Movies like Swimming Instructor (1979)
The best movies like Swimming Instructor (1979) are Miss Stevens (2016), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) and An Indian Tale (2017). If Swimming Instructor 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 ratedGreed (1924)7.3/10 from 212 votes
- NewestWhatever It Takes (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchAn Indian Tale (2017)Also in French
Miss 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 thisThe Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
A naive business graduate is installed as president of a manufacturing company as part of a stock scam.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAn Indian Tale (2017)
The life of two men changed unexpectedly when Ajith, an Indian sailor who was robbed and lost everything, appears out of nowhere in front of Pierre, a single and grumpy Frenchman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisAlice and the Mayor (2019)
The mayor of Lyon, Paul Théraneau, is in a delicate position. After 30 years in politics, he is running out of ideas and is faced with a feeling of existential emptiness. To overcome this, Paul hires a young and brilliant philosopher, Alice Heimann. Then follows a dialogue between two diametrically opposed personalities who will turn their certainties upside down.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRenaissance Man (1994)
An advertising man is slowly sliding downhill. When he is fired from his job in Detroit, he signs up for unemployment. One day they find him a job: teaching thinking skills to Army recruits. He arrives on base to find that there is no structure set up for the class.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhatever It Takes (2026)
Rose and Jean have nothing in common. Rose is a force of nature who faces all her problems with a disarming joie de vivre. She lives with her 3 children upstairs in the family hotel that no longer belongs to her. They're not poor, they're broke... but only temporarily. Jean is a solitary, taciturn man who has buried his big heart under layers of modesty and resignation. When he arrives in this unusual family, however, he quickly becomes indispensable. What did they expect before they met? Probably nothing. He soon becomes indispensable.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSink or Swim (2018)
40-year-old Bertrand has been suffering from depression for the last two years and is barely able to keep his head above water. Despite the medication he gulps down all day, every day, and his wife's encouragement, he is unable to find any meaning in his life. Curiously, he will end up finding this sense of purpose at the swimming pool, by joining an all-male synchronised swimming team.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSkies of Lebanon (2021)
In the fifties, young Alice leaves her natal Swiss mountains for the sunny and vibrant shores of Beirut. She falls madly in love with Joseph, a quirky astrophysicist intent on sending the first Lebanese national into space. Alice quickly fits in among his relatives, but after years of bliss, the civil war threatens their Garden of Eden.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMr. Morgan's Last Love (2013)
A widowed professor living in Paris develops a special relationship with a younger French woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSwimming with Men (2018)
A man who is suffering a mid-life crisis finds new meaning in his life as part of an all-male, middle-aged, amateur synchronised swimming team.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNew Biz in the Hood (2019)
Fred Bartel is the charismatic boss of a trendy Parisian communication agency, Happy Few. After a heated tax audit, he was forced by the administration to relocate overnight his company in La Courneuve. Fred and his team meet Samy, a young suburb who will quickly propose to teach them the rules and practices to adopt in this new environment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Distinguished Gentleman (1992)
A Florida con man uses the recent death of the long time Congressman from his district, who he just happens to share a last name with, to get elected to his version of paradise, the U.S. Congress, where the money flows from lobbyists.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBig Business (1988)
In the 1940s in the small town of Jupiter Hollow, two sets of identical twins are born in the same hospital on the same night. One set to a poor local family and the other to a rich family just passing through. The dizzy nurse on duty accidentally mixes the twins unbeknown to the parents. Our story flashes forward to the 1980s where the mismatched sets of twins are about to cross paths.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGreed (1924)
When housewife Trina wins the lottery, her comfortable life with her dentist husband John slowly deteriorates, in part by her own increasing paranoia and partly by the machinations of villainous acquaintance Marcus.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Dinner with Hervé (2018)
An unlikely friendship evolves over one wild night in LA between a struggling journalist and actor Hervé Villechaize, the world's most famous gun-toting dwarf, resulting in life-changing consequences for both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Honey Pot (1967)
In Venice, a millionaire hires an actor to help him prank three greedy exes into thinking he's dying and leaving his fortune to one of them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFast Girls (2012)
A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThunderstruck (2012)
After NBA star Kevin Durant switches talent with 16 year old Brian, the teenager becomes the star of his high school team, but Durant starts struggling and eventually learns an important lesson.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlank Check (1994)
Bullied by his siblings and nagged by his parents, 11-year-old Preston Waters is fed up with his family — especially their frugality. But he gets his chance to teach them a lesson when a money-laundering criminal nearly bulldozes Preston with his car and compensates the boy with a blank check. Preston makes the check out for $1 million and goes on a spending spree he'll never forget.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPocket Listing (2016)
A satirical thriller about L.A.'s real estate roller coaster. Double crosses, adultery, murder, mistaken identity, and revenge ensues when a mysterious power player and his sultry wife hire a disgraced Los Angeles property broker to discreetly market and sell their Malibu villa.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Supper (1995)
A group of idealistic but frustrated liberals succumb to the temptation of murdering right-wing pundits for their political beliefs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWristcutters: A Love Story (2007)
Zia, distraught over breaking up with his girlfriend, decides to end it all. Unfortunately, he discovers that there is no real ending, only a run-down afterlife that is strikingly similar to his old one, just a bit worse. Discovering that his ex-girlfriend has also "offed" herself, he sets out on a road trip to find her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKendra and Beth (2021)
A dark comedy about the only female employee in the warehouse of a sausage company who forms an unlikely bond with a stranger that throws both their lives into disarray, leaving them forever changed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Fierce Creatures (1997)
Ex-policeman Rollo Lee is sent to run Marwood Zoo, the newly acquired business of a New Zealand tycoon. In order to meet high profit targets and keep the zoo open, Rollo enforces a new 'fierce creatures' policy, whereby only the most impressive and dangerous animals are allowed to remain in the zoo. However, the keepers are less enthusiastic about complying with these demands.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat Dreams May Come (1998)
After Chris Nielsen dies in a car accident, he is guided through the afterlife by his spirit guide, Albert. His new world is beautiful and can be whatever Chris imagines. Even his children are there. But, when his wife, Annie, commits suicide and is sent to hell, Chris ignores Albert's warnings and journeys there to save her. Upon arrival, Chris finds that rescuing Annie will be more difficult than he'd imagined.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPrychynna. The Story of Love (2017)
The war separates lovers, but their hearts remain together. The young woman loses her mind, but love gives her strength to wait for her beloved.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The First Semester (1997)
A young student stands to inherent a fortune provided he can pass his first semester of college and find a steady girlfriend. His scheming stepfather has other plans for the money, however.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Slope (2020)
Living in a village full of slopes can drive you mad. Those who have climbed them in the old-fashioned way are fully aware of that. What they don’t know is that their souls might have stuck around.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Dhanapati (2017)
Dhanapati wants to earn more money to get his daughter to a good school.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
School's Out (2008)
A few days before the baccalaureate, a high school student decides to settle accounts with the most cowardly teacher in the school.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Swimming Instructor?
The closest matches to Swimming Instructor are Miss Stevens (2016), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) and An Indian Tale (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Swimming Instructor?
Start with Miss Stevens (2016), the closest match to Swimming Instructor.
What is the highest-rated movie like Swimming Instructor?
Greed (1924), rated 7.3/10 by 212 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Swimming Instructor?
Whatever It Takes (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like Swimming Instructor?
Yes: An Indian Tale (2017), Alice and the Mayor (2019) and Whatever It Takes (2026).
How are movies similar to Swimming Instructor chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Swimming Instructor, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.