Movies like Barely Legal 35 (2003)
The best movies like Barely Legal 35 (2003) are #realityhigh (2017), Winter Spring Summer or Fall (2024) and Sixteen Candles (1984). If Barely Legal 35 hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDead Poets Society (1989)8.3/10 from 13,177 votes
- NewestThose Things We Go Back For (2025)Released 2025
#realityhigh (2017)
When nerdy high schooler Dani finally attracts the interest of her longtime crush, she lands in the cross hairs of his ex, a social media celebrity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWinter Spring Summer or Fall (2024)
Remi and Barnes, two very different teenagers, meet by chance in the winter of their senior year, then spend four days together over the course of a year that will change their lives forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSixteen Candles (1984)
With the occasion all but overshadowed by her sister's upcoming wedding, angst-ridden Samantha faces her 16th birthday with typical adolescent dread. Samantha pines for studly older boy Jake, but worries that her chastity will be a turnoff for the popular senior. Meanwhile, she must constantly rebuff the affections of nerdy Ted, who is unfortunately the only boy in school who seems to take an interest in her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFire with Fire (1986)
A tough, street-smart kid serving a sentence in a state youth reformatory meets a beautiful, innocent girl studying at a nearby convent. When forbidden love blossoms between them, they must fight the prison authorities, their parents and the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
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
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThree O'Clock High (1987)
Nerdy high schooler Jerry Mitchell is assigned to write an article for the school paper about the infamous new delinquent transfer student, Buddy Revell. When Jerry accidentally invades Buddy's personal space and touches him, Buddy challenges Jerry to an afterschool fight in the parking lot, which Jerry tries to avoid at all costs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977)
A disturbed and institutionalized 16-year-old girl struggles between fantasy and reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisBRATS (2024)
In the 1980s, Andrew McCarthy was part of a young generation of actors who were set to take over Hollywood after a string of successful teen movies. However, when the New York magazine cover story in 1985 dubs them the Brat Pack, stars in the making suddenly find themselves losing control over the trajectory of their careers. Now, almost forty years later, McCarthy looks to reconnect with peers and co-stars so that together they can reflect on their respective legacies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChemical Hearts (2020)
When a hopelessly romantic high school senior falls for a mysterious new classmate, it sets them both on an unexpected journey that teaches them about love, loss, and most importantly themselves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOh, Ramona! (2019)
Oh, Ramona! seeks the transformation of Andrew from a teenager into an adult who lives candidly and selflessly his first love story, innocent and uninvolved, alternating with the second, intense and insane story, incapable of making a choice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisBetter Luck Tomorrow (2003)
A group of over-achieving Asian-American high school seniors enjoy a power trip when they dip into extra-curricular criminal activities.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob (2021)
An evil sorceress transports the gang back to the age of chivalrous knights, spell-casting wizards, and fire-breathing dragons.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStargirl (2020)
An unassuming high schooler finds himself inexplicably drawn to the free-spirited new girl, whose unconventional ways change how they see themselves…and their world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBarely Legal (2003)
Teenager Deacon works at a video shop, and his buddies, Fred and Matt, sell the bootleg porno films he acquires. Deacon gets fired, but the pals have the bright idea of filming their own Internet porn flick in order to make money and become more popular at school. Hijinks ensue as they cast and create their movie, but porn industry player Vic Ramalot grows jealous of their burgeoning success and tries to put a stop to the project.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisStewie Griffin: The Untold Story (2005)
The maniacal baby of the Griffin family, Stewie, meets his future self. In doing this he discovers that his future image is not what he has anticipated because of a near death experience.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHappythankyoumoreplease (2011)
Six New Yorkers navigate love, commitment, and adulthood. When struggling novelist Sam takes in an abandoned boy he meets on the subway, his life begins to intertwine with a talented singer who challenges his bachelor ways. Meanwhile, his best friend Annie battles alopecia while torn between two drastically different men, and a long-term couple faces a crossroads that could alter their future together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBatman Unlimited: Mechs vs. Mutants (2016)
Mr. Freeze turns Killer Croc and Bane into super-sized monsters, and they bash their way through downtown Gotham until the Caped Crusader and his team of heroes join the fight in their giant robot mechs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBatman vs. Two-Face (2017)
Former Gotham City District Attorney Harvey Dent, one side of his face scarred by acid, goes on a crime spree based on the number '2'. All of his actions are decided by the flip of a defaced, two-headed silver dollar.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBack to the Future Part II (1989)
Marty and Doc are at it again as the time-traveling duo head to 2015 to nip some McFly family woes in the bud. But things go awry thanks to bully Biff Tannen and a pesky sports almanac. In a last-ditch attempt to set things straight, Marty finds himself bound for 1955 and face to face with his teenage parents -- again.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDead Poets Society (1989)
At an elite, old-fashioned boarding school in New England, a passionate English teacher inspires his students to rebel against convention and seize the potential of every day, courting the disdain of the stern headmaster.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRebel Without a Cause (1955)
After moving to a new town, troublemaking teen Jim Stark is supposed to have a clean slate, although being the new kid in town brings its own problems. While searching for some stability, Stark forms a bond with a disturbed classmate, Plato, and falls for local girl Judy. However, Judy is the girlfriend of neighborhood tough, Buzz. When Buzz violently confronts Jim and challenges him to a drag race, the new kid's real troubles begin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Outsiders (1983)
In 1960s Tulsa, class divisions ignite a violent rivalry between the working-class Greasers and the privileged Socs. When a deadly encounter forces two Greasers, Ponyboy and Johnny, to flee, their struggle for survival and redemption exposes the fragile innocence and enduring bonds of youth on the wrong side of town.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Girl with Brains in Her Feet (1997)
A 13 year old talented athlete struggles to come to terms with the traumas of life as she prepares for a very important athletics event.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Donnie Darko (2001)
After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJem and the Holograms (2015)
As a small-town girl catapults from underground video sensation to global superstar, she and her three sisters begin a one-in-a-million journey of discovering that some talents are too special to keep hidden. Four aspiring musicians will take the world by storm when they see that the key to creating your own destiny lies in finding your own voice.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
SnoozefestMovies like thisThose Things We Go Back For (2025)
Sol and Lía make a trip to the old summer house of their childhood, planning to finish a game started six years ago, when they were twelve, by their dead friend Mica. This fantasy game makes them remember their friend and their friendship, and leads them in a path of letting her, and the trauma, go.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
A Long Way Home (2003)
Family members struggle to heal their emotional wounds after an incident of sexual abuse.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
American Beauty (1999)
Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Absolute CinemaMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Barely Legal 35?
The closest matches to Barely Legal 35 are #realityhigh (2017), Winter Spring Summer or Fall (2024) and Sixteen Candles (1984). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Barely Legal 35?
Start with #realityhigh (2017), the closest match to Barely Legal 35.
What is the highest-rated movie like Barely Legal 35?
Dead Poets Society (1989), rated 8.3/10 by 13,177 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Barely Legal 35?
Those Things We Go Back For (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Barely Legal 35?
Yes: #realityhigh (2017), Winter Spring Summer or Fall (2024) and Sixteen Candles (1984).
How are movies similar to Barely Legal 35 chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Barely Legal 35, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.