Movies like Deborah, the Rival (1997)
The best movies like Deborah, the Rival (1997) are Sex Appeal (2022), The Black Devil and the White Prince (2016) and ¿Quieres ser mi hijo? (2023). If Deborah, the Rival hooked you with its comedy and romance, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest rated¿Quieres ser mi hijo? (2023)8.4/10 from 378 votes
- NewestYoh! Bestie (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseThe Black Devil and the White Prince (2016)Also in Japanese
Sex Appeal (2022)
Avery, a teenager with a tendency towards perfectionism, enlists her friend Larson to help her prepare for her first time with her long-distance boyfriend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Black Devil and the White Prince (2016)
Yū Akahane moves to a dormitory room after her father's transfer from work. She is excited that she will live in the same dorm as Takumi Shirakawa, aka "White Prince." Yet, Haruto Kurosaki, aka "Black Devil", kisses her as punishment for going against him. It is Yū Akahane's first kiss. Since then, she becomes obedient to Haruto Kurosaki.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like this¿Quieres ser mi hijo? (2023)
Lu, a conformist woman in her forties, learns that her 15-year partner has been having extramarital affairs. Starting from scratch, she gets involved in an unexpected relationship with a young womanizer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisEasy Virtue (2008)
A young Englishman marries a glamorous American. When he brings her home to meet the parents, she arrives like a blast from the future - blowing their entrenched British stuffiness out the window.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBye Bye Love (1995)
With varying degrees of success, recently divorced friends Dave, Vic and Donny are trying to move on with their lives. Vic feels vilified by his ex-wife's parents, while Donny has a shaky bond with his teen daughter, Emma. Dave, meanwhile, has an enviable problem -- he has more dates than he can handle. As they confront their post-marital challenges, the men take solace in one another's plights.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLet's Make Love (1960)
When billionaire Jean-Marc Clement learns that he is to be satirized in an off-Broadway revue, he passes himself off as an actor playing him in order to get closer to the beautiful star of the show, Amanda Dell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYoh! Bestie (2026)
Thando is perpetually unlucky in love, but when her bestie returns from his travels with a fiancée in tow, she's forced to face a new emotion — jealousy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHow I Got Into College (1989)
High school senior Marlon Bowne is smitten with overachieving classmate Jessica Kailo. But, if he wants to have a shot with her, he'll have to find a way to get into Ramsey College, Jessica's top choice of schools. It won't be easy, since the college is highly selective and Marlon's grades are hardly impressive. That means the lovelorn teen will have to find a way to score high on the SATs and win over the college admissions committee.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDesperados (2020)
A panicked young woman and her two best friends fly to Mexico to delete a ranting email she sent to her new boyfriend. On arrival, they run into her former beau, who soon gets caught up in their frantic scheme.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat's Love Got to Do with It? (2023)
Two childhood friends now in their thirties must decide whether to follow their heads or their hearts once the man decides to follow his parents' advice and enter into an arranged marriage in Pakistan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Jacked (2018)
Maya, a headstrong 28-year-old with artistic ambitions – a strong contrast to what her father Ed wants: a dutiful daughter to run the family store. Ed is shocked when Maya takes her assertions of independence a step further and decides to travel to Africa for inspiration and returns with a fiancé who is not quite what he seems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDean (2016)
A comedy about loss, grief, and the redemptive power of love. Dean is a NY illustrator who falls hard for an LA woman while trying to prevent his father from selling the family home in the wake of his mother's death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Prince & Me 4: The Elephant Adventure (2010)
One year after their royal wedding, King Edvard and Queen Paige of Denmark receive an invitation to attend the wedding of Princess Myra of Sangyoon. Upon their arrival, Paige finds Myra is unhappy with her arranged marriage to the brooding and sinister Kah and is secretly in love with a young elephant handler named Alu.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove for Beginners (2012)
Hibino Tsubaki is a young teenage girl with a talent for styling other people's hair. Yet, Tsubaki suffers from low self-esteem and isn't very comfortable styling her own hair. She also has a tendency to dress old-fashioned. She's teased at high school because of this. One day, popular male student Tsubaki Kyota targets Tsubaki for teasing. Tsubaki Kyota holds sway over the entire classroom and is quite a playboy. Inexplicably they fall in love. Meanwhile, Tsubaki Kyota has commitment issues...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGirl on a Bicycle (2013)
Paolo, an Italian tour bus driver living in Paris, has just summoned up the courage to propose marriage to his German girlfriend Greta. However, a chance encounter with a French woman on a bicycle the very next day turns Paolo's life upside down.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Incredible Jessica James (2017)
Burned by a bad breakup, a struggling New York City playwright makes an unlikely connection with a divorced app designer she meets on a blind date.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLittle Italy (2018)
