Movies like Backseat Detour (2001)
The best movies like Backseat Detour (2001) are Life of the Party (2018), Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013) and Much Ado About Nothing (2013). If Backseat Detour hooked you with its comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedJohn Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City (2018)7.9/10 from 259 votes
- NewestDriver's Ed (2026)Released 2026
Life of the Party (2018)
When her husband suddenly dumps her, longtime dedicated housewife Deanna turns regret into re-set by going back to college... landing in the same class and school as her daughter, who's not entirely sold on the idea. Plunging headlong into the campus experience, the increasingly outspoken Deanna – now Dee Rock – embraces freedom, fun, and frat boys on her own terms, finding her true self in a senior year no one ever expected.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013)
86-year-old Irving Zisman is on a journey across America with the most unlikely companion: his 8 year-old grandson, Billy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMuch Ado About Nothing (2013)
A modern retelling of Shakespeare's classic comedy about two pairs of lovers with different takes on romance and a way with words.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Love My Dad (2022)
A hopelessly estranged father catfishes his son in an attempt to reconnect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThunderstruck (2012)
After NBA star Kevin Durant switches talent with 16 year old Brian, the teenager becomes the star of his high school team, but Durant starts struggling and eventually learns an important lesson.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
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 · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTaking Care of Business (1990)
An uptight advertising exec has his entire life in a filofax organizer which mistakenly ends up in the hands of a friendly convict who poses as him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOld Dads (2023)
A cranky middle-aged dad and his two best friends find themselves out of step in a changing world of millennial CEOs and powerful preschool principals.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAdventures in Public School (2018)
A socially-awkward, home-schooled kid forces his way into public school against his suffocating, but loving, mother's wishes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSneakerella (2022)
When El, an aspiring sneaker designer from Queens, meets Kira King, the fiercely independent daughter of legendary basketball star and sneaker tycoon Darius King, sparks fly as the two bond over their mutual affinity for sneakers. With a little nudge from his best friend and a sprinkle of Fairy Godfather magic, El finds the courage to use his talent to pursue his dream of becoming a ‘legit’ sneaker designer in the industry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisRicky Gervais: Armageddon (2023)
Ricky Gervais dishes out controversial takes on political correctness and oversensitivity in a taboo-busting comedy special about the end of humanity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPete Davidson: Turbo Fonzarelli (2024)
Pete Davidson's fourth comedy special explores what it means to grow up, turning 30, love, life, and living in the woods.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSeriously Single (2020)
While her free-living bestie urges her to embrace singlehood, a commitment-craving social media expert can't stop following the life of a former love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Trouble with Angels (1966)
Mary and her friend, Rachel, are new students at St. Francis Academy, a boarding school run by the iron fist of Mother Superior. The immature teens grow bored and begin playing pranks on both the unsuspecting nuns and their unpleasant classmates, becoming a constant thorn in Mother Superior's side. However, as the years pass, Mary and Rachel slowly mature and begin to see the nuns in a different light.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDriver's Ed (2026)
A group of teens hit the road in a stolen driver's ed car, racing against time to help a lovesick high school senior track down his college-freshman girlfriend and win her back.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIliza Shlesinger: Confirmed Kills (2016)
The standup sensation tackle's TV's "Shark Tank," what it means to be a woman and how to deal with the lawless party goblin that lives in us all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe F**k-It List (2020)
After a prank blows up a studious high school senior's life, he shares a list of certain things he wishes he'd done differently — and maybe still can.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAli Wong: Single Lady (2024)
After a whirlwind couple of years, Ali Wong returns to the stage to dish on the highs, lows and surprises of dating post-divorce.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMistress America (2015)
A college freshman cures her disappointment and loneliness by allowing herself to be pulled into the wacky schemes of her future stepsister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJohn Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City (2018)
John Mulaney relays stories from his childhood and "SNL," eviscerates the value of college and laments getting older in this electric comedy special.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisI Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (2007)
Firefighters Chuck Ford and Larry Valentine are guy's guys, loyal to the core—which is why when widower Larry asks Chuck to pose as his lover so that he can get domestic partner benefits for his kids, his buddy agrees. However, things get dicey when a bureaucrat comes calling, and the boys are forced to present a picture of domestic bliss.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDorm Daze 2 (2006)
The gang from Dorm Daze is back, but this time they're on a cruise ship on a tropical voyage through the high seas. The cruise makes an educational stop at the island of San Paradiso, where the students are supposed to explore an important archaeological site. Things go from normal to crazy as their visit coincides with every other college's spring break. The moment the boat docks, classes are over! For these Billingsley students, their Semester at Sea will be an adventure no one will ever forget.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisShow Me Love (1998)
Two teenage girls in small-town Sweden. Elin is beautiful, popular, and bored with life. Agnes is friendless, sad, and secretly in love with Elin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisClass (1983)
Naive Midwestern prep student Jonathan bonds with his more worldly roommate, Skip, who takes the small-town boy under his wing. At Skip's urging, the inexperienced Jonathan is emboldened to seek out older women in the cocktail lounges of nearby Chicago, where he meets and beds the alluring Ellen, who unfortunately turns out to be Skip's mother. The division between the friends is further deepened when a cheating scandal engulfs the school.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBut I'm a Cheerleader (2000)
Megan is an all-American girl. A cheerleader. She has a boyfriend. But Megan doesn't like kissing her boyfriend very much. And she's pretty touchy with her cheerleader friends. Her conservative parents worry that she must be a lesbian and send her off to "sexual redirection" school, where she must, with other lesbians and gays learn how to be straight.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIt's in the Water (1997)
When hordes of gays and lesbians come out "of the closet" in the fictional town of Azalea Springs, Texas, intolerant residents go into a panic about the water supply.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Sarge Goes to College (1947)
A Marine Sergeant wounded in overseas combat requires an operation, and the Navy psychiatrist recommends that ‘Sarge’ be given a few weeks’ rest before hospitalization. Through the Dean of San Juan Junior College, Sarge enters on a temporary basis. Meanwhile, the Teen-Agers are rehearsing a show and Freddie's worried as they have no band.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Make the Yuletide Gay (2009)
The holidays get overly festive as Olaf "Gunn" Gunnunderson, an out-and-proud gay college student, crawls back into the closet to survive the holidays with his parents. But when his boyfriend, Nathan, shows up at their doorstep unannounced, Gunn must put on a charade to keep the relationship a secret. With pressure mounting from all sides, will Gunn come out before the truth does?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy 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 thisLolo (2019)
Lolo is an openly gay 11-year-old boy trying to finally convince Max, his first love, to go public with their relationship at the school party. Max also wants a relationship but Lolo might not be the one. Lolo’s best friends, Elena and Toby, help him to overcome this situation and give him the support that he needs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Like Backseat Detour and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Backseat Detour?
The closest matches to Backseat Detour are Life of the Party (2018), Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013) and Much Ado About Nothing (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Backseat Detour?
Start with Life of the Party (2018), the closest match to Backseat Detour.
What is the highest-rated movie like Backseat Detour?
John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City (2018), rated 7.9/10 by 259 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Backseat Detour?
Driver's Ed (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Backseat Detour?
Yes: Life of the Party (2018), Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013) and Much Ado About Nothing (2013).
How are movies similar to Backseat Detour chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Backseat Detour, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.