Movies like The Waves (2017)
The best movies like The Waves (2017) are Dear Eleanor (2016), One Step from Me (2021) and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008). If The Waves hooked you with its drama and comedy, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSlumberland (2022)7.2/10 from 998 votes
- NewestCode 3 (2025)Released 2025
- In SpanishOne Step from Me (2021)Also in Spanish
Dear Eleanor (2016)
Two teenage girls travel across the U.S. in 1962, during the chaos of the Cuban missile crisis, in search of Eleanor Roosevelt.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisOne Step from Me (2021)
Tatiana is a journalist with a routine life in all its aspects and a recently failed love relationship. Motivated by her best friend, she decides to make a stop and travel around Costa Rica to find herself and inner peace.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008)
Four young women continue the journey toward adulthood that began with "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." Now three years later, these lifelong friends embark on separate paths for their first year of college and the summer beyond, but remain in touch by sharing their experiences with each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSheroes (2023)
When four thick-as-thieves friends arrive in Thailand, they quickly find themselves in over their heads. Fighting to stay alive, they employ their unique set of skills and unleash their fierce loyalty in a heart-pumping battle for survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisGloria (2013)
Gloria is a 58-year-old divorcée. Her children have all left home but she has no desire to spend her days and nights alone. Determined to defy old age and loneliness, she rushes headlong into a whirl of singles’ parties on the hunt for instant gratification – which only leads to repeated disappointment and enduring emptiness. But when Gloria meets Rodolfo, an ex-naval officer seven years her senior, she begins to imagine the possibility of a permanent relationship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLimbo (1999)
Traumatized by a fishing boat accident many years before, Joe Gastineau has given up his hopes for a life beyond the odd jobs he takes to support himself. That quickly changes when nomadic club singer Donna de Angelo and her troubled teen-age daughter enter Joe’s life. Both mother and daughter fall for Joe, increasing the friction between them. The tension continues to build when Joe invites them on a pleasure cruise up the Alaskan coast, discovering too late that the trip may cost them their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Ton of Luck (2006)
The story, based on true events occurred in Colombia en May 2003, tells the dreams and adventures of Porras, Venegas, Lloreda and Perlaza, four of the 147 soldiers that were in a company of the anti-guerrilla "Destroyer" battalion. It begun when these soldiers found in the middle of the jungle, during a rescue mission, 46 million dollars inside a FARC "guaca". Instead of give it to the Government, they take it all for themselves instead. They desperate when realize that they're completely isolated because the bridge, the only way to return to civilization, has been blown up. Everything's ironic, almost surreal: These soldiers don't have food, water, or toilet paper, but they sleep on their dollar-ful bags. This discovery will change their lives forever, and will allow them to have everything they've dreamt about: some authority, power and respect, others help their families and have a no-longer poor life. Their big challenge: return to civilization and make their dreams come true.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSlumberland (2022)
A young girl discovers a secret map to the dreamworld of Slumberland, and with the help of an eccentric outlaw, she traverses dreams and flees nightmares, with the hope that she will be able to see her late father again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBaywatch: Hawaiian Wedding (2003)
Mitch Buchannon, believed to have died in a boating accident survived and only has amnesia, he has been recovering in a Los Angeles hospital. His new fiancée, Allison Ford, resembles his old lover, Lt. Stephanie Holden who died years ago.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCQ (2001)
A young filmmaker in 1960s Paris juggles directing a cheesy sci-fi debacle, directing his own personal art film, coping with his crumbling relationship with his girlfriend, and a new-found infatuation with the sci-fi film's starlet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSoy de rancho (2019)
Alfredo is a powerful man living in his ranch. When family business gets in trouble, his father sends him to the capital, where he meets Fabiola, who is drowning in family debt. Under the influence of her mother, Fabiola is forced to seduce Alfredo to get money out of him, but she needs to accept his invitation to the ranch. There, Alfredo discovers Fabiola's true intentions and decides to teach her a lesson.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSix Pack (1982)
Stopping briefly in a small Texas town, an itinerant race car driver finds that his stock car, on a trailer behind his motor home, has just been quickly and expertly stripped. He chases down the miscreants, who turn out to be six orphan children. He has no recourse to the law, for the corrupt local sheriff takes most of the proceeds of their thievery in exchange for not putting them in an orphanage. They are charming rogues who are in turn charmed by him. Disliking their arrangement with the sheriff, they stow away with him, and he finds himself becoming a reluctant stepfather. Thanks to their enthusiasm and incredible mechanical know-how, he begins to make a name for himself on the racing circuit. But the sheriff doesn't take kindly to losing his extra income...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPeter Knife (1984)
The story of the coolest, street-smart hustler ever to walk the streets of Mexico City, based on the international hit song. The police are after him, his rivals are after him, and all the while the most beautiful women of Mexico are in the cup of his hand.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOfficial Competition (2021)
When a billionaire entrepreneur impulsively decides to create an iconic movie, he demands the best. Renowned filmmaker Lola Cuevas is recruited to mastermind this ambitious endeavour. Completing the all-star team are two actors with massive talent but even bigger egos: Hollywood heartthrob Félix Rivero and radical theatre actor Iván Torres. Both are legends, but not exactly best friends. Through a series of increasingly eccentric trials set by Lola, Félix and Iván must confront not only each other but also their own legacies. Who will be left when the cameras finally start rolling?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRoll Bounce (2005)
In the summer of 1978, a teenager and his group of friends face new challenges when their neighborhood roller-skating rink closes, forcing them to visit a different rink.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCode 3 (2025)
A burned-out paramedic tries to survive his last 24 hours on the job while training a new recruit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (1986)
Although Jo Jo Dancer has achieved success as a stand-up comedian, he hasn't found happiness. After receiving severe burns in a narcotics-related incident, Jo Jo remains in a coma, and, while in this state, he looks back on his life. Drifting off into memories of his troubled childhood, Jo Jo revisits his youth, recalling his eventual rise to fame and the decadence that followed. As he considers his existence, he must decide if he wants to go on living or not.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWild Oats (2016)
Everything changes for Eva when she receives an insurance settlement check accidentally made out for $5,000,000 instead of the expected $50,000. She and her best friend take the money and head out for the adventure of a lifetime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlmost Friends (2017)
A man in his mid-20s, still living at home with his mother and stepfather, puts all his eggs in one basket: the girl who works at his local coffee shop. The problem is, she has a serious boyfriend. As they become closer, the line between friendship and intimacy is blurred, and the situation forces both to examine where they are in their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDouble Threat (2022)
With ruthless mobsters on her tail, a young woman with a split personality becomes entangled with a man on a pilgrimage across the country to scatter his brother's ashes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & comedy
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Waves?
The closest matches to The Waves are Dear Eleanor (2016), One Step from Me (2021) and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Waves?
Start with Dear Eleanor (2016), the closest match to The Waves.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Waves?
Slumberland (2022), rated 7.2/10 by 998 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Waves?
Code 3 (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like The Waves?
Yes: One Step from Me (2021), Gloria (2013) and A Ton of Luck (2006).
How are movies similar to The Waves chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Waves, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.