Movies like Experience Preferred... But Not Essential (1982)
The best movies like Experience Preferred... But Not Essential (1982) are Clear History (2013), Shane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs (2023) and Ricky Gervais: Mortality (2025). If Experience Preferred... But Not Essential hooked you with its comedy and tv movie, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMystery Train (1989)7.3/10 from 545 votes
- NewestSpa Weekend (2026)Released 2026
Clear History (2013)
Nathan Flomm, in order to avoid the humiliation of having missed out on a hugely successful business, assumes a new identity on Martha's Vineyard. He plots revenge when his former business partner moves to the same town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs (2023)
In a rowdy stand-up set, Shane Gillis riffs on his girlfriend's Navy SEAL ex, touring George Washington's house and being bullied by an Australian Goth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRicky Gervais: Mortality (2025)
Ricky Gervais tackles life, death and the state of the world in a brutally honest special that spares no topic, even his own mortality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDr. Strange (1978)
A psychiatrist becomes the new Sorcerer Supreme of the Earth in order to battle an evil Sorceress from the past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWaiting... (2005)
Young employees at Shenaniganz restaurant collectively stave off boredom and adulthood with their antics.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBaywatch (2017)
Devoted lifeguard Mitch Buchannon butts heads with a brash new recruit. Together, they uncover a local criminal plot that threatens the future of the Bay.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEenie Meanie (2025)
A former teenage getaway driver gets dragged back into her unsavory past when a former employer offers her a chance to save the life of her chronically unreliable ex-boyfriend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisArmy of Thieves (2021)
A mysterious woman recruits bank teller Ludwig Dieter to lead a group of aspiring thieves on a top-secret heist during the early stages of the zombie apocalypse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiss Marple: A Caribbean Mystery (1989)
While on vacation at a resort hotel in the West Indies, Miss Marple correctly suspects that the apparently natural death of a retired British major is actually the work of a murderer planning yet another killing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGuest House Paradiso (1999)
Richie and Eddie are in charge of the worst hotel in the UK, Guest House Paradiso, neighbouring a nuclear power plant. The illegal immigrant chef has fled and all the guests have gone. But when a famous Italian filmstar, Gina Carbonara, who is in hiding from a fiance she doesn't want to marry, arrives at the hotel, things get very interesting!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOnce Upon a Deadpool (2018)
A kidnapped Fred Savage is forced to endure Deadpool's PG-13 rendition of Deadpool 2, as a Princess Bride-esque story full of magic, wonder, and zero Fs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMystery Train (1989)
In Memphis, Tennessee, over the course of a single night, the Arcade Hotel, run by an eccentric night clerk and a clueless bellboy, is visited by a young Japanese couple traveling in search of the roots of rock; an Italian woman in mourning who stumbles upon a fleeing charlatan girl; and a comical trio of accidental thieves looking for a place to hide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSpa Weekend (2026)
Four lifelong friends realize that somewhere between careers, relationships, families, and everyday responsibilities, they’ve forgotten how to take care of themselves and each other. Burned out and overdue for a break, the women escape to a luxury spa retreat for an unforgettable weekend dedicated to fun, laughter, and a lot of really bad decisions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAccident Man (2018)
Mike Fallon, the Accident Man, is a stone cold killer. When a loved one is murdered by his own crew, Fallon is forced to avenge the one person who actually meant something to him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark Web: Cicada 3301 (2021)
Genius hacker Connor discovers Cicada 3301, an online treasure hunt that could be a recruiting tool for a secret society. Soon Conner, art-expert friend Avi, and secretive librarian Gwen are dashing from graffiti sites to ancient libraries to uncover real-world clues. But they must outrun aggressive NSA agents, also hot on the trail of Cicada, who want the glory for themselves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisBad Sister (2015)
As a top student at St. Adeline's Catholic Boarding School, Zoe senses that something is not quite right about the school's new nun-- a sense proven to be true when it is revealed the "good' nun is an imposter with a fatal attraction to Zoe's brother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAfterburn (2025)
Set against the backdrop of a postapocalyptic Earth whose Eastern Hemisphere was destroyed by a massive solar flare, leaving what life remains mutated from radiation and fallout. The story revolves around a group of treasure hunters who extract such objects as the Mona Lisa, the Rosetta Stone and the Crown Jewels while facing rival hunters, mutants and pirates.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Night at McCool's (2001)
