Movies like Penrod and Sam (1931)
The best movies like Penrod and Sam (1931) are Killing Bono (2011), Welcome to the Dollhouse (1996) and A Dog Year (2009). If Penrod and Sam hooked you with its comedy and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Wrong Trousers (1993)7.8/10 from 1,225 votes
- NewestSomewhere in Queens (2023)Released 2023
Killing Bono (2011)
The true story of Neil and Ivan McCormick, two Irish brothers who attempt to become rock stars but can only look on as their high school friends U2 become the biggest band in the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWelcome to the Dollhouse (1996)
An unattractive 7th grader struggles to cope with suburban life as the middle child with inattentive parents and bullies at school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Dog Year (2009)
Jon Katz is close to burnout. He's a writer with writer's block; his wife has left for her sister's because he's emotionally distant; he rarely answers his phone. A kennel sends him a border collie that's undisciplined because of abuse. Despite a series of mishaps, Jon decides to keep trying with the dog, and he rents a dilapidated farm house to give the dog room to run. A local handyman refers Jon to a woman who might be able to help him train the dog. Reluctantly, Jon gives her a try. Is the dog the problem, or the owner?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClass Act (1992)
Duncan is a genius straight A student, Blade is ajuvenile delinquent. But because of a mix up with their school records, everyone thinks each is the other one. Now, Duncan kind of likes the attention from being thought of as a real bad dude, if only the school bully would stop trying to rough him up. And Blade definitely likes being thought of as important instead of as trouble.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFamily Weekend (2013)
A 16-year-old girl takes her parents hostage after they miss her big jump-roping competition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDivine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002)
In a sleepy Louisiana parish, a group of lifelong friends stage a rather unorthodox intervention to help a young playwright unravel the truth about her complicated mother and let go of her painful past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSomewhere in Queens (2023)
Leo and Angela Russo live a simple life in Queens, surrounded by their overbearing Italian-American family. When their son finds success on his high school basketball team, Leo tears the family apart trying to make it happen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWildflower (2023)
The story of Bea Johnson from birth to graduation as she navigates life with an intellectually disabled parent and an extended family who can't quite agree on the best way to help.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHow to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog (2002)
The story of Peter McGowan, a chain-smoking, impotent, insomniac playwright who lives in Los Angeles. Once very successful, he is now in the tenth year of a decade-long string of production failures. He finds himself bonding with a new neighbor's lonely young daughter who has mild cerebral palsy; and during one of his middle-of-the-night strolls, he encounters his oddball doppelgänger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisParenthood (1989)
The story of the Buckman family and friends, attempting to bring up their children. They suffer/enjoy all the events that occur: estranged relatives, the 'black sheep' of the family, the eccentrics, the skeletons in the closet, and the rebellious teenagers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMadea Goes to Jail - The Play (2006)
Madea returns in another hilarious story in which she gets sent to the big house. But regardless of the circumstances, she gives her trademark advice and wisdom to her friends and family as they learn the importance of letting go, moving on, and forgiveness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion - The Play (2002)
The fireworks begin when Madea’s family gathers for her granddaughter’s wedding. As usual, Madea rules the roost, as she and her neighbor, the wacky Mr. Brown, deliver nonstop laughs. Live, love, rejoice...it’s Madea’s Family Reunion!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRushmore (1998)
When a beautiful first-grade teacher arrives at a prep school, she soon attracts the attention of an ambitious teenager named Max, who quickly falls in love with her. Max turns to the father of two of his schoolmates for advice on how to woo the teacher. However, the situation soon gets complicated when Max's new friend becomes involved with her, setting the two pals against one another in a war for her attention.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Boy with Green Hair (1948)
Peter, an orphaned boy, is adopted by Gramp Frye after his parents are killed in Europe while doing war relief work. The boy feels safe with his new caretaker, but when he is taunted for being an orphan, he gets demoralized. The next day Peter wakes up with green hair. Embarrassed and further ridiculed, Peter seeks solace in a nearby forest. To his surprise, he finds other orphans in the woods, who encourage him to spread news of the injustices of war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeverly Hills Chihuahua 2 (2011)
Puppy mayhem turns the lives of newlywed Chihuahua parents Papi and Chloe upside down when their rambunctious, mischievous puppies present one challenge after another. But when their human owners end up in trouble, the tiny pups will stop at nothing to save them - because in good times and hard times, the family always sticks together. So Papi, Chloe and the puppies embark on a heroic adventure, proving once again that big heroes come in small packages.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisWhy Him? (2016)
