Movies like The School Teacher (1981)
The best movies like The School Teacher (1981) are P.R.O.F.S. (1985), Fist Fight (2017) and Bad Apples (2026). If The School Teacher hooked you with its comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Phantom of Liberty (1974)7.4/10 from 349 votes
- NewestPurgatory (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchP.R.O.F.S. (1985)Also in French
P.R.O.F.S. (1985)
A clique of four young teachers at a high school looks critically at their colleagues. To avoid falling in the same routine, they bring new ideas into the school lessons and play little games and pranks in their spare time -- sometimes get even more childish than their pupils. When they get opposition from the other teachers, they play tricks to get rid of them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFist Fight (2017)
When one school teacher gets the other fired, he is challenged to an after-school fight.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad Apples (2026)
A struggling primary school teacher is forced to take drastic action because of a foul-mouthed, violent student, and uncovers how her community will turn a blind eye to the most outrageous events to preserve harmony and their sense of safety.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJealous (2017)
A divorced teacher suddenly becomes jealous of everyone, including her daughter, friends and neighbors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Under-Gifted (1980)
The story centers around a graduating class of "less-gifted" students in a private Versailles high school. Only a miracle has brought the students this far along, and after a practical joke misfires and the whole school is dynamited, the students are in deep trouble. They have to present themselves in court for their punishment and it could not be worse: If they don't pass their high-school graduation exams, they go to prison!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Phantom of Liberty (1974)
This Surrealist film, with a title referencing the Communist Manifesto, strings together short incidents based on the life of director Luis Buñuel. Presented as chance encounters, these loosely related, intersecting situations, all without a consistent protagonist, reach from the 19th century to the 1970s. Touching briefly on subjects such as execution, pedophilia, incest, and sex, the film features an array of characters, including a sick father and incompetent police officers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI'm Losing My Temper (1974)
Pierre is a clumsy, overly serious math teacher at an all-girls high school. His life is thrown into chaos after encountering a beautiful British actress and the paparazzi that follow her around.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDrillbit Taylor (2008)
Dealing with a sociopathic school bully, three high school freshmen hire a low-budget bodyguard to protect them, not realizing he is just a homeless beggar and petty thief looking for some easy cash.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisLOL (Laughing Out Loud) (2009)
Lola is a striking teenaged girl who is on the cusp of adulthood and longs to rush into the adult world of independence, freedom and sexual exploits, but is tenaciously held back by her mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWe Are Family (2016)
Thirteen-year-old Bastien is the center of a reconstructed family: six half-brothers and sisters, eight "parents," and as many houses. His tasks within the family are far more complex than what he has to do at school. But enough's enough: the children decide to wage a revolution and turn the rules upside down. All together, they squat a large apartment and now it'll be up to the parents to come to them!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMon Oncle (1958)
Genial, bumbling Monsieur Hulot loves his top-floor apartment in a grimy corner of the city, and cannot fathom why his sister's family has moved to the suburbs. Their house is an ultra-modern nightmare, which Hulot only visits for the sake of stealing away his rambunctious young nephew. Hulot's sister, however, wants to win him over to her new way of life, and conspires to set him up with a wife and job.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNeither Seen Nor Recognized (1958)
In a small French village, everything would be quiet if the local wildlife cop was not being ridiculed by a smart poacher.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHigh Anxiety (1977)
A psychiatrist with intense acrophobia (fear of heights) goes to work for a mental institution run by doctors who appear to be crazier than their patients, and have secrets that they are willing to commit murder to keep.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKindergarten Cop (1990)
Hard-edged cop John Kimble gets more than he bargained for when he goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to get the goods on a brutal drug lord while at the same time protecting the man's young son. Pitted against a class of boisterous moppets whose antics try his patience and test his mettle, Kimble may have met his match … in more ways than one.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPretty Maids All in a Row (1971)
At Oceanfront High School, female students are being targeted by an unknown serial killer. Meanwhile, a married teacher hides his flings with nubile students, and an awkward male is frustrated by the plethora of uninhibited freewheeling young girls.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisMatilda (1996)
Matilda Wormwood is an brilliant and intelligent little girl. Unfortunately, her parents, Harry and Zinnia, fail to see that fact. As time passes, she finally starts school and has a kind teacher, loyal friends, and a terrifying, sadistic headmistress. As she becomes fed up with the constant cruelty, she discovers she has a special gift that she just might be able to use to outwit the unruly adults around her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Nice Guys (2016)
A private eye investigates the apparent suicide of a fading porn star in 1970s Los Angeles and uncovers a conspiracy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNativity! (2009)
Paul, charged with directing his school's Nativity play, falsely boasts that his ex-girlfriend plans to turn the production into a film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe African Doctor (2016)
1975. When Seyolo Zantoko, a doctor from the Congo who has managed, along with his family, to flee tyranny, is hired by the mayor of a small town in northern France, he begins a struggle to adapt to a new life and gain the trust of the prejudiced villagers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBilly Madison (1995)
Billy Madison is the 27 year-old son of Bryan Madison, a very rich man who has made his living in the hotel industry. Billy stands to inherit his father's empire, but only if he can make it through all 12 grades, 2 weeks per grade, to prove that he has what it takes to run the family business.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Staffroom (2021)
Anamarija starts her job as a counsellor at a new school. Together with her, the viewers begin to appreciate what kind of people the staffroom teachers are, they witness the petty conflicts and also uncover the power games that go on behind the scenes. This self-assured debut from Sonja Tarokić about the individual's struggle within the system and the sheer effort required to preserve one’s integrity, also presents a complex study of an institution whose employees have taken on one of the most responsible roles an adult can have – to educate future generations.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The Gendarme Takes Off (1970)
The whole clique of Cruchot's police station is retired. Now he lives with his rich wife in her castle - and is bored almost to death. He fights with the butler, because he isn't even allowed to do the simple works. But when one of the clique suffers from amnesia after an accident, all of the others reunite and kidnap him, to take him on a tour to their old working places and through their memories. In their old uniforms they turn St. Tropez upside down.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Vortex (2025)
In 1980 Las Vegas, a Native Paiute cleaning lady enters a slots room at the MGM Grand Casino, setting off a chain of strange and unexplained events. Meanwhile, in-house comic Pete plays shrink to a host of colorful misfits while dodging mobsters and collectors. Struggling with a gambling addiction, he faces a life-altering decision that may determine his fate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Must Love Dogs (2005)
Sarah Nolan is a newly divorced woman cautiously rediscovering romance with the enthusiastic but often misguided help of her well-meaning family. As she braves a series of hilarious disastrous mismatches and first dates, Sarah begins to trust her own instincts again and learns that, no matter what, it's never a good idea to give up on love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Getaway King (2021)
Comedy about Zdzisław Najmrodzki, most famous polish criminal in the times of Polish People Republic, named "the getaway king", known for stealing cars and escaping prison many times, but never hurting anybody.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Nightmare On Malcolm X Blvd (TBA)
In the 1980s a struggling Black comedian marries his white girlfriend, moves into a Brownstone haunted by slaves her ancestors owned, and discovers he can't make Black people laugh!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Purgatory (2026)
In the early 1980s, 13-year-old Beatrice Gravel's comfortable world—family, school, and church—fractures when her mother moves out to 'self actualize', leaving Beatrice and her younger sister Chloe with their devastated father. As Beatrice doubles down on a plan to 'fix' her family, she barrels through bullies, friendship blowups, a make-out party, and a kleptomaniac babysitter—forcing her to decide who she wants to be when she can’t get what she wants.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Cutting Class (1989)
High school student Paula Carson's affections are being sought after by two of her classmates: Dwight, the "bad boy", and Brian, a disturbed young man who has just been released from a mental hospital where he was committed following the suspicious death of his father. Soon after being released, more murders start happening. Is Brian back to his old tricks, or is Dwight just trying to eliminate the competition?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisDes lendemains qui chantent (2014)
Olivier and Leo, two brothers that are moved to Paris and that life has separated ... If the first sees himself as a journalist without concessions, the second is an ambitious and opportunistic communication adviser. Noémie, a charming presidential adviser, can not, over the years, choose between them. To the amusement of Sylvain, their childhood friend, who made his fortune in Pink Minitel, their destinies intersect over 20 years, are intertwined, in a funny epic, tender and nostalgic, in the 80 / 90.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisHot Tub Time Machine (2010)
Four pals are stuck in a rut in adulthood: Adam has just been dumped, Lou is a hopeless party animal, Nick is a henpecked husband, and Jacob does nothing but play video games in his basement. But they get a chance to brighten their future by changing their past after a night of heavy drinking in a ski-resort hot tub results in their waking up in 1986.
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 The School Teacher?
The closest matches to The School Teacher are P.R.O.F.S. (1985), Fist Fight (2017) and Bad Apples (2026). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The School Teacher?
Start with P.R.O.F.S. (1985), the closest match to The School Teacher.
What is the highest-rated movie like The School Teacher?
The Phantom of Liberty (1974), rated 7.4/10 by 349 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The School Teacher?
Purgatory (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like The School Teacher?
Yes: P.R.O.F.S. (1985), Jealous (2017) and The Under-Gifted (1980).
How are movies similar to The School Teacher chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The School Teacher, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.