Movies like Barely Legal 40 (2003)
The best movies like Barely Legal 40 (2003) are The Little Death (2014), Newness (2017) and Facing Ali (2009). If Barely Legal 40 hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedHeathers (1989)7.3/10 from 1,989 votes
- NewestLa Percée (2026)Released 2026
The Little Death (2014)
A comedy film that looks into the loosely connected lives of people with strange sexual fantasies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNewness (2017)
In contemporary Los Angeles, two millennials navigating a social media–driven hookup culture begin a relationship that pushes both emotional and physical boundaries.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFacing Ali (2009)
Ten of Muhammad Ali's former rivals pay tribute to the three-time world heavyweight champion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll About the Benjamins (2002)
Bounty hunter Bucum Jackson teams with the small-time con artist, Reggie Wright, that he is pursuing, in an attempt to locate a missing stash of diamonds and a lottery ticket worth millions of dollars. Bucum and Reggie find themselves in a race to the finish as they embark on an unlikely partnership that should -- when all is said and done -- prove beneficial to them both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisPretty Persuasion (2005)
A 15-year-old girl incites chaos among her friends and a media frenzy when she accuses her drama teacher of sexual harassment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisHot Summer Nights (2018)
In 1991, a sheltered teenager comes of age during a wild summer on Cape Cod, getting rich from selling pot to gangsters, falling in love for the first time, partying, and eventually realizing that he's in way over his head.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeathers (1989)
A girl who halfheartedly tries to be part of the "in crowd" of her school meets a rebel who teaches her a more devious way to play social politics: by killing the popular kids.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBelow Her Mouth (2017)
An unexpected affair quickly escalates into a heart-stopping reality for two women whose passionate connection changes their lives forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Substitute 2: School's Out (1998)
When teacher Randall Thomasson is killed during a carjacking, an unexpected visitor shows up at his funeral - his estranged brother, Karl Thomasson. An ex-Green Beret turned mercenary, Karl signs on as a new substitute teacher in order to investigate Randall's murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Substitute (1996)
When an inner-city Miami schoolteacher gets her knee broken after standing up to the school's gang leader, her mercenary combat specialist boyfriend goes undercover as a substitute teacher to take down the punk. Soon he discovers a conspiracy of criminals at work, and must reassemble his team from his last jungle raid to stop them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRise of the Footsoldier (2007)
Carlton Leach rises from one of the most feared generals of the football terraces to becoming a member of a notorious gang of criminals who rampaged their way through London and Essex in the late '80s and early '90s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn the Blood (2014)
When her husband goes missing during their Caribbean vacation, a woman sets off on her own to take down the men she thinks are responsible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Sweet East (2023)
A picaresque journey through contemporary America, undertaken by a young woman granted access to the strange sects and cults that proliferate in this country by a series of gatekeepers eager to win her over.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOrgazmo (1998)
A devout Mormon living in L.A. becomes a pornographic actor after his martial arts moves impress a big-time director.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeavy Traffic (1973)
A white dropout struggles to become a cartoonist and filmmaker, drawing inspiration from the harsh, gritty world around him. Still sharing his rundown apartment with his middle-aged parents, an oafish slob of an Italian father and a ditzy nutcase of a Jewish mother, he's ridiculed and looked down upon by his friends, hypocrites who run with violent gangs and the Italian Mafia, and a shallow Black girl who makes her living downtown with the pimps and pushers. The cartoonist gets a chance to pitch a film idea to a movie mogul, but the story proves too outrageous: a far-future Earth, depleted by war and pollution, where a mutant antihero challenges and kills God.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBody Double (1984)
After losing an acting role and his girlfriend, Jake Scully finally catches a break: he gets offered a gig house-sitting in the Hollywood Hills. While peering through the beautiful home's telescope one night, he spies a gorgeous woman dancing in her window. But when he witnesses the girl's murder, it leads Scully through the netherworld of the adult entertainment industry on a search for answers—with porn actress Holly Body as his guide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Protector (1985)
Billy Wong is a New York City cop whose partner is gunned down during a robbery. Billy and his new partner, Danny Garoni, are working security at a fashion show when a wealthy man's daughter, Laura Shapiro, is kidnapped. The Federal authorities suspect that Laura's father is involved with Mr. Ko, a Hong Kong drug kingpin, so the NYC police commissioner sends the two cops to Hong Kong to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisWho Is Cletis Tout? (2001)
With a hitman’s gun aimed at him, Finch tells the story of how he broke out of jail, fell in love, and took the identity of a man wanted by the Mafia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Voyeurs (2021)
When Pippa and Thomas move into their dream apartment, they notice that their windows look directly into the apartment opposite – inviting them to witness the volatile relationship of the attractive couple across the street. But what starts as a simple curiosity turns into full-blown obsession with increasingly dangerous consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
La Percée (2026)
An 11-year-old boy is preparing for his performance at the end-of-year show. But he gets stage fright and spills something on his costume. He runs off to wash the stain out and embarks on a journey of self-discovery that, after many detours, gives him new self-confidence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Teen Wolf Too (1987)
Although awkward college student Todd Howard is particularly adept at science, he's paying for school with an athletic scholarship that he will lose should he not fare well in an upcoming boxing tournament. Luckily for Todd, he has inherited the same family curse that once turned his cousin into a werewolf. As he transforms into the hairy, fanged, howling monster, he finds both his physical agility and his popularity skyrocketing -- but at what cost?
Why it matches: Similar story and style
SnoozefestMovies like thisSome Kind of Wonderful (1987)
Keith Nelson, an artsy high school outcast, tries to land a date with popular girl Amanda Jones with some help from his tomboy best friend, Watts. However, Watts realizes she likes Keith as more than just a friend and tries to convince him to stop pursuing Amanda. Matters are further complicated when Keith's invitation draws the ire of Amanda's rich yet snobby ex-boyfriend, Hardy Jenns, who makes plans to get even.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrows Zero (2007)
The students of Suzuran High compete for the King of School title. An ex-graduate yakuza is sent to kill the son of a criminal group, but he can't make himself do it as he reminds him of his youth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVandalism (1953)
Two young high school boys spike the punch at a Halloween party, mischievously let the air out of car tires, and finally steal a car to go for a joyride. They're caught and thrown in jail, and, as the narrator says, this proves that pranks lead to "habit-forming wildness," and, of course, such anti-social behavior cannot be allowed to happen
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Liza, Liza, Skies Are Grey (2016)
A teenage girl and her boyfriend set off on an eventful road trip up the coast of California hoping to figure out the meaning of love and life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Good Student (2006)
When Ally, a popular teen and local celebrity goes missing, her small suburban town erupts in panic.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Teenage Vampire (2020)
Chase and Pam join the high school cheerleading squad in order to be cool and find out the team is infested with Vampires.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Barely Legal 40?
The closest matches to Barely Legal 40 are The Little Death (2014), Newness (2017) and Facing Ali (2009). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Barely Legal 40?
Start with The Little Death (2014), the closest match to Barely Legal 40.
What is the highest-rated movie like Barely Legal 40?
Heathers (1989), rated 7.3/10 by 1,989 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Barely Legal 40?
La Percée (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Barely Legal 40?
Yes: The Little Death (2014), Newness (2017) and Facing Ali (2009).
How are movies similar to Barely Legal 40 chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Barely Legal 40, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.