Movies like Circus (1936)
The best movies like Circus (1936) are Sneakerella (2022), The Big Store (1941) and A Very Jonas Christmas Movie (2025). If Circus hooked you with its music and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBo Burnham: Make Happy (2016)8.0/10 from 459 votes
- NewestA Very Jonas Christmas Movie (2025)Released 2025
Sneakerella (2022)
When El, an aspiring sneaker designer from Queens, meets Kira King, the fiercely independent daughter of legendary basketball star and sneaker tycoon Darius King, sparks fly as the two bond over their mutual affinity for sneakers. With a little nudge from his best friend and a sprinkle of Fairy Godfather magic, El finds the courage to use his talent to pursue his dream of becoming a ‘legit’ sneaker designer in the industry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Big Store (1941)
A detective is hired to protect the life of a singer, who has recently inherited a department store, from the store's crooked manager.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Very Jonas Christmas Movie (2025)
Kevin, Nick, and Joe Jonas face a series of escalating obstacles as they struggle to make it from London to New York in time to spend Christmas with their families.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGodspell (1973)
In modern-day New York City, John the Baptist calls out to a group of young men and women to learn from the teachings of Jesus. Through song and dance, they relive Christ's crucifixion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAdam Sandler: 100% Fresh (2018)
Adam Sandler takes his comical musical musings back out on the road, from comedy clubs to concert halls to one very unsuspecting subway station.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBo Burnham: Make Happy (2016)
Combining his trademark wit and self-deprecating humor with original music, Bo Burnham offers up his unique twist on life in this stand-up special about life, death, sexuality, hypocrisy, mental illness and Pringles cans.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAnimal Crackers (1930)
The well-known explorer and hunter Captain Spaulding has just returned from Africa, and is being welcomed home with a lavish party at the estate of influential society matron Mrs. Rittenhouse when a valuable painting goes missing. The intrepid Captain Spaulding attempts to solve the crime with the help of his silly secretary Horatio Jamison, while sparring with the anarchic Signor Emanuel Ravelli and his nutty sidekick The Professor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Happy (1949)
The Marx Brothers help young Broadway hopefuls when they get mixed up with gangsters due to a tin of sardines containing Romanoff diamonds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisFootlight Parade (1933)
A fledgling producer finds himself at odds with his workers, financiers and his greedy ex-wife when he tries to produce live musicals for movie-going audiences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Mighty Wind (2003)
Three eclectic, never-quite-famous folk bands come together for the first time in decades following the death of their manager to put on an reunion concert in his honor, at the request of his son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisArlo the Alligator Boy (2021)
Upon learning that he is from New York City, a wide-eyed boy, who is half human and half alligator, decides to leave his sheltered life in the swamp and search for his long lost father. A musical adventure.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZiegfeld Follies (1945)
The late, great impresario Florenz Ziegfeld looks down from heaven and ordains a new revue in his grand old style.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBack to the Beach (1987)
A former beach boy and his wife go to California to visit their daughter and become part of the new beach scene.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisBuck Privates (1941)
Petty con artists Slicker Smith and Herbie Brown mistakenly join the Army evading the cops. The cop chasing them winds up as their drill instructor. A rich young man and his former working class chauffeur are not only in the same unit, they're vying for a pretty girl who seems attracted to both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMake Mine Music (1946)
In the tradition of Fantasia, Make Mine Music is a glorious collection of musically charged animated shorts featuring such fun-filled favorites as "Peter and the Wolf", narrated by the beloved voice behind Winnie the Pooh. In addition you'll enjoy such classic cartoon hits as "Casey at the Bat," "The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met" and "Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
SnoozefestMovies like thisAdam Sandler: Love You (2024)
Adam Sandler hits the stage for a thrillingly unpredictable comedy special featuring songs, jokes, party-crashing dogs and plenty of love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKidnapping, Caucasian Style (1967)
Shurik, a kind but naïve ethnography student, falls in love with the intelligent, athletic and beautiful All-Union Leninist Young Communist League member Nina. He has a rival in the wealthy comrade Saakhov, who concocts a kidnapping scheme to force Nina to marry him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies 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 · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisEddie Murphy Raw (1987)
