Movies like Small Town to Broadway: Joshua Castille's Story (2021)
The best movies like Small Town to Broadway: Joshua Castille's Story (2021) are Mr. Saturday Night (1992), Chris Rock: Kill the Messenger (2008) and Shane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs (2023). If Small Town to Broadway: Joshua Castille's Story hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLouis C.K.: Oh My God (2013)7.6/10 from 229 votes
- NewestSidelined: The QB and Me (2025)Released 2025
Mr. Saturday Night (1992)
Buddy Young was the comic's comic, beloved by everyone. Now, playing to miniscule crowds in nursing homes, it seems like everybody but Buddy realizes that he should retire. As Buddy looks for work in show business, he realizes that the rest of the world has forgotten the golden days of Buddy Young, and that there just may not be room in the business for an old comic like himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisChris Rock: Kill the Messenger (2008)
An HBO special edited from three performances from Chris Rock's 2008 comedy tour: London (dark suit, dark shirt), Johannesburg (black suit, white shirt) and New York (shiny jacket). Topics include the ongoing presidential campaign, the possibility of a black president, George W. Bush, gas prices, low-paid jobs, ringtones and bottled water, sex, relationships and the correct use of the n-word
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs (2023)
In a rowdy stand-up set, Shane Gillis riffs on his girlfriend's Navy SEAL ex, touring George Washington's house and being bullied by an Australian Goth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLouis C.K.: Oh My God (2013)
Filmed at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, AZ on February 15th and 16th, 2013, Oh My God is Louis C.K.'s fifth stand-up special, his first for HBO since 2007's Shameless, and his first since winning a Emmy Award for writing on his acclaimed show on FX, Louie. Performed in the round in front of a live audience, he discusses such topics as the food chain, animals, divorce, strange anecdotes, broken morality, murder and mortality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDave Chappelle: The Dreamer (2023)
From his onstage tackle to the slap heard round the world, Dave Chappelle lets loose in this freewheeling and unfiltered stand-up comedy special.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStanding Up, Falling Down (2020)
An unlikely friendship kindles between a struggling stand-up comedian from L.A. — forced to move back home to Eastern Long Island with his tail between his legs — and a tragically flawed, but charming and charismatic, alcoholic dermatologist. Discovering to be kindred spirits, each helps the other find healing, in addition to the confidence to face the "failures" in their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this42nd Street (1933)
Broadway director Julian Marsh needs just one more hit show so he can retire and recover his health. It looks like he just may pull it off until temperamental star Dorthy Brock breaks her ankle on the eve of the show's premiere and has to be replaced by her understudy Peggy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisZach Galifianakis: Live at the Purple Onion (2007)
From an inauspicious beginning performing comedy routines in the back of a burger joint in New York, unorthodox stand-up star Zach Galifianakis has made a splash on the scene with his inimitable brand of humor. In this live show filmed at San Francisco's Purple Onion nightclub, the versatile funnyman serves up a healthy dose of his signature wit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Used to Be Funny (2024)
Sam, an aspiring stand-up comedian and au pair struggling with PTSD, weighs whether to join the search for Brooke, a missing teenage girl she used to nanny. As she fights to recover from her trauma and return to the stage, memories of her deep bond with Brooke rush back—making it impossible to ignore her disappearance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJudah Friedlander: America Is the Greatest Country in the United States (2017)
Deadpan comic and self-proclaimed world champion Judah Friedlander performs over several nights in New York, explaining why America is No. 1.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFeel the Beat (2020)
After failing to make it on Broadway, April returns to her hometown and reluctantly begins training a misfit group of young dancers for a competition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAnnie (2014)
Annie is a young, happy foster kid who's also tough enough to make her way on the streets of New York in 2014. Originally left by her parents as a baby with the promise that they'd be back for her someday, it's been a hard knock life ever since with her mean foster mom Miss Hannigan. But everything's about to change when the hard-nosed tycoon and New York mayoral candidate Will Stacks—advised by his brilliant VP and his shrewd and scheming campaign advisor—makes a thinly-veiled campaign move and takes her in. Stacks believes he's her guardian angel, but Annie's self-assured nature and bright, sun-will-come-out-tomorrow outlook on life just might mean it's the other way around.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cheetah Girls (2003)
A four-member teen girl group named the Cheetah Girls go to a Manhattan High School for the Performing Arts and try to become the first freshmen to win the talent show in the school's history. During the talent show auditions, they meet a big-time producer named Jackal Johnson, who tries to make the group into superstars, but the girls run into many problems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this2 Minutes of Fame (2020)
An up-and-coming stand-up comic moves to L.A. to pursue a film career after video clips of his act make him an online sensation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSidelined: The QB and Me (2025)
Dallas, a burdened but headstrong dancer, is determined to get into the best dance school in the country—her late mother’s alma mater. However, that dream is suddenly derailed when the cheeky yet secretly grieving football star, Drayton, crashes into her life with a unique story of his own. Will the two of them be able to grow into their dreams together, or will their dreams be sidelined?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhitney Cummings: Can I Touch It? (2019)
In her fourth stand-up special, Whitney Cummings returns to her hometown of Washington, D.C., and riffs on modern feminism, technology and more.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSincerely Louis C.K. (2020)
Louis C.K. muses on religion, terrorism, small towns, Florida, disabilities, dogs, Auschwitz, marriage, sex, vegans, and his personal sexual controversy, in a live performance from Washington, D.C.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDave Chappelle: Killin' Them Softly (2000)
Dave Chappelle returns for a stand-up to D.C. and riffs on politics, police, race relations, drugs, Sesame Street and more.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMan on the Moon (1999)
The story of the life and career of eccentric avant-garde comedian, Andy Kaufman.
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 Small Town to Broadway: Joshua Castille's Story?
The closest matches to Small Town to Broadway: Joshua Castille's Story are Mr. Saturday Night (1992), Chris Rock: Kill the Messenger (2008) and Shane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs (2023). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Small Town to Broadway: Joshua Castille's Story?
Start with Mr. Saturday Night (1992), the closest match to Small Town to Broadway: Joshua Castille's Story.
What is the highest-rated movie like Small Town to Broadway: Joshua Castille's Story?
Louis C.K.: Oh My God (2013), rated 7.6/10 by 229 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Small Town to Broadway: Joshua Castille's Story?
Sidelined: The QB and Me (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Small Town to Broadway: Joshua Castille's Story?
Yes: Mr. Saturday Night (1992), Chris Rock: Kill the Messenger (2008) and Shane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs (2023).
How are movies similar to Small Town to Broadway: Joshua Castille's Story chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Small Town to Broadway: Joshua Castille's Story, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.