Movies like Hawaii (2023)
The best movies like Hawaii (2023) are Little White Lies (2010), Nothing to Hide (2018) and SubUrbia (1997). If Hawaii hooked you with its comedy and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Holdovers (2023)7.7/10 from 2,775 votes
- NewestMatchbox the Movie (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchLittle White Lies (2010)Also in French
Little White Lies (2010)
Despite a traumatic event, a group of friends decide to go ahead with their annual beach vacation. Their relationships, convictions, sense of guilt and friendship are sorely tested. They are finally forced to own up to the little white lies they've been telling each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNothing to Hide (2018)
To spice up a dinner party, old friends agree to share every private message that pops up on their phones -- with disastrous results.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSubUrbia (1997)
A group of suburban teenagers try to support each other through the difficult task of becoming adults.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJohnny Kapahala: Back on Board (2007)
Johnny Kapahala, a teen snowboarding champion from Vermont, returns to Oahu, Hawaii, for the wedding of his hero -- his grandfather, local surf legend Johnny Tsunami -- and to catch a few famous Kauai waves. When Johnny arrives, he meets his new family including "Uncle Chris" (the 12-year-old son of his new step-grandmother) who resents the upcoming marriage. Chris's only interest is to join a mountain boarding crew led by a teenage bully. When Johnny's grandfather and his new wife open a surf shop that also caters to mountain boarders, they are soon embroiled in a turf war with a rival shop owner who wants to shut their business down.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNew Biz in the Hood (2019)
Fred Bartel is the charismatic boss of a trendy Parisian communication agency, Happy Few. After a heated tax audit, he was forced by the administration to relocate overnight his company in La Courneuve. Fred and his team meet Samy, a young suburb who will quickly propose to teach them the rules and practices to adopt in this new environment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLinoleum (2023)
When the host of a failing children’s science show tries to fulfill his childhood dream of becoming an astronaut by building a rocket ship in his garage, a series of bizarre events occur that cause him to question his own reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Way Way Back (2013)
Shy 14-year-old Duncan goes on summer vacation with his mother, her overbearing boyfriend, and her boyfriend's daughter. Having a rough time fitting in, Duncan finds an unexpected friend in Owen, manager of the Water Wizz water park.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGrown Ups (2010)
After their high school basketball coach passes away, five good friends and former teammates reunite for a Fourth of July holiday weekend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRecess: School's Out (2001)
The school year is finally ending, and T.J. Detweiler is looking forward to summer. But boredom quickly sets in when his friends leave for camp — until T.J. uncovers an evil plot to do away with summer vacation! A crazy former principal, Dr. Benedict, is planning to use a laser beam to alter the weather and create permanent winter. Faced with the dire threat of year-round school, T.J. rounds up the RECESS gang and bands together with some unexpected allies — Miss Finster and Principal Prickly — in a nonstop adventure to save everyone's summer break.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPanic in Year Zero! (1962)
While on a fishing trip, Harry Baldwin and his family hear an explosion and realize that Los Angeles has been leveled by a nuclear attack. Looters and killers are everywhere. Escaping to the hills with his family, he sets about the business of surviving in a world where, he knows, the old ideals of humanity will be the first casualties.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLEGO Star Wars Summer Vacation (2022)
Looking for a much-needed break, Finn arranges a surprise vacation for his friends Rey, Poe, Rose, Chewie, BB-8, R2-D2, and C-3PO, aboard the luxurious Halcyon. However, Finn's plan to have one last hurrah together quickly goes awry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhen the Wind Blows (1986)
With the help of government-issued pamphlets, an elderly British couple build a shelter and prepare for an impending nuclear attack, unaware that times and the nature of war have changed from their romantic memories of World War II.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTestament (1983)
It's just another day in the small town of Hamlin until something disastrous happens. Suddenly, news breaks that a series of nuclear warheads has been dropped along the Eastern Seaboard and, more locally, in California. As people begin coping with the devastating aftermath of the attacks — many suffer radiation poisoning — the Wetherly family tries to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLilo & Stitch (2025)
The wildly funny and touching story of a lonely Hawaiian girl and the fugitive alien who helps to mend her broken family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFor 200 Grand, You Get Nothing Now (1982)
After getting screwed over by life (again), two losers decide that enough is enough. Using stolen ski masks and stolen toy guns, they take hostages in their local bank, holding them for ransom. Things go well until the hostages learn what's going on, and demand a piece of the action for themselves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpies Like Us (1985)
Two bumbling government employees think they are U.S. spies, only to discover that they are actually decoys for nuclear war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMatchbox the Movie (2026)
When a group of former childhood friends reconnect, their reunion takes a wild turn as they stumble upon a dangerous international plot—and must save the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisScooby-Doo! and the Gourmet Ghost (2018)
The Scooby gang visits a culinary resort run by Fred's uncle, Bobby Flay. While enjoying the sights, a ghost attacks the guests and destroys the resort, leaving the gang to put a stop to its threat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisPearl Harbor (2001)
The lifelong friendship between Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker is put to the ultimate test when the two ace fighter pilots become entangled in a love triangle with beautiful Naval nurse Evelyn Johnson. But the rivalry between the friends-turned-foes is immediately put on hold when they find themselves at the center of Japan's devastating attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStitch! The Movie (2003)
The continuing adventures of Lilo, a little Hawaiian girl, and Stitch, the galaxