Movies like Up in the Air (1969)
The best movies like Up in the Air (1969) are Cadet Kelly (2002), The Clique (2008) and Thunderstruck (2012). If Up in the Air hooked you with its family, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks
- Highest ratedWonder (2017)8.1/10 from 8,466 votes
- NewestBookworm (2024)Released 2024
Cadet Kelly (2002)
Hyperactive teenager Kelly is enrolled into a military school when her new stepfather becomes the Commandant. At first she has problems fitting in and taking orders until she tries out for the drill team.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Clique (2008)
A young girl tries to fit in with a clique of popular middle school girls after moving into the guest house of one of their homes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
SnoozefestMovies like thisThunderstruck (2012)
After NBA star Kevin Durant switches talent with 16 year old Brian, the teenager becomes the star of his high school team, but Durant starts struggling and eventually learns an important lesson.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlicka (2006)
Katy McLaughlin desires to work on her family's mountainside horse ranch, although her father insists she finish boarding school. Katy finds a mustang in the hills near her ranch. The headstrong 16 year old then sets her mind to tame a mustang and prove to her father she can run the ranch. But when tragedy happens, it will take all the love and strength the family can muster to restore hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWonder (2017)
The story of August Pullman – a boy with facial differences – who enters fifth grade, attending a mainstream elementary school for the first time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisLove Don't Co$t a Thing (2003)
A high school outcast pays a cheerleader to pose as his girlfriend so he can be considered cool.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisF.R.E.D.I. (2018)
An intelligent, lovable robot known as "F.R.E.D.I." is stolen from a secret research facility by the project's lead scientist. The robot is found by a 15 year old teenager, James. Soon the two begin to communicate and create a bond in which F.R.E.D.I. learns about teenage life and James learns about some new values.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
SnoozefestMovies like thisSkater Girl (2021)
Prerna, a teenager growing up in rural India, comes of age when she’s introduced to the sport of skateboarding. As a result, she has to fight the odds to follow her dreams and compete in the national championship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPAW Patrol: Jet to the Rescue (2020)
A royal relative steals a gem with the power to make things fly, the Paw Patrol takes to the skies to stop him and save Barkingburg.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMiddle School: The Worst Years of My Life (2016)
A quiet teenage artist Rafe Katchadorian has a wild imagination and is sick of middle school and the rules that have been put before him. Rafe and his best friend Leo have come up with a plan: break every rule in the school hand book and as you expect trouble follows.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPloey: You Never Fly Alone (2018)
A plover chick has not learned to fly when his family migrates in the fall. He must survive the arctic winter, vicious enemies and himself in order to be reunited with his beloved one next spring.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Boy in the Dress (2014)
Dennis feels different - an ordinary boy in an ordinary house in an ordinary street, playing football with his mates and living with his dad and brother, but frustrated by the boring grey world he inhabits. Life has never really been the same since his mum left. However, transformation can happen in the most unexpected places. Aided by Lisa, the coolest girl in school, Dennis creates a whole new persona and puts it to the ultimate test - but can a boy wear a dress, and what will the headmaster, his dad and his friends on the football team think if they find out?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBookworm (2024)
Eleven-year-old Mildred’s life is turned upside down when her mother lands in hospital and estranged, American magician father, Strawn Wise, comes to look after her. Hoping to entertain the bookish tween, Strawn takes Mildred camping in the notoriously rugged New Zealand wilderness, and the pair embark on the ultimate test of family bonding – a quest to find the mythological beast known as the Canterbury Panther.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBruno & Boots: This Can't Be Happening at MacDonald Hall (2017)
Headmaster Sturgeon has had enough. In an attempt to put an end to Bruno and Boots high jinks, he declares that they are to be separated; no shared classes and, most certainly, no shared dorm room. This punishment is worse than anything the boys could have imagined. However, if Bruno and Boots can alienate every boy in Dormitory 3, Sturgeon will be forced to re-unite them. The plot almost succeeds, but one misstep forces the girls from the Scrimmage Academy for Education and Awakening to move into Macdonald Hall, leaving Bruno and Boots back where they started.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLife with Father (1947)
A straitlaced turn-of-the-century father presides over a family of boys and the mother who really rules the roost.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAngela's Christmas Wish (2020)
A determined Angela makes a wish to reunite her family in time for Christmas, then launches a plan to find her way from Ireland to Australia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStargirl (2020)
An unassuming high schooler finds himself inexplicably drawn to the free-spirited new girl, whose unconventional ways change how they see themselves…and their world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking (1988)
After her father's ship is carried off by a sudden storm, the spunky Pippi Longstocking is stranded with her horse, Alfonso,and her pet monkey, Mr. Neilson, and takes up residence in the old family home, which is thought by neighborhood children to be haunted. Soon, two children, Tommy and his sister Anika, venture into the house only to meet up with Pippi. The three soon become friends and get into various adventures together, including cleaning the floor with scrubbing shoes, dodging the "splunks", going down a waterfall in barrels, and helping Pippi with the problem of having to go to an orphanage. Older children will probably get the most out of this movie.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
SnoozefestMovies like thisPollyanna (1960)
A young girl comes to an embittered town and confronts its attitude with her determination to see the best in life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWinnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You (1999)
After Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Rabbit see Christopher Robin making a valentine for -- gasp! -- a girl, they find he's been bitten by a "Smitten" and is lovesick! Worried that he'll no longer have time for them, and hoping a second bite from the love bug will cure him, they set out on a wild adventure to capture the Smitten. This wonderful story, filled with magic and whimsy, and sweetened with three new songs, reminds us all that the heart is big and always has plenty of room for friends -- old and new.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like Up in the Air and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Up in the Air?
The closest matches to Up in the Air are Cadet Kelly (2002), The Clique (2008) and Thunderstruck (2012). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Up in the Air?
Start with Cadet Kelly (2002), the closest match to Up in the Air.
What is the highest-rated movie like Up in the Air?
Wonder (2017), rated 8.1/10 by 8,466 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Up in the Air?
Bookworm (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Up in the Air?
Yes: Cadet Kelly (2002), The Clique (2008) and Thunderstruck (2012).
How are movies similar to Up in the Air chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Up in the Air, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.



















