Movies like Summer '78 (2015)
The best movies like Summer '78 (2015) are Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 1 (2007), Solid Serenade (1946) and Far from the Tree (2021). If Summer '78 hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFar from the Tree (2021)8.1/10 from 395 votes
- NewestMeurtre du tableau (2025)Released 2025
Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 1 (2007)
Experience these masterpieces of storytelling from the creative minds that brought you Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo and many more. With revolutionary animation, unforgettable music and characters you love, these dazzling short films have changed the face of animation and entertainment and are sure to delight people of all ages for years to come.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSolid Serenade (1946)
Tom ties up Spike and sneaks into the courtyard of the glamorous Toodles Galore with his bass, hoping to woo her with his song, much to the annoyance of a sleeping Jerry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFar from the Tree (2021)
On an idyllic beach in the Pacific Northwest, curiosity gets the better of a young raccoon whose frustrated parent attempts to keep them both safe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHigh School Musical 2 (2007)
The East High Wildcats are gearing up for big fun as they land the coolest summer jobs imaginable. Troy, Gabriella, Chad, and Taylor have scored sweet gigs at the Lava Springs Country Club owned by Sharpay and Ryan's family. Sharpay's first rule of business: Get Troy. As Troy experiences a life of privilege he's never known, will he give up the Wildcats and Gabriella to rise to the top?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVery Nice, Very Nice (1961)
Arthur Lipsett's first film is an avant-garde blend of photography and sound. It looks behind the business-as-usual face we put on life and shows anxieties we want to forget. It is made of dozens of pictures that seem familiar, with fragments of speech heard in passing and, between times, a voice saying, "Very nice, very nice." The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOnce Upon a Snowman (2020)
The previously untold origins of Olaf, the innocent and insightful, summer-loving snowman are revealed as we follow Olaf’s first steps as he comes to life and searches for his identity in the snowy mountains outside Arendelle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRecess: School's Out (2001)
The school year is finally ending, and T.J. Detweiler is looking forward to summer. But boredom quickly sets in when his friends leave for camp — until T.J. uncovers an evil plot to do away with summer vacation! A crazy former principal, Dr. Benedict, is planning to use a laser beam to alter the weather and create permanent winter. Faced with the dire threat of year-round school, T.J. rounds up the RECESS gang and bands together with some unexpected allies — Miss Finster and Principal Prickly — in a nonstop adventure to save everyone's summer break.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEmbrace the Panda: Making Turning Red (2022)
A feature length documentary about the all-women team at the helm of Pixar's original feature, Turning Red. With unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to Director Domee Shi and her core leadership crew, this story shines a light on the powerful professional and personal journeys that brought this incredibly comical, utterly relatable, and deeply heartfelt story to the screen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFor the Birds (2000)
One by one, a flock of small birds perches on a telephone wire. Sitting close together has problems enough, and then comes along a large dopey bird that tries to join them. The birds of a feather can't help but make fun of him—and their clique mentality proves embarrassing in the end.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSing: Thriller (2024)
Buster Moon dreams up a star-studded spectacle set to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in this animated short featuring characters from the hit "Sing" films.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJudy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer (2011)
Third-grader Judy Moody sets out to have the most thrilling summer of her life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisSea Scouts (1939)
Donald is an admiral on a seagoing voyage with his nephews in which they encounter a ravenous shark.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Time for Nuts (2006)
Scrat comes across a time machine and is transported to various times all in pursuit of his beloved acorn.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Last Song (2010)
A drama centered on a rebellious girl who is sent to a Southern beach town for the summer to stay with her father. Through their mutual love of music, the estranged duo learn to reconnect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisScrat's Continental Crack-Up: Part 2 (2011)
This short film continues the adventures of the title character as he tries to retrieve his elusive acorn.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMater and the Ghostlight (2006)
