Movies like Escalation (1968)
The best movies like Escalation (1968) are Gabriel Iglesias: I'm Sorry for What I Said When I Was Hungry (2016), The Mouse That Roared (1959) and Much Ado About Nothing (2013). If Escalation hooked you with its comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedEddie Murphy: Delirious (1983)7.6/10 from 377 votes
- NewestHostile Takeover (2025)Released 2025
- In Italian...Watch Out, We're Mad (2022)Also in Italian
Gabriel Iglesias: I'm Sorry for What I Said When I Was Hungry (2016)
Hawaiian-shirt enthusiast Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias finds the laughs in racist gift baskets, Prius-driving cops and all-female taco trucks.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Mouse That Roared (1959)
The Duchy of Grand Fenwick decides that the only way to get out of their economic woes is to declare war on the United States, lose and accept foreign aid. They send an invasion force (in chain mail, armed with bows and arrows) to New York and they arrive during a nuclear drill that has cleared the streets.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMuch Ado About Nothing (2013)
A modern retelling of Shakespeare's classic comedy about two pairs of lovers with different takes on romance and a way with words.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRock 'n' Roll High School (1979)
A group of rock-music-loving students, with the help of the Ramones, take over their school to combat its newly installed oppressive administration.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKiller Bean Forever (2008)
When things go bad in Beantown, top assassin Killer Bean is called to clean-up the mess. Detective Cromwell finds himself in the middle between Killer Bean and mob boss Cappuccino.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAnalyze This (1999)
Countless wiseguy films are spoofed in this film that centers on the neuroses and angst of a powerful Mafia racketeer who suffers from panic attacks. When Paul Vitti needs help dealing with his role in the "family," unlucky shrink Dr. Ben Sobel is given just days to resolve Vitti's emotional crisis and turn him into a happy, well-adjusted gangster.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like this...Watch Out, We're Mad (2022)
Estranged, quarreling brothers Carezza and Sorriso have to put aside their differences to reclaim their father's beloved dune buggy from predatory real estate developer Torsillo, with the help of beautiful circus performer Miriam, whose family business is threatened by Torsillo's enforcers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Can Quit Whenever I Want (2014)
A university researcher is fired because of the cuts to university. To earn a living he decides to produce drugs recruiting his former colleagues, who despite their skills are living at the margins of society.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStrange Brew (1983)
Something is rotten at the Elsinore Brewery. Bob and Doug McKenzie (as seen on SCTV) help the orphan Pam regain the brewery founded by her recently-deceased father. But to do so, they must confront the suspicious Brewmeister Smith and two teams of vicious hockey players.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Meteor Man (1993)
One night Jefferson Reed gets hit in the chest by a souped-up chunk of meteor. So he can fly, but he's scared of heights. He can master the information in any book ... for about thirty seconds. Now his friends and family want him to protect their community from the dreaded Golden Lords.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Monster (1994)
A vicious serial sex killer is on the loose, and landscape gardener and shop-window outfitter Loris is the prime suspect, thanks to his unfortunate habit of getting caught in compromising situations (for which there is always a totally innocent explanation that the police fail to spot). Undercover policewoman Jessica is assigned by eccentric police psychologist Taccone to follow Loris.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMVP 2: Most Vertical Primate (2001)
MVP 2 opens with the lovable Jack being ousted from his hockey team, the Seattle Simians, and having to hit the road after being falsely accused of league misconduct. Jack ends up in the city, where he's befriended by Ben, a homeless skateboarder, and Ollie, a skate shop owner. Jack proves to be as adept at mastering the half-pipe as he does at delivering a slap shot, and before long, he and Ben are crashing amateur skateboarder competitions all over the country.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisDon't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996)
When Ashtray moves to South Central L.A. to live with his father (who appears to be the same age he is) and grandmother (who likes to talk tough and smoke reefer), he falls in with his gang-banging cousin Loc Dog, who along with the requisite pistols and Uzi carries a thermo-nuclear warhead for self-defense. Will Ashtray be able to keep living the straight life?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTaking Care of Business (1990)
An uptight advertising exec has his entire life in a filofax organizer which mistakenly ends up in the hands of a friendly convict who poses as him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEddie Murphy: Delirious (1983)
Taped live and in concert at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. in August, 1983, Eddie Murphy: Delirious captures Eddie Murphy's wild and outrageous stand-up comedy act, which he performed in New York and eighteen other cities across the U.S. to standing-room-only audiences. Eddie's comedy was groundbreaking, completely new, razor sharp and definitely funny.Eddie Murphy pontificates in his own vulgarly hilarious fashion on everything from bizarre sexual fantasies to reliving the family barbecue, and is peppered with Eddie's one-of-a-kind wit. Laugh along as Eddie reminiscences of hot childhood days and the ice cream man intermixed with classic vocal parodies of top American entertainers.Experience Eddie Murphy at his best, live and red hot! Delirious! Uncensored and Uncut!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHostile Takeover (2025)
Follows Pete, a professional hitman, as he faces a group of assassins after the boss of a crime syndicate suspects disloyalty due to his attendance at Workaholics Anonymous meetings.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIliza Shlesinger: Elder Millennial (2018)
