Movies like Accidents Happen (2009)
The best movies like Accidents Happen (2009) are The Castle (1997), Why Stop Now? (2012) and Looking for Alibrandi (2000). If Accidents Happen 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 ratedMemoir of a Snail (2024)8.1/10 from 859 votes
- NewestThe Plague (2025)Released 2025
The Castle (1997)
The quirky Kerrigan family lives together in a makeshift home they built themselves – with great pride and a bizarre attention to detail – a few yards from the edge of Melbourne, Australia's busy Tullamarine Airport. When a building inspector condemns the building and reveals that the government plans to use their land for an airport expansion, Darryl Kerrigan and his brood recruit hack attorney Dennis Denuto and prepare themselves for the fight of their lives.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhy Stop Now? (2012)
When a college piano prodigy tries to check his mother into rehab, he is taken hostage by her drug dealer and swept along on a wild adventure.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLooking for Alibrandi (2000)
Josie Alibrandi is 17 and doesn't know where she belongs. This year, however, everything is going to change. Josie will face her fears, uncover secrets, and even discover the true identity of her father.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & comedy
Critical Care (1997)
Werner Ernst is a young hospital resident who becomes embroiled in a legal battle between two half-sisters who are fighting over the care of their comatose father. But are they really fighting over their father's care, or over his $10 million estate? Meanwhile, Werner must contend with his nutty supervisor, who insists that he only care for patients with full insurance. Can Werner sidestep the hospital's legal team and do what's best for the patient?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Three Stooges (2000)
A biography of the Three Stooges, in which their careers and rise to fame is shown throughout the eyes of their leader, Moe.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Weirdsville (2007)
Dexter and Royce, two stoners in the small town of Weedsville, attempt to cover up the overdose of Royce's girlfriend Matilda. What leads from an old drive-in being perfect place to ditch her turns into the accidental discovery of a Satanic cult, who brings Mattie back from the dead after their ritual is botched. Along with the two's dealer Omar on their tail, how will these buddies and their slightly-off lady-on-board deal with the dangers of drug debt and demon-worshipping magic?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisHe Was a Quiet Man (2007)
An unhinged office worker who planned to go on a shooting spree at his workplace struggles with his newfound status as a hero after he ends up stopping a shooting spree instead.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeath at a Funeral (2007)
A myriad of outrageous calamities befalls an eccentric English clan with more than a few skeletons in its closets when the family's patriarch dies an unexpected death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHard Truths (2024)
Pansy is a woman so full of rage that every interaction she has devolves into lashing out, whether at her utterly cowed husband and son, or random strangers who have the temerity to address her. In contrast, her younger sister Chantelle lives with her two vivacious daughters and plies a successful trade as a hairdresser, putting clients at their ease all day long. Yet beneath Pansy’s abrasive exterior are hints of a more fragile psyche, one motivated by fear and damaged by repressed pain.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Girl (1991)
Vada Sultenfuss is obsessed with death. Her mother is dead, and her father runs a funeral parlor. She is also in love with her English teacher, and joins a poetry class over the summer just to impress him. Thomas J., her best friend, is "allergic to everything", and sticks with Vada despite her hangups. When Vada's father hires Shelly, and begins to fall for her, things take a turn to the worse...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMemoir of a Snail (2024)
Forcibly separated from her twin brother when they are orphaned, a melancholic misfit learns how to find confidence within herself amid the clutter of misfortunes and everyday life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBob Trevino Likes It (2025)
Lily Trevino unexpectedly befriends an online stranger who shares her self-centered father’s name. This new Bob Trevino’s support could transform her life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Good Half (2024)
Renn Wheeland returns home to Cleveland for his mother's funeral. Once there, he forges new relationships while healing old ones, before confronting his problems and trying to face his grief.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNothing in Common (1986)
A successful advertising executive finds his freewheeling life crashing to a halt when his parents end their longtime marriage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThunder Road (2018)
A police officer faces a personal meltdown following a divorce and the death of his mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeaches (1988)
A privileged rich debutante and a cynical struggling entertainer share a turbulent, but strong childhood friendship over the years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSunshine Cleaning (2009)
A single mother and her slacker sister find an unexpected way to turn their lives around in this off-beat dramatic comedy. In order to raise the tuition to send her young son to private school the mom starts an unusual business – a biohazard removal/crime scene clean-up service.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPieces of April (2003)
