Movies like The Bad Mother's Handbook (2007)
The best movies like The Bad Mother's Handbook (2007) are The Nanny Express (2009), Christmas with Holly (2012) and Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas! (2011). If The Bad Mother's Handbook 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 ratedKabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001)7.7/10 from 645 votes
- NewestDandelion (2025)Released 2025
The Nanny Express (2009)
With their mother dead, Emily and Ben torment their nannies to quit as fast as their father hires them. Till a nanny named Kate shows up and slowly wins Ben over. That's bad enough, but when her father and Kate start to fall in love, Emily sets out to break them up and match him with her ballet teacher.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisChristmas with Holly (2012)
After being dumped at the altar on her wedding day, Maggie Conway moves to the island town of Friday Harbor in Washington State, where she meets Mark Nagle, the local coffee shop owner.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGood Luck Charlie, It's Christmas! (2011)
Teddy Duncan's middle-class family embarks on a road trip from their home in Denver to visit Mrs. Duncans Parents, the Blankenhoopers, in Palm Springs. When they find themselves stranded between Denver and Utah, they try to hitch a ride to Las Vegas with a seemingly normal older couple in a station wagon from Roswell, New Mexico. It turns out that the couple believes they are the victims of alien abduction. The Duncan's must resort to purchasing a clunker Yugo to get to Utah, have their luggage stolen in Las Vegas, and survive a zany Christmas with Grandpa and Grandma Blankenhooper.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoliday in Handcuffs (2007)
A ne’er-do-well thirty-something attempts to appease her family by kidnapping herself an attractive boyfriend for the family Christmas. Despite unlikely odds and dysfunctional family moments, the two fall in love and share a magical Christmas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLet It Snow (2013)
A resort executive is sent to a newly purchased lodge in Maine with instructions to turn it in to an ultra-modern resort, and finds a charming, successful lodge loaded with holiday spirit. Will she stick with her boss’s plans to tear everything down or find a way to save what she has come to love? Stars Candace Cameron-Bure and Alan Thicke.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChristmas...Again?! (2021)
Rowena "Ro" is a high-spirited 11-year-old hoping to add more spunk to her Christmas celebrations when her parents’ divorce is going anything but smoothly.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both family & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Very Brady Christmas (1988)
Almost 20 years after the start of the original "Brady Bunch" the kids are grown up and have kids of their own. Everyone is having a wonderful time back at the family house for Christmas, until Mike learns of a structural problem in one of the buildings he designed. As he is inspecting the problem, the building collapses, trapping him inside. As the whole family waits by the pile of rubble, they fear the worst. Will Dad be all right?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove at the Shore (2017)
Single mom Jenna Thompson only five weeks to deliver her next teen novel to her publisher. So, this year's annual beach vacation with her kids will be a working vacation. Upon arrival, the family soon meets their new next-door neighbor, confident, devil-may-care surfer Lucas McKinnon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHome for the Holidays (1995)
After losing her job, making out with her soon-to-be former boss, and finding out that her daughter plans to spend Thanksgiving with her boyfriend, Claudia Larson faces spending the holiday with her unhinged family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove the Coopers (2015)
When four generations of the Cooper clan come together for their annual Christmas Eve celebration, a series of unexpected visitors and unlikely events turn the night upside down, leading them all toward a surprising rediscovery of family bonds and the spirit of the holiday.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThis Christmas (2007)
This year Christmas with the Whitfields promises to be one they will never forget. All the siblings have come home for the first time in years and they've brought plenty of baggage with them. As the Christmas tree is trimmed and the lights are hung, secrets are revealed and family bonds are tested. As their lives converge, they join together and help each other discover the true meaning of family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWelcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008)
When a celebrated TV show host returns to his hometown in the South, his family is there to remind him that going home is no vacation!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLaggies (2014)
Overeducated and underemployed, 28 year old Megan is in the throes of a quarterlife crisis. Squarely into adulthood with no career prospects, no particular motivation to think about her future and no one to relate to, Megan is comfortable lagging a few steps behind - while her friends check off milestones and celebrate their new grown-up status. When her high-school sweetheart proposes, Megan panics and- given an unexpected opportunity to escape for a week - hides out in the home of her new friend, 16-year old Annika and Annika's world-weary single dad Craig.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMadea's Big Happy Family (2011)
When Shirley, Madea's niece, receives distressing news about her health, the only thing she wants is her family gathered around her. However, Shirley's three adult children are too preoccupied with their own troubled lives to pay attention to their mother. It is up to Madea, with the help of rowdy Aunt Bam, to bring the clan together and help Shirley deal with her crisis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRamona and Beezus (2010)
Ramona is a little girl with a very big imagination and a nose for mischief. Her playful antics keep everyone in her loving family on their toes, including her older sister Beezus, who's just trying to survive her first year of high school. Through all the ups and downs of childhood, Ramona and Beezus learn that anything's possible when you believe in yourself and rely on each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFather of the Bride Part II (1995)
Just when George Banks has recovered from his daughter's wedding, he receives the news that she's pregnant ... and that George's wife is expecting too. He was planning on selling their home, but that's a plan that—like George—will have to change with the arrival of both a grandchild and a kid of his own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisElizabeth Is Missing (2019)
Maud's best friend Elizabeth has disappeared, but as she tries to solve the mystery, dementia threatens to erase all the clues, giving the search a poignant urgency.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Farewell (2019)
A headstrong Chinese-American woman returns to China when her beloved grandmother is given a terminal diagnosis. Billi struggles with her family's decision to keep grandma in the dark about her own illness as they all stage an impromptu wedding to see grandma one last time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFather's Little Dividend (1951)
Newly married Kay Dunstan announces that she and her husband are having a baby, leaving her father to come to grips with the fact that he will soon be a granddad.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPieces of April (2003)
Quirky and rebellious April Burns lives with her boyfriend in a low-rent New York City apartment miles away from her emotionally distant family. But when she discovers that her mother has a fatal form of breast cancer, she invites the clan to her place for Thanksgiving. While her father struggles to drive her family into the city, April -- an inexperienced cook -- runs into kitchen trouble and must ask a neighbor for help.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRaspberry Magic (2010)
An eleven-year-old science enthusiast turns her raspberry-growing project into an emotional mission to reunite her family after her father leaves and her mother falls into depression.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Ravenous (1999)
After arriving at his new, remote Army outpost, Capt. John Boyd and his regiment aid a wounded frontiersman who recounts a horrifying tale of a wagon train murdered by its supposed guide – a vicious U.S. Army colonel gone rogue. Fearing the worst, the regiment heads out into the wilderness to verify the gruesome claims.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008)
Four young women continue the journey toward adulthood that began with "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." Now three years later, these lifelong friends embark on separate paths for their first year of college and the summer beyond, but remain in touch by sharing their experiences with each other.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Prince of Tides (1991)
A troubled Southern man talks to his suicidal sister's psychiatrist about their family history and falls in love with her (and New York City) in the process.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDandelion (2025)
In 1970s Los Angeles, rebellious queer teen Margaret gets thrown out of yet another foster placement and finds herself in the company of a mysterious social worker who's tasked with finding her a new home before the break of dawn. At odds and forced to travel the city together, Margaret realizes that running may not be her only option.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Happiness (1998)
The lives of several individuals intertwine as they go about their lives in their own unique ways, engaging in acts which society as a whole might find disturbing in a desperate search for human connection.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNever Mind the Wall (2001)
Germany 1982: The country is divided into two parts. Nele, coming from West-Germany, travels to East-Germany where she meets Captain, singer of a band. They fall in love with each other, but the regime "takes care" of their relationship, meaning: They can not see each other again. Germany 1990: The country is reunited. Nele starts searching their lost love...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Detention 101 (2023)
Four adults are detained in their apartments with only each other and a computer for online company. They each come from a different class with differing views but they all have one defining purpose to understand why they are really being held hostage in their own homes. The AI refuses to reveal the reason.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001)
Years after his father disowns his adopted brother for marrying a woman of lower social standing, a young man goes on a mission to reunite his family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPrivate Parts (1997)
The life and career of shock-jock superstar Howard Stern is recounted from his humble beginnings to his view from the top. Possessing a desire to be an on-air personality since childhood, Stern meanders through the radio world, always with his supportive wife, Alison, by his side. Landing a gig in Washington, D.C., Stern meets Robin Quivers, who will become his long-time partner in crime. When the two move to New York, they face the wrath of NBC executives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Bad Mother's Handbook?
The closest matches to The Bad Mother's Handbook are The Nanny Express (2009), Christmas with Holly (2012) and Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas! (2011). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Bad Mother's Handbook?
Start with The Nanny Express (2009), the closest match to The Bad Mother's Handbook.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Bad Mother's Handbook?
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001), rated 7.7/10 by 645 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Bad Mother's Handbook?
Dandelion (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Bad Mother's Handbook?
Yes: The Nanny Express (2009), Christmas with Holly (2012) and Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas! (2011).
How are movies similar to The Bad Mother's Handbook chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Bad Mother's Handbook, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.