Former childhood pals Leo and Nikki are attracted to each other as adults—but will their feuding parents' rival pizzerias put a chill on their sizzling romance?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCuban Fury (2014)
Beneath Bruce Garrett's under-confident, overweight exterior, the passionate heart of a salsa king lies dormant. Now, one woman is about to reignite his Latin fire.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlayers (2024)
New York sportswriter Mack has spent years devising successful hook-up "plays" with her friends, but when she unexpectedly falls for one of her targets, she must learn what it takes to go from simply scoring to playing for keeps.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Tao of Steve (2000)
In college, Dex was the big man on campus. Ten years later, now an overweight kindergarten teacher, Dex is immune to the shocked stares of the women who were once his conquests. While trying to pick up the bartender, he is struck by the gorgeous Syd. Through a series of circumstances, Syd and Dex are thrown together and he soon finds himself questioning his belief in all things Steve.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBetter Than Chocolate (1999)
Not long after moving into her own place, Maggie finds herself with two unsolicited roommates: her recently divorced mother, Lila, and her young brother. The timing is especially bad, considering Maggie has fallen hard for an attractive woman, Kim, only hours before they move in. What could be a nonissue becomes increasingly complicated -- since Maggie's family is unaware of her sexual orientation, and Maggie is not open to sharing that information.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSeki A Oe: A Crazy Samoan Love Story (2013)
Jack is a hopeless romantic. Angel is a down-to-Earth in-the-closet-party-goer. Jack meets Angel and it's love at first sight, but Angel rejects Jack, now it's Diana, a fiery trans-gender to the rescue! This is Seki A Oe: A Crazy Samoan Love Story.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Transamerica (2005)
A transgender woman takes an unexpected journey when she learns that she had a son, now a teenage runaway hustling on the streets of New York.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKiller Condom (1996)
In New York City, detective Luigi Mackeroni investigates a string of mysterious penile mutilations at the Hotel Quickie. After Mackeroni attempts to have a tryst with a gigolo he meets in the lobby, a carniverous condom bites off his right testicle and flees, which sets the detective off on a quest to stop the predatory prophylactic once and for all.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisWhat the Eyes Can't See (2019)
Four Spanish-language shorts about the importance and complexity of people's perception from award winning directors. Stories of identity, misconceptions, regrets, dreams and love are told in this diverse collection. Includes: Tenants [Inquilinos] (2018); My Brother [Mi hermano] (2015); Guillermo on the Roof [Guillermo en el tejado] (2018); You Are Not a Woman [Usted no es mujer] (2018).
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
My Life in Pink (1997)
Ludovic is waiting for a miracle. With seven-year-old certainty, she believes she was meant to be a little girl -- and that the mistake will soon be corrected. But where she expects the miraculous, Ludo finds only rejection, isolation, and guilt -- as the intense reactions of family, friends, and neighbors strip away every innocent lace and bauble.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
Two drag performers and a transgender woman travel across the desert to perform their unique style of cabaret.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVenus (2017)
When Sid comes out as a woman, a 14-year-old boy named Ralph literally shows up at her door announcing that Sid is his dad. Ralph is surprised to discover that his father is now a woman, but thinks having a transgender dad is pretty cool. But Ralph hasn't told his mother and stepdad that he’s tracked down his biological father. And then there is Sid’s boyfriend Daniel, who has yet to tell his family of his relationship with Sid. Daniel is nowhere near ready to accept Ralph as a stepson and complicate his life further. Sid’s coming out has a snowball effect that forces everyone out of the closet. What happens when gender, generations and cultures collide to create a truly modern family?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Dreams Of My Father (2021)
En route to an audition, aspiring actress Leila stops at a motel and hooks up with one of the locals. After swallowing a weed edible, she is flooded with paranoia and insecurity about her physical appearance as a transwoman. To make matters worse, everywhere she turns she sees the apparition of her biggest tormentor. Will she summon the courage to vanquish the demons of her past once and for all?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
3 Generations (2016)
A teenager transitions from female to male, and his family must come to terms with that fact.
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 Deborah, the Rival?
The closest matches to Deborah, the Rival are Sex Appeal (2022), The Black Devil and the White Prince (2016) and ¿Quieres ser mi hijo? (2023). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Deborah, the Rival?
Start with Sex Appeal (2022), the closest match to Deborah, the Rival.
What is the highest-rated movie like Deborah, the Rival?
¿Quieres ser mi hijo? (2023), rated 8.4/10 by 378 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Deborah, the Rival?
Yoh! Bestie (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Deborah, the Rival?
Yes: The Black Devil and the White Prince (2016) and Love for Beginners (2012).
How are movies similar to Deborah, the Rival chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Deborah, the Rival, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.