Movies like California Split (1974)
The best movies like California Split (1974) are Husbands (1970), Two for the Money (2005) and Suicide Kings (1997). If California Split 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 ratedCasino (1995)8.0/10 from 6,860 votes
- NewestBallad of a Small Player (2025)Released 2025
Husbands (1970)
A common friend's sudden death brings three men, married with children, to reconsider their lives and ultimately leave the country together. But mindless enthusiasm for regained freedom will be short-lived.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTwo for the Money (2005)
A former college athlete joins forces with a sports consultant to handicap football games for high-rolling gamblers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuicide Kings (1997)
Carlo, a former mobster, is abducted by five privileged young men desperate to raise a $2 million ransom to save the sister of a friend. As Carlo plays mind games, however, his captors splinter -- each wondering whether one of their own had a hand in the crime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSnack Shack (2024)
Inseparable best friends AJ and Moose decide to run the local pool's snack shack after their plan to sell home-brewed beer goes down the drain. Things take a turn when they meet Brooke, an effortlessly cool lifeguard who puts their big plans, and friendship, at risk.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChoke (2008)
A sex-addicted con-man pays for his mother's hospital bills by playing on the sympathies of those who rescue him from choking to death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHard Eight (1997)
A stranger mentors a young Reno gambler who weds a hooker and befriends a vulgar casino regular.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRounders (1998)
Poker addict Mike McDermott knows the game inside out, but loses his money one night in a game to Russian-American gangster Teddy KGB. Promising his partner Jo he'll give up, he meets up with best friend Lester 'Worm' Murphy, just out of prison and owing lots of money to the wrong kind of people. McDermott becomes his co-guarantor and now there's only one way to raise the money, the pair have to get back into the game.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCasino (1995)
In Las Vegas, two best friends-a casino executive and a Mafia enforcer--compete for a gambling empire and a fast-living, fast-loving socialite.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Air I Breathe (2007)
A gambler’s bet spiraling into chaos, a gangster's prophetic visions, a pop star’s dark entanglement, a doctor’s desperate race against time to rescue his beloved... Four interconnected stories reveal life unfolding through four emotional pillars — joy, passion, grief, and love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDirty Work (1998)
Unemployed and recently dumped, Mitch and his buddy Sam start a revenge-for-hire business to raise the $50,000 that Sam's father needs to get a heart transplant.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHouse of Games (1987)
A psychiatrist comes to the aid of a compulsive gambler and is led by a smooth-talking grifter into the shadowy but compelling world of stings, scams, and con men.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVery Bad Things (1998)
Kyle Fisher has one last night to celebrate life as a single man before marrying Laura, so he sets out to Vegas with four of his best buddies. But a drug and alcohol filled night on the town with a stripper who goes all the way, turns into a cold night in the desert with shovels when the stripper goes all the way into a body bag after dying in their bathroom. And that's just the first of the bodies to pile up before Kyle can walk down the aisle...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBallad of a Small Player (2025)
Amid the glittering casinos of Macau, a gambler running from his past—and his debts—becomes fascinated by an enigmatic woman at the baccarat table.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLucky Number Slevin (2006)
Slevin is mistakenly put in the middle of a personal war between the city’s biggest criminal bosses. Under constant watch, Slevin must try not to get killed by an infamous assassin and come up with an idea of how to get out of his current dilemma.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCroupier (1998)
Jack Manfred is an aspiring writer who to make ends meet, takes a job as a croupier. Jack remains an observer, knowing that everything in life is a gamble and that gamblers are born to lose. Inevitably, he gets sucked into the world of the casino which takes its toll on his relationships and the novel he is writing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMolly's Game (2017)
Molly Bloom, a young skier and former Olympic hopeful becomes a successful entrepreneur (and a target of an FBI investigation) when she establishes a high-stakes, international poker game.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Gambler (1974)
New York City English professor Axel Freed outwardly seems like an upstanding citizen. But privately Freed is in the clutches of a severe gambling addiction that threatens to destroy him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEasy Money (1983)
To inherit his mother-in-law's colossal fortune, a hard living gambling addict must change his unhealthy ways before it gets the best of him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBugsy (1991)
New York gangster Ben 'Bugsy' Siegel takes a brief business trip to Los Angeles. A sharp-dressing womanizer with a foul temper, Siegel doesn't hesitate to kill or maim anyone crossing him. In L.A. the life, the movies, and most of all strong-willed Virginia Hill detain him while his family wait back home. Then a trip to a run-down gambling joint at a spot in the desert known as Las Vegas gives him his big idea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Gambler (2014)
Literature professor Jim Bennett leads a secret life as a high-stakes gambler. Always a risk-taker, Bennett bets it all when he borrows from a gangster and offers his own life as collateral. Staying one step ahead, he pits his creditor against the operator of an illicit gambling ring while garnering the attention of Frank, a paternalistic loan shark. As his relationship with a student deepens, Bennett must risk everything for a second chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBitch Slap (2009)
Three bad girls - a down-and-out stripper, a drug-running killer, and a corporate powerbroker - arrive at a remote desert hideaway to extort and steal $200 million in diamonds from a ruthless underworld kingpin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThings to Do (2006)
Office worker, Adam, quits work to return to his childhood home and settles into the comforts of his parent's backyard. A chance meeting with a friend from his past leads to them making a "Things to Do" list so they can fulfill some of their childhood dreams.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Wake in Fright (1971)
A young schoolteacher descends into personal moral degradation after finding himself stranded in a brutal, menacing town in outback Australia.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisScooby-Doo Meets Batman (2002)
Scooby-Doo Meets Batman is a video compilation from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. It consists of two episodes from Hanna-Barbera's The New Scooby-Doo Movies, "The Dynamic Scooby Doo Affair" and "The Caped Crusader Caper", where Scooby-Doo and the gang team up with Batman and Robin to capture Joker and the Penguin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSo You Want to Play the Horses (1946)
In this outing, Joe loves playing the horses and shows what you can do to improve your odds of winning.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Café. Waiting. Love (2014)
College freshman Si-ying gets a part-time job at “Cafe. Waiting. Love” coffee shop, where she befriends Abusi, a tomboyish barista who can make any coffee the customers request, the beautiful and mysterious cafe owner, and Zeyu, the boy who always sits in the same spot in the cafe who seems to be very popular with girls and on whom Si-ying develops an instant crush.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDesert Fury (1947)
The daughter of a Nevada casino owner gets involved with a racketeer, despite everyone's efforts to separate them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Love Effect (2016)
The journey of two men wrestling with loss, suicide and their unexpected friendship that helps them rediscover life's greatest gift.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Water Boys (2021)
Five high schoolers join the swim team by accident and find themselves in a situation where they have to complete a synchronized swimming performance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The Crimson Kimono (1959)
Two detectives clash over the hunt for a burlesque dancer’s killer in Los Angeles’ Japanese district.
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 California Split?
The closest matches to California Split are Husbands (1970), Two for the Money (2005) and Suicide Kings (1997). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after California Split?
Start with Husbands (1970), the closest match to California Split.
What is the highest-rated movie like California Split?
Casino (1995), rated 8.0/10 by 6,860 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like California Split?
Ballad of a Small Player (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like California Split?
Yes: Husbands (1970), Two for the Money (2005) and Suicide Kings (1997).
How are movies similar to California Split chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside California Split, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.