Movies like The Motel (2005)
The best movies like The Motel (2005) are Fat Kid Rules The World (2012), The House of Tomorrow (2019) and Almost Friends (2017). If The Motel hooked you with its drama and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest rated¿Y cómo es él? (2022)7.5/10 from 260 votes
- NewestOn Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024)Released 2024
Fat Kid Rules The World (2012)
A dropout comes to the aid of a chubby and suicidal high-school kid by recruiting him as the drummer for his upstart punk-rock band.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe House of Tomorrow (2019)
The film tells futurist, architect, and inventor R. Buckminster Fuller's incredible story through two teens hoping to get laid, become punk gods, and survive high school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlmost Friends (2017)
A man in his mid-20s, still living at home with his mother and stepfather, puts all his eggs in one basket: the girl who works at his local coffee shop. The problem is, she has a serious boyfriend. As they become closer, the line between friendship and intimacy is blurred, and the situation forces both to examine where they are in their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCQ (2001)
A young filmmaker in 1960s Paris juggles directing a cheesy sci-fi debacle, directing his own personal art film, coping with his crumbling relationship with his girlfriend, and a new-found infatuation with the sci-fi film's starlet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLady Windermere's Fan (1925)
A society woman believes her husband is having an affair, a misconception which may have dire personal consequences for all involved.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUncorked (2020)
Elijah must balance his dream of becoming a master sommelier with his father's expectations that he carry on the family's Memphis BBQ joint.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLandline (2017)
A teenager living with her sister and parents in Manhattan during the 1990s discovers that her father is having an affair.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJuniper (2021)
When a self-destructive teenager is suspended from school and asked to look after his feisty alcoholic grandmother as a punishment, the crazy time they spend together turns his life around.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChloe and Theo (2015)
A young woman, Chloe, living by her wits on the streets of New York City, has a chance meeting with a wise Inuit Eskimo, Theo, who was sent to New York by his elders to provide a message to the people of the world – We either change our destructive was or be destroyed by them. Chloe, who has been searching for something to believe in, becomes inspired by Theo and , with the help of a kind lawyer, Monica, the three of them present Theo’s story to the United Nations in hopes of creating a better future for all of us.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisHooking Up (2020)
Bailey and Darla embark upon a misguided and mutually deceitful form of therapy, one in which they must drive across the country, re-enacting Darla's colorful history as a sex addict. As their true motivations for the road trip come to light, the unlikely pair force one another to confront their issues, discovering that there might actually be more to love than just sex.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSubUrbia (1997)
A group of suburban teenagers try to support each other through the difficult task of becoming adults.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTreasure (2024)
A music journalist accompanies her father, a charmingly stubborn Holocaust survivor, on a journey to his homeland. While she's eager to make sense of her family's past, her dad has an agenda of his own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like this¿Y cómo es él? (2022)
Thomas is a meek man on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Despite his situation he decides to fake a work trip to go to Vallarta to confront Jero, a taxi driver who is sleeping with his wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 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 thisHappy New Year, Colin Burstead (2018)
Colin has rented a stately country home for his extended family’s New Year celebrations. He’s the centre of attention until his estranged brother David unexpectedly arrives, throwing the family dynamic far off orbit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOn Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024)
On an empty road in the middle of the night, Shula stumbles across the body of her uncle. As funeral proceedings begin around them, she and her cousins bring to light the buried secrets of their middle-class Zambian family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSometimes Always Never (2019)
Alan is a stylish tailor with moves as sharp as his suits. He has spent years searching tirelessly for his missing son Michael who stormed out over a game of Scrabble. With a body to identify and his family torn apart, Alan must repair the relationship with his youngest son and solve the mystery of an online player who he thinks could be Michael, so he can finally move on and reunite his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn the Soup (1992)
An aspiring young filmmaker gets involved with an eccentric gangster for the financing of his first film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Racer (2020)
