Movies like Happy Birthday, Papa (2019)
The best movies like Happy Birthday, Papa (2019) are It Runs in the Family (2003), Sometimes Always Never (2019) and Best Man Down (2012). If Happy Birthday, Papa 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 ratedStewie Griffin: The Untold Story (2005)6.9/10 from 449 votes
- NewestBlack Black (2026)Released 2026
It 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 thisSometimes Always Never (2019)
Alan is a stylish tailor with moves as sharp as his suits. He has spent years searching tirelessly for his missing son Michael who stormed out over a game of Scrabble. With a body to identify and his family torn apart, Alan must repair the relationship with his youngest son and solve the mystery of an online player who he thinks could be Michael, so he can finally move on and reunite his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBest Man Down (2012)
A newlywed couple cancels their honeymoon and returns to the snowy Midwest to make the funeral arrangements for their best man, who died unexpectedly after their ceremony.
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 thisThe Trip to Italy (2014)
Years after their successful restaurant review tour of Northern England, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are commissioned for a new tour in Italy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPapadopoulos & Sons (2012)
Following his ruin in the latest banking crisis, a self-made millionaire reluctantly re-unites with his estranged freewheeling brother to re-open the abandoned fish and chip shop they shared in their youth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBetter Living Through Chemistry (2014)
A straight-laced pharmacist's uneventful life spirals out of control when he starts an affair with a trophy wife customer who takes him on a joyride involving sex, drugs and possibly murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Good Half (2024)
Renn Wheeland returns home to Cleveland for his mother's funeral. Once there, he forges new relationships while healing old ones, before confronting his problems and trying to face his grief.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisWild Oats (2016)
Everything changes for Eva when she receives an insurance settlement check accidentally made out for $5,000,000 instead of the expected $50,000. She and her best friend take the money and head out for the adventure of a lifetime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHungry Hearts (2015)
The relationship of a couple who meet by chance in New York City is put to the test when they encounter a life or death circumstance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHello Sister, Goodbye Life (2006)
A college student must take care of her 7-year-old half sister after the death of their parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Truth About Emanuel (2013)
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJonathan (2018)
Jonathan is a young man with a strange condition that only his brother understands. But when he begins to yearn for a different life, their unique bond becomes increasingly tested.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisOmaha (2025)
A young girl and her brother are awoken by their father and loaded into the car on an early morning in 2008. As they road trip across the American West, she discovers the truth about their seemingly spontaneous journey.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSeeds of Yesterday (2015)
The Sheffield family reveal and go through some home truths as their middle child inherits the Foxworth mansion. The family's ghosts looming over, and more tragedies are in store as the curse lives on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStewie Griffin: The Untold Story (2005)
The maniacal baby of the Griffin family, Stewie, meets his future self. In doing this he discovers that his future image is not what he has anticipated because of a near death experience.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUndercurrent (1946)
After a rapid engagement, a dowdy daughter of a chemist weds an industrialist, knowing little of his family or past. He transforms her into an elegant society wife, but becomes enraged whenever she asks about Michael, his mysterious long-lost brother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisWhere the Red Fern Grows (1974)
Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for two years to achieve his dream of buying two red-bone coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in life as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with his dogs, Old Dan and Little Ann.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlunder Road (1957)
A spectacular heist starts to unravel as the crooks take it on the lam.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRed Velvet (2024)
A struggling actor’s commute to a callback takes an abrupt detour, thrusting him into an eye-opening LA excursion with an unlikely companion.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
The Prince of Pennsylvania (1988)
Set in a remote Pennsylvania coal-mining town, this off-beat comedy follows the relationship between Carla, a hippie woman, and Rupert, a young punk rocker who feels like a pariah. Hoping to leave their current lives behind, the two conspire to kidnap Rupert's father and hold him for ransom.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Kami (Bukan) Sarjana Kertas (TBA)
Three young men with different backgrounds become students at a private campus with low credibility in order to get a diploma easily. After running, it turns out that the situation is not as they expected because of the presence of a lecturer who makes them dare to dream. Can they become graduates who are not just on paper?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Manal Kayiru (1982)
A man refuses to get married until he finds a woman who can fulfil his eight conditions. His uncle lies to him and gets him married to a woman, but she fails to meet his expectations.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Hooky (2024)
A day of skipping school tests the friendship of two Miami high school girls in 1995.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Babykram ist Männersache (2001)
Arne and his younger brother Malte run the scrapyard they inherited from their parents on the outskirts of Hamburg and live a rather disoriented existence. One day, Malte finds an abandoned baby. He immediately takes the little one to his heart and wants to look after the child until he finds the birth mother. His brother Arne doesn't like the idea at all, but Malte wants to go through with the plan and even threatens to sell his brother the scrapyard. Disgruntled, Arne finally agrees and, as Malte is fully occupied with caring for the baby, sets off on a laborious search for the raven mother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Marteinn (2025)
When his client Stefán accuses him of being a useless life coach, Marteinn sets out to prove otherwise—by dragging him to a party packed with influencer friends. But the evening spirals out of control once glamorous power-duo Helgi and Helga swoop in and steal the spotlight.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Two Minute Date (2018)
A bored newspaper editor tries to make life more interesting through the brief human connection he finds at speed dating.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Black Black (2026)
At a Fourth of July barbecue, an interracial couple's celebration implodes when a private group chat about their biracial daughter's hair accidentally streams to the TV--forcing a Black father to confront racism inside his own home.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
2nd Miracle in Cell No. 7 (2024)
As a group of cellmates continues to protect the daughter of their peer, they tackle a new challenge when authorities thwart her adoption by caretakers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Happy Birthday, Papa?
The closest matches to Happy Birthday, Papa are It Runs in the Family (2003), Sometimes Always Never (2019) and Best Man Down (2012). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Happy Birthday, Papa?
Start with It Runs in the Family (2003), the closest match to Happy Birthday, Papa.
What is the highest-rated movie like Happy Birthday, Papa?
Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story (2005), rated 6.9/10 by 449 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Happy Birthday, Papa?
Black Black (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Happy Birthday, Papa?
Yes: It Runs in the Family (2003), Sometimes Always Never (2019) and Best Man Down (2012).
How are movies similar to Happy Birthday, Papa chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Happy Birthday, Papa, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.