A dad forms a bitter rivalry with his daughter's young rich boyfriend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChestnut: Hero of Central Park (2004)
Ray and Sal, two orphaned sisters, adopt and hide a Great Dane puppy from their two adopted parents living in a luxury downtown New York apartment that expressely forbids dogs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThree O'Clock High (1987)
Nerdy high schooler Jerry Mitchell is assigned to write an article for the school paper about the infamous new delinquent transfer student, Buddy Revell. When Jerry accidentally invades Buddy's personal space and touches him, Buddy challenges Jerry to an afterschool fight in the parking lot, which Jerry tries to avoid at all costs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins (2009)
Unjustly accused of staging a spooky practical joke complete with ghosts, Daphne, Velma, Fred and Shaggy are suspended from Coolsville High. To clear their names, they team up to solve the supernatural mystery…and head straight into nonstop laughs and adventure.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHow to Eat Fried Worms (2006)
During the first day of his new school year, a fifth grade boy squares off against a bully and winds up accepting a dare that could change the balance of power within the class.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSummer Storm (2004)
Tobi and Achim, the pride of the local crew club, have been the best of friends for years and are convinced that nothing will ever stand in the way of their friendship. They look forward to the upcoming summer camp and the crew competition. Then the gay team from Berlin arrives and Tobi is totally confused. The evening before the races begin, the storm that breaks out is more than meteorological.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSmall Change (1976)
The lives of a motherless young man, who's just starting to find interest in women, and his physically abused, poverty stricken friend, are mixed with more or less innocent childhood experiences and challenges most their age experience.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMoonstruck (1987)
37-year-old Italian-American widow Loretta Castorini believes she is unlucky in love, and so accepts a marriage proposal from her boyfriend Johnny, even though she doesn't love him. When she meets his estranged younger brother Ronny, an emotional and passionate man, she finds herself drawn to him. She tries to resist, but Ronny, who blames his brother for the loss of his hand, has no scruples about aggressively pursuing her while Johnny is out of the country. As Loretta falls for Ronny, she learns that she's not the only one in her family with a secret romance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this7 Virgins (2005)
It is summertime in a blue-collar, marginal district of a city in the South of Spain. Tano, a teenager currently serving a sentence in a juvenile reform center, is given a 48-hour leave to attend his brother’s wedding.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCaché (2005)
As the host of a literary TV show, Georges begins receiving anonymously filmed videos of his family alongside cryptic, disturbing drawings, but as the tapes become increasingly intimate, they reveal a stalker who has known him for a very long time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Grand Day Out (1990)
Wallace and Gromit have run out of cheese, and this provides an excellent excuse for the duo to take their holiday to the moon, where, as everyone knows, there is ample cheese.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Wrong Trousers (1993)
Wallace rents out Gromit's former bedroom to a penguin, who takes up an interest in the techno trousers created by Wallace. However, Gromit later learns that the penguin is a wanted criminal.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Close Shave (1996)
Wallace's whirlwind romance with the proprietor of the local wool shop puts his head in a spin, and Gromit is framed for sheep-rustling in a fiendish criminal plot.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
Cheese-loving eccentric Wallace and his cunning canine pal Gromit run a business ridding the town of garden pests. Using only humane methods, which turns their home into a halfway house for evicted vermin, the pair stumble upon a mystery involving a voracious vegetarian monster that threatens to ruin the annual veggie-growing contest.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Beach (2000)
Twenty-something Richard travels to Thailand and finds himself in possession of a strange map. Rumours state that it leads to a solitary beach paradise, a tropical bliss - excited and intrigued, he sets out to find it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Penrod and Sam?
The closest matches to Penrod and Sam are Killing Bono (2011), Welcome to the Dollhouse (1996) and A Dog Year (2009). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Penrod and Sam?
Start with Killing Bono (2011), the closest match to Penrod and Sam.
What is the highest-rated movie like Penrod and Sam?
The Wrong Trousers (1993), rated 7.8/10 by 1,225 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Penrod and Sam?
Somewhere in Queens (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Penrod and Sam?
Yes: Killing Bono (2011), Welcome to the Dollhouse (1996) and A Dog Year (2009).
How are movies similar to Penrod and Sam chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Penrod and Sam, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.