Quirky and rebellious April Burns lives with her boyfriend in a low-rent New York City apartment miles away from her emotionally distant family. But when she discovers that her mother has a fatal form of breast cancer, she invites the clan to her place for Thanksgiving. While her father struggles to drive her family into the city, April -- an inexperienced cook -- runs into kitchen trouble and must ask a neighbor for help.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNutcrackers (2024)
Just as Mike is on the heels of closing the biggest deal of his career, he's pulled away from his bachelor life in the big city to a farm in rural Ohio in order to help his recently orphaned nephews find a new home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisManchester by the Sea (2016)
After his older brother passes away, Lee Chandler is forced to return home to care for his 16-year-old nephew. There he is compelled to deal with a tragic past that separated him from his family and the community where he was born and raised.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInteriors (1978)
When Eve, an interior designer, is deserted by her husband of many years, Arthur, the emotionally glacial relationships of the three grown-up daughters are laid bare. Twisted by jealousy, insecurity and resentment, Renata, a successful writer; Joey, a woman crippled by indecision; and Flyn, a budding actress; struggle to communicate for the sake of their shattered mother. But when their father unexpectedly falls for another woman, his decision to remarry sets in motion a terrible twist of fate…
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Son (2022)
A successful lawyer, with a new wife and infant, agrees to care for his teenage son from a previous marriage after his ex-wife becomes concerned about the boy's wayward behavior.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Book of Henry (2017)
Susan, a single mother of two, works as a waitress in a small town. Her son, Henry, is an 11-year-old genius who not only manages the family finances but acts as emotional support for his mother and younger brother. When Henry discovers that the girl next door has a terrible secret, he implores Susan to take matters into her own hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Glass Castle (2017)
A young girl is raised in a dysfunctional family constantly on the run from the FBI. Living in poverty, she comes of age guided by her drunkard, ingenious father who distracts her with magical stories to keep her mind off the family's dire state, and her selfish, nonconformist mother who has no intention of raising a family, along with her younger brother and sister, and her other older sister. Together, they fend for each other as they mature in an unorthodox journey that is their family life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this'night, Mother (1986)
A mother and daughter spend a night together after the daughter reveals that she will kill herself by the end of it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJames White (2015)
James White is a troubled twentysomething trying to stay afloat in a frenzied New York City. As he retreats further into a hedonistic lifestyle, his mother's battle with a serious illness faces a series of setbacks that force him to assume more responsibility. With the pressure on him mounting, James must find new reserves of strength or risk imploding completely.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Plague (2025)
A socially awkward tween endures the ruthless hierarchy at a water polo camp, his anxiety spiraling into psychological turmoil over the summer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHarold and Maude (1971)
A deadpan young man obsessed with death meets an eccentric septuagenarian who teaches him to live life to the fullest.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHuman Nature (2001)
Obsessive scientist Nathan and his lover, the naturalist Lila, discover Puff: a man born and raised in the wild. As Nathan trains the wild man in the civilized ways of the world, Lila fights to preserve the man’s natural state. In the power struggle that ensues, an unusual love triangle emerges.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPopular Music (2004)
Matti and Niila, growing up in the mid-sixties in the harsh and conservative environment of a Finnish-speaking part of Tornedalen in Swedish Laponia, close to the Finnish border. Their big dream is to become rock stars. In the present the now grown-up Matti feels guilt for the death of his drug-addicted rock star friend Niila.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like Accidents Happen and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Accidents Happen?
The closest matches to Accidents Happen are The Castle (1997), Why Stop Now? (2012) and Looking for Alibrandi (2000). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Accidents Happen?
People who watched Accidents Happen most often go on to The Castle (1997), Why Stop Now? (2012) and Looking for Alibrandi (2000).
What is the highest-rated movie like Accidents Happen?
Memoir of a Snail (2024), rated 8.1/10 by 859 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Accidents Happen?
The Plague (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Accidents Happen?
Yes: The Castle (1997), Why Stop Now? (2012) and Looking for Alibrandi (2000).
How are movies similar to Accidents Happen chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Accidents Happen, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.