Eddie Murphy delights, shocks and entertains with dead-on celebrity impersonations, observations on '80s love, sex and marriage, a remembrance of Mom's hamburgers and much more.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThunderstruck (2012)
After NBA star Kevin Durant switches talent with 16 year old Brian, the teenager becomes the star of his high school team, but Durant starts struggling and eventually learns an important lesson.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGrease 2 (1982)
It's 1961, two years after the original Grease gang graduated, and there's a new crop of seniors and new members of the coolest cliques on campus, the Pink Ladies and T-Birds. Michael Carrington is the new kid in school - but he's been branded a brainiac. Can he fix up an old motorcycle, don a leather jacket, avoid a rumble with the leader of the T-Birds, and win the heart of Pink Lady Stephanie?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisSing Along (2013)
A sheltered boy with a dream of starring on Broadway survives day-to-day life by imagining the world as a musical.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music & comedy
Bugsy Malone (1976)
New York, 1929, a war rages between two rival gangsters, Fat Sam and Dandy Dan. Dan is in possession of a new and deadly weapon, the dreaded "splurge gun". As the custard pies fly, Bugsy Malone, an all-round nice guy, falls for Blousey Brown, a singer at Fat Sam's speakeasy. His designs on her are disrupted by the seductive songstress Tallulah who wants Bugsy for herself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAir: The Musical (2010)
AIR follows three stories of people who feel out of place in the world, and their longing to find a connection with someone else. A middle-aged African American sings to a new love as they both cope with secret pasts in a country western bar. A young goth girl sings a 50s style ballad as she wanders the streets with a broken heart. A punk croons a modern doo wop at a punk rock show. Featuring all original music, AIR is a heartwarming drama, a romantic comedy, and an exciting musical.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & music
My Fair Lady (1964)
A snobbish phonetics professor agrees to a wager that he can take a flower girl and make her presentable in high society.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmerican Dreamz (2006)
The new season of "American Dreamz," the wildly popular television singing contest, has captured the country's attention, as the competition looks to be between a young Midwestern gal and a showtunes-loving young man from Orange County. Recently awakened President Staton even wants in on the craze, as he signs up for the potential explosive season finale.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Mikado (2011)
In a small Japanese town, Ko-Ko is appointed to the unenviable position of executioner. Knowing he must successfully perform before the appearance of the Mikado in a month's time, Ko-Ko finds a suitable victim in Nanki-Poo, who is distraught over his unrequited love for the maiden Yum-Yum. Nanki-Poo agrees to sacrifice his life if he is allowed to spend his remaining days with Yum-Yum, who is betrothed to Ko-Ko. Opera Australia production filmed at The Arts Centre Melbourne.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Peter Pan (2000)
The stage musical Peter Pan starring Cathy Rigby has toured the world to great acclaim. An adaptation of the famous 1954 musical directed by Jerome Robbins and starring Mary Martin, this new version is lasting proof that J.M. Barrie's tale of the boy who would never grow up is one of the kingpins of family entertainment. All the elements are in good form for this video production shot at the Mirada Theater in 2000 for the A&E Network. Some new songs have been added to the fabulous Moose Charlap-Carolyn Leigh score (which includes "Tender Shepherd," "I Gotta Crow," "I'm Flying," and "I Won't Grow Up"). But the biggest asset to this production are the spectacular flying sequences: Peter even soars over the audience at times. Martin was a stronger actress in a close-up, but Rigby is magical with her athleticism and spark, most notably in a percussion-filled song and dance number "Ugh-a-Wug.".
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel (1990)
Animated adaptation of Virginia Lee Burton's children's book.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Mal Hallett and His Orchestra (1937)
Mal Hallett and his Orchestra perform three songs with featured dancers
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Circus?
The closest matches to Circus are Sneakerella (2022), The Big Store (1941) and A Very Jonas Christmas Movie (2025). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Circus?
Start with Sneakerella (2022), the closest match to Circus.
What is the highest-rated movie like Circus?
Bo Burnham: Make Happy (2016), rated 8.0/10 by 459 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Circus?
A Very Jonas Christmas Movie (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Circus chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Circus, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.