Movies like The Big Picture (1989)
The best movies like The Big Picture (1989) are The Best You Can (2025), St. Elmo's Fire (1985) and Modern Romance (1981). If The Big Picture hooked you with its comedy and romance, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLove Don't Co$t a Thing (2003)7.7/10 from 742 votes
- NewestWhy Did I Get Married Again? (2026)Released 2026
The Best You Can (2025)
Cynthia Rand is a buttoned-up New Yorker married to a brilliant professor 25 years her senior. She begins feeling the effects of her husband’s advancing age on their relationship, just as her world is turned upside down by the arrival of sharp but chronically underachieving security guard Stan Olszewski in this smart rom-com that reunites Bacon and Sedgwick on screen for the first time in 20 years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSt. Elmo's Fire (1985)
Reluctant to let go of college life, a close-knit team of seven friends--irresponsible saxophone player Billy, young Republican Alec, his girlfriend Leslie, struggling journalist Kevin, drama queen Jules, lovesick waiter Kirby, and Wendy, a social worker with a heart of gold--realise the party is over. And as the burdens of maturity close in on the young dreamers, the complexities of adulthood and the daily struggle of growing up put their sacred friendship to the test. But everyone knows life is not a bed of roses. It won't be easy, but when all is said and done, what will it take for St. Elmo's clique to find its place in the real world?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisModern Romance (1981)
A film editor breaks up with his girlfriend, unsure if he is in love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFriends with Kids (2012)
In the wake of their friends' marriages and eventual offspring, longtime pals Julie and Jason decide to have a child together without becoming a couple. By becoming "time-share" parents, they reason, they can experience the joys of parenthood without significantly curbing their personal freedom. However, when Julie and Jason both become involved with others, they discover that they secretly harbor romantic feelings for each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisWalking and Talking (1996)
Just as Amelia thinks she's over her anxiety and insecurity, her best friend announces her engagement, bringing her anxiety and insecurity right back.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove & Sex (2000)
When her rather explicit copy is rejected, magazine journalist Kate is asked by her editor to come up with an article on loving relationships instead, and to do so by the end of the day. This gets Kate thinking back over her own various experiences, and to wondering if she is in much of a position to write on the subject.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSeven Minutes in Heaven (1986)
Natalie allows her classmate Jeff, who has run away from home, to stay at her place while her father is away on a business trip. Natalie soon starts dating Jeff's friend James Casey, who isn't as faithful as she thinks, while her best friend Polly falls in love with baseball player Zoo Knudsen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSidewalks of New York (2001)
The film follows the marital and dating lives of three men and three women who unknowingly form a tangled web of relationships. Interspersing "man on the street" interviews with scenes from the six characters' lives, the film weaves a humorous and biting commentary on the game of love -- easy to start, hard to finish.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisXX/XY (2002)
Three friends begin a dangerous three-way relationship that spirals out of control, leading to dire consequences that haunt them ten years later.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYoung People Fucking (2007)
On a Tuesday night, five couples have separate sexual adventures. Matt and Kris, friends for years, want to have an only-once, no-strings good time. Abby and Andrew, married, celebrate his birthday, but it's marred by angst and miscommunication. Mia and Eric are exes, making sure they are over each other. Jaime and Ken work together and this is a first date. Inez and Gord invite his roommate, Dave, to join them. By the time each couple has gone through a prelude, foreplay, sex, an interlude, orgasm, and afterglow, they've answered basic questions: can sex be anonymous, are we bored, is our marriage really finished, does anyone tell the truth, and how do we make someone happy?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisNothing Like the Holidays (2008)
It’s Christmastime and the far-flung members of the Rodriguez family are converging at their parents’ home in Chicago to celebrate the season and rejoice in their youngest brother’s safe return from combat overseas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBenjamin (2019)
Benjamin, a rising star filmmaker, is on the brink of premiering his difficult second film No Self at the London Film Festival when Billie, his hard drinking publicist, introduces him to a mesmeric French musician called Noah.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNumb (2007)
Hudson Milbank is a successful Hollywood screenwriter who suddenly and strangely finds himself without any emotional feelings. He tries doctor after doctor and shrink after shrink, but nothing works. The Golf Channel, lesbian exercise classes and a dizzying variety of pills get him through the day, but don't quite solve his problem. His writing partner tries everything to get him back to normal, but it's not until Hudson meets Sara that he finds a real motivation to get better and to actually start feeling again. From the writer of Deuce Bigalow, comes NUMB, a romantic comedy following an unusual man looking for strange love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisWhy Did I Get Married Again? (2026)
The couples reunite for the destination wedding of Marcus and Angela's daughter, bringing drama old and new as they ask, "Why did we get married again?"
