Movies like El Candidato (2016)
The best movies like El Candidato (2016) are The Main Event (2020), Hard to Die (1990) and The Air Up There (1994). If El Candidato hooked you with its comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedJohn Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City (2018)7.9/10 from 259 votes
- NewestRicky Gervais: Mortality (2025)Released 2025
- In SpanishHeroic Losers (2019)Also in Spanish
The Main Event (2020)
An 11-year-old aspiring wrestler enters a competition to become the next WWE superstar by using special powers from a magical mask.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHard to Die (1990)
While doing the inventory for a lingerie outlet in a high rise office building, five attractive women are terrorized by a series of bizarre killings. They suspect that the strange janitor, who witnessed another series of killings six months previously, is at the bottom of the whole thing. Little do they know the real horror that they face in the end.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Air Up There (1994)
Jimmy Dolan is a college basketball coach who wants a big promotion. To get it, he needs to make a dramatic find. He ends up deep in Africa, hoping to recruit Saleh, a huge basketball prodigy Jimmy glimpsed in a home movie. But Saleh is the chief's son and has responsibilities at home, since the tribe's land is threatened by a mining company with its own hotshot basketball team.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDave Chappelle: Killin' Them Softly (2000)
Dave Chappelle returns for a stand-up to D.C. and riffs on politics, police, race relations, drugs, Sesame Street and more.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHeroic Losers (2019)
In a town in the Northwest of the province of Buenos Aires, a group of neighbors is organized to recover the economy of the area, but when the corralito is implemented in the country and they suffer a fraud, their hopes disappear. Now, they will unite to recover the lost money and give the blow of their lives to their greatest enemy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChris Rock: Kill the Messenger (2008)
An HBO special edited from three performances from Chris Rock's 2008 comedy tour: London (dark suit, dark shirt), Johannesburg (black suit, white shirt) and New York (shiny jacket). Topics include the ongoing presidential campaign, the possibility of a black president, George W. Bush, gas prices, low-paid jobs, ringtones and bottled water, sex, relationships and the correct use of the n-word
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUna pequeña confusión (2024)
Lola and Cuau, a progressive middle-class pair, and Iñigo and Majo, a young conservative, well-heeled duo, turn to artificial insemination as a last resort to have children. In a madcap twist based on actual events, a mix-up at the clinic results in each mom-to-be carrying the other one's baby.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs (2023)
In a rowdy stand-up set, Shane Gillis riffs on his girlfriend's Navy SEAL ex, touring George Washington's house and being bullied by an Australian Goth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBill Burr: Drop Dead Years (2025)
In what might be his most personal and introspective hour yet, Bill offers hilarious takes on everything from male sadness to dating advice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJohn Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City (2018)
John Mulaney relays stories from his childhood and "SNL," eviscerates the value of college and laments getting older in this electric comedy special.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHomo Argentum (2025)
The film consists of 16 shorts that explore, with humor and social criticism, the characteristics of the Argentine identity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLouis C.K.: Hilarious (2010)
In this unique and dynamic live concert experience, Louis C.K.'s exploration of life after 40 destroys politically correct images of modern life with thoughts we have all had...but would rarely admit to.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013)
86-year-old Irving Zisman is on a journey across America with the most unlikely companion: his 8 year-old grandson, Billy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLike a Boss (2020)
Two female friends with very different ideals decide to start a beauty company together. One is more practical, while the other wants to earn her fortune and live a lavish lifestyle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRookie of the Year (1993)
When the cast comes off his once broken arm, a 12-year-old boy can throw a 100-mile-an-hour fastball, and the Chicago Cubs want him as their new pitcher.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRicky Gervais: Mortality (2025)
Ricky Gervais tackles life, death and the state of the world in a brutally honest special that spares no topic, even his own mortality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRicky Gervais: Out of England 2 (2010)
The comic performs at the Chicago Theatre.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Wrong Guy (1997)
