Movies like Wannabe (2017)
The best movies like Wannabe (2017) are F the Prom (2017), Eighth Grade (2018) and SubUrbia (1997). If Wannabe 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 ratedThe Muppet Movie (1979)7.2/10 from 736 votes
- NewestSummer of 69 (2025)Released 2025
F the Prom (2017)
Maddy and Cole were inseparable friends until high school started and Maddy became the most popular girl on campus. When she starts feeling lonely and heartbroken, she reconnects with Cole and the duo conspire to destroy the ultimate teen popularity contest
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisEighth Grade (2018)
Thirteen-year-old Kayla endures the tidal wave of contemporary suburban adolescence as she makes her way through the last week of middle school — the end of her thus far disastrous eighth grade year — before she begins high school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSubUrbia (1997)
A group of suburban teenagers try to support each other through the difficult task of becoming adults.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFamily Weekend (2013)
A 16-year-old girl takes her parents hostage after they miss her big jump-roping competition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReal Women Have Curves (2002)
In East Los Angeles, an 18-year-old struggles between her ambitions of going to college and the desires of her domineering mother for her to get married, have children, and oversee the small, rundown family-owned textile factory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMen, Women & Children (2014)
Follows the story of a group of high school teenagers and their parents as they attempt to navigate the many ways the internet has changed their relationships, their communication, their self-image, and their love lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLandline (2017)
A teenager living with her sister and parents in Manhattan during the 1990s discovers that her father is having an affair.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAs Cool as I Am (2013)
In a small American town, 16-year-old Lucy is left to largely raise herself, managing the household while her immature mother works and her father is away in Canada for months at a time. As her parents' emotional distance intensifies, Lucy explores her own sexuality with her childhood best friend, Kenny.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSummer of 69 (2025)
In an effort to land the guy she's been pining after since grade school, Abby hires a local stripper named Santa Monica to teach her everything she needs to know about confidence and sex.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Clique (2008)
A young girl tries to fit in with a clique of popular middle school girls after moving into the guest house of one of their homes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisPalindromes (2005)
Aviva is thirteen, awkward and sensitive. Her mother Joyce is warm and loving, as is her father, Steve, a regular guy who does have a fierce temper from time to time. The film revolves around her family, friends and neighbors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTeen Spirit (2011)
Amber, a mean popular girl who gets electrocuted and dies, is not allowed to enter into heaven unless she helps the least popular girl in school become Prom Queen within a week, but things do not go as planned.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisKilling Bono (2011)
The true story of Neil and Ivan McCormick, two Irish brothers who attempt to become rock stars but can only look on as their high school friends U2 become the biggest band in the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWildflower (2023)
The story of Bea Johnson from birth to graduation as she navigates life with an intellectually disabled parent and an extended family who can't quite agree on the best way to help.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTeen Spirit (2019)
A shy teenager living on the Isle of Wight dreams of pop stardom. With the help of an unlikely mentor, she enters a singing competition that will test her integrity, talent, and ambition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBooksmart (2019)
Two academic teenage superstars realize, on the eve of their high school graduation, that they should have worked less and played more. Determined to never fall short of their peers, the girls set out on a mission to cram four years of fun into one night.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHala (2019)
Seventeen-year-old Pakistani American teenager Hala struggles to balance desire with her family, cultural, and religious obligations. As she comes into her own, she grapples with a secret that threatens to unravel her family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIncoming (2024)
Their first week of high school. The biggest party of the year. Mistakes will be made as four teenage boys navigate a night of mayhem and debauchery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBottoms (2023)
Unpopular best friends PJ and Josie start a high school self-defense club to meet girls and lose their virginity. They soon find themselves in over their heads when the most popular students start beating each other up in the name of self-defense.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMystic Pizza (1988)
Three teenage girls come of age while working at a pizza parlor in Mystic, Connecticut.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFreeway (1996)
Following the arrest of her mother, Ramona, young Vanessa Lutz decides to go in search of her estranged grandmother. On the way, she is given a ride by school counselor Bob Wolverton. During the journey, Lutz begins to realize that Bob is the notorious I-5 Killer and manages to escape by shooting him several times. Wounded but still very much alive, Bob pursues Lutz across the state in this modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAntarctica (2020)
Two teen girls see their long-time friendship crumble from the pressures of adulthood in their last year of high school.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Alma's Rainbow (1994)
The teenage daughter of a Brooklyn beauty-parlor owner blossoms under the influence of her recently-returned show-biz aunt.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
After Forty… (2024)
An actress in her forties is facing family and domestic difficulties and feels that her demand in cinema and theater is decreasing over time. But she doesn't want to accept this.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
The Muppet Movie (1979)
The Muppets gather to watch their newly-finished big-budget rich-and-famous feature film: a talent agent persuades Kermit the Frog to leave the swamp to pursue a career in Hollywood. On his way there, he meets a bear, a pig, a whatever (his future Muppet crew), and some special celebrity guest stars, while being chased by the desperate owner of a frog-leg restaurant!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJohnny Flash (1986)
Jurgen is an unknown electrician with a dream of pop stardom. His mother browbeats him into fame, while two managers compete for his contract. All Johnny really wants to do is get some sleep.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Bowfinger (1999)
On the verge of bankruptcy and desperate for his big break, aspiring filmmaker Bobby Bowfinger concocts a crazy plan to make his ultimate dream movie. Rallying a ragtag team that includes a starry-eyed ingenue, a has-been diva and a film studio gofer, he sets out to shoot a blockbuster featuring the biggest star in Hollywood, Kit Ramsey -- only without letting Ramsey know he's in the picture.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChoir Girl (2019)
CHOIR GIRL is a gritty drama about a lonely photographer, Eugene, who becomes obsessed with an underage prostitute, Josephine, in his rundown neighbourhood. She has escaped a worn-torn country only to be trapped in the illegal sex trade by corruption and a powerful underworld criminal named Daddy. Yet for Eugene, Josephine represents a symbol of purity in the darkness - when he takes her photograph there is something captivating about her and she quickly becomes his muse.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Gnome Alone (2017)
When Chloe discovers that her new home's garden gnomes are not what they seem, she must decide between the pursuit of a desired high school life and taking up the fight against the Troggs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Wannabe?
The closest matches to Wannabe are F the Prom (2017), Eighth Grade (2018) and SubUrbia (1997). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Wannabe?
Start with F the Prom (2017), the closest match to Wannabe.
What is the highest-rated movie like Wannabe?
The Muppet Movie (1979), rated 7.2/10 by 736 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Wannabe?
Summer of 69 (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Wannabe?
Yes: F the Prom (2017), Eighth Grade (2018) and SubUrbia (1997).
How are movies similar to Wannabe chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Wannabe, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.