Movies like C'est La Vie (1990)
The best movies like C'est La Vie (1990) are See The Sea (2025), It Runs in the Family (2003) and Cookie (2013). If C'est La Vie 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 ratedBye Bye Morons (2020)7.2/10 from 981 votes
- NewestWhatever It Takes (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchSee The Sea (2025)Also in French
See The Sea (2025)
A young boy who gradually loses sight goes on a getaway vacation with his divorced parents.
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 thisCookie (2013)
Adeline's Chinese housekeeper suddenly disappears, leaving behind a little boy who doesn't speak a word of French. Helped by her sister, she takes care of the child and proceeds to locate the mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMeet the Leroys (2024)
A man takes his wife and their teenage children on a road trip down memory lane while facing divorce.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Dog Year (2009)
Jon Katz is close to burnout. He's a writer with writer's block; his wife has left for her sister's because he's emotionally distant; he rarely answers his phone. A kennel sends him a border collie that's undisciplined because of abuse. Despite a series of mishaps, Jon decides to keep trying with the dog, and he rents a dilapidated farm house to give the dog room to run. A local handyman refers Jon to a woman who might be able to help him train the dog. Reluctantly, Jon gives her a try. Is the dog the problem, or the owner?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFour Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle (1987)
Two young girls meet, Reinette from the countryside and Mirabelle from Paris, and decide to take a flat together in Paris where they attend University. Four successive stories about their daily lives illustrate the very different views, characters and relation to the world of these two friends.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBig Kids (2023)
Yannick is a caregiver in a retirement home. Between permanent pressure and budget restrictions, he faces the lack of means with a contagious good mood. But when he is forced to share the dining room with a class of children, the situation becomes complicated. Their arrival, as well as that of his hostess, Aude, will shake up the daily life of everyone, especially the residents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRide Away (2025)
From the Atlantic to the Black Sea, Mathias and Philippe, two old friends, embark on a bicycle journey that Mathias’s son made before his tragic death. The two men ride through the ordeals with tenderness, humor and emotion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll Together (2012)
Five old friends decide to move in together as an alternative to living in a retirement home. Joining them is an ethnology student whose thesis is on the aging population.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhatever It Takes (2026)
Rose and Jean have nothing in common. Rose is a force of nature who faces all her problems with a disarming joie de vivre. She lives with her 3 children upstairs in the family hotel that no longer belongs to her. They're not poor, they're broke... but only temporarily. Jean is a solitary, taciturn man who has buried his big heart under layers of modesty and resignation. When he arrives in this unusual family, however, he quickly becomes indispensable. What did they expect before they met? Probably nothing. He soon becomes indispensable.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Crisis (1992)
Victor is a legal advisor who finds himself abandoned by his wife and fired the same day. He tries to seek comfort from different friends and family members, but everyone he meets is concerned with their own problems. His morale begins to falter when he realizes that no one cares about him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
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 thisBye Bye Morons (2020)
When 43-year-old hairdresser Suze Trappet finds out that she's seriously ill, she decides to go looking for a child she was forced to abandon when she was only 15. On her madcap bureaucratic quest she crosses paths with JB, a 50-year-old man in the middle of a burnout, and Mr. Blin, a blind archivist prone to overenthusiasm. The unlikely trio set off on a hilarious and poignant helterskelter journey across the city in search of Suze's long-lost child.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisArab Blues (2020)
Selma, a psychoanalyst, deals with a cast of colorful new patients after returning home to Tunisia to open a practice.
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 thisBon Voyage, Marie (2025)
An unexpected road trip brings a dysfunctional family together for one last journey with their elder, sparking moments of connection, joy, and reconciliation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNumber One Fan (2014)
Muriel Bayen, a divorced beautician and mother of two, loves to tell stories. She is a huge fan of this singer Vincent Lacroix, in fact she is a dedicated fan. One day Vincent knock on her door and ask for her help.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPing Pong Playa (2008)
Streetwise swaggering Christopher "C-Dub" Wang is a suburban guy who waxes political on all things Asian American and clings to pro basketball pipe dreams. But when misfortune strikes his family, C-dub must overcome living at home, working a dead-end job and his worldly older brother, to run his Mom's ping pong classes and defend the family's athletic dynasty.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSkies of Lebanon (2021)
In the fifties, young Alice leaves her natal Swiss mountains for the sunny and vibrant shores of Beirut. She falls madly in love with Joseph, a quirky astrophysicist intent on sending the first Lebanese national into space. Alice quickly fits in among his relatives, but after years of bliss, the civil war threatens their Garden of Eden.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMacadam Stories (2015)
Improbable encounters bring tenderness, laughter and compassion to a world of urban alienation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMeet Me in St. Louis (1944)
A year in the life of a turn-of-the-century middle class family, leading up to the opening of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAntonia's Line (1995)
After World War II, Antonia and her daughter, Danielle, go back to their Dutch hometown, where Antonia's late mother has bestowed a small farm upon her. There, Antonia settles down and joins a tightly-knit but unusual community. Those around her include quirky friend Crooked Finger, would-be suitor Bas and, eventually for Antonia, a granddaughter and great-granddaughter who help create a strong family of empowered women.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPieces of April (2003)
Quirky and rebellious April Burns lives with her boyfriend in a low-rent New York City apartment miles away from her emotionally distant family. But when she discovers that her mother has a fatal form of breast cancer, she invites the clan to her place for Thanksgiving. While her father struggles to drive her family into the city, April -- an inexperienced cook -- runs into kitchen trouble and must ask a neighbor for help.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNot Okay (2022)
An ambitious young woman, desperate for followers and fame, fakes a trip to Paris to up her social media presence. When a terrifying incident takes place in the real world and becomes part of her imaginary trip, her white lie becomes a moral quandary that offers her all the attention she’s wanted.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBody (2016)
A nurse's aid, Cathy lives alone. Too alone. When her sister, with whom she's had a falling-out, calls her for her birthday and invites her to the beach, Cathy is exhilarated. But the day gradually slips away from her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Lou & Lena (2003)
Two friends, Lou and Lena... An agreement for this all night walk.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Gremlins (1984)
After receiving an exotic small animal as a Christmas gift, a young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet, which unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous creatures on a small town.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCisne (2011)
Vera is a singer in her thirties; she is back in Lisbon for the final performance of her concert tour. The heat and beauty of Lisbon makes one want to be happy. Pablo, the companion she selected from among the many who answered her questionnaire, helps her through the sleepless nights. He has no family, but wishes he had. Vera concerns herself with the mysteries surrounding Pablo's life. Vera is not afraid of the night; she is not afraid of anything.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Flamingos (2012)
Set during the Fall of the Berlin Wall, Flamingos tells the story of Alice, a nine year old girl who spends one last day in the park with her father. The story develops around the delicate and uneasy relationship between a lost father and a daughter on the verge of understanding the difficult dynamics of her family. Flamingos is a story about the loss of innocence and the moment when we realize we are fundamentally alone on our journey through life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Walking on Sunshine (2014)
Set to the music of popular hit 1980s songs. A beautiful coastal village, present day Italy. After a whirlwind romance, Maddie is preparing to marry gorgeous Italian Raf, and has invited her sister Taylor to the wedding. Unbeknownst to Maddie, however, Raf is Taylor's ex-holiday flame, and the love of her life...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like C'est La Vie?
The closest matches to C'est La Vie are See The Sea (2025), It Runs in the Family (2003) and Cookie (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after C'est La Vie?
Start with See The Sea (2025), the closest match to C'est La Vie.
What is the highest-rated movie like C'est La Vie?
Bye Bye Morons (2020), rated 7.2/10 by 981 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like C'est La Vie?
Whatever It Takes (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like C'est La Vie?
Yes: See The Sea (2025), Cookie (2013) and Meet the Leroys (2024).
How are movies similar to C'est La Vie chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside C'est La Vie, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.