Movies like Il Sorpasso (1962)
The best movies like Il Sorpasso (1962) are The Last Time We Were Children (2023), Dear Eleanor (2016) and The Trip to Italy (2014). If Il Sorpasso 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 ratedLuca (2021)7.8/10 from 9,227 votes
- NewestBel Canto (2025)Released 2025
- In ItalianThe Last Time We Were Children (2023)Also in Italian
The Last Time We Were Children (2023)
Rome, summer 1943. Four children play war while the bombs of real war explode around them. Italo is the rich son of the Federal, Cosimo has his father in confinement and an atavistic hunger, Vanda is an orphan and a believer, Riccardo comes from a wealthy Jewish family. They are different but they don't know it and between them "the greatest friendship in the world" is born, impervious to the divisions of history that bloodies Europe. But on October 16 the Jewish boy is taken away by the Germans together with over a thousand people from the Ghetto. Thanks to Italo's father Federale, the three friends believe they know where he is and, to honor the "spit pact", decide to leave in secret to convince the Germans to free their friend. Yet another imaginative mission becomes reality, the three children travel alone in an Italy exhausted by war, among disbanded soldiers, deserters, occupying German troops, exhausted and hungry populations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDear Eleanor (2016)
Two teenage girls travel across the U.S. in 1962, during the chaos of the Cuban missile crisis, in search of Eleanor Roosevelt.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Trip to Italy (2014)
Years after their successful restaurant review tour of Northern England, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are commissioned for a new tour in Italy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLife Is Life (2025)
An elderly shepherd takes on big business when he becomes the only holdout against property developers building a luxury resort in his tiny Sardinian village.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Vitelloni (1953)
Five young men dream of success as they drift lazily through life in a small Italian village. Fausto, the group's leader, is a womanizer; Riccardo craves fame; Alberto is a hopeless dreamer; Moraldo fantasizes about life in the city; and Leopoldo is an aspiring playwright. As Fausto chases a string of women, to the horror of his pregnant wife, the other four blunder their way from one uneventful experience to the next.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVariety Lights (1950)
In Italy, Checco Dal Monte manages a troupe of traveling performers with plenty of heart but minimal talent. At a small town engagement, he encounters the starry-eyed, gorgeous Lily Antonelli, and hires her as a dancer on the show. Vivacious Lily quickly sells out crowds and earns the resentment of Checco's mistress, Melina Amour, but the fledgling performer has far bigger ambitions and soon sets her sights on a higher-profile role.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBasilicata Coast To Coast (2010)
A musical comedy, a journey filled with unexpected twists and unexpected encounters, leading a group of musicians to set out to the rhythm of their musical verses to participate in the Scanzano Jonico Song-Theatre Festival, walking across Basilicata, from the Tyrrhenian to the Ionian Sea, along the route that gives the project its name. The journey will have a therapeutic effect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLuca (2021)
Luca and his best friend Alberto experience an unforgettable summer on the Italian Riviera. But all the fun is threatened by a deeply-held secret: they are sea monsters from another world just below the water’s surface.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIn the Name of the Italian People (1971)
An obscure Italian magistrate suspects that a well-known industrialist commited murder, and decides to investigate him, and bring him to court, whatever it takes. But - will the magistrate have it in him to go against impossible odds, in the name of the Italian people he represents?
