Movies like Designing Women (2021)
The best movies like Designing Women (2021) are Madeline's Madeline (2018), All About Eve (1950) and Waitress: The Musical (2023). If Designing Women hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAll About Eve (1950)8.1/10 from 1,805 votes
- NewestBabes (2024)Released 2024
Madeline's Madeline (2018)
Madeline has become an integral part of a prestigious physical theater troupe. When the workshop's ambitious director pushes the teenager to weave her rich interior world and troubled history with her mother into their collective art, the lines between performance and reality begin to blur. The resulting battle between imagination and appropriation rips out of the rehearsal space and through all three women's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisAll About Eve (1950)
From the moment she glimpses her idol at the stage door, Eve Harrington is determined to take the reins of power away from the great actress Margo Channing. Eve maneuvers her way into Margo's Broadway role, becomes a sensation and even causes turmoil in the lives of Margo's director boyfriend, her playwright and his wife. Only the cynical drama critic sees through Eve, admiring her audacity and perfect pattern of deceit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisWaitress: The Musical (2023)
A waitress and expert pie-maker dreams of a way out of her small town and rocky marriage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShakespeare in Love (1998)
Young William Shakespeare is forced to stage his latest comedy, 'Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter', before it's even written. When lovely noblewoman Viola de Lesseps auditions for a role, they fall into forbidden love — and Shakespeare's play finds a new life (and title). As their relationship intensifies, the comedy soon transforms into tragedy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJulia (1977)
At the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll About Nina (2018)
Nina Geld's passion and talent have made her a rising star in the comedy scene, but she's an emotional mess offstage. When a new professional opportunity coincides with a romantic one, she is forced to confront her own deeply troubled past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisGold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
When all Broadway shows are shut down during the Depression, a trio of desperate showgirls scheme to bilk a repugnant high society man of his money to keep their show going.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKissing Jessica Stein (2002)
Jessica, a Jewish copy editor living and working in New York City, is plagued by failed blind dates with men, and decides to answer a newspaper's personal advertisement. The advertisement has been placed by 'lesbian-curious' Helen Cooper, a thirtysomething art gallerist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Trouble with Angels (1966)
Mary and her friend, Rachel, are new students at St. Francis Academy, a boarding school run by the iron fist of Mother Superior. The immature teens grow bored and begin playing pranks on both the unsuspecting nuns and their unpleasant classmates, becoming a constant thorn in Mother Superior's side. However, as the years pass, Mary and Rachel slowly mature and begin to see the nuns in a different light.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTwentieth Century (1934)
A temperamental Broadway producer trains an untutored actress, but when she becomes a star, she proves a match for him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMr Malcolm's List (2022)
When she fails to meet an item on his list of requirements for a bride, Julia Thistlewaite is jilted by London’s most eligible bachelor, Mr Jeremy Malcolm. Feeling humiliated and determined to exact revenge, she convinces her friend Selina Dalton to play the role of his ideal match. Soon, Mr Malcolm wonders whether he’s found the perfect woman...or the perfect hoax.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisBabes (2024)
After getting pregnant from a one-night stand, a single woman leans on her married best friend and mother of two to guide her through gestation and beyond.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLegally Blonde: The Musical (2007)
Fashionable sorority queen Elle Woods has it all, but, she wants nothing more than to be Mrs. Warner Huntington III. But he dumps her before heading to Harvard Law School. Elle rallies all of her resources and gets into Harvard, determined to win him back. While there, she figures out that there is more to herself than just good looks.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMoxie (2021)
Inspired by her mom's rebellious past and a confident new friend, a shy 16-year-old publishes an anonymous zine calling out sexism at her school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMuch Ado About Nothing (2011)
Two young lovers, Claudio and Hero, are to be married imminently but the devious scheming of a resentful Prince looks set to thwart the nuptials. Meanwhile, marriage seems inconceivable for reluctant lovers Beatrice and Benedick whose endless witty sparring threatens to keep them apart forever. Directed by Josie Rourke, Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse, Much Ado About Nothing is one of Shakespeare’s great plays and reminds us all of the failings and triumphs of the human condition in our never ending search for perfect love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisNoises Off... (1992)
Hired to helm an Americanized take on a British play, director Lloyd Fellowes does his best to control an eccentric group of stage actors. With a star actress quickly passing her prime, a male lead with no confidence, and a bit actor that's rarely sober, chaos ensues in the lead up to a Broadway premiere.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDames (1934)
A reformer's daughter wins the lead role in a scandalous Broadway show.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKiss Me Kate (1953)
A pair of divorced actors are brought together to participate in a musical version of The Taming of the Shrew. Of course, the couple seem to act a great deal like the characters they play, and they must work together when mistaken identities get them mixed up with the mafia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReal Women Have Curves (2002)
In East Los Angeles, an 18-year-old struggles between her ambitions of going to college and the desires of her domineering mother for her to get married, have children, and oversee the small, rundown family-owned textile factory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOh, Hello on Broadway (2017)
Two delusional geriatrics reveal curious pasts, share a love of tuna and welcome a surprise guest in this filming of the popular Broadway comedy show.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Designing Women?
The closest matches to Designing Women are Madeline's Madeline (2018), All About Eve (1950) and Waitress: The Musical (2023). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Designing Women?
Start with Madeline's Madeline (2018), the closest match to Designing Women.
What is the highest-rated movie like Designing Women?
All About Eve (1950), rated 8.1/10 by 1,805 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Designing Women?
Babes (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Designing Women?
Yes: Madeline's Madeline (2018), All About Eve (1950) and Waitress: The Musical (2023).
How are movies similar to Designing Women chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Designing Women, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.