Movies like The Maximum Penalty (2001)
The best movies like The Maximum Penalty (2001) are Rudo & Cursi (2008), 53 Sundays (2026) and Almost Friends (2017). If The Maximum Penalty 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 rated¿Y cómo es él? (2022)7.5/10 from 260 votes
- NewestThe Raffle of Julinho the Pig (2026)Released 2026
- In SpanishRudo & Cursi (2008)Also in Spanish
Rudo & Cursi (2008)
Tato and Beto are poor stepbrothers living on a banana plantation in Mexico. Both are talented soccer players, but their dreams lay elsewhere: tone-deaf Tato wants to be a singer, while Beto is content to remain on the plantation. One day, a sports agent sees the two young men playing soccer and offers to take one of them to Mexico City for a chance at sports stardom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this53 Sundays (2026)
When three siblings agree to meet and discuss their aging father's future, their reunion spirals into bickering, bantering and reliving old grudges.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 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 thisSmall Apartments (2012)
When a clumsy deadbeat accidentally kills his landlord, he must do everything in his power to hide the body, only to find that the distractions of lust, the death of his beloved brother, and a crew of misfit characters force him on a journey where a fortune awaits him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisDown the Rabbit Hole (2024)
Raised in opulence and culture, a boy's life contrasts with the darkness that seeps in from his father's criminal activities in this dark comedy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOfficial Competition (2021)
When a billionaire entrepreneur impulsively decides to create an iconic movie, he demands the best. Renowned filmmaker Lola Cuevas is recruited to mastermind this ambitious endeavour. Completing the all-star team are two actors with massive talent but even bigger egos: Hollywood heartthrob Félix Rivero and radical theatre actor Iván Torres. Both are legends, but not exactly best friends. Through a series of increasingly eccentric trials set by Lola, Félix and Iván must confront not only each other but also their own legacies. Who will be left when the cameras finally start rolling?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGloria (2013)
Gloria is a 58-year-old divorcée. Her children have all left home but she has no desire to spend her days and nights alone. Determined to defy old age and loneliness, she rushes headlong into a whirl of singles’ parties on the hunt for instant gratification – which only leads to repeated disappointment and enduring emptiness. But when Gloria meets Rodolfo, an ex-naval officer seven years her senior, she begins to imagine the possibility of a permanent relationship.
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 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 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 thisDon't Think Twice (2016)
An improv group deals with several crises, including the loss of their lease and one member hitting the big time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCaptain Pantoja and the Special Services (1999)
The Peruvian army captain Pantaleon Pantoja, a very serious and efficient officer, is chosen by his superiors to set up a special service of 'visitors' to satisfy the sexual needs of the soldiers posted on remote jungle outposts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisGoal II: Living the Dream (2007)
Tempted away from Newcastle United to join Real Madrid, rising star Santiago Munez finds this latest change of fortune the greatest challenge yet - personally as well as professionally. He is reunited with Gavin Harris, though they must compete to be on the team, and estranged from fiancee Roz, whose nursing career keeps her back home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBelieve (2013)
A young, gifted soccer player who gets into trouble for a petty crime is brought to the attention of former Manchester United coach Matt Busby, who comes out of retirement to help the boy and his teammates.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAbove the Rim (1994)
Story of a promising high school basketball star and his relationships with two brothers, one a drug dealer and the other a former basketball star fallen on hard times and now employed as a security guard.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFast Girls (2012)
A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Firm (1989)
A seemingly respectable estate agent leads a double life as the head of a vicious, well-organised gang of football hooligans. When 'The Firm' decide to confront a rival gang, it ends in tragedy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWandering Shadows (2004)
Two men meet in downtown Bogotá: one is missing a leg, the other is a "silletero", a man who carries people around for money. Each character bears the burden of a bitter past life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Papeles en el viento (2015)
When El Mono dies, his three longtime friends try to recover from the loss and want to secure his little girl's future. But for Fernando, Mauricio and El Ruso this will not be easy. They decide to recover a big investment El Mono had made when he had bought a soccer player who was supposed to become a star.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
One Leg Kicking (2001)
A group of underdogs form an amateur football team to play in a local league. The prize for the winners: a trip to the 2002 World Cup Finals. The team include a common man's hero who raises his two children single-handedly after his wife passes away, an ex-con with major anger management problems, a lounge singer struggling against his deadly nemesis - the karaoke machine, and a tender but tough tomboy. The story is built around the team struggle against the odds from no-hopers to title contenders. Through the game of football, the team learns not just sportsmanship, but life lessons that help them to mature as individuals, and ultimately, help each other to become better human beings.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Beur Blanc Rouge (2006)
Le match France - Algérie vient chambouler le train-train de Brahim et Mouloud. Cet évènement va diviser les deux amis : Brahim revendique son identité algérienne, Mouloud fustige son refus de la France, pays qui les a vu grandir.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Mario (2018)
Mario is a promising young footballer in Switzerland on his way to the top, closing in on the success he and his father always dreamed of. But when the talented striker Leon joins the team, they'll get caught up between the politics of the game and the politics of love, as rumours and prejudice threaten their careers and everything they've managed to build.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLimbs (TBA)
The wife of a footballer has only until he comes back home to escape.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Balls Up (2026)
Two marketing executives go "balls out" and pitch a bold full‑coverage condom sponsorship with the World Cup. After their drunken celebration in Brazil sparks a global scandal, they must outrun furious fans, criminals, and power-hungry officials to salvage their careers and make it home alive.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Raffle of Julinho the Pig (2026)
A traditional soccer club seeks to adapt to hardships and raise funds through an unusual strategy: raffling off a pig. However, what seemed like merely an odd tale turns into a police matter when allegations arise that the animal was stolen. As the story gains traction, Julinho the Pig becomes a celebrity while awaiting the resolution of his fate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (1975)
Goalkeeper Josef Bloch is sent off after committing a foul during an away game. This causes him to lose his bearings, and he wanders aimlessly through the city streets and spends the night with the box-office attendant of a movie theatre.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Maximum Penalty?
The closest matches to The Maximum Penalty are Rudo & Cursi (2008), 53 Sundays (2026) and Almost Friends (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Maximum Penalty?
Start with Rudo & Cursi (2008), the closest match to The Maximum Penalty.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Maximum Penalty?
¿Y cómo es él? (2022), rated 7.5/10 by 260 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Maximum Penalty?
The Raffle of Julinho the Pig (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like The Maximum Penalty?
Yes: Rudo & Cursi (2008), 53 Sundays (2026) and Down the Rabbit Hole (2024).
How are movies similar to The Maximum Penalty chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Maximum Penalty, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.