Movies like What Do They Want? (1981)
The best movies like What Do They Want? (1981) are Bo Burnham: Make Happy (2016), Adam Sandler: 100% Fresh (2018) and The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash (1978). If What Do They Want? hooked you with its music and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBo Burnham: Make Happy (2016)8.0/10 from 459 votes
- NewestAdam Sandler: Love You (2024)Released 2024
Bo Burnham: Make Happy (2016)
Combining his trademark wit and self-deprecating humor with original music, Bo Burnham offers up his unique twist on life in this stand-up special about life, death, sexuality, hypocrisy, mental illness and Pringles cans.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAdam Sandler: 100% Fresh (2018)
Adam Sandler takes his comical musical musings back out on the road, from comedy clubs to concert halls to one very unsuspecting subway station.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Rutles: All You Need Is Cash (1978)
The story of the rise and fall of the Pre-Fab Four.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Night at the Opera (1935)
The Marx Brothers take on high society and the opera world to bring two lovers together. A sly business manager and two wacky friends of two opera singers help them achieve success while humiliating their stuffy and snobbish enemies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBo Burnham: What. (2013)
Left brain and right brain duke it out and then belt out a tune in comedian Bo Burnham's quick and clever one-man show. As intelligent as he is lanky, Burnham cynically pokes at pop entertainment while offering unadulterated showmanship of his own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGabriel Iglesias: Hot and Fluffy (2007)
Gabriel Iglesias is one of the fastest-rising comics today! With his unique brand of humor, lovable stage presence and wide range of voices and impressions, it's no wonder that he already has a huge fan following. Now you can see Comedy Central's "Comic of the Year" in his sold-out performance at the historic Fox Theatre in Bakersfield, California!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs (2023)
In a rowdy stand-up set, Shane Gillis riffs on his girlfriend's Navy SEAL ex, touring George Washington's house and being bullied by an Australian Goth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAdam Sandler: Love You (2024)
Adam Sandler hits the stage for a thrillingly unpredictable comedy special featuring songs, jokes, party-crashing dogs and plenty of love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEddie Murphy Raw (1987)
Eddie Murphy delights, shocks and entertains with dead-on celebrity impersonations, observations on '80s love, sex and marriage, a remembrance of Mom's hamburgers and much more.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Fluffy Movie (2014)
Stand-up comic Gabriel Iglesias delights audiences during his sold-out "Unity Through Laughter" tour, which spans more than 400 cities in 23 countries. During his set, Iglesias -- nicknamed "Fluffy" -- pounces on topics like communicating with his teenage son, struggling with his weight, performing his concert tour across India, and handling the reappearance of his father after a 30-year absence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJohn Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City (2018)
John Mulaney relays stories from his childhood and "SNL," eviscerates the value of college and laments getting older in this electric comedy special.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisGabriel Iglesias: I'm Sorry for What I Said When I Was Hungry (2016)
Hawaiian-shirt enthusiast Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias finds the laughs in racist gift baskets, Prius-driving cops and all-female taco trucks.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBill Burr: You People Are All The Same (2012)
Taking the stage in Washington, D.C., funnyman Bill Burr brings his stinging brand of humor to the spotlight, uncorking a profanity-laced, incisive routine that pokes fun at plastic surgery, reality TV, gold diggers and more.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRicky Gervais: Out of England 2 (2010)
The comic performs at the Chicago Theatre.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDave Chappelle: The Closer (2021)
As he closes out his slate of comedy specials, Dave takes the stage to try and set the record straight — and get a few things off his chest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMuch Ado About Nothing (2013)
A modern retelling of Shakespeare's classic comedy about two pairs of lovers with different takes on romance and a way with words.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJim Gaffigan: Quality Time (2019)
Comedian Jim Gaffigan performs live at the State Theatre in Minneapolis, MN.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDylan Moran: Like, Totally (2006)
Dylan Moran returns with an all-new stand-up show. Unpredictable, startling, bizarre, elegiac, but above all brilliant and hilariously funny, Moran is a master of comedy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHard to Die (1990)