Nelson Hibbert expects to become the new president of Nagel Industries, but Mr. Nagel gives the promotion to another employee. When Nelson barges into Nagel's office to confront him, he finds Nagel's been murdered. Fearing that he will be implicated, Nelson decides to run from the law...despite the fact that the police already know the killer's identity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIliza Shlesinger: Confirmed Kills (2016)
The standup sensation tackle's TV's "Shark Tank," what it means to be a woman and how to deal with the lawless party goblin that lives in us all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAn Odd Evening in April (2014)
It's story of Abril, a mysterious woman with a particular life-style that she stands in the way of Bruno, a Chilean young man who lives in Peru and he's passing through an existential crisis. Abril's philosophy impacts to Bruno. One day, he decides to leave everything, including his job and his girlfriend. Suddenly, Bruno tries to follow Abril's life-style, no suspecting the real reasons why she turns her back to the world.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Aprile (1998)
Nanni Moretti once again muses on the ebb and flow of life in April 1996, as he is about to become a father for the first time and finds himself unable to focus on his documentary about the upcoming general elections, where the left is heading into a rematch against Berlusconi.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Restoration (2020)
Tato just moved back home penniless. He decides to sell his bedridden mother’s house. Now he must build a replica of his mother’s bedroom to create the illusion that she is still in her home.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The Late Night Alternative Election Special (2019)
Iain Lee and Katherine Boyle present the ultimate election special that was TOO HOT FOR RADIO.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
I Love Peru (2025)
In the relentless pursuit of success, a quirky actor leaves behind his closest allies. Alone facing himself, he is struck by a disturbing vision. Off to Peru for a spiritual journey.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisMargaret Cho: Beautiful (2009)
Learning to love her luscious self over the past forty years, comedian Margaret Cho realized that the eye of the beholder doesn't hold all the power when it comes to beauty. Our tastes may be groomed by the media, but how we feel about how we look brings our self-image into focus. Armed with something more potent than lip gloss - a mouth so shocking and raunchy it should be stamped with a warning - Cho toured America with her manifesto: "This show is really about how we should feel beautiful," says Cho. "When you feel beautiful, you're going to have more of a willingness to use your voice to speak." Shot at the Long Beach Terrace Theater, Cho's latest stand-up concert film, Beautiful, explores the good, bad, and downright ugly in beauty, and the unattractive politicians and marketers who shape our world.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
El acuarelista (2008)
A timid and sensitive man quits his 9-5 job to pursue his dream of becoming a watercolor painter. However, his neighbors and love will not agree with his new endeavor.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Election (2020)
Today is the day before the presidential election of the prestigious agricultural school. Fine elections for 15-year-olds blinded by power will begin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The Kung Fu Mummy (2005)
It's a comedy of time-bending proportions when a mummy from ancient Peru is set loose on the streets of modern-day Hollywood with $200 million in rare jewels stuffed inside of him. Of course, it doesn't take long for every crook in town to catch wind of the mummy's hidden riches, setting off a chain reaction of trickery and tomfoolery. Director Randy Morgan also wrote the screenplay for this blend of experimental comedy and B-movie camp.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019)
Dora, a girl who has spent most of her life exploring the jungle with her parents, now must navigate her most dangerous adventure yet: high school. Always the explorer, Dora quickly finds herself leading Boots (her best friend, a monkey), Diego, and a rag tag group of teens on an adventure to save her parents and solve the impossible mystery behind a lost Inca civilization.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like El Candidato and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like El Candidato?
The closest matches to El Candidato are The Main Event (2020), Hard to Die (1990) and The Air Up There (1994). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after El Candidato?
Start with The Main Event (2020), the closest match to El Candidato.
What is the highest-rated movie like El Candidato?
John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City (2018), rated 7.9/10 by 259 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like El Candidato?
Ricky Gervais: Mortality (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like El Candidato?
Yes: Heroic Losers (2019), Una pequeña confusión (2024) and Homo Argentum (2025).
How are movies similar to El Candidato chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside El Candidato, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.