Movies like El Carné (2021)
The best movies like El Carné (2021) are Curly Sue (1991), The Big Brawl (1980) and Little Giants (1994). If El Carné hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)8.1/10 from 7,522 votes
- NewestMaternal Instinct (2026)Released 2026
- In SpanishAirbag (1997)Also in Spanish
Curly Sue (1991)
Bill is a penniless drifter who scams strangers out of just enough money to feed himself and his partner in crime, an orphan girl known as Curly Sue. Bill and Curly Sue target Grey, a yuppie lawyer, but their con takes an unexpected turn when the successful woman begins to like the ramshackle duo. But there's one problem—Grey's jealous, conniving boyfriend, Walker.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Big Brawl (1980)
A young Asian American martial artist is forced to participate in a brutal formal street-fight competition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisLittle Giants (1994)
When Danny O'Shea's daughter is cut from the Peewee football team just for being a girl, he decides to form his own team, composed of other ragtag players who were also cut. Can his team really learn enough to beat the elite team, coached by his brother, a former pro player?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSee Spot Run (2001)
A drug sniffing agent canine is a target for an assassin boss so the FBI calls Witness Protection to send him somewhere else. Meanwhile a single Mom puts her 6 year old boy James in the care of her irresponsible, mailman, neighbor, Gordon, when the babysitter bails on her. Meanwhile, an assassin mob boss hires 2 goons to kill Agent 11. But when 11 escapes from the van when they tried to kill him, he hides in Gordon's Mailtruck that James is in too. And guess what they name him. Spot.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaternal Instinct (2026)
Police pull over a woman who claims she just gave birth. But the baby — and the blood — aren't hers. Twisted lies unravel in this true-crime documentary.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003)
Lizzie McGuire has graduated from middle school and takes a trip to Rome, Italy with her class. And what was supposed to be only a normal trip, becomes a teenager's dream come true.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeliver Us from Evil (2006)
Documentary filmmaker Amy Berg investigates the life of 30-year pedophile Father Oliver O'Grady and exposes the corruption inside the Catholic Church that allowed him to abuse countless children. Victims' stories and a disturbing interview with O'Grady offer a view into the troubled mind of the spiritual leader who moved from parish to parish gaining trust ... all the while betraying so many.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNinja: Shadow of a Tear (2013)
Fight everyone and trust no one: it's the code of survival practiced by martial-arts master Casey Bowman after his life of domestic bliss is shattered by a savage act of violence. Vowing revenge, the fearless American stealthily tracks the killer from Osaka to Bangkok to Rangoon with the help of a wise and crafty sensei. His only clues: a series of victims whose necks bear the distinctive mark of strangulation by barbed wire. Fighting to avenge as well as to survive, Casey must sharpen his razor-like responses and take his battle skills to the next level, even using deep meditation to fake his own death. His target: the sinister drug lord Goro, who is flooding the streets with deadly meth cooked at his remote jungle factory. To prepare for his ultimate confrontation, Casey must finally become an invisible warrior worthy of the name Ninja. But just when his prey is cornered, an unexpected twist shows Casey that his battle is only beginning: he truly can trust no one.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNothing to Lose (1997)
Advertising executive Nick Beame learns that his wife is sleeping with his employer. In a state of despair, he encounters a bumbling thief whose attempted carjacking goes awry when Nick takes him on an involuntary joyride. Soon the betrayed businessman and the incompetent crook strike up a partnership and develop a robbery-revenge scheme. But it turns out that some other criminals in the area don't appreciate the competition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAirbag (1997)
A man gets involved in a series of mishaps while frantically searching for his lost wedding ring.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHobson's Choice (1954)
A widower refuses to let his three daughters marry in order to avoid paying settlements, so they'll just have to outsmart him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJessica Darling's It List (2016)
Jessica Darling – a smart, witty, opinionated girl heading into 7th grade – was never too concerned about where she'd fit in the middle school hierarchy. But before her first day of school, her older sister — the super popular Bethany, now in college—decides to help out by giving her the “It List”—a cheat sheet on how to navigate the middle school maze and rise to the top of the popularity chain. The instructions appear simple enough to follow, but, like life, nothing is as easy as it seems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisRookie of the Year (1993)
When the cast comes off his once broken arm, a 12-year-old boy can throw a 100-mile-an-hour fastball, and the Chicago Cubs want him as their new pitcher.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad News Bears (2005)
Morris Buttermaker is a burned-out minor league baseball player who loves to drink and can't keep his hands to himself. His long-suffering lawyer arranges for him to manage a local Little League team, and Buttermaker soon finds himself the head of a rag-tag group of misfit players. Through unconventional team-building exercises and his offbeat coaching style, Buttermaker helps his hapless Bears prepare to meet their rivals, the Yankees.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisBatman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
Andrea Beaumont leaves her father to return to Gotham, rekindling an old romance with Bruce Wayne. At the same time, a mysterious figure begins to hunt down Gotham's criminals, wrongly implicating Batman in the murders. Now on the run from the law, Batman must find and stop the culprit, while also navigating his relationship with Andrea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisScooby-Doo's Creepiest Capers (2000)
Join the spook-busting, case-cracking, snack-munching fun as Scooby-Doo and the Mystery, Inc. gang gear up for four of their most frightening adventures ever! Traveling the globe on their ongoing quest to trip up crooks (and chow down on munchies), Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Daphne, Fred and Velma tangle with a supernatural assortment of eerie adversaries. Facing multiple monsters, ghouls galore and gobs of ghosts, our top-dog detective and those "meddling kids" will stop at nothing to get their ghoul as they confront SCOOBY-DOO'S CREEPIEST CAPERS!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisOverdrive (2017)
Master car thieves square off against French gangsters in the South of France with money, women and lives all on the line.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCharlie Brown's All-Stars! (1966)
After their humiliating 999th defeat, Charlie Brown's whole baseball team quits on him. All seems lost...until Charlie Brown learns that his team can join the Little League and become an official team with real uniforms! But as the team's enthusiasm sparks, Charlie Brown learns that neither girls nor Snoopy would be allowed to play. Charlie Brown faces the difficult decision of breaking this horrible news to his excited team.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
A card shark and his unwillingly-enlisted friends need to make a lot of cash quick after losing a sketchy poker match. To do this they decide to pull a heist on a small-time gang who happen to be operating out of the flat next door.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisJackass Forever (2022)
The Jackass crew, along with some newcomers, returns for one more round of hilarious, absurd, and dangerous stunts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like El Carné?
The closest matches to El Carné are Curly Sue (1991), The Big Brawl (1980) and Little Giants (1994). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after El Carné?
Start with Curly Sue (1991), the closest match to El Carné.
What is the highest-rated movie like El Carné?
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), rated 8.1/10 by 7,522 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like El Carné?
Maternal Instinct (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like El Carné?
Yes: Airbag (1997).
How are movies similar to El Carné chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside El Carné, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.