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDelirious (2007)
Les, a small-time celebrity photographer desperate to make it big, befriends Toby, a homeless young man with no direction except a vague desire to become an actor. When by chance, Toby becomes romantically involved with K'Harma Leeds, the hottest pop star of the moment, Les grows jealous and plots revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCosi (1996)
Lewis, a young amateur theater director, is offered a job with a governmental program for the rehabilitation of mentally ill patients in a Sydney institution. His project is overrun by one of the patients, who wants to stage the opera Cosi Fan Tutte by Mozart, despite the fact that none of the patients can sing or speak Italian. A comedy of errors ensues, but one which unifies the patients and their director in unexpected ways.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNewness (2017)
In contemporary Los Angeles, two millennials navigating a social media–driven hookup culture begin a relationship that pushes both emotional and physical boundaries.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSomeone Great (2019)
An aspiring music journalist lands her dream job and is about to move to San Francisco when her boyfriend of nine years decides to call it quits. To nurse her broken heart, she and her two best friends spend one outrageous last adventure in New York City.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
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 thisSomething Blue (2025)
Lifelong friends Óscar and Eli find themselves in a messy situation after a drunken night leads to unexpected consequences. Forced to replace a ruined wedding dress, they embark on a chaotic journey filled with setbacks and awkward run-ins with their exes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & comedy
Notes on a Scandal (2006)
A veteran high school teacher befriends a younger art teacher, who is having an affair with one of her 15-year-old students. However, her intentions with this new "friend" also go well beyond platonic friendship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Partner (1982)
The story of the friendship between a truck driver and a shoeshine boy who occasionally becomes his assistant when they travel together from the agro-industrial area of Santa Cruz to the high Andean basin of La Paz in a truck named "Mi Socio".
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisLove Conquers Paul (2009)
Paul has a chance encounter with a free-spirited artist named Esoterica that provides the spark that ignites his first passionate relationship. She changes he way he looks at love and life and introduces him to the person he could be, inspiring a new confidence. But just as soon as their fairy-tale romance begins to sizzle, Paul discovers that Esoterica has a secret of her own.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
SommerHundeSöhne (2005)
Summer is the time to travel, enjoy life, and do or leave what you want. A motor home with two occupants makes its way south. But the two travelers do not travel voluntarily, and certainly not together.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Reclaim Your Brain (2007)
Frustrated, because he is forced to produce bad TV-shows, a manager of a TV-station, enters the station and manipulates the ratings, to initiate a TV-revolution.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Station Agent (2003)
When his only friend dies, a man born with dwarfism moves to rural New Jersey to live a life of solitude, only to meet a chatty hot dog vendor and a woman dealing with her own personal loss.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCars (2006)
Lightning McQueen, a hotshot rookie race car driven to succeed, discovers that life is about the journey, not the finish line, when he finds himself unexpectedly detoured in the sleepy Route 66 town of Radiator Springs. On route across the country to the big Piston Cup Championship in California to compete against two seasoned pros, McQueen gets to know the town's offbeat characters.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Flintstones (1994)
Modern Stone Age family the Flintstones hit the big screen in this live-action version of the classic cartoon. Fred helps Barney adopt a child. Barney sees an opportunity to repay him when Slate Mining tests its employees to find a new executive. But no good deed goes unpunished.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisMickey's Safety Club: Street Safe, Street Smart (1989)
Mickey and his friends take a close look at important street safety situations and tips.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Like The Big Picture and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Big Picture?
The closest matches to The Big Picture are The Best You Can (2025), St. Elmo's Fire (1985) and Modern Romance (1981). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Big Picture?
Start with The Best You Can (2025), the closest match to The Big Picture.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Big Picture?
Love Don't Co$t a Thing (2003), rated 7.7/10 by 742 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Big Picture?
Why Did I Get Married Again? (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Big Picture?
Yes: The Best You Can (2025), St. Elmo's Fire (1985) and Modern Romance (1981).
How are movies similar to The Big Picture chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Big Picture, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.