Movies like Smile. Always (2013)
The best movies like Smile. Always (2013) are Spontaneous (2020), Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) and Work It (2020). If Smile. Always hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Wolf of Wall Street (2013)8.0/10 from 26,932 votes
- NewestSidelined: The QB and Me (2025)Released 2025
Spontaneous (2020)
When students in their high school begin inexplicably exploding (literally), seniors Mara and Dylan struggle to survive in a world where each moment may be their last.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFerris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
After high school slacker Ferris Bueller successfully fakes an illness in order to skip school for the day, he goes on a series of adventures throughout Chicago with his girlfriend Sloane and best friend Cameron, all the while trying to outwit his wily school principal and fed-up sister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWork It (2020)
A brilliant but clumsy high school senior vows to get into her late father's alma mater by transforming herself and a misfit squad into dance champions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPaper Towns (2015)
Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge, he follows. After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Quentin arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Quentin soon learns that there are clues, and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer Quentin gets, the less he sees of the girl he thought he knew.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeauty & the Briefcase (2010)
A freelance writer looking for romance sells a story to Cosmopolitan magazine about finding love in the workplace and goes undercover at a Finance Company.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisMean Girls (2004)
Cady Heron is a hit with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school, until she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDiary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2012)
It's summertime, and Greg Heffley is looking forward to playing video games and spending time with his friends. However, Greg's dad has other plans: He's decided that some father-son bonding time is in order. Desperate to prevent his dad from ruining summer vacation, Greg pretends he has a job at a ritzy country club. But Greg's plan backfires, leaving him in the middle of embarrassing mishaps and a camping trip gone wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBring It On: Worldwide #Cheersmack (2017)
When Destiny, captain of three-time national champions "The Rebels," is challenged to a global cheer showdown by an edgy new team called "The Truth," the Cheer Goddess organizes a virtual battle for squads from all around the world. It seems like the whole world wants to take down Destiny and her team, and they just might succeed, unless Destiny can rise to the challenge, set her ego aside and figure out who her real friends are.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMarathon Man (1976)
A graduate student and obsessive runner in New York is drawn into a mysterious plot involving his brother, a member of the secretive Division.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlindspotting (2018)
Collin must make it through his final three days of probation for a chance at a new beginning. He and his troublemaking childhood best friend, Miles, work as movers, and when Collin witnesses a police shooting, the two men’s friendship is tested as they grapple with identity and their changed realities in the rapidly-gentrifying neighborhood they grew up in.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBottoms (2023)
Unpopular best friends PJ and Josie start a high school self-defense club to meet girls and lose their virginity. They soon find themselves in over their heads when the most popular students start beating each other up in the name of self-defense.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOut of My Mind (2024)
Melody Brooks, a sixth grader with cerebral palsy, has a quick wit and a sharp mind, but because she is non-verbal and uses a wheelchair, she is not given the same opportunities as her classmates. When a young educator notices her student's untapped potential and Melody starts to participate in mainstream education, Melody shows that what she has to say is more important than how she says it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNever Been Kissed (1999)
Josie Geller, a baby-faced junior copywriter at the Chicago Sun-Times, must pose as a student at her former high school to research contemporary teenage culture. With the help of her brother, Rob, Josie infiltrates the inner circle of the most popular clique on campus. But she hits a major snag in her investigation -- not to mention her own failed love life -- when she falls for her dreamy English teacher, Sam Coulson.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHere on Earth (2000)
Three lives of three young people intersect over the course of one summer. A rich student and a young working-class man accidentally destroy a diner when their impromptu road race takes a disastrous turn. Ordered by a judge to spend the summer repairing the building, they find themselves becoming rivals for the affections of the owner's daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisAmerican Underdog (2021)
The true story of Kurt Warner, who went from a stockboy at a grocery store to a two-time NFL MVP, Super Bowl champion, and Hall of Fame quarterback.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Chocolate War (1988)
Jerry, a new student at an elite Catholic prep school, must face the hazing practices handed down by the Vigils, a group of powerful students. When teacher Brother Leon pushes the students to sell chocolates for a fundraiser, the head of the Vigils, Archie, gets Jerry to reject selling for 10 days. However, Jerry decides to keep up the refusal past the original time frame, which pits him against the Vigils and the school staff.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMargin Call (2011)
Set in the high-stakes world of the financial industry, involving the key players at an investment firm during one perilous 24-hour period in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis. An entry-level analyst unlocks information that could prove to be the downfall of the firm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClueless (1995)
Shallow, rich and socially successful Cher is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school's pecking scale. Seeing herself as a matchmaker, Cher first coaxes two teachers into dating each other. Emboldened by her success, she decides to give hopelessly klutzy new student Tai a makeover. When Tai becomes more popular than she is, Cher realizes that her disapproving ex-stepbrother was right about how misguided she was -- and falls for him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSidelined: The QB and Me (2025)
Dallas, a burdened but headstrong dancer, is determined to get into the best dance school in the country—her late mother’s alma mater. However, that dream is suddenly derailed when the cheeky yet secretly grieving football star, Drayton, crashes into her life with a unique story of his own. Will the two of them be able to grow into their dreams together, or will their dreams be sidelined?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
A New York stockbroker refuses to cooperate in a large securities fraud case involving corruption on Wall Street, corporate banking world and mob infiltration. Based on Jordan Belfort's autobiography.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Smile. Always?
The closest matches to Smile. Always are Spontaneous (2020), Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) and Work It (2020). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Smile. Always?
Start with Spontaneous (2020), the closest match to Smile. Always.
What is the highest-rated movie like Smile. Always?
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), rated 8.0/10 by 26,932 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Smile. Always?
Sidelined: The QB and Me (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Smile. Always?
Yes: Spontaneous (2020), Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) and Work It (2020).
How are movies similar to Smile. Always chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Smile. Always, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.