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 thisA Flat for Three (2012)
Ulisse, Fulvio and Domenico decide to rent an apartment together in order to live with their modest work. However the three encounter any difficulties that have forced them to always be one step away from starvation. Ulisse has to maintain his wife and daughter selling recordings of important foreign singers, Fulvio has the task of reviewing silly scandals of celebrities instead of writing articles for major artists, while Domenico must keep his wife and children going to make love with old single pensioners.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMade in Italy (2020)
A bohemian artist travels from London to Italy with his estranged son to sell the house they inherited from his late wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReality (2012)
A dark comedy centering on the lives of a Neapolitan based family whose father, a fish merchant, is so infatuated with the reality TV show "Grande Fratello" (the Italian version of "Big Brother") he starts living his life as if he were on it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTrue Grit (1969)
The murder of her father sends a teenage tomboy on a mission of 'justice', which involves avenging her father's death. She recruits a tough old marshal, 'Rooster' Cogburn because he has 'true grit', and a reputation of getting the job done.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeat the Devil (1953)
A group of con artists stake their claim on a bogus uranium mine.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSlumberland (2022)
A young girl discovers a secret map to the dreamworld of Slumberland, and with the help of an eccentric outlaw, she traverses dreams and flees nightmares, with the hope that she will be able to see her late father again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDear Goddamned Friends (1994)
In 1944 Tuscany, a group of boxers struggling through World War II stages rigged matches to earn money and travel, accompanied by a missing black American soldier and a girl resisting marriage, as they navigate the challenges of their war-torn world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCaro diario (1993)
Nanni Moretti recounts in his diary three slice-of-life stories marked by a dry, ironic gaze: in the first, he rides his Vespa through a deserted, sun-drenched summertime Rome; in the second, he visits a reclusive friend on an island, who ropes him into an impromptu journey between islets in search of quiet; and in the last, he finds himself grappling with an unknown illness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisScooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster (2010)
Scooby-Doo and the gang are on the case when a mysterious lake monster starts scaring the guests at a summer resort in Erie Point, where Fred, Daphne, Velma and Shaggy have taken on seasonal jobs to pay for a barn they accidentally burned down. But in addition to sneaking suspicions, there's some romance in the air.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Way Way Back (2013)
Shy 14-year-old Duncan goes on summer vacation with his mother, her overbearing boyfriend, and her boyfriend's daughter. Having a rough time fitting in, Duncan finds an unexpected friend in Owen, manager of the Water Wizz water park.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll About My Mother (1999)
Following the tragic death of her teenage son, Manuela travels from Madrid to Barcelona in an attempt to contact the long-estranged father the boy never knew. She reunites with an old friend, an outspoken transgender sex worker, and befriends a troubled actress and a pregnant, HIV-positive nun.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Mark of Zorro (1920)
Don Diego Vega pretends to be an indolent fop as a cover for his true identity, the masked avenger Zorro. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRockville Morning (2017)
Follow struggling photographer Eddie through a regular morning in the town of Rockville Maryland
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Semi-retired Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler takes the case of Army Lt. Manion, who murdered a local innkeeper after his wife claimed that he raped her. Over the course of an extensive trial, Biegler parries with District Attorney Lodwick and out-of-town prosecutor Claude Dancer to set his client free, but his case rests on the victim's mysterious business partner, who's hiding a dark secret.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisArmageddon (1998)
When an asteroid threatens to collide with Earth, NASA honcho Dan Truman determines the only way to stop it is to drill into its surface and detonate a nuclear bomb. This leads him to renowned driller Harry Stamper, who agrees to helm the dangerous space mission provided he can bring along his own hotshot crew. Among them is the cocksure A.J. who Harry thinks isn't good enough for his daughter, until the mission proves otherwise.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBrokeback Mountain (2005)
In 1960s Wyoming, two men develop a strong emotional and sexual relationship that endures as a lifelong connection complicating their lives as they get married and start families of their own.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMILF (2018)
Three childhood friends - Elise, Sonia and Cecile - leave for a summer in the South of France to help clear Cecile’s holiday house before it is put up for sale. There, they soon become the prime targets of three horny young men, for whom these single forty-year-old women are much more attractive than girls their age.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisLonely are the Brave (1962)
A fiercely independent cowboy arranges to have himself locked up in jail in order to then escape with an old friend who has been sentenced to the penitentiary.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChristmas Holidays (1983)
Christmas holidays on the snow of Cortina D'Ampezzo. Mario, a guy from Rome who has not much money, falls in love with the American Samantha, the girlfriend of hypochondriac Roberto. Billo, a singer and a playboy, meets Ivana: she's married with a rich man, Donatone, but in the past she had a flirt with Billo, who wants to reignite the flame.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBel Canto (2025)
After a boozy night, Anne wakes up, except everything around her has turned into music… What happened? Accompanied by Pierre, her boyfriend who mysteriously started to talk in Italian overnight, they will try to unravel the mystery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Like Il Sorpasso and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Il Sorpasso?
The closest matches to Il Sorpasso are The Last Time We Were Children (2023), Dear Eleanor (2016) and The Trip to Italy (2014). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Il Sorpasso?
Start with The Last Time We Were Children (2023), the closest match to Il Sorpasso.
What is the highest-rated movie like Il Sorpasso?
Luca (2021), rated 7.8/10 by 9,227 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Il Sorpasso?
Bel Canto (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Italian movies like Il Sorpasso?
Yes: The Last Time We Were Children (2023), Life Is Life (2025) and I Vitelloni (1953).
How are movies similar to Il Sorpasso chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Il Sorpasso, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.