Movies like Happenstance (2018)
The best movies like Happenstance (2018) are Landline (2017), Don't Think Twice (2016) and CQ (2001). If Happenstance 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 ratedA Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018)6.5/10 from 391 votes
- NewestOn Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024)Released 2024
Landline (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 thisDon't Think Twice (2016)
An improv group deals with several crises, including the loss of their lease and one member hitting the big time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCQ (2001)
A young filmmaker in 1960s Paris juggles directing a cheesy sci-fi debacle, directing his own personal art film, coping with his crumbling relationship with his girlfriend, and a new-found infatuation with the sci-fi film's starlet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLady Windermere's Fan (1925)
A society woman believes her husband is having an affair, a misconception which may have dire personal consequences for all involved.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisAlmost Friends (2017)
A man in his mid-20s, still living at home with his mother and stepfather, puts all his eggs in one basket: the girl who works at his local coffee shop. The problem is, she has a serious boyfriend. As they become closer, the line between friendship and intimacy is blurred, and the situation forces both to examine where they are in their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisOn Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024)
On an empty road in the middle of the night, Shula stumbles across the body of her uncle. As funeral proceedings begin around them, she and her cousins bring to light the buried secrets of their middle-class Zambian family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018)
In a life full of triumph and failure, "National Lampoon" co-founder Doug Kenney built a comedy empire, molding pop culture in the 1970s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSomewhere in Queens (2023)
Leo and Angela Russo live a simple life in Queens, surrounded by their overbearing Italian-American family. When their son finds success on his high school basketball team, Leo tears the family apart trying to make it happen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAbout Alex (2014)
When a group of old college friends reunite over a long weekend after one of them attempts suicide, old crushes and resentments shine light on their life decisions, and ultimately push friendships and relationships to the brink.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Own Love Song (2010)
A wheelchair-bound singer and her best friend embark on a roadtrip to Memphis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Half (2024)
Renn Wheeland returns home to Cleveland for his mother's funeral. Once there, he forges new relationships while healing old ones, before confronting his problems and trying to face his grief.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Dog Year (2009)
Jon Katz is close to burnout. He's a writer with writer's block; his wife has left for her sister's because he's emotionally distant; he rarely answers his phone. A kennel sends him a border collie that's undisciplined because of abuse. Despite a series of mishaps, Jon decides to keep trying with the dog, and he rents a dilapidated farm house to give the dog room to run. A local handyman refers Jon to a woman who might be able to help him train the dog. Reluctantly, Jon gives her a try. Is the dog the problem, or the owner?
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 thisIn the Soup (1992)
An aspiring young filmmaker gets involved with an eccentric gangster for the financing of his first film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIt Runs in the Family (2003)
This is the story of a dysfunctional New York family, and their attempts to reconcile
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBasically (2014)
A bright but acid-tongued young actress walks the viewer through the drudgeries of her privileged life in a series of clinical tableaux.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHouse of D (2004)
In the present, artist Tom Warshaw recalls his traumatic coming of age. As a 13-year-old growing up in New York City in 1973, Tom hangs out with Pappass, a mentally disabled man. With Tom's mother battling depression after the death of her husband, the young boy is left to his own devices. When Tom develops a crush on schoolmate Melissa, Pappass feels abandoned and begins behaving erratically.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 this100 Girls (2000)
Matthew, a college freshman, meets his dream girl in a dorm elevator during a blackout. He never sees her face, but instantly falls in love. In the morning, the power is restored, but the "dream girl" has vanished. All Matthew knows is that she lives in an all-girls dorm. He sets out on a semester-long journey to find his mystery girl among a hundred female suspects. Could it be Wendy? Dora? Arlene? Patty? Cynthia? Or the 95 other girls, any of whom could have been in that elevator with Matthew.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLady in a Cage (1964)
A woman trapped in a home elevator is terrorized by a group of vicious hoodlums.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTower of Terror (1997)
A disgraced reporter investigates an abandoned luxury hotel where five people mysteriously disappeared sixty years earlier.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949)
Lost Caverns Resort Hotel bellhop Freddie Phillips gives an empty threat to one attorney Amos Strickland, and is shortly fired. When Freddie visits his guest's suite to apologize, he finds Strickland dead of a gunshot wound. As the investigators file in, Freddie becomes the scapegoat of the guests in the hotel, who all had a bone to pick with Strickland. It's now up to Freddie and Detective Casey Edwards to find out who the real killer is, all the while avoiding the many vigorous and violent villains staying at the resort.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThem There Eyes (2016)
Two strangers get stuck in an elevator and to pass time they swap embarrassing dating stories not realizing they might be made for each other.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Fantasm Comes Again (1977)
Libbie is assigned to her paper's sexual advice column, "Dear Collete". She is taking over the job of Harry a crusty old journalist who shows her the pro's and cons of the job while running on a tight deadline to get the column finished for the morning's paper. During the course of the evening they reply to a wide variety of sexual experiences submitted by the readers, some these include, sex in a threesome at a drive-in theatre, sex in a gymnasium, and sex in a library where the "Silence Please" sign gives the male librarian an advantage over the female readers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Up and Down (1956)
It is the story of a sportsman who is a little bit dumber than most people but nevertheless he succeeds in getting a job at a sports article saler's. Having this job is the beginning of a lot of funny problems he causes due to his dumbness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCome Clean (1931)
The Hardys wish to have a quiet evening in their apartment, but are interrupted when the Laurels pay a visit. Stan and Ollie go out for ice cream, and manage to prevent a shrewish woman from committing suicide on the way back home. The woman is ungrateful and makes threats against the them unless they look after her. They spend a chaotic evening trying to keep her hidden from their wives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Elevator: Three Minutes Can Change Your Life (2015)
A disturbing psychological thriller, that engages the audience to the point that it is always caught off guard, thus changing the point of view of the two main performers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBellboy Donald (1942)
Donald tries his best to be polite and dignified as a hotel bellboy. But when his first guest is Pete Junior, the job is next to impossible.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Like Happenstance and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Happenstance?
The closest matches to Happenstance are Landline (2017), Don't Think Twice (2016) and CQ (2001). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Happenstance?
Start with Landline (2017), the closest match to Happenstance.
What is the highest-rated movie like Happenstance?
A Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018), rated 6.5/10 by 391 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Happenstance?
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Happenstance?
Yes: Landline (2017), Don't Think Twice (2016) and CQ (2001).
How are movies similar to Happenstance chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Happenstance, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.