Filmed February 23, 2018, aboard the USS Hornet, comedian Iliza Shlesinger brings an ‘elder millennial’ perspective to her audience. Recently engaged, she dives into undeniable truths about life at age 35. Looking back at the insanity of the road traveled and what’s to come, Iliza talks first apartments, a woman's inner she dragon, peacock mating calls, and her newfound urge to squeeze a chubby baby leg.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDoctor on Call (2021)
65 year old doctor Pierfrancesco works as a night-shift medical guard. He’s a grumpy man, full of aches and pains and is very rough with his patients. One night, he’s involved in a road collision with 30 year old delivery man Mario. While uninjured, Mario's bicycle is destroyed, and Pierfrancesco's sciatica flares up, making it impossible for him to drive. With both of their jobs in jeopardy, the doctor has an idea that could help them both: “remotely guided” by Pierfrancesco via wireless headset, Mario will visit his patients, and they’ll also carry out Mario’s delivery in Pierfrancesco’s car. After a range of daring (mis)adventures, they will learn to support each other, and the night will end with their lives both changed for the better.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBatman and Harley Quinn (2017)
Batman and Nightwing are forced to team with the Joker's sometimes-girlfriend Harley Quinn to stop a global threat brought about by Poison Ivy and Jason Woodrue, the Floronic Man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark Star (1974)
A group of scientists are sent on a mission to destroy unstable planets. Twenty years into their mission, they have to battle their alien mascot as well as a "sensitive" and intelligent bombing device that starts to question the meaning of its existence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGuess What We Learned in School Today? (1971)
Parents in a small, conservative community don't think that the sex drive is a normal thing for children to experience. So much so, that they label education in that regard as a communist plot. The group of prudes is led by an impotent alcoholic and a gay policeman.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Stolen Kisses (1968)
The third in a series of films featuring François Truffaut's alter-ego, Antoine Doinel, the story resumes with Antoine being discharged from military service. His sweetheart Christine's father lands Antoine a job as a security guard, which he promptly loses. Stumbling into a position assisting a private detective, Antoine falls for his employers' seductive wife, Fabienne, and finds that he must choose between the older woman and Christine.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisClose-Up: an oddyssey (TBA)
Aspiring writer Lucy Simon embarks on a psychedelic road trip to the planet Mars with her brash, unnamed drug dealer behind the wheel in this music-driven space adventure presented entirely through the use of close-up photography.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Rid of Me (2011)
A scathing black comedy of embarrassment that charts the emotional breakdown and rebirth of a woman ripe for self-discovery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Gold (1972)
Uptight killjoy square cop Captain Harold Jinks doesn't approve of the local hippies in an Old West-style rural community romping about naked, so he zealously enforces various strict laws to ban public nudity. It's up to loopy long-haired rebel Hawk to save the townspeople from Jinks' oppressive reign.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
May Fools (1990)
During the events of May 1968 in France, different worldviews of conflicting relatives collide in their family estate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGetting Wasted (1980)
An uptight military school gets a dose of hippie-infused rebellion when a group of students gather in support of the 1960s uprising going on around them. When a few students decide to bring the more liberal, artsy side of the revolution onto campus, they face opposition from much of the school's staff.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The Howl (1970)
A young bride flees the ceremony with a stranger and, together, they set off on an epic journey though increasingly bizarre lands. They encounter talking animals and mournful exhibitionists, converse with a discoursing rock, journey through a surrealist's psychedelic hotel, instigate a prison riot, escape from naked cannibals living in a tree, and battle a wind-up midget dictator!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future (1985)
While trying to expose corruption and greed, television reporter Edison Carter discovers that his employer, Network 23, has created a new form of subliminal advertising (termed "blip-verts") that can be fatal to certain viewers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Big Thing (1998)
From a bland tract house on the outskirts of Los Angeles, Simon Geist (with occasional help from his platonic girlfriend Darla) wages war against all of modern American popular culture. Geist starts up a magazine called "The Next Big Thing", which he uses to confront and insult upcoming actors, comics, models and rock bands. As Geist's mysterious Underground Agenda escalates, will he become the "last big thing", or be co-opted by the very forces he is railing against? Written by Van Film Fest
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Like Escalation and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Escalation?
The closest matches to Escalation are Gabriel Iglesias: I'm Sorry for What I Said When I Was Hungry (2016), The Mouse That Roared (1959) and Much Ado About Nothing (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Escalation?
Start with Gabriel Iglesias: I'm Sorry for What I Said When I Was Hungry (2016), the closest match to Escalation.
What is the highest-rated movie like Escalation?
Eddie Murphy: Delirious (1983), rated 7.6/10 by 377 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Escalation?
Hostile Takeover (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Italian movies like Escalation?
Yes: ...Watch Out, We're Mad (2022), I Can Quit Whenever I Want (2014) and The Monster (1994).
How are movies similar to Escalation chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Escalation, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.