On an ordinary night, in an ordinary part of town, a beautiful young woman walks into a bar. Her name is Jewel, and before long she is chatting to bartender Randy. The pair leave together, but he ends up getting into a tussle with her criminal boyfriend, who she then shoots dead, later persuading Randy to take the rap for her. But this isn't the end of it, as both Randy's cousin Carl and the detective assigned to the murder case also fall for Jewel's charms and find themselves caught up in the ensuing events. It seems that any man who meets Jewel falls instantly in love with her, and she's going to use this fully to her own advantage, leaving a trail of havoc in her wake. It also seems that she is going to get away with it - that is, until Randy decides to hire a hitman...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisBritannia Hospital (1982)
Britannia Hospital, an esteemed English institution, is marking its gala anniversary with a visit by the Queen Mother herself. But when investigative reporter Mick Travis arrives to cover the celebration, he finds the hospital under siege by striking workers, ruthless unions, violent demonstrators, racist aristocrats, an African cannibal dictator, and sinister human experiments.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHead Above Water (1996)
Judge George brings his young wife, Nathalie, to a remote island for a vacation. But while George accompanies their only neighbor -- Nathalie's childhood friend Lance -- on a fishing trip, Nathalie spends time with her ex, Kent. When Kent ends up dead the next morning, Nathalie tries to hide the evidence before her husband gets home. After the body is found, the events of the previous night unravel, with unexpected revelations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAddams Family Reunion (1998)
The Addams Family goes on a search for their relatives. Gomez and Morticia are horrified to discover that Grandpa and Grandma Addams have a disease that is slowly turning them "normal". The only chance they have of a cure is to find a family member hoping that they know a home remedy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisFrench Fried Vacation (1978)
Holidaymakers arriving in a Club Med camp on the Ivory Coast are determined to forget their everyday problems and emotional disappointments. Games, competitions, outings, bathing and sunburn accompany a continual succession of casual affairs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMystic Pizza (1988)
Three teenage girls come of age while working at a pizza parlor in Mystic, Connecticut.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPopeye (1980)
Popeye is a super-strong, spinach-scarfing sailor man who's searching for his father. During a storm that wrecks his ship, Popeye washes ashore and winds up rooming at the Oyl household, where he meets Olive. Before he can win her heart, he must first contend with Olive's fiancé, Bluto.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisFamily Plan (1997)
A bumbling guy takes a group of orphans to summer camp.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
A Pain in the Ass (1973)
Ralf Milan, a hitman, arrives in Montpellier to kill an important witness. He checks in a hotel without knowing that his neighbour has become neurotic after his wife left him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Big Bounce (2004)
A small-time con artist and a Hawaiian real estate developer's mischievous, enterprising mistress team up for a potential $200,000 score.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisOne Night in Heaven (1951)
Ms. Byzantiou is a passionate writer who stays at the hotel “Paradise” together with other eccentric tenants. When the friend of a hotel boy, who is planning to marry a young tenant, arrives at the same time with a couple of newlyweds, Ms. Byzantiou is inspired to write about a dramatic love affair.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Home Fries (1998)
Dorian and Angus chase down their womanizing stepfather with a helicopter, frightening him to death. In his effort to cover their tracks, Dorian begins investigating his stepfather's mistress, Sally. She works at a fast-food drive-through, she's pregnant and Dorian quickly falls in love with her. Unfortunately, his scheming mother wants Sally dead. And Sally isn't sure she wants Dorian to be her child's father and also his brother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisCould This Be Love? (2007)
Lucas, a wealthy, 43 year-old divorced businessman, is irresistibly attracted to Elsa, a 38 year old renowned sculptor from whom he has commissioned a piece to decorate the reception at his office.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Like Experience Preferred... But Not Essential and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Experience Preferred... But Not Essential?
The closest matches to Experience Preferred... But Not Essential are Clear History (2013), Shane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs (2023) and Ricky Gervais: Mortality (2025). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Experience Preferred... But Not Essential?
Start with Clear History (2013), the closest match to Experience Preferred... But Not Essential.
What is the highest-rated movie like Experience Preferred... But Not Essential?
Mystery Train (1989), rated 7.3/10 by 545 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Experience Preferred... But Not Essential?
Spa Weekend (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Experience Preferred... But Not Essential?
Yes: Clear History (2013), Shane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs (2023) and Ricky Gervais: Mortality (2025).
How are movies similar to Experience Preferred... But Not Essential chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Experience Preferred... But Not Essential, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.