Summer 1998 - the opening stages of Le Tour de France are relocated to Ireland. Belgian rider Dom Chabol (late 30s) has been one of the best “Domestiques” (support riders) on the Tour for the last 20 years. It’s a sacrificial role – setting pace, blocking wind, and providing support to enable the team’s sprinter to victory - winning is not an option. But Dom secretly harbours a desire to wear the yellow jersey - just once before his career is over. At the start of what will likely be his last Tour, Dom is unceremoniously dropped from the Team he has dedicated his life to. His best mate Sonny, the team masseur, fails to reassure him about his future. But a chance liaison with Lynn, a young Irish doctor, softens the blow, and Dom starts to accept - and even enjoy - the idea of civilian life. But as he gears up to go home and to face his estranged sister, a massive doping error knocks another teammate off the Tour and Dom is thrown back in the saddle…
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisTaxi nach Rathenow (1991)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
The Absent (2014)
An old man lives alone in a shabby cabin in a remote mountainous area of Mexico. His house is set to be demolished in order to facilitate the redevelopment of the area. He doesn't know how to protect his house. Time goes by and one day a young man shows up on his doorstep. Looking exhausted, he starts his new routine here, cooking and doing laundry just like the old man.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
National Theatre Live: King Lear (2014)
An aged king decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, according to which of them is most eloquent in praising him. His favourite, Cordelia, says nothing. Simon Russell Beale, whose recent appearances at the National include Timon of Athens and Collaborators, takes the title role in Shakespeare’s tragedy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Hanele (1999)
Based on an autobiographical novella by Ivan Olbracht, the film tells the story of Hanele Safarová, who grows up just after the First World War in a little Ruthenian schtetl which, in true Hassidic fashion, awaits the arrival of the Messiah. But Hanele decides to follow the Zionists instead. She moves to the city to prepare for her departure to the Promised Land, where she meets a successful businessman named Ivo Karadzic, who has renounced Judaism to become a free-thinker. Their love for each other doesn’t only drive Hanele’s parents to distraction, it also threatens to destroy the entire community in the schetl.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Ilona & Kurti (1991)
Kurt Schneider is a superficial and funloving character. Instigated by his mother he swindles his way into the legacy of a house and some money. Both Kurti and his mother are certain there are no legal heirs to the property. Great is their surprise when Ilona appears, who is the legal heiress coming from a remote part of Yugoslavia. Several attempts to get rid of that "Tschusch" prove unsuccessful. Once Mama Schneider gets to know that Ilona is also the beneficiary of a sizable life assurance contract, she destines her son to marry Ilona. While trying to double-cross Ilona, Kurti actually falls in love with her. Now it is Ilona's turn to take vengeance on mother Schneider and to prompt Kurti to take a clear-cut decision...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Best Little Whorehouse in Rochdale (2013)
After the untimely death of her husband, shy Joan (a part-time cleaner) has to make money fast to keep from losing her home. She asks Fred, her sleazy boss, if she can work more hours - but instead, he takes on sexy air-head, Sharon and fires Joan. Now, she's forced to resort to extreme measures to avoid her home being repossessed. Aided by Sharon, and her two friends/former work-mates (65 year-old eccentric Enid, and desperate Mavis), Joan becomes the Madame of a do-it-yourself co-operative brothel... A brothel with no sex!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Plien en Bianca: Ngorongoro (2001)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Plien en Bianca: Biks! (2001)
Registration of the second theatre program by the Dutch comedy duo Plien (van Bennekom) & Bianca Krijgsman.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Plien en Bianca: Wie dan allemaal? (2008)
Two lonely brothers and two failed artists.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Black Mountain Side (2016)
A group of archaeologists working in Northern Canada uncover a strange structure dating over ten thousand years before the present. The team soon finds themselves isolated when their communication systems fail and they begin to feel the effects of solitude.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like this
Like The Motel and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Motel?
The closest matches to The Motel are Fat Kid Rules The World (2012), The House of Tomorrow (2019) and Almost Friends (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Motel?
Start with Fat Kid Rules The World (2012), the closest match to The Motel.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Motel?
¿Y cómo es él? (2022), rated 7.5/10 by 260 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Motel?
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Motel?
Yes: Fat Kid Rules The World (2012), The House of Tomorrow (2019) and Almost Friends (2017).
How are movies similar to The Motel chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Motel, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.