way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHaunted Mansion (2023)
A woman and her son enlist a motley crew of so-called spiritual experts to help rid their home of supernatural squatters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDrop Dead Fred (1991)
An unhappy housewife gets a lift from the return of her imaginary childhood friend, Drop Dead Fred.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisBurn Your Maps (2016)
A family in emotional turmoil is taken by surprise in this quirky adventure where an eccentric 8-year-old American boy, Wes, has an existential epiphany - He believes that he is in fact a Mongolian goat herder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRiddle of Fire (2024)
Three mischievous children embark on a woodland odyssey when their mother sends them on an errand.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStrings (2004)
The story of Prince Hal who sets out to avenge his dead father against the city's rivals, the Zeriths, little knowing it was his wicked uncle Nezo who is the real killer, with his own designs on the throne.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPinocchio (2009)
The enchanted story of Pinocchio.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShorts (2009)
A young boy's discovery of a colorful, wish-granting rock causes chaos in the suburban town of Black Falls when jealous kids and scheming adults alike set out to get their hands on it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisNorthfork (2003)
The year is 1955, and a great flood is coming to Northfork, Montana. A new hydroelectric dam is about to be installed in the mountains above the town, ready to submerge the valley in the name of progress. It is the responsibility of a six-man Evacuation Committee to relocate the townsfolk to higher ground. Most have duly departed, but a few stubborn stragglers remain – among them a priest caring for a sickly orphan, a boy whose fevered visions are leading him to believe he is a member of a roaming band of lost angels desperately searching for a way home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Girl (1991)
Vada Sultenfuss is obsessed with death. Her mother is dead, and her father runs a funeral parlor. She is also in love with her English teacher, and joins a poetry class over the summer just to impress him. Thomas J., her best friend, is "allergic to everything", and sticks with Vada despite her hangups. When Vada's father hires Shelly, and begins to fall for her, things take a turn to the worse...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHalf Brothers (2020)
Mexican aviation exec Renato is shocked to learn that he has an American half-brother he never knew about: free-spirited Asher. They are forced on a road trip together, tracing the path their father took from Mexico to the U.S.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Addams Family (1991)
When a man claiming to be long-lost Uncle Fester reappears after 25 years lost, the family plans a celebration to wake the dead. But the kids barely have time to warm up the electric chair before Morticia begins to suspect Fester is fraud when he can't recall any of the details of Fester's life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStewie Griffin: The Untold Story (2005)
The maniacal baby of the Griffin family, Stewie, meets his future self. In doing this he discovers that his future image is not what he has anticipated because of a near death experience.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChaos Walking (2021)
Two unlikely companions embark on a perilous adventure through the badlands of an unexplored planet as they try to escape a dangerous and disorienting reality, where all inner thoughts are seen and heard by everyone.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRock & Rule (1983)
A malevolent rock star kidnaps a female singer to force her to participate in the summoning of a demon and her band must help her stop him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & fantasy
SnoozefestMovies like thisBob Trevino Likes It (2025)
Lily Trevino unexpectedly befriends an online stranger who shares her self-centered father’s name. This new Bob Trevino’s support could transform her life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLabyrinth (1986)
Frustrated with babysitting on yet another weekend night, Sarah, a teenager with an active imagination, summons the Goblins to take her baby stepbrother away. When little Toby actually disappears, Sarah must follow him into a fantastical world to rescue him from the Goblin King. Guarding his castle is the labyrinth itself, a twisted maze of deception, populated with outrageous characters and unknown dangers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDeath at a Funeral (2007)
A myriad of outrageous calamities befalls an eccentric English clan with more than a few skeletons in its closets when the family's patriarch dies an unexpected death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCorner Office (2023)
In this office satire, Orson, a straight-laced employee, retreats to a blissfully empty corner office to get away from his lackluster colleagues. But why does this seem to upset them so much?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBefore I Fall (2017)
Samantha Kingston has everything. Then, everything changes. After one fateful night, she wakes up with no future at all. Trapped into reliving the same day over and over, she begins to question just how perfect her life really was.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI DREAM OF THE END OF POST-COLONAILISM IN THE PARK 5 min. (2026)
Relaxing in the park, haunted by the tower, city, and modern world, hallucinated by the internet.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & fantasy
Coming SoonMovies like thisThe Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
Two drag performers and a transgender woman travel across the desert to perform their unique style of cabaret.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll Stars (1997)
Seven young men who played soccer together since their early youth grow apart and are forced to think about the nature of their friendship. In a comic way and a very Dutch setting, All Stars is about pregnant girlfriends and homosexuality, career plans and the power of parents.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Waterlover, Watercarrier (2022)
A homosexual movie about two strangers in quarantine.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
The Holdovers (2023)
A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVaibhavam (2025)
Vaibhav, a righteous young man with entrepreneurial dreams, finds himself entwined in a profound mosaic of love, family, and friendships.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
DRAWN OUT (2025)
On the eve of leaving for college, Randy discovers that the childhood drawings she's long forgotten are not quite ready to let her go. When her imaginary friends come to life, they pull her into a surreal final adventure through her own home, one that forces her to confront buried memories, unresolved guilt, and the fear she's been avoiding. As fantasy and reality collide, Randy must decide whether to run from her past or face it head-on, learning that growing up doesn't mean leaving every part of yourself behind.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy & drama
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996)
In the not-too-distant future, the evil Dr. Forrester forces a temp named Mike into a series of experiments, where he's forced to watch cheesy movies so the mad scientist can monitor his mind. However, as Mike can't control where the movies begin or end, he'll try to keep his sanity with the help of his robot friends.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFear Below (2025)
A rag-tag team of divers attempting to salvage a sunken car from a river are thwarted by a highly aggressive bull shark.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFUCK TV (2019)
After concluding the now-legendary public access TV series, The Pain Factory, Michael Nine embarked on a new and more subversive public access endeavor: a collaboration with Scott Arford called Fuck TV. Whereas The Pain Factory predominantly revolved around experimental music performances, Fuck TV was a comprehensive and experiential audio-visual presentation. Aired to a passive and unsuspecting audience on San Francisco’s public access channel from 1997 to 1998, each episode of Fuck TV was dedicated to a specific topic, combining video collage and cut-up techniques set to a harsh electronic soundtrack. The resultant overload of processed imagery and visceral sound was unlike anything presented on television before or since. EPISODES: Yule Bible, Cults, Riots, Animals, Executions, Static, Media, Haterella (edited version), Self Annihilation Live, Electricity.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Cardboard Island?
The closest matches to Cardboard Island are Love and Monsters (2020), Haunted Mansion (2023) and Drop Dead Fred (1991). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Cardboard Island?
Start with Love and Monsters (2020), the closest match to Cardboard Island.
What is the highest-rated movie like Cardboard Island?
The Holdovers (2023), rated 7.6/10 by 2,777 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Cardboard Island?
DRAWN OUT (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Cardboard Island?
Yes: Love and Monsters (2020), Haunted Mansion (2023) and Drop Dead Fred (1991).
How are movies similar to Cardboard Island chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Cardboard Island, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.