Movies like California Dreaming
The best movies like California Dreaming are Finder's Fee (2001), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) and Your Lucky Day (2023). If California Dreaming hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
California Dreaming
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Getaway (1972)7.2/10 from 710 votes
- NewestPlay Dirty (2025)Released 2025
Finder's Fee (2001)
Friends Tepper, Quigley, Fishman, and Bolan get together for a weekly poker night with two simple rules: Everyone contributes a lottery ticket to the pot, and no one checks the numbers until the game ends. But this particular, stormy night is different: Tepper plans to propose to his girlfriend, and just before the weekly game, he finds a wallet outside his apartment with a winning lottery ticket worth $6 million. Tepper calls the wallet's owner, Avery, to come collect what's his, but keeps the winning ticket for himself...only for Avery to show up and ask to play a hand.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
A debonair, adventuresome bank executive believes that he has pulled off the perfect multi-million dollar heist--until he must match wits with an insurance investigator who will do anything to get her man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYour Lucky Day (2023)
After a dispute over a winning lottery ticket turns into a deadly hostage situation, the witnesses must decide exactly how far they’ll go—and how much blood they’re willing to spill—for a cut of the $156 million.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUptown Saturday Night (1974)
Two blue-collar buddies search the underworld for a winning lottery ticket lost in a nightclub holdup.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCriss Cross (1949)
An armored-car guard must join a robbery after being caught with his ex-wife by her gangster husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Getaway (1972)
A recently released ex-convict and his loyal wife go on the run after a heist goes wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisParker (2013)
A thief with a unique code of professional ethics is double-crossed by his crew and left for dead. Assuming a new disguise and forming an unlikely alliance with a woman on the inside, he looks to hijack the score of the crew's latest heist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeist (2001)
Joe Moore has a job he loves. He's a thief. His job goes sour when he gets caught on security camera tape. His fence, Bergman, reneges on the money he's owed, and his wife may be betraying him with the fence's young lieutenant. Moore and his partner, Bobby Blane, and their utility man, Pinky Pincus, find themselves broke, betrayed, and blackmailed. Moore is forced to commit his crew to do one last big job.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHigh Sierra (1941)
Given a pardon from jail, Roy Earle gets back into the swing of things as he robs a swanky resort.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Missouri Breaks (1976)
When vigilante land baron David Braxton hangs one of the best friends of cattle rustler Tom Logan, Logan's gang decides to get even by purchasing a small farm next to Braxton's ranch. From there the rustlers begin stealing horses, using the farm as a front for their operation. Determined to stop the thefts at any cost, Braxton retains the services of eccentric sharpshooter Robert E. Lee Clayton, who begins ruthlessly taking down Logan's gang.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOcean's Eleven (1960)
Danny Ocean and his gang attempt to rob the five biggest casinos in Las Vegas in one night.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Newton Boys (1998)
The story of the Newton gang, the most successful bank robbers in history, owing to their good planning and minimal violence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bad Guys: Haunted Heist (2024)
The crafty Bad Guys crew embarks on a high-stakes Halloween heist to swipe a priceless amulet from a spooky mansion. What could go wrong?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNormal Life (1996)
Chris Anderson and his wife Pam live a fairly normal life until Chris loses his job on the police force and secretly turns to robbing banks to make his wife's dreams come true. Upon discovering his secret, she joins his deadly crime wave and together they terrorize an unsuspecting suburban town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlay Dirty (2025)
Expert thief Parker gets a shot at a major heist, but to pull it off he and his team must outsmart a South American dictator, the New York mob, and the world's richest man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOdds Against Tomorrow (1959)
An old-time crook plans a heist. When one of his two partners is found out to be a black man tensions flare.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fastest Gun Alive (1956)
Whenever it becomes known how good he is with guns, ex-gunman George and his wife Dora have to flee the town, in fear of all the gunmen who might want to challenge him. Unfortunately he again spills his secret when he's drunk. All citizens swear to keep his secret and support him to give up his guns forever -- but a boy tells the story to a gang of wanted criminals. Their leader threatens to burn down the whole town, if he doesn't duel him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlastic (2014)
Sam and Fordy run a credit card fraud scheme, but when they steal from the wrong man, they find themselves threatened by sadistic gangster. They need to raise £5m and pull off a daring diamond heist to clear their debt.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Big Hand for the Little Lady (1966)
A naive traveler in Laredo gets involved in a poker game between the richest men in the area, jeopardizing all the money he has saved for the purpose of settling with his wife and child in San Antonio.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Criminal (1960)
When a robbery at a racetrack goes wrong ex-con Johnny Bannion is caught and sent back to prison. He won't tell the rest of the gang where he has stashed the loot leading to violent consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like California Dreaming?
The closest matches to California Dreaming are Finder's Fee (2001), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) and Your Lucky Day (2023). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after California Dreaming?
Start with Finder's Fee (2001), the closest match to California Dreaming.
What is the highest-rated movie like California Dreaming?
The Getaway (1972), rated 7.2/10 by 710 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like California Dreaming?
Play Dirty (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like California Dreaming?
Yes: Finder's Fee (2001), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) and Your Lucky Day (2023).
How are movies similar to California Dreaming chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside California Dreaming, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.