Movies like Petroleum Spirit (2016)
The best movies like Petroleum Spirit (2016) are The Yellow Handkerchief (2009), Driver's Ed (2026) and A Goofy Movie (1995). If Petroleum Spirit hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedParis, Texas (1984)8.1/10 from 2,374 votes
- NewestDriver's Ed (2026)Released 2026
The Yellow Handkerchief (2009)
A road trip through Louisiana transforms three strangers who were originally brought together by their respective feelings of loneliness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDriver's Ed (2026)
A group of teens hit the road in a stolen driver's ed car, racing against time to help a lovesick high school senior track down his college-freshman girlfriend and win her back.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Goofy Movie (1995)
Goofy’s teenage son Max is desperate to impress his crush and fit in at school. After well-meaning but ignorant Goofy suddenly whisks him away on a cross-country road trip—messing up Max’s first date plans in the process—Goofy’s old-school parenting and Max’s desire for independence lead to a vacation of hilarious mishaps, as they both learn to see eye to eye and listen to each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSimon Birch (1998)
Simon Birch and Joe Wenteworth are boys who have a reputation for being oddballs. Joe never knew his father, and his mother, Rebecca, is keeping her lips sealed no matter how much he protests. Simon, meanwhile, is an 11-year-old dwarf whose outsize personality belies his small stature. Indeed, he often assails the local reverend with thorny theological questions and joins Joe on his quest to find his biological father.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSacramento (2025)
When free-spirited Rickey suddenly reappears in father-to-be Glenn’s life, the two former best friends embark on a spontaneous road trip from LA to Sacramento.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnpregnant (2020)
After discovering she can’t legally get an abortion in Missouri without her parents’ permission, teenager Veronica convinces her former best friend Bailey to take a road trip to Albuquerque to seek the procedure.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTop Gear: The Worst Car In the History of the World (2012)
Jeremy Clarkson and James May travel to the North of England to name and shame some of the worst cars in history, from manufacturers who "should have known better".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDinner in America (2022)
An on-the-lam punk rocker and a young woman obsessed with a local band go on an unexpected and epic journey together through the decaying suburbs of the American Midwest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisParis, Texas (1984)
A man wanders out of the desert not knowing who he is. His brother finds him, and helps to pull his memory back of the life he led before he walked out on his family and disappeared four years earlier.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisA Little Romance (1979)
Intellectually precocious teenager Lauren King lives in Paris with her somewhat ditzy mother. On a movie set, she strikes up a friendship with teenage film buff Daniel Michon. After Lauren's mother forbids her to date the outspoken Daniel, the young lovebirds team up with eccentric pickpocket Julius to run away to Venice, where, according to legend, a couple who kiss under the Bridge of Sighs will stay together forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKodachrome (2017)
Matt Ryder is convinced to drive his estranged and dying father Benjamin Ryder cross country to deliver four old rolls of Kodachrome film to the last lab in the world that can develop them before it shuts down for good. Along with Ben's nurse Zooey, the three navigate a world changing from analogue to digital while trying to put the past behind them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fighting Temptations (2003)
Darrin Hill, a slick-talking but down-on- his-luck NYC advertising exec, returns to his hometown in Georgia to claim the inheritance his aunt left him. But before Darrin can collect the money, he must fulfill his aunt's final wish -- to create a local choir.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisHead Full of Honey (2018)
A young girl tries to help her grandfather, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, navigate his increasing forgetfulness, and ends up going on a remarkable adventure with him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDutch (1991)
To get to know his girlfriend's son, a man volunteers to pick him up from a prep school... only to learn that her son's not the nicest kid.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGood Luck Charlie, It's Christmas! (2011)
Teddy Duncan's middle-class family embarks on a road trip from their home in Denver to visit Mrs. Duncans Parents, the Blankenhoopers, in Palm Springs. When they find themselves stranded between Denver and Utah, they try to hitch a ride to Las Vegas with a seemingly normal older couple in a station wagon from Roswell, New Mexico. It turns out that the couple believes they are the victims of alien abduction. The Duncan's must resort to purchasing a clunker Yugo to get to Utah, have their luggage stolen in Las Vegas, and survive a zany Christmas with Grandpa and Grandma Blankenhooper.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSex Drive (2008)
A high school senior drives cross-country with his best friends to hook up with a babe he met online.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLEGO Marvel Avengers: Mission Demolition (2024)
A young, aspiring hero and superhero fan inadvertently unleashes a powerful new villain looking to rid the world of the Avengers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJesus Henry Christ (2012)
At the age of ten, Henry James Hermin, a boy who was conceived in a petri-dish and raised by his feminist mother, follows a string of Post-It notes in hopes of finding his biological father.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWatching the Detectives (2007)
Neil, a self-proclaimed film geek and owner of Gumshoe video, has always been content to live vicariously through his favorite films noir. But when he meets Violet, a real-life femme fatale, his mundane world gets turned upside down and the line between reality and the movies quickly begins to blur.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Mile: Chapter One (2026)
After being released from special forces, a father tries to reconnect with his daughter by taking her on a tour of college, but they soon find themselves fighting for more than their lost relationship when a murderous cult pursues them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Petroleum Spirit?
The closest matches to Petroleum Spirit are The Yellow Handkerchief (2009), Driver's Ed (2026) and A Goofy Movie (1995). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Petroleum Spirit?
Start with The Yellow Handkerchief (2009), the closest match to Petroleum Spirit.
What is the highest-rated movie like Petroleum Spirit?
Paris, Texas (1984), rated 8.1/10 by 2,374 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Petroleum Spirit?
Driver's Ed (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Petroleum Spirit?
Yes: The Yellow Handkerchief (2009), Driver's Ed (2026) and A Goofy Movie (1995).
How are movies similar to Petroleum Spirit chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Petroleum Spirit, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.