Movies like Happyland (2010)
The best movies like Happyland (2010) are Goal II: Living the Dream (2007), Believe (2013) and Fast Girls (2012). If Happyland hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAbove the Rim (1994)7.1/10 from 251 votes
- NewestThe Thrice-Eternal (2026)Released 2026
Goal II: Living the Dream (2007)
Tempted away from Newcastle United to join Real Madrid, rising star Santiago Munez finds this latest change of fortune the greatest challenge yet - personally as well as professionally. He is reunited with Gavin Harris, though they must compete to be on the team, and estranged from fiancee Roz, whose nursing career keeps her back home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBelieve (2013)
A young, gifted soccer player who gets into trouble for a petty crime is brought to the attention of former Manchester United coach Matt Busby, who comes out of retirement to help the boy and his teammates.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
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 thisJungleland (2020)
Stanley manages his boxer brother Lion but when a devastating loss in the ring leaves the pair in debt, an opportunity to recoup the cash leads to a series of misadventures that threaten to break the bond between them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHands of Stone (2016)
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBrotherly Love (2015)
West Philadelphia basketball star Sergio Taylor deals with the pressures of fame while his brother and sister have their own issues with ambition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlue Chips (1994)
Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future are secretly being paid by boosters. This practice is forbidden in the college game, but Pete is desperate and has pressures from all around.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisResurrecting the Champ (2007)
Up-and-coming sports reporter rescues a homeless man ("Champ") only to discover that he is, in fact, a boxing legend believed to have passed away. What begins as an opportunity to resurrect Champ's story and escape the shadow of his father's success becomes a personal journey as the ambitious reporter reexamines his own life and his relationship with his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (2004)
The story of golf icon and legend, Bobby Jones, who retired from competition at the tender age of 28.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAbove the Rim (1994)
Story of a promising high school basketball star and his relationships with two brothers, one a drug dealer and the other a former basketball star fallen on hard times and now employed as a security guard.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHardball (2001)
An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmateur (2018)
14-year-old basketball phenom Terron Forte has to navigate the under-the-table world of amateur athletics when he is recruited to an elite NCAA prep school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBack of the Net (2019)
A new student at a soccer academy is determined to beat her rival's team in the national tournament.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHome Run (2013)
A pro ball player with a substance abuse problem is forced into rehab in his hometown, finding new hope when he gets honest about his checkered past, and takes on coaching duties for a misfit Little League team
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKid Galahad (1962)
After completing military service, Walter Gulick takes a job as a sparring partner at a gym, the owner of which sees potential in Walter as a professional fighter—and takes him under his wing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this1 Chance 2 Dance (2014)
When a 17-year old aspiring dancer is uprooted in her high school senior year, she finds herself divided between two boys, and she will have one last shot at making her dream a reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJourneyman (2018)
A boxer suffers a serious head injury during a fight, and must deal with the consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Beautiful Game (2024)
A group of advocates to end homelessness organize an annual tournament for homeless people to compete in a series of football matches known as The Homeless World Cup.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (1996)
A dramatization of the life of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (Don Cheadle), with a lot of factual based occurrences. A reformed junkie returns from prison to clean up his act and devote the rest of his life to the young kids of Harlem. 1996 was the 25th anniversary of the first tournament named after him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOmaha (2025)
A young girl and her brother are awoken by their father and loaded into the car on an early morning in 2008. As they road trip across the American West, she discovers the truth about their seemingly spontaneous journey.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Stars (1997)
Seven young men who played soccer together since their early youth grow apart and are forced to think about the nature of their friendship. In a comic way and a very Dutch setting, All Stars is about pregnant girlfriends and homosexuality, career plans and the power of parents.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Match (2021)
Inspired by true events from the spring of 1944 when the Nazis organized a football match between a team of camp inmates and an elite Nazi team on Adolf Hitler's birthday. A match the prisoners are determined to win, no matter what happens.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBloomfield (1970)
An aging soccer player has a part-time girlfriend, a young fan, and doubts about throwing a game.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Garuda 19: Petrified Spirit (2014)
Team beat Vietnam in the AFF U-19 Cup, 2013, in Sidoarjo and entitled to bring home the first trophy earned by the Indonesian national team since 22 years earlier. Then the story looks back at the footsteps of the ’s players, when they began to be recruited by Indra Sjafri and his team. The trip was enjoyed by all the players, like Yazid, (Konawe from South, Southeast Sulawesi), Sahrul (from Ngawi, East Java) and Jabez (from Alor, East Nusa Tenggara). Indra Sjafri and his team pick up and unite them with Dimas Evan et al in . They both feel the bitterness and joy. Indra Sjafri cs must raise their mental by injecting the spirit.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Mean Machine (2001)
Disgraced ex-England football captain, Danny 'Mean Machine' Meehan, is thrown in jail for assaulting two police officers. He keeps his head down and has the opportunity to forget everything and change the lives of the prisoners. When these prisoners have the chance to put one over the evil guards during a prison football match, Danny takes the lead.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBaghdad Messi (2012)
Iraq, 2009. Little Hamoudi (10) is totally obsessed with football. Just as the rest of the world, he and his friends are eagerly looking forward to the Champions League finale FC Barcelona-Manchester United. The long awaited clash between Messi and Ronaldo. But then Hamoudi's television breaks down... Short film, not to be confused with the 2023 feature film.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Thrice-Eternal (2026)
The Mexico City Youth Blind Football Team heads to Aguascalientes for the 2025 CONADE National Para Games, determined to capture a coveted third consecutive title.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Van (1996)
In a working-class quarter of Dublin, 'Bimbo' Reeves gets laid off from his job and, with his redundancy payout, buys a van and sells fish and chips with his buddy, Larry. Due to Ireland's surprising success at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, their business starts off well, but the relationship between the two friends soon becomes strained as Bimbo behaves more like a typical boss.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Acid House (1998)
A surreal triptych adapted by "Trainspotting" author Irvine Welsh from his acclaimed collection of short stories. Combining a vicious sense of humor with hard-talking drama, the film reaches into the hearts and minds of the chemical generation, casting a dark and unholy light into the hidden corners of the human psyche.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this66/67 - Fairplay war gestern (2009)
For six young men, who could hardly be more different from one another, the fan club of the Eintracht Braunschweig football club is the center of their life and their friendship. 66/67 is the name of their club as well as the year in which Eintracht Braunschweig won the German Championship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Happyland and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Happyland?
The closest matches to Happyland are Goal II: Living the Dream (2007), Believe (2013) and Fast Girls (2012). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Happyland?
Start with Goal II: Living the Dream (2007), the closest match to Happyland.
What is the highest-rated movie like Happyland?
Above the Rim (1994), rated 7.1/10 by 251 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Happyland?
The Thrice-Eternal (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Happyland?
Yes: Goal II: Living the Dream (2007), Believe (2013) and Fast Girls (2012).
How are movies similar to Happyland chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Happyland, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.