Movies like Happy Birthday, Sofka! (2009)
The best movies like Happy Birthday, Sofka! (2009) are 16 Wishes (2010), Dancer in the Dark (2000) and Mikey and Nicky (1976). If Happy Birthday, Sofka! hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCity Lights (1931)8.2/10 from 2,588 votes
- NewestRisqué (2025)Released 2025
16 Wishes (2010)
The story about Abby Jensen, a girl who's been eager to reach her 16th birthday and has kept a secret wish list since she was a little girl. When the Big Day actually arrives, utter disaster strikes, leaving Abby to think her birthday is ruined. But when a mysterious box of magical birthday candles arrives to turn things around, Abby's 16 Wishes start to come true. Her day gets better and better...until she makes one wish that threatens to change everything.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDancer in the Dark (2000)
Selma, a Czech immigrant on the verge of blindness, struggles to make ends meet for herself and her young son, who has inherited the same genetic disorder and will suffer the same fate without an expensive operation. When life becomes increasingly difficult, Selma learns to cope through her love of musicals, dreaming up little numbers to the rhythmic beats of her surroundings.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMikey and Nicky (1976)
Nick is desperate, holed up in a cheap hotel, suffering from an ulcer and convinced that a local mob boss wants him killed. Terrified, he calls Mikey, his friend since childhood and a fellow gangster. So begins a long night…
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this25th Hour (2002)
On the eve of a seven-year prison sentence, a New York drug dealer spends his final day of freedom confronting his past, his relationships, and the choices that led to his downfall in a city still reeling from 9/11.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisF.I.S.T. (1978)
Johnny Kovak joins the Teamsters trade-union in a local chapter in the 1930s and works his way up in the organization. As he climbs higher and higher his methods become more ruthless and finally senator Madison starts a campaign to find the truth about the alleged connections with the Mob.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCashback (2007)
After a painful breakup, Ben develops insomnia. To kill time, he starts working the late night shift at the local supermarket, where his artistic imagination runs wild.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBasket Case (1982)
A young man carrying a big basket that contains his extremely deformed, formerly conjoined twin brother seeks vengeance on the doctors who separated them against their will.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCity Lights (1931)
A tramp falls in love with a beautiful blind flower girl. His on-and-off friendship with a wealthy man allows him to be the girl's benefactor and suitor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRuby Sparks (2012)
Calvin is a young novelist who achieved phenomenal success early in his career but is now struggling with his writing – as well as his romantic life. Finally, he makes a breakthrough and creates a character named Ruby who inspires him. When Calvin finds Ruby, in the flesh, sitting on his couch about a week later, he is completely flabbergasted that his words have turned into a living, breathing person.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRun All Night (2015)
Brooklyn mobster and prolific hit man Jimmy Conlon has seen better days. Longtime best friend of a mob boss, Jimmy is haunted by the sins of his past—as well as a dogged police detective who’s been one step behind Jimmy for 30 years. But when Jimmy’s estranged son becomes a target, Jimmy must make a choice between the crime family he chose and the real family he abandoned long ago. Now, with nowhere safe to turn, Jimmy has just one night to figure out exactly where his loyalties lie and to see if he can finally make things right.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Patch of Fog (2015)
A university teacher gets caught shoplifting by a security guard, who won’t let him go. He becomes his new best friend and says ‘I won’t call the cops if you come and have a pint with me’. From there a twisted romance of sorts unfolds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDen of Thieves 2: Pantera (2025)
Big Nick is back on the hunt in Europe and closing in on Donnie, who is embroiled in the treacherous and unpredictable world of diamond thieves and the infamous Panther mafia, as they plot a massive heist of the world's largest diamond exchange.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Weekend Away (2022)
When her best friend vanishes during a girls' trip to Croatia, Beth races to figure out what happened. But each clue yields another unsettling deception.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Place in the Sun (1951)
A young social climber wins the heart of a beautiful heiress but his former girlfriend's pregnancy stands in the way of his ambition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRisqué (2025)
Fired from a strip club, a vengeful dancer masterminds a high-stakes heist with fellow strippers to take down the corrupt boss and the men who underestimate them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSome Kind of Wonderful (1987)
Keith Nelson, an artsy high school outcast, tries to land a date with popular girl Amanda Jones with some help from his tomboy best friend, Watts. However, Watts realizes she likes Keith as more than just a friend and tries to convince him to stop pursuing Amanda. Matters are further complicated when Keith's invitation draws the ire of Amanda's rich yet snobby ex-boyfriend, Hardy Jenns, who makes plans to get even.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Wish Come True (2015)
On the night of her 30th birthday, Lindsay Corwin, an unlucky environmentalist with a string of bad relationships, decides to make the ultimate wish: for all of her birthday wishes to come true. When her nearly three decades of wishes, including everything from losing weight to meeting Mr. Right, start magically coming true all at once, Lindsay is awestruck—until she realizes the life, and the man, she’s always wished for might not be the one she really wants.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTed (2012)
John Bennett, a man whose childhood wish of bringing his teddy bear to life came true, now must decide between keeping the relationship with the bear or his girlfriend, Lori.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Cinderella Story (2004)
Routinely exploited by her wicked stepmother, the downtrodden Samantha Montgomery is excited about the prospect of meeting her Internet beau at the school's Halloween dance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMr. Church (2016)
A unique friendship develops when a little girl and her dying mother inherit a cook - Mr. Church. What begins as an arrangement that should only last six months, instead spans fifteen years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this
Like Happy Birthday, Sofka! and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Happy Birthday, Sofka!?
The closest matches to Happy Birthday, Sofka! are 16 Wishes (2010), Dancer in the Dark (2000) and Mikey and Nicky (1976). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Happy Birthday, Sofka!?
Start with 16 Wishes (2010), the closest match to Happy Birthday, Sofka!.
What is the highest-rated movie like Happy Birthday, Sofka!?
City Lights (1931), rated 8.2/10 by 2,588 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Happy Birthday, Sofka!?
Risqué (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Happy Birthday, Sofka! chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Happy Birthday, Sofka!, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.