Movies like School Life (2019)
The best movies like School Life (2019) are School of Life (2017), Six Pack (1982) and SubUrbia (1997). If School Life hooked you with its drama and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAll Three of Us (2015)7.5/10 from 508 votes
- NewestDaydream (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchSchool of Life (2017)Also in French
School of Life (2017)
Paris 1930. Paul has only ever had one and the same horizon: the high walls of the orphanage, an austere building in the Parisian working class suburbs. Entrusted to a joyful country woman, Célestine, and her husband, Borel, the rather stiff gamekeeper of a vast estate in Sologne, the city child, recalcitrant and stubborn, arrives in a mysterious and disturbing world, that of a sovereign and wild region. The huge forest, misty ponds, heaths, and fields all belong to the Count de la Fresnaye, an elderly taciturn man who lives alone in his manor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSix Pack (1982)
Stopping briefly in a small Texas town, an itinerant race car driver finds that his stock car, on a trailer behind his motor home, has just been quickly and expertly stripped. He chases down the miscreants, who turn out to be six orphan children. He has no recourse to the law, for the corrupt local sheriff takes most of the proceeds of their thievery in exchange for not putting them in an orphanage. They are charming rogues who are in turn charmed by him. Disliking their arrangement with the sheriff, they stow away with him, and he finds himself becoming a reluctant stepfather. Thanks to their enthusiasm and incredible mechanical know-how, he begins to make a name for himself on the racing circuit. But the sheriff doesn't take kindly to losing his extra income...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSubUrbia (1997)
A group of suburban teenagers try to support each other through the difficult task of becoming adults.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Beautiful Person (2008)
In the wake of her mother's tragic death, French teenager Junie transfers to a different high school. Though Junie lives mostly inside her own head, her beauty and stoicism win her the attention of the entire male student population. Junie begins dating the gentle Otto Cleves, but finds herself intensely drawn to her youthful Italian language teacher, Nemours. When Nemours begins to reciprocate, serious complications ensue.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnder the Stars of Paris (2021)
Christine’s life has not been easy lately. Her lonely routine is divided between free food banks distributions and wandering the streets. On a cold winter night she founds Suli, an 8-year-old Eritrean boy, sobbing in front of her shelter. Christine understands that he is lost and has been separated from his mother. Bounded by their marginal condition, they embark together on an emotional journey to find Suli’s mother in the underground world of Paris...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Three of Us (2015)
An Iranian family survives the shah and the ayatollah and moves to France. This story follows the family through it all. Despite the politics, revolution, prison, beatings, assassinations and suicides this is a comedy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies 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 & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDaaaaaalí! (2024)
A young French journalist repeatedly meets iconic surrealist artist Salvador Dalí for a documentary project that never came to be.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJulia(s) (2022)
Paris 2052. Julia, 80 years old, had a fulfilled life. On her birthday, she reflects on the decisions and circumstances that could have led her on different paths. From the age of 17 to this day, her life was full of small but critical moments. Each was a turning point with dramatic consequences. What would have happened if she had forgotten her passport, chosen a different line at the store, driven the scooter this one time...? Is her life a succession of coincidences and accidents or a ready-made path?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSmall Change (1976)
The lives of a motherless young man, who's just starting to find interest in women, and his physically abused, poverty stricken friend, are mixed with more or less innocent childhood experiences and challenges most their age experience.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWelcome to the Dollhouse (1996)
An unattractive 7th grader struggles to cope with suburban life as the middle child with inattentive parents and bullies at school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNew Biz in the Hood (2019)
Fred Bartel is the charismatic boss of a trendy Parisian communication agency, Happy Few. After a heated tax audit, he was forced by the administration to relocate overnight his company in La Courneuve. Fred and his team meet Samy, a young suburb who will quickly propose to teach them the rules and practices to adopt in this new environment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisChloe and Theo (2015)
A young woman, Chloe, living by her wits on the streets of New York City, has a chance meeting with a wise Inuit Eskimo, Theo, who was sent to New York by his elders to provide a message to the people of the world – We either change our destructive was or be destroyed by them. Chloe, who has been searching for something to believe in, becomes inspired by Theo and , with the help of a kind lawyer, Monica, the three of them present Theo’s story to the United Nations in hopes of creating a better future for all of us.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAn American Girl: McKenna Shoots for the Stars (2012)
A young girl struggles to maintain her school grades while competing as a gymnast.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTenor (2022)
While working part-time as a food deliveryman, Antoine, an aspiring young rapper from the suburbs of Paris, meets Mrs. Loiseau, an eminent teacher at the Paris Opéra. Stunned by the young man's raw talent, she introduces him to the world of opera. As Antoine becomes one of Mrs. Loiseau's students, he hides his new dream from his friends and family, fearing that they won’t understand – this double life burdens him... Somewhere in between the gilded and uptight Parisian upper-class, and the harsh yet free-spirited and familiar suburbs he grew up in, Antoine will have to find his own voice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKristin's Christmas Past (2013)