Mater, the rusty but trusty tow truck from Cars, spends a day in Radiator Springs playing scary pranks on his fellow townsfolk. That night at Flo's V8 Café, the Sheriff tells the story of the legend of the Ghostlight, and as everyone races home Mater is left alone primed for a good old-fashioned scare.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bodyguard (1944)
Spike the bulldog, grateful to Jerry for getting him out of the dogcatcher's van, offers to help the little mouse any time he whistles. Tom, Jerry's feline tormentor, seeks to overcome this new disadvantage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCars Toon Mater's Tall Tales (2008)
Mater the tow truck travels from country to country as he retells his infamous but unbelievable stories.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDay & Night (2010)
When Day, a sunny fellow, encounters Night, a stranger of distinctly darker moods, sparks fly! Day and Night are frightened and suspicious of each other at first, and quickly get off on the wrong foot. But as they discover each other's unique qualities--and come to realize that each of them offers a different window onto the same world-the friendship helps both to gain a new perspective.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhere the Wild Things Are (2009)
Max imagines running away from his mom and sailing to a far-off land where large talking beasts—Ira, Carol, Douglas, the Bull, Judith and Alexander—crown him as their king, play rumpus, build forts and discover secret hideaways.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMeurtre du tableau (2025)
An artist, surrounded by the mess in her studio, struggles with frustration as she tries to find inspiration for her new painting.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Tian Soepangat: Muslim Sailor (2015)
Tian Soepangat joins the U.S. Navy out of a commitment to helping others. As a Muslim, Tian is uncertain of his shipmates' attitudes toward his religion, and so he hides it. Eventually discovering he doesn't have to hide his faith, he is free to express pride in his heritage.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Land Without Bread (1933)
An exploration —manipulated and staged— of life in Las Hurdes, in the province of Cáceres, in Extremadura, Spain, as it was in 1932. Insalubrity, misery and lack of opportunities provoke the emigration of young people and the solitude of those who remain in the desolation of one of the poorest and least developed Spanish regions at that time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Cat That Walked by Himself (1968)
The story about the wild creatures of the wild forest and one impudent Cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Stars of Gaomeigu (2017)
At the Gaomeigu Observatory in China, the Naxi people scan the sky, convinced they are the descendants of immortal beings living there, abandoned on earth to watch them. Between astronomy and legends, Marko Grba Singh seems to compose a mysterious and polysemous tableau. From folk tales heroes such as William Tell, Prince Marko or Sanduo for the Naxi, passing by a miraculous catch, Gods besotted with each other, or the absence of walls built around a city because of the ambiguity of Chinese characters, 'Stars of Gaomeigu' dresses the bodies and contemporary images of mythological tales.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Gonzalo Suárez: Sam Peckinpah, director salvaje (2011)
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Brokeback 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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDear Chantal (2021)
Pereda returns with a small, mysterious and moving tribute to Chantal Akerman, conceived as a series of joyful impossible letters addressed to the great disappeared from the cinema, to answer her fictional question about renting her bright apartment in Coyoacán.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Bis weit über's Jahr 2000 (1983)
The Bitterfeld lignite combine includes a large number of lignite plants, open-cast mines, power stations and briquette factories. The film presents several mining professions, shows miners' jobs, mostly in connection with modern mining technology, and points out the great prospects that mining offers in a wide variety of professions.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Blue Curry (2021)
The greatest life lessons are learned through the simplest of experiences. When your kitchen turns into your biggest classroom... and Mom just serves you a plate of wisdom.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Summer '78?
The closest matches to Summer '78 are Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 1 (2007), Solid Serenade (1946) and Far from the Tree (2021). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Summer '78?
Start with Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 1 (2007), the closest match to Summer '78.
What is the highest-rated movie like Summer '78?
Far from the Tree (2021), rated 8.1/10 by 395 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Summer '78?
Meurtre du tableau (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Summer '78?
Yes: Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 1 (2007), Solid Serenade (1946) and Far from the Tree (2021).
How are movies similar to Summer '78 chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Summer '78, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.