Movies like Hard to Be Good (1989)
The best movies like Hard to Be Good (1989) are Deathgasm (2015), Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (2001) and Carnal Knowledge (1971). If Hard to Be Good hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMidnight Cowboy (1969)7.5/10 from 1,720 votes
- NewestNaughty (2023)Released 2023
Deathgasm (2015)
Two teenage boys unwittingly summon an ancient evil entity known as The Blind One by delving into black magic while trying to escape their mundane lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCitizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (2001)
A horrific explosion creates a dimensional portal between Tromaville and its dimensional mirror image, Amortville. While the Toxie is trapped in the mirror dimension, Tromaville comes under the control of his evil doppelganger, the Noxious Offender.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCarnal Knowledge (1971)
Two lifelong friends navigate complex sexual encounters and emotional entanglements, wrestling with societal norms and personal desires.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Rules of Attraction (2002)
The incredibly spoiled and overprivileged students of Camden College are a backdrop for an unusual love triangle between a drug dealer, a virgin and a bisexual classmate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYour Friends & Neighbors (1998)
Restless and unhappy, two couples get caught up in infidelity and deception. Barry is a sullen businessman married to Mary, a writer who is unsatisfied with their relationship. Mary begins an affair with Jerry, a smug theater professor and husband of her friend, Terri, who is also a writer. Adding to the adulterous mix are Cary, a callous doctor, and Cheri, an art-gallery assistant.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisFemale Trouble (1976)
Teenage delinquent Dawn Davenport, incensed after her parents do not give her the cha-cha heels she wanted for Christmas, runs away from home. After an illegitimate child and hairstylist husband bring her more misery, she's enticed into a life of crime when the owners of her husband's salon promise her fame and fortune.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dirties (2013)
The line between reality and fiction starts to blur when two best friends start making a movie about getting revenge on bullies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisArt School Confidential (2006)
Starting from childhood attempts at illustration, the protagonist pursues his true obsession to art school. But as he learns how the art world really works, he finds that he must adapt his vision to the reality that confronts him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShame (2011)
Brandon, a thirty-something man living in New York, eludes intimacy with women but feeds his deepest desires with a compulsive addiction to sex. When his younger sister temporarily moves into his apartment, stirring up bitter memories of their shared painful past, Brandon's life, like his fragile mind, gets out of control.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpontaneous (2020)
When students in their high school begin inexplicably exploding (literally), seniors Mara and Dylan struggle to survive in a world where each moment may be their last.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOrgazmo (1998)
A devout Mormon living in L.A. becomes a pornographic actor after his martial arts moves impress a big-time director.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGetting Go: The Go Doc Project (2013)
Too shy to make a proper introduction, a recent college grad devises to shoot a documentary about the NYC nightlife scene in order to meet the go-go guy he’s cyber-obsessed with.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSome Freaks (2016)
A charming romance develops between a boy with one eye and an overweight girl, though when she loses weight after going to college, their relationship is tested in devastating ways they never dreamed would happen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKing Cobra (2016)
It’s 2006, YouTube is in its infancy, and internet porn is still behind a paywall. Taking the stage name Brent Corrigan, a fresh-faced, wannabe adult video performer is molded into a star by Stephen, a closeted gay porn mogul who runs the skin flick empire Cobra Video from his seemingly ordinary suburban home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisHeavy Traffic (1973)
A white dropout struggles to become a cartoonist and filmmaker, drawing inspiration from the harsh, gritty world around him. Still sharing his rundown apartment with his middle-aged parents, an oafish slob of an Italian father and a ditzy nutcase of a Jewish mother, he's ridiculed and looked down upon by his friends, hypocrites who run with violent gangs and the Italian Mafia, and a shallow Black girl who makes her living downtown with the pimps and pushers. The cartoonist gets a chance to pitch a film idea to a movie mogul, but the story proves too outrageous: a far-future Earth, depleted by war and pollution, where a mutant antihero challenges and kills God.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBully (2001)
A group of teenagers in South Florida enact a murder plot against their mutual bully, Bobby, who has emotionally, physically, and sexually abused them for years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy (2000)
A close-knit group of gay friends share the emotional roller coster of life, relationships, the death of friends, new beginnings, jealousy, fatherhood and professional success. At various stages of life's disarray, these young men share humorous and tragic relationships and always have each other to rely on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBoys Don't Cry (1999)
A young transgender man explores his gender identity and searches for love in rural Nebraska.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll About the Benjamins (2002)
