Movies like The Joys of Midlife (1987)
The best movies like The Joys of Midlife (1987) are Hooking Up (2020), CQ (2001) and Match (2014). If The Joys of Midlife 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 ratedGreen Book (2018)8.2/10 from 13,486 votes
- NewestOn Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024)Released 2024
Hooking 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 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 thisMatch (2014)
A Seattle couple travel to New York to interview colorful former dancer Tobi for research on a dissertation about dance. But soon, common niceties and social graces erode when the questions turn personal and the true nature of the interview is called into question.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 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 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 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 thisThe Good Half (2024)
Renn Wheeland returns home to Cleveland for his mother's funeral. Once there, he forges new relationships while healing old ones, before confronting his problems and trying to face his grief.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Own Love Song (2010)
A wheelchair-bound singer and her best friend embark on a roadtrip to Memphis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIt Runs in the Family (2003)
This is the story of a dysfunctional New York family, and their attempts to reconcile
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAbout Alex (2014)
When a group of old college friends reunite over a long weekend after one of them attempts suicide, old crushes and resentments shine light on their life decisions, and ultimately push friendships and relationships to the brink.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlaying God (2021)
A brother and sister con-artist duo find themselves scamming a grieving billionaire by convincing him they can introduce him to God, face-to-face.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
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 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 thisWild Oats (2016)
Everything changes for Eva when she receives an insurance settlement check accidentally made out for $5,000,000 instead of the expected $50,000. She and her best friend take the money and head out for the adventure of a lifetime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisKing of the Belgians (2016)
The King of the Belgians is on a state visit in Istanbul when his country falls apart. He must return home at once to save his kingdom. But a solar storm causes airspace and communications to shut down. No planes. No phones. With the help of a British filmmaker and a troupe of Bulgarian folk singers, the King and his entourage manage to escape over the border. Incognito. Thus begins an odyssey across the Balkans during which the King discovers the real world - and himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAn Irish Goodbye (2022)
In rural Northern Ireland, following the untimely death of their mother, a young man with Down syndrome and his estranged brother discover her unfulfilled bucket list.
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 thisBest Man Down (2012)
A newlywed couple cancels their honeymoon and returns to the snowy Midwest to make the funeral arrangements for their best man, who died unexpectedly after their ceremony.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSamanishvili's Stepmother (1977)
Impoverished old nobleman Bekina insists on marrying a wife, but his son Platon does not want to have sharer in father's inheritance. Platon finds two times widowed and childless bride for Bekina, but a fate makes fun of him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Green Book (2018)
Tony Lip, a bouncer in 1962, is hired to drive pianist Don Shirley on a tour through the Deep South in the days when African Americans, forced to find alternate accommodations and services due to segregation laws below the Mason-Dixon Line, relied on a guide called The Negro Motorist Green Book.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAbout Schmidt (2002)
A recently retired man embarks on a journey to his estranged daughter's wedding, only to discover more about himself and life than he ever expected.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAn Average Little Man (1977)
A middle-aged government accountant is determined to secure a stable job for his son before retiring, willing to go to great lengths to achieve his goal.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisWill Not Stop There (2008)
Whilst working on the case of a porn smuggling ring, private investigator and war veteran Martin decides to watch some of the films the police had confiscated, partially out of loneleyness and partially out of wanting to find out more information about the people involved in it. However, when he recognizes a familiar face in one of the films, he decides to travel to Belgrade, wanting to apologize to the actress for the trauma he caused her during the Croatian War of Indpendance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Carnage (2011)
Two pairs of parents hold a cordial meeting after their sons are involved in a fight, though as their time together progresses, increasingly childish behavior throws the discussion into chaos.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLiving With an Idiot (1993)
The main character is an intellectual from Russia, who sees it as his duty to bring an idiot from an mental institution to his house. He can pick someone out, after bribing the boss of the institution, with two bottles of vodka. He chooses Vova, at first sight a silly man, and takes him home. His wife is at first not very happy with this choice. Vova says and does nothing at all. Then he becomes an aggressive man, who terrorises the house and bashes everything to pieces. After she is raped by Vova, the wife gets sexually dependant on the Idiot. Vova isn't interested anymore, when she gets pregnant and doesn't keep the baby. The idiot goes now to the intellectual for his sexual needs. The wife can't take this anymore and forces her man to take a choice: Vova out, or she will go.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Get Thee Out (1991)
In Russia at the turn of the century, a wealthy Jewish merchant enjoys the best of relations with his Russian neighbours, while his respected home forms the obvious social centre of the entire community. However, the atmosphere grows more tense as the local authorities come under pressure to fall in line with the officially sanctioned anti-Semitic policies of the Tsarist Government. The village elder is one of our hero's best friends and together they seem to find a way to outwit these evil intentions but unfortunately they fail to understand what forces they are dealing with in a country where anti-Semitism is state policy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Kotsch (2006)
KOTSCH tells the story of four friends called Alf (Christoph Theußl), Boris (Andreas Kiendl), Chris (Michael Ostrowski) and Dalli (Michael Fuith), who grew up together in the small town Fohnsdorf in Styria.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Balakirev the Jester (2001)
Pyotr's jester Ivan Balakirev is caught up in complicated family relations of Russian emperor and palace intrigues of his court.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Like The Joys of Midlife and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Joys of Midlife?
The closest matches to The Joys of Midlife are Hooking Up (2020), CQ (2001) and Match (2014). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Joys of Midlife?
Start with Hooking Up (2020), the closest match to The Joys of Midlife.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Joys of Midlife?
Green Book (2018), rated 8.2/10 by 13,486 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Joys of Midlife?
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Joys of Midlife chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Joys of Midlife, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.