Movies like Xala (1975)
The best movies like Xala (1975) are Hyenas (1992), Mandabi (1968) and Touki Bouki (1973). If Xala hooked you with its comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDuck Soup (1933)7.3/10 from 899 votes
- NewestMami Wata (2023)Released 2023
- In FrenchCeddo (1978)Also in French
Hyenas (1992)
A now-rich woman returns to her poor desert hometown to propose a deal to the populace: her fortune, in exchange for the death of the man who years earlier abandoned her and left her with his child.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy
Mandabi (1968)
A money order from a relative in Paris throws the life of a Senegalese family man out of order. He deals with corruption, greed, problematic family members, the locals and the changing from his traditional way of living to a more modern one.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTouki Bouki (1973)
Mory, a cowherd, and Anta, a university student, try to make money in order to go to Paris and leave their boring past behind.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCeddo (1978)
The Ceddo people try to preserve their traditional African culture against the onslaught of Islam, Christianity, and the slave trade. When King Demba War sides with the Muslims, the Ceddo kidnap his daughter, Princess Dior Yacine, to protest their forcible conversion to Islam.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Emitaï (1973)
As World War II rages in Europe, a conflict arises between the French and the Diola-speaking tribe of Africa, prompting the village women to organize their men to sit beneath a tree to pray.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Black Girl (1966)
Eager to find a better life abroad, a Senegalese woman becomes a mere governess to a family in southern France, suffering from discrimination and marginalization.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMoolaadé (2004)
When a woman shelters a group of girls from suffering female genital mutilation, she starts a conflict that tears her village apart.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Little Girl Who Sold the Sun (1999)
A young girl with a physical disability arrives in Dakar and challenges the convention of boys selling newspapers on the street.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Muna Moto (1975)
Ngando and Ndomé share an extremely perfect love. Yet, tradition demands a dowry for Ndomé’s hand that Ngando, an orphan, cannot afford. Forced to ask his uncle for assistance, Ngando finds himself at the mercy of his uncle’s lust and greed. How can Ngando and Ndomé find peace together? Their journey will be challenging and everyone will learn that not everything special can be saved.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Sambizanga (1973)
Domingos is a member of an African liberation movement, arrested by the Portuguese secret police, after bloody events in Angola. His wife goes from a prison station to another, trying in vain to find out where he is.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Bamako (2007)
Caught in the stranglehold of debt and structural adjustment, Africa is fighting for its survival. In the face of disaster, representatives of African society bring an action against international financial institutions. The trial takes place in Bamako, in the yard of a house, among its inhabitants.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYeelen (1987)
A young man with magical powers journeys to his uncle to request help in fighting his sorcerer father.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBorn in Flames (1983)
In near-future New York, ten years after the “social-democratic war of liberation,” diverse groups of women organize a feminist uprising as equality remains unfulfilled.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGuelwaar (1993)
As funeral preparations begin for Pierre Henri 'Guelwaar' Thioune, rumour spreads that his death may have been an assassination in retaliation for his radical political beliefs and constant criticism of the current regime. When the heroic Guelwaar's cadaver is stolen, his Francophile son, Barthelemy, contacts the authorities. As Detective Gora begrudgingly investigates, he discovers that Guelwaar was a complicated man guilty of his own share of sins.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Soleil O (1973)
An educated native of Mauritania tries to find work in Paris but encounters difficulty because of his race.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
The Snowdrop Festival (1984)
An episodic film about the inhabitants of Kersko, their hardships and their joys, most prominently hunting. A lyrical and humorous adaptation of writings by Bohumil Hrabal.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy
Killer of Sheep (1978)
An African-American man working at a slaughterhouse in the Watts area of Los Angeles leads a dissatisfied and listless existence.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMami Wata (2023)
In the oceanside village of Iyi, the revered Mama Efe acts as an intermediary between the people and the all-powerful water deity Mami Wata. But when a young boy is lost to a virus, Efe’s devoted but rebellious daughter Zinwe and skeptical protégé Prisca warn Efe about unrest among the villagers. With the sudden arrival of a mysterious rebel deserter named Jasper, a conflict erupts, leading to a violent clash of ideologies and a crisis of faith for the people of Iyi.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
The Millennial Bee (1983)
A family saga taking place mostly in a small Slovak village over a period of thirty years (1887–1917). The first part captures the life of Martin Pichandu in the development of his craft, masonry; in the second part, his son is center stage living in a period of socio-political crisis, which ultimately results in the first World War. After originally airing on Czechoslovakian television in 1983 as a four-part 226-minute mini-series, this production received a 163-minute theatrical release in 1984.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy
Black Peter (1964)
A few days in the life of a Czechoslovak teenager when he starts work.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhite Material (2010)
In the midst of a volatile regime change in a Francophone African state, Maria Vial is fighting to sustain her family’s coffee plantation. With rebels and the army struggling for control, French peacekeeping forces move out, warning the remaining white residents that they’re on their own. But Maria refuses to be driven off the land, even as tragedy looms.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTea in the Harem (1985)
The story of two youths – one Algerian, one French – who become juvenile delinquents in a Paris suburb.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Cairo 6,7,8 (2010)
Three women seek justice due to the difficult daily situation which sexual harassment causes in the streets of Cairo, Egypt.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOsama (2004)
After the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the restriction of women in public life, a preteen girl is forced to masquerade as a boy in order to find work to support her mother and grandmother.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThis Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection (2020)
Amongst the mountains of Lesotho, an 80-year-old widow winds up her affairs and makes arrangements for her burial. But when her village is threatened with resettlement due to the construction of a reservoir, she finds a new will to live and ignites a spirit of resistance within her community.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlithe Spirit (1945)
While holding a séance for skeptical novelist Charles Condomine, self-proclaimed 'spiritualist medium' Madame Arcati inadvertently summons the spirit of his deceased first wife Elvira, leading to an increasingly complex love triangle with Ruth, his current wife of five years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSerial (Bad) Weddings 2 (2019)
Claude and Marie Verneuil face a new crisis. The four spouses of their daughters, David, Rachid, Chao and Charles decided to leave France for various reasons. Here they are imagining their lives elsewhere.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisMarry Me, Dude (2017)
Yassine asks his best friend Fred to marry him in order to avoid deportation...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDuck Soup (1933)
Rufus T. Firefly is named president/dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of wealthy Mrs. Teasdale.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSerial Lover (1998)
Claire Doste is about to reach the age of 35 and has everything one dreams of, such as having four boyfriends and a creative job in a publishing house specialising in crime novels. One day, she invites all of her boyfriends to her birthday dinner so that she can pick out her would-be fiancé. But an accident happens when Claire is getting the dinner ready.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Xala?
The closest matches to Xala are Hyenas (1992), Mandabi (1968) and Touki Bouki (1973). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Xala?
People who watched Xala most often go on to Hyenas (1992), Mandabi (1968) and Touki Bouki (1973).
What is the highest-rated movie like Xala?
Duck Soup (1933), rated 7.3/10 by 899 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Xala?
Mami Wata (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like Xala?
Yes: Ceddo (1978), Black Girl (1966) and Muna Moto (1975).
How are movies similar to Xala chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Xala, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.