Movies like It Is What It Is (1992)
The best movies like It Is What It Is (1992) are Love, Simon (2018), Beach Rats (2017) and Three Months (2022). If It Is What It Is hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
It Is What It Is
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLove, Simon (2018)8.0/10 from 6,377 votes
- NewestWinter Spring Summer or Fall (2024)Released 2024
Love, Simon (2018)
Everyone deserves a great love story, but for 17-year-old Simon Spier, it's a little more complicated. He hasn't told his family or friends that he's gay, and he doesn't know the identity of the anonymous classmate that he's fallen for online.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBeach Rats (2017)
On the outskirts of Brooklyn, Frankie, an aimless teenager, suffocates under the oppressive glare cast by his family and a toxic group of delinquent friends. Struggling with his own identity, Frankie begins to scour hookup sites for older men.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThree Months (2022)
Caleb, a South Florida teen, loves his camera, his weed and his grandmother. On the eve of his high school graduation, everything changes when he's exposed to HIV. While he waits three months for his results, Caleb finds love in the most unlikely of places.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPariah (2011)
A Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak, and family in a desperate search for sexual expression.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMoonlight (2016)
The tender, heartbreaking story of a young man’s struggle to find himself, told across three defining chapters in his life as he experiences the ecstasy, pain, and beauty of falling in love, while grappling with his own sexuality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGeography Club (2013)
A coming-of-age movie that tells a story unfolding in every high school around the country -- a story of kids hiding their true identities in plain sight, even as they feverishly pursue their hearts' desires.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAn Education (2009)
Despite her sheltered upbringing, Jenny is a teen with a bright future; she's smart, pretty, and has aspirations of attending Oxford University. When David, a charming but much older suitor, motors into her life in a shiny automobile, Jenny gets a taste of adult life that she won't soon forget.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPretty Persuasion (2005)
A 15-year-old girl incites chaos among her friends and a media frenzy when she accuses her drama teacher of sexual harassment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisEighth Grade (2018)
Thirteen-year-old Kayla endures the tidal wave of contemporary suburban adolescence as she makes her way through the last week of middle school — the end of her thus far disastrous eighth grade year — before she begins high school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGiant Little Ones (2019)
Two popular teen boys, best friends since childhood, discover their lives, families, and girlfriends dramatically upended after an unexpected incident occurs on the night of a 17th birthday party.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll These Small Moments (2019)
A teenage boy's infatuation with a woman he sees on the bus further complicates his already tumultuous adolescence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSaved! (2004)
Mary is a good Christian girl who goes to a good Christian high school where she has good Christian friends and a perfect Christian boyfriend. Her life seems perfect, until the day that she finds out that her boyfriend may be gay — and that she’s pregnant.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLooks That Kill (2020)
A teenager lives out the hilarious and often tragic consequences of being lethally attractive, until he meets a girl with a congenital defect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this4th Man Out (2015)
After a night of drinking, Adam Hutcherson stumbles out of the closet to his three straight buddies. A disruption to their dynamic which they now must try and overcome through alcohol, Tinder dates and forgiveness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChemical Hearts (2020)
When a hopelessly romantic high school senior falls for a mysterious new classmate, it sets them both on an unexpected journey that teaches them about love, loss, and most importantly themselves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKids (1995)
A group of bored, disaffected New York City teenagers spend a day skating, smoking, drinking, partying, deflowering virgins, and getting into fights.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Policeman (2022)
In the late 1990s, the arrival of elderly invalid Patrick into Marion and Tom’s home triggers the exploration of seismic events from 40 years previous: the passionate relationship between Tom and Patrick at a time when homosexuality was illegal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe First Time (2012)
A spark of attraction smolders, then ignites, between two teens from different high schools who meet by chance at a party.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBoy Erased (2018)
Jared, the son of a Baptist pastor in a small American town, is outed to his parents at age 19. Jared is faced with an ultimatum: attend a gay conversion therapy program – or be permanently exiled and shunned by his family, friends, and faith.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWinter Spring Summer or Fall (2024)
Remi and Barnes, two very different teenagers, meet by chance in the winter of their senior year, then spend four days together over the course of a year that will change their lives forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like It Is What It Is?
The closest matches to It Is What It Is are Love, Simon (2018), Beach Rats (2017) and Three Months (2022). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after It Is What It Is?
Start with Love, Simon (2018), the closest match to It Is What It Is.
What is the highest-rated movie like It Is What It Is?
Love, Simon (2018), rated 8.0/10 by 6,377 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like It Is What It Is?
Winter Spring Summer or Fall (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like It Is What It Is?
Yes: Love, Simon (2018), Beach Rats (2017) and Three Months (2022).
How are movies similar to It Is What It Is chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside It Is What It Is, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.