Movies like The People of The Oil (1990)
The best movies like The People of The Oil (1990) are On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024), Somewhere in Queens (2023) and About Alex (2014). If The People of The Oil hooked you with its comedy and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThere Will Be Blood (2007)8.1/10 from 7,889 votes
- NewestDigger (2026)Released 2026
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024)
On an empty road in the middle of the night, Shula stumbles across the body of her uncle. As funeral proceedings begin around them, she and her cousins bring to light the buried secrets of their middle-class Zambian family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSomewhere in Queens (2023)
Leo and Angela Russo live a simple life in Queens, surrounded by their overbearing Italian-American family. When their son finds success on his high school basketball team, Leo tears the family apart trying to make it happen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAbout Alex (2014)
When a group of old college friends reunite over a long weekend after one of them attempts suicide, old crushes and resentments shine light on their life decisions, and ultimately push friendships and relationships to the brink.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDon't Think Twice (2016)
An improv group deals with several crises, including the loss of their lease and one member hitting the big time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLandline (2017)
A teenager living with her sister and parents in Manhattan during the 1990s discovers that her father is having an affair.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMatch (2014)
A Seattle couple travel to New York to interview colorful former dancer Tobi for research on a dissertation about dance. But soon, common niceties and social graces erode when the questions turn personal and the true nature of the interview is called into question.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisTyler Perry's Madea on the Run - The Play (2017)
In trouble with the local authorities, Mabel Simmons, notoriously known as Madea, is on the run from the law. With no place to turn, she moves in with her friend Bam who is recovering from surgery. Unbeknownst to Bam however, Madea is only using the "concerned friend" gag as a way to hide out from the police.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018)
In a life full of triumph and failure, "National Lampoon" co-founder Doug Kenney built a comedy empire, molding pop culture in the 1970s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Comedy (2012)
Indifferent to the notion of inheriting his father's estate, a restless, aging New Yorker passes time with his friends in games of mock sincerity, irreverence, and recreational cruelty towards those around them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSmall Apartments (2012)
When a clumsy deadbeat accidentally kills his landlord, he must do everything in his power to hide the body, only to find that the distractions of lust, the death of his beloved brother, and a crew of misfit characters force him on a journey where a fortune awaits him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisPlaying God (2021)
A brother and sister con-artist duo find themselves scamming a grieving billionaire by convincing him they can introduce him to God, face-to-face.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHooking Up (2020)
Bailey and Darla embark upon a misguided and mutually deceitful form of therapy, one in which they must drive across the country, re-enacting Darla's colorful history as a sex addict. As their true motivations for the road trip come to light, the unlikely pair force one another to confront their issues, discovering that there might actually be more to love than just sex.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLife's Speed Bump (2006)
Seeking job opportunities, a young man arrives in Cairo and becomes increasingly involved with the family of a wealthy businessman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn the Soup (1992)
An aspiring young filmmaker gets involved with an eccentric gangster for the financing of his first film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe House of Tomorrow (2019)
The film tells futurist, architect, and inventor R. Buckminster Fuller's incredible story through two teens hoping to get laid, become punk gods, and survive high school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCQ (2001)
A young filmmaker in 1960s Paris juggles directing a cheesy sci-fi debacle, directing his own personal art film, coping with his crumbling relationship with his girlfriend, and a new-found infatuation with the sci-fi film's starlet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSavage House (2026)
Against the backdrop of 18th century England, a massive pox outbreak, and Jacobite uprising – Sir Chauncey Savage and Lady Savage blindly pursue a better life. It's not without a tinge of irony that their family name is the Savages, for this is a Savage House indeed, filled with duels, decadence, and bloodshed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIt Runs in the Family (2003)
This is the story of a dysfunctional New York family, and their attempts to reconcile
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisDigger (2026)
The most powerful man in the world embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity's savior before the disaster he's unleashed destroys everything.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCircle of Steel (2019)
When layoffs are announced at a remote oilfield office, team morale deteriorates with both humorous, and heartbreaking, results. With support, and often-questionable guidance from her co-workers, new engineer Wendy must navigate personal ethics and corporate industry within one of the world's most controversial industries.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
The Deal (2005)
A political thriller steeped in illegal oil trading, the Russian Mafia, and governmental cover-ups.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Land of Wolves (2025)
West Texas, a land of Oil and Blood. Rian is thrust into the center of a diabolical plot between two feuding Oil Barons, she must do everything she can to survive. For this is a Land of Wolves.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
There Will Be Blood (2007)
Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview, moves to oil-rich California. Using his son to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday suspects Plainview's motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisKillers of the Flower Moon (2023)
When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one—until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCollapse (2009)
From the acclaimed director of American Movie, the documentary follows former Los Angeles police officer turned independent reporter Michael Ruppert. He recounts his career as a radical thinker and spells out his apocalyptic vision of the future, spanning the crises in economics, energy, environment and more.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHeritage (2018)
Miras (Heritage) looks at the activities of the Nobel Brothers in the oil industry of Azerbaijan, one of the world’s oldest oil producers. After founding the first foreign company in the city of Baku at the end of the 19th century, the Nobel brothers name was glorified; yet few people know about the deep connection of the Nobel Prizes with Baku’s oil.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Broken (2023)
A policewoman returns with her young daughter to her hometown to care for her dying mother. The murder of a young girl will keep her there longer than expected. She will try to solve a case that no one seems to care about, risking everything on the path.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Crude (2019)
Ewan's life is turned upside down when he loses his job in Aberdeen's oil industry and he has no idea how to deal with the consequences.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like The People of The Oil and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The People of The Oil?
The closest matches to The People of The Oil are On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024), Somewhere in Queens (2023) and About Alex (2014). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The People of The Oil?
Start with On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024), the closest match to The People of The Oil.
What is the highest-rated movie like The People of The Oil?
There Will Be Blood (2007), rated 8.1/10 by 7,889 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The People of The Oil?
Digger (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The People of The Oil chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The People of The Oil, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.