Movies like The Professor (2019)
The best movies like The Professor (2019) are Educating Rita (1983), The Upside of Anger (2005) and Box of Moonlight (1996). If The Professor hooked you with its comedy and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAwakenings (1990)7.8/10 from 3,011 votes
- NewestWicked Little Letters (2024)Released 2024
Educating Rita (1983)
Rita, a witty 26-year-old hairdresser, wants to 'discover' herself, so she joins the Open University where she meets the disillusioned professor of literature, Dr. Frank Bryant. His marriage has failed, his new girlfriend is having an affair with his best friend and he can't get through the day without downing a bottle or two of whisky. What Frank needs is a challenge... and along comes Rita.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Upside of Anger (2005)
After her husband runs off with his secretary, Terry Wolfmeyer is left to fend for herself -- and her four daughters. As she hits rock bottom, Terry finds a friend and drinking buddy in next-door neighbor Denny, a former baseball player. As the two grow closer, and her daughters increasingly rely on Denny, Terry starts to have reservations about where their relationship is headed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBox of Moonlight (1996)
Al Fountain, a middle-aged electrical engineer, is on the verge of a mid-life crisis, when he decides to take his time coming home from a business trip, rents a car, and heads out looking for a lake he remembers from his childhood. But his wandering takes him into the life of Kid, a free-spirited young man who helps Al escape from the routine of everyday life and find freedom to enjoy himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYoung Adult (2011)
A divorced writer from the Midwest returns to her hometown to reconnect with an old flame, who's now married with a family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisWicked Little Letters (2024)
When the denizens of Littlehampton – including conservative Edith – begin receiving letters full of hilarious profanities, rowdy Irish migrant Rose is charged with the crime. Suspecting something amiss, the town's women band together to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBetter Living Through Chemistry (2014)
A straight-laced pharmacist's uneventful life spirals out of control when he starts an affair with a trophy wife customer who takes him on a joyride involving sex, drugs and possibly murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisWith Honors (1994)
Convinced he'll graduate with honors because of his thesis paper, a stuffy Harvard student finds his paper being held hostage by a homeless man, who might be the guy to school the young man in life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChloe and Theo (2015)
A young woman, Chloe, living by her wits on the streets of New York City, has a chance meeting with a wise Inuit Eskimo, Theo, who was sent to New York by his elders to provide a message to the people of the world – We either change our destructive was or be destroyed by them. Chloe, who has been searching for something to believe in, becomes inspired by Theo and , with the help of a kind lawyer, Monica, the three of them present Theo’s story to the United Nations in hopes of creating a better future for all of us.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMiss Stevens (2016)
Stuck at a crossroads in her personal life, it falls on high school English teacher Miss Stevens to chaperone three of her students — Billy, Margot and Sam — on a weekend trip to a drama competition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMan on the Moon (1999)
The story of the life and career of eccentric avant-garde comedian, Andy Kaufman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Late Shift (1996)
David Letterman vies with Jay Leno and his manager to succeed Johnny Carson, retiring from "The Tonight Show."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
A history professor and his wife entertain a young couple who are new to the university's faculty. As the drinks flow, secrets come to light, and the middle-aged couple unload onto their guests the full force of the bitterness, dysfunction, and animosity that defines their marriage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmerican Dreamer (2022)
In this winsome comedy, an entitled Economics professor pursues a tactic to buy an ailing widow’s mansion for nothing, but he quickly realizes that his seemingly foolproof strategy won’t be as easy as he thought.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisArsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Mortimer Brewster, a newspaper drama critic, playwright, and author known for his diatribes against marriage, suddenly falls in love and gets married; but when he makes a quick trip home to tell his two maiden aunts, he finds out his aunts' hobby - killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like this21 (2008)
Ben Campbell is a young, highly intelligent student at M.I.T. who strives to succeed. Wanting a scholarship to transfer to Harvard School of Medicine to become a doctor, Ben learns that he cannot afford the $300,000 tuition as he comes from a poor, working-class background. But one evening, Ben is introduced by his unorthodox math professor to a small but secretive club of five students, Jill, Choi, Kianna, and Fisher, who are being trained by Professor Rosa to count cards at blackjack.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Woman in the Window (1944)
A seductive woman gets an innocent professor mixed up in murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChris Rock: Tamborine (2018)
Chris Rock takes the stage for his first comedy special in 10 years, filled with searing observations on fatherhood, infidelity and American politics.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAwakenings (1990)
Dr. Malcolm Sayer, a shy research physician, uses an experimental drug to "awaken" the catatonic victims of a rare disease. Leonard is the first patient to receive the controversial treatment. His awakening, filled with awe and enthusiasm, proves a rebirth for Sayer too, as the exuberant patient reveals life's simple but unutterably sweet pleasures to the introverted doctor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Pelican Brief (1993)
A law student's theory about the recent deaths of two Supreme Court justices embroils her in a far-reaching web of murder, corruption, and greed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCall Me Crazy: A Five Film (2013)
A psychotherapist helps a law student cope with schizophrenia in one of five interconnected tales dealing with mental illness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990)
After being released from a mental hospital, a troubled young man tracks down an actress he once had sex with and forces her into captivity, determined to make her part of his life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNotes 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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGloomy Sunday (1999)
Budapest in the 1930s. Restaurant owner Laszlo hires pianist András to play in his restaurant. Both men fall in love with the beautiful waitress Ilona who inspires András to his only composition. His song of Gloomy Sunday is, at first, loved and then feared, for its melancholic melody sets off a chain of suicides. The fragile balance of the erotic ménage à trois is sent off kilter when the German Hans falls in love with Ilona as well.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Dreamers (2003)
When Isabelle and Theo invite Matthew to stay with them, what begins as a casual friendship ripens into a sensual voyage of discovery and desire in which nothing is off limits and everything is possible.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSex and Lucía (2001)
Lucía is a young waitress in Madrid who seeks refuge on a quiet, secluded Mediterranean island after the loss of her longtime boyfriend. Amidst the fresh air, dazzling sun, and glistening deep blue water, Lucía begins to piece together the dark corners of her past relationship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLammbock (2001)
Stefan and Kai run a thriving business: a home-grown cannabis trade disguised as a pizza delivery service. For now they just have to fight aphids.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Diary of Lies (2023)
After making the cheer squad at her new school, Natalie becomes public enemy number one after she's framed for murder.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Le réfrigérateur (2019)
Two different but strangely complementary young women living together are pictured in a fragmented and non-linear narrative about incommunicability and alienation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Fast and Sexy (1958)
A beautiful, wealthy widow leaves New York to find herself a husband in the Italian village in which she was born. After many tries she...chooses the village blacksmith.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Ask the Dust (2006)
Mexican beauty Camilla hopes to rise above her station by marrying a wealthy American. That is complicated by meeting Arturo Bandini, a first-generation Italian hoping to land a writing career and a blue-eyed blonde on his arm.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Professor?
The closest matches to The Professor are Educating Rita (1983), The Upside of Anger (2005) and Box of Moonlight (1996). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Professor?
Start with Educating Rita (1983), the closest match to The Professor.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Professor?
Awakenings (1990), rated 7.8/10 by 3,011 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Professor?
Wicked Little Letters (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Professor?
Yes: Educating Rita (1983), The Upside of Anger (2005) and Box of Moonlight (1996).
How are movies similar to The Professor chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Professor, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.