Movies like Swim to Steven (2020)
The best movies like Swim to Steven (2020) are The Rewrite (2014), Palm Trees and Power Lines (2023) and Janet Planet (2024). If Swim to Steven hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPiper (2016)8.1/10 from 1,791 votes
- NewestExtreme Makeover: Homer Edition (2026)Released 2026
The Rewrite (2014)
An Oscar-winning writer in a slump leaves Hollywood to teach screenwriting at a college on the East Coast, where he falls for a single mom taking classes there.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPalm Trees and Power Lines (2023)
Seventeen-year-old Lea spends her summer break tanning in her backyard, and drifting between tiptoeing around her needy mother, and aimlessly trailing her best friend and boys from school. This monotony is interrupted by a chance encounter with Tom, a seductive man twice her age who promises an alternative to Lea's unsatisfying adolescent life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJanet Planet (2024)
In rural Western Massachusetts, 11-year-old Lacy spends the summer of 1991 at home, enthralled by her own imagination and the attention of her mother, Janet. As the months pass, three visitors enter their orbit, all captivated by Janet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisExtreme Makeover: Homer Edition (2026)
Homer and Marge's fun couples' date night goes off the rails when Marge learns Homer left the kids unsupervised with only the doorbell camera as a babysitter. Frustrated with her imperfect husband, a tipsy Marge stirs up a trilogy of fantasies of a different Homer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Chronology of Water (2025)
Plagued by an abusive childhood, a woman finds escape in competitive swimming, sexual experimentation, toxic relationships, and addiction before ultimately finding her voice through writing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStick It (2006)
Haley is a naturally gifted athlete but, with her social behavior, the teen seems intent on squandering her abilities. After a final brush with the law, a judge sentences her to an elite gymnastics academy run by a legendary, hard-nosed coach. Once there, Haley's rebellious attitude wins her both friends and enemies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Swimmer (1968)
A man spends a summer day swimming home via all the pools in his quiet suburban neighborhood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMrs Lowry & Son (2019)
An intimate portrayal of the relationship between one of greatest artists of the 20th century, L.S. Lowry and his unhappy and controlling mother, Elizabeth, whom he lived with all his life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPiper (2016)
A mother bird tries to teach her little one how to find food by herself. In the process, she encounters a traumatic experience that she must overcome in order to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCars 3 (2017)
Blindsided by a new generation of blazing-fast racers, the legendary Lightning McQueen finds himself pushed to the brink—and suddenly, the champion who once ruled the track is fighting just to stay in the race. With his career hanging in the balance, McQueen must turn to an ambitious young race technician with a plan of her own, draw strength from the legacy of the late Fabulous Hudson Hornet, and risk everything on one last shot at glory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNYAD (2023)
Athlete Diana Nyad sets out at 60 to achieve a nearly impossible lifelong dream: to swim from Cuba to Florida across more than 100 miles of open ocean.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHorse Feathers (1932)
Quincy Adams Wagstaff, the new president of Huxley U, hires bumblers Baravelli and Pinky to help his school win the big football game against rival Darwin U.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRiley's First Date? (2015)
Riley, now 12, who is hanging out with her parents at home when potential trouble comes knocking. Mom's and Dad's Emotions find themselves forced to deal with Riley going on her first "date."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSketch (2025)
When a young girl’s sketchbook falls into a strange pond, her drawings come to life—chaotic, real, and on the loose. As the town descends into chaos, her family must reunite and stop the monsters they never meant to unleash.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDangerous Minds (1995)
Former Marine Louanne Johnson lands a gig teaching in a pilot program for bright but underachieving teens at a notorious inner-city high school. After having a terrible first day, she decides she must throw decorum to the wind. When Johnson returns to the classroom, she does so armed with a no-nonsense attitude informed by her military training and a fearless determination to better the lives of her students -- no matter what the cost.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Kid (2000)
An unhappy, disliked image consultant gets a second shot at life when he is mysteriously confronted by an eight-year-old version of himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKissing Is the Easy Part (2026)
Sean's gunning for MIT. Flora's ditching the SAT. A secret deal with her tenured parents sparks a romance that challenges everything they believe in.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJack (1996)
Born with a rare condition that makes him age four times faster than normal, ten-year-old Jack Powell looks like a forty-year-old man. After years of homeschooling, he enters public school for the first time, eager to make friends and live like any other kid—only to discover that growing up too fast means learning some of life’s hardest lessons early.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMe Time (2022)
With his family away, a devoted stay-at-home dad enjoys his first me time in years by joining his hard-partying old friend on a wild birthday adventure.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisSleep, My Love (1948)
A woman wakes up in the middle of the night on board a train, but she can't remember how she got there. Danger and suspense ensue.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Swim to Steven?
The closest matches to Swim to Steven are The Rewrite (2014), Palm Trees and Power Lines (2023) and Janet Planet (2024). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Swim to Steven?
Start with The Rewrite (2014), the closest match to Swim to Steven.
What is the highest-rated movie like Swim to Steven?
Piper (2016), rated 8.1/10 by 1,791 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Swim to Steven?
Extreme Makeover: Homer Edition (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Swim to Steven?
Yes: The Rewrite (2014), Palm Trees and Power Lines (2023) and Janet Planet (2024).
How are movies similar to Swim to Steven chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Swim to Steven, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.