While doing the inventory for a lingerie outlet in a high rise office building, five attractive women are terrorized by a series of bizarre killings. They suspect that the strange janitor, who witnessed another series of killings six months previously, is at the bottom of the whole thing. Little do they know the real horror that they face in the end.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
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 thisŽidle pro ředitele (1977)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music & comedy
Kinky Boots (2005)
Charles Price may have grown up with his father in the family shoe business in Northampton, central England, but he never thought that he would take his father's place. Charles has a chance encounter with the flamboyant drag queen cabaret singer Lola and everything changes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHello Dillie! (2017)
Dillie takes a short break from her Fascinating Aïda gal pals with some brand new songs and some grand old favourites. With gorgeous songs of love and songs of disgraceful filth, Dillie will break your heart, mend it again and have it sent to the cleaners for pressing. And she'll give you her recipe for chutney while she’s at it. Dillie is accompanied by a band of brilliant musicians including the cabaret legend Michael Roulston on piano. Recorded live at the Soho Theatre, London in November 2016.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & music
Caught in a Cabaret (1914)
Charlie is a clumsy waiter in a cheap cabaret, suffering the strict orders from his boss. He meets a pretty girl in the park and tries to impress her by pretending to be an ambassador. Unfortunately she has a jealous fiancé.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisPatti LuPone: Songs From a Hat (2023)
Does anyone still wear a hat? Yes: three-time Tony Award-winner Patti LuPone. And her hat is filled with songs, both new and old. See Patti up close and unscripted as she sings and tells stories from her illustrious career—whatever she pulls from the hat. Filmed live at 54 Below on New Year's Day 2023.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Roland Reber's Cabaret of Death (2019)
ROLAND REBER’S CABARET OF DEATH paints a multi-layered picture of existence and puts the taboo subject of death back in line into the circle of life. In various storylines a ruined relationship crosses paths with an old man begging for euthanasia, a live show featuring candidates who are mercilessly sacrificed to the audience, a dancer who cannot escape ageing despite her self-optimization and the one with the mask who craves to be famous at all costs. And between all this, a corpse driver rolls his “clients” through a long corridor and shares his very personal and unaffected thoughts about life and dea
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The Girl from the Red Cabaret (1973)
Harvey hires Mary to seduce his rival Larry and help him gain his revenge. But Maria and Larry fall in love and things become complicated.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Cabaret (1972)
Inside the Kit Kat Club of 1931 Berlin, starry-eyed singer Sally Bowles and an impish emcee sound the clarion call to decadent fun, while outside a certain political party grows into a brutal force.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInternational House (1933)
Foreign investors converge on a luxury hotel in China to bid on a new kind of radioscope. But, this is a hotel where Burns and Allen are the in-house medical staff, a measles risk sends the whole building into quarantine, and a madcap millionaire crashes dinner in his autogyro. Hotel and radioscope become a stage for an all-star cast of comedians and musicians, from vaudeville to the new generation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Micha Wertheim: Voor Twaalven (2023)
The Oudejaarsconference (New Year's Eve performance) of the year 2023 by the Dutch comedian Micha Wertheim.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Like What Do They Want? and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like What Do They Want??
The closest matches to What Do They Want? are Bo Burnham: Make Happy (2016), Adam Sandler: 100% Fresh (2018) and The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash (1978). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after What Do They Want??
Start with Bo Burnham: Make Happy (2016), the closest match to What Do They Want?.
What is the highest-rated movie like What Do They Want??
Bo Burnham: Make Happy (2016), rated 8.0/10 by 459 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like What Do They Want??
Adam Sandler: Love You (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like What Do They Want??
Yes: Bo Burnham: Make Happy (2016), Adam Sandler: 100% Fresh (2018) and The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash (1978).
How are movies similar to What Do They Want? chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside What Do They Want?, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.