Bounty hunter Bucum Jackson teams with the small-time con artist, Reggie Wright, that he is pursuing, in an attempt to locate a missing stash of diamonds and a lottery ticket worth millions of dollars. Bucum and Reggie find themselves in a race to the finish as they embark on an unlikely partnership that should -- when all is said and done -- prove beneficial to them both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisBob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969)
After returning to Los Angeles from a group therapy session, documentary filmmaker Bob Sanders and his wife, Carol, find themselves becoming vigilante couples counselors, offering unsolicited advice to their best friends, Ted and Alice Henderson. Not wanting to be rude, the Hendersons play along, but some latent sexual tension among the four soon comes bubbling to the surface, and long-buried desires don't stay buried for long.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMidnight Cowboy (1969)
Joe Buck is a wide-eyed hustler from Texas hoping to score big with wealthy New York City women; he finds a companion in Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo, an ailing swindler with a bum leg and a quixotic fantasy of escaping to Florida.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like this88 Minutes (2007)
Famed forensic psychiatrist Dr. Jack Gramm enjoys a reputation as one of the most sought-after profilers around. His expert testimony has resulted in the conviction of many criminals, including serial killer Jon Forster. On the eve of Forster's execution, one of Gramm's students is murdered in a vicious copycat crime, and Gramm himself receives an ominous message informing him that he has less than 90 minutes to live.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
SnoozefestMovies like thisI'm a Porn Star (2013)
I'm a Porn Star follows the lives of guys in the neighborhood who are likely a lot more famous than you - at least on the Internet. There are an estimated 370 million pornographic websites on-line. Porn is now a thirteen BILLION dollar business. So who's doing all this moonlighting? Turns out -- probably some people you know.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Who Are You Really? (2019)
"A socially anxious college student reluctantly heads to a party attempting to make new friends. Nande Walters directs “Who Are You Really?”, an experimental portrait of insecurity characterized by a raw, youthful energy. Anya walks into the room and immediately feels like everyone is judging her. Eventually she strikes up a conversation with a young man, but neither really knows what to say and it doesn’t go anywhere. After struggling through the awkward night, she’s surprised to learn that an extroverted friend didn’t fare much better. Walters is only 19 years old, one of the youngest we’ve ever featured on NoBudge, and her film is the work of an artist still learning her craft but she clearly knows the feeling she’s after and captures it with pops of style and a touching closing monologue." -Kentucker Audley
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Dorm Daze 2 (2006)
The gang from Dorm Daze is back, but this time they're on a cruise ship on a tropical voyage through the high seas. The cruise makes an educational stop at the island of San Paradiso, where the students are supposed to explore an important archaeological site. Things go from normal to crazy as their visit coincides with every other college's spring break. The moment the boat docks, classes are over! For these Billingsley students, their Semester at Sea will be an adventure no one will ever forget.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Horror Within (2005)
The students of a college film class make an erotic horror film at a vacant mansion owned by the director's father. And we bet you can guess what happens next! Naturally, they soon discover an ancient horror, and one by one, these wanna-be filmmakers fall victim to ageless vampires and their thirst for blood. Soon, most become monsters themselves and start "sampling" the others.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Class (1983)
Naive Midwestern prep student Jonathan bonds with his more worldly roommate, Skip, who takes the small-town boy under his wing. At Skip's urging, the inexperienced Jonathan is emboldened to seek out older women in the cocktail lounges of nearby Chicago, where he meets and beds the alluring Ellen, who unfortunately turns out to be Skip's mother. The division between the friends is further deepened when a cheating scandal engulfs the school.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNaughty (2023)
In order to prevent the construction of a skyscraper in an urban forest, Elya, a young environmental activist, accepts a challenge from the mega wealthy developer: If after spending seven days with him, she doesn't fall for him, he'll stop the project. During this time of luxury and passion, Elya becomes increasingly attracted to him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSarge Goes to College (1947)
A Marine Sergeant wounded in overseas combat requires an operation, and the Navy psychiatrist recommends that ‘Sarge’ be given a few weeks’ rest before hospitalization. Through the Dean of San Juan Junior College, Sarge enters on a temporary basis. Meanwhile, the Teen-Agers are rehearsing a show and Freddie's worried as they have no band.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Slaughter Rule (2002)
A young man finds solace with a young woman, his mother, and a high-school football coach who recruits him to quarterback a six-man team.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Hard to Be Good?
The closest matches to Hard to Be Good are Deathgasm (2015), Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (2001) and Carnal Knowledge (1971). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Hard to Be Good?
Start with Deathgasm (2015), the closest match to Hard to Be Good.
What is the highest-rated movie like Hard to Be Good?
Midnight Cowboy (1969), rated 7.5/10 by 1,720 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Hard to Be Good?
Naughty (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Hard to Be Good?
Yes: Deathgasm (2015), Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (2001) and Carnal Knowledge (1971).
How are movies similar to Hard to Be Good chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Hard to Be Good, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.