Kristin, a cynical 34-year-old, drinks a mysterious champagne on Christmas Eve and wakes up seventeen years in the past, sharing a room with her 17-year-old self. Given the chance to change the worst Christmas of her life, she attempts to fix past mistakes, only to discover surprising truths about her family that may help her mend her present-day relationships.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & family
SnoozefestMovies like thisMy Own Love Song (2010)
A wheelchair-bound singer and her best friend embark on a roadtrip to Memphis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMonsieur Lazhar (2011)
During a harsh Montréal winter, an elementary-school class is left reeling after its teacher commits suicide. Bachir Lazhar, a charismatic Algerian immigrant, steps in as the substitute teacher for the classroom of traumatized children. All the while, he must keep his personal life tucked away: the fact that he is seeking political refuge in Québec – and that he, like the children, has suffered an appalling loss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBazaar (Murder in the Building) (2026)
Misanthropic novelist François writes gripping crime stories – “Agatha Christie meets The Scarlet Pimpernel” – but outside of the swashbuckling imaginary world of his Marquis la Rose-novels, life is far from thrilling. His partner Colette, a professor at the Sorbonne and world-renowned expert on Alfred Hitchcock, is tired of watching François sit around their apartment in his pyjamas and yearns for the excitement of the classic films she watches with her students. When Colette begins to suspect their flamboyant actor neighbour of murdering his wife, the couple’s mundane lives are turned upside down – and their stale relationship is jolted back to life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHigh School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008)
As seniors in high school, Troy and Gabriella struggle with the idea of being separated from one another as college approaches. Along with the rest of the Wildcats, they stage a spring musical to address their experiences, hopes and fears about their future.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDaydream (2026)
A young adult recounts childhood memories involving his 6th grade teacher and the lessons she taught, particularly her unconventional assignment: to daydream.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
The Next Karate Kid (1994)
Mr. Miyagi decides to take Julie, a troubled teenager, under his wing after he learns that she blames herself for her parents' demise and struggles to adjust with her grandmother and fellow pupils.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & family
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Cinderella Story (2004)
Routinely exploited by her wicked stepmother, the downtrodden Samantha Montgomery is excited about the prospect of meeting her Internet beau at the school's Halloween dance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNever Been Kissed (1999)
Josie Geller, a baby-faced junior copywriter at the Chicago Sun-Times, must pose as a student at her former high school to research contemporary teenage culture. With the help of her brother, Rob, Josie infiltrates the inner circle of the most popular clique on campus. But she hits a major snag in her investigation -- not to mention her own failed love life -- when she falls for her dreamy English teacher, Sam Coulson.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKolumittayi (2016)
Unni and his friends move to the 6th grade after the new academic year begins. He loves his school life mainly because of his crush Riya and feels threatened by the newcomer in his class - Roney. Soon they lock horns and are in competition.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Blurt! (2018)
When nice-guy Jeremy Martin puts on mysterious virtual reality glasses at the mall, he suddenly loses his “inside voice” and starts spouting every thought he has out loud. Making matters worse, Jeremy is running for student council president against his classmate Milly, who is full of great ideas to improve the school. Desperate to get back to normal, Jeremy and his sister Victoria must figure out how to convince his brain that he can speak up for himself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both family & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOrange County (2002)
Shaun Brumder is a local surfer kid from Orange County who dreams of going to Stanford to become a writer and to get away from his dysfunctional family household. Except Shaun runs into one complication after another, starting when his application is rejected after his dim-witted guidance counselor sends in the wrong form.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPepe, der Paukerschreck (1969)
Mommsen Gymnasium director Taft secretly places his nephew as a spy with the difficult class of Pepe Nietnagel. During the celebration for the 100th anniversary, a simulated fire forces the school to shut down for a week. The director's attempt to get a tough teacher assigned by the department of education results in the exact opposite because of Nietnagel's intervention.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Like School Life and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like School Life?
The closest matches to School Life are School of Life (2017), Six Pack (1982) and SubUrbia (1997). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after School Life?
Start with School of Life (2017), the closest match to School Life.
What is the highest-rated movie like School Life?
All Three of Us (2015), rated 7.5/10 by 508 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like School Life?
Daydream (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like School Life?
Yes: School of Life (2017), The Beautiful Person (2008) and Under the Stars of Paris (2021).
How are movies similar to School Life chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside School Life, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.