Movies like The Ballad of the Windshield Washers (1998)
The best movies like The Ballad of the Windshield Washers (1998) are Terraferma (2011), Totò, Peppino and... the Sweet Life (1961) and Caterina in the Big City (2003). If The Ballad of the Windshield Washers hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedToto, Peppino, and the Hussy (1956)8.0/10 from 384 votes
- NewestYou, Me, Us (2026)Released 2026
- In ItalianTerraferma (2011)Also in Italian
Terraferma (2011)
A Sicilian family deals with the arrival of a group of immigrants on their island.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTotò, Peppino and... the Sweet Life (1961)
Antonio goes to Rome to represent his fellow peasants, to request a highway that will be built in their region. But the guy is mastered by 'la dolce vita' and wastes the money entrusted to him for his mission. When Peppino is sent to to find out what happened, he lets himself be trapped by the gentle grip of 'la dolce vita'
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCaterina in the Big City (2003)
When her social-climbing father is relocated from a one-horse town to his native Rome, 12-year-old Caterina enrolls in his old school, finding herself adrift in an environment where eighth-graders form friendships based on social class and their parents' political affiliations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Roof (1956)
Under provincial Italian law at the time, once a roof is erected, the occupants cannot be evicted from a building. This film follows the efforts of a family to erect the roof on a house overnight so that a newlywed couple can have their own home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisL'immensità (2022)
Clara and Felice struggle to raise their three children in 1970s Rome. The eldest, Andrea, is transgender and yearns for another life where he gets to live as the boy he knows himself to be. Clara instinctively strives to protect her son by escaping into their imaginations to defuse family tensions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFeast of the Seven Fishes (2019)
A slice of life story that follows a large Italian family on Christmas Eve as they prepare for the traditional Feast of the Seven Fishes, reminisce about the past and seek love in the future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKidz (2020)
Sara and Nicola are married and in love. Their lives seem to be perfect: they have an angelic six-year-old daughter, thriving careers and a stable marriage. The birth of their second child, which disrupts the family balance, leads to tragicomic scenarios.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Mass Is Ended (1985)
Young Father Giulio returns to Rome, where he was born and raised, to replace a priest who has left the clergy to start a family. He is delighted to reunite with his loved ones, especially his mother, sister, and old friends. Once radical leftists like Giulio himself, the latter are now each coping in their own way with the defeat of the revolution. Soon, however, Giulio realizes that despite his best efforts, he seems unable to solve the problems troubling those around him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBad Tales (2020)
In a small suburb on the outskirts of Rome, the cheerful heat of summer camouflages a stifling atmosphere of alienation. From a distance, the families seem normal, but it’s an illusion: in the houses, courtyards and gardens, silence shrouds the subtle sadism of the fathers, the passivity of the mothers and the guilty indifference of adults. But it’s the desperation and repressed rage of the children that will explode and cut through this grotesque façade, with devastating consequences for the entire community.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYou, Me, Us (2026)
A couple faces the difficult path to adoption, determined to become parents despite their complex vulnerabilities.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Brother, My Sister (2021)
When their father's will forces them to live together, siblings Nik and Tesla — and Tesla's kids — try to overcome their differences to become a family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThings We Don't Say (2026)
Carlo and Elisa are a successful couple. He’s a university professor and writer facing a creative block; she’s a brilliant, sharp-witted journalist, known for her internationally published editorials. They live in Rome, moving between accomplishments and routine, affection and something that might be fading. In search of new energy, they travel to Morocco with their lifelong friends, Anna and Paolo, and their thirteen-year-old daughter Vittoria—bright, curious, a little eccentric. Tensions soon rise.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisToto, Peppino, and the Hussy (1956)
Antonio, Peppino and Lucia are three brothers who live in the country near Naples. Lucia's son, Gianni, goes to Naples to study medicine, but there he knows a ballet dancer. They fall in love and, when she goes to Milan, Gianni follows her. Informed of this and afraid that their nephew will stop studying, the three Caponi brothers leave for Milan to persuade Gianni to come back and continue studying and abandon the "Malafemmina" (bad girl).
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAn Italian Name (2015)
Paolo is an outgoing and handsome real estate broker married to Simona, a beautiful woman from the rough outskirts of Rome who has become an author of spicy bestsellers and is pregnant with their child. Betta, Paolo’s sister and her husband Sandro organise a dinner party with Paolo, Simona and their childhood friend, the eccentric musician Claudio. During the lively gathering Paolo reveals what he would like to name his son, causing reactions to steam up and a torrent of revelations to follow reaching climactic proportions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDon't Stop Me Now (2019)
Paola, a modern woman used to the hardships of modern life, takes her chance to make things right for herself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTo Rome with Love (2012)
Four tales unfold in the Eternal City: While vacationing in Rome, architect John encounters a young man whose romantic woes remind him of a painful incident from his own youth; retired opera director Jerry discovers a mortician with an amazing voice, and he seizes the opportunity to rejuvenate his own flagging career; a young couple have separate romantic interludes; a spotlight shines on an ordinary man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisHerself (2020)
Struggling to provide her daughters with a safe, happy home, Sandra decides to build one - from scratch. Using all her ingenuity to make her ambitious dream a reality, Sandra draws together a community to lend a helping hand to build her house and ultimately recover her own sense of self.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAn American in Rome (1954)
Nando Moriconi is a young Italian living in Rome obsessed with all-things American.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPaisan (1946)
Six stories unfold in various regions, from Sicily to the northern Po Valley as American military personnel interact with a variety of Italian locals over eighteen months in the push north during the Italian Campaign of WWII as German forces retreat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBellissima (1952)
Film director Blasetti is looking for a little girl for his new movie. Along with other mothers, Maddelena takes her daughter to Cinecittà, hoping she’ll be selected and become a star. She is ready to sacrifice anything for little Maria.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Ballad of the Windshield Washers?
The closest matches to The Ballad of the Windshield Washers are Terraferma (2011), Totò, Peppino and... the Sweet Life (1961) and Caterina in the Big City (2003). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Ballad of the Windshield Washers?
Start with Terraferma (2011), the closest match to The Ballad of the Windshield Washers.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Ballad of the Windshield Washers?
Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy (1956), rated 8.0/10 by 384 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Ballad of the Windshield Washers?
You, Me, Us (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Italian movies like The Ballad of the Windshield Washers?
Yes: Terraferma (2011), Totò, Peppino and... the Sweet Life (1961) and Caterina in the Big City (2003).
How are movies similar to The Ballad of the Windshield Washers chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Ballad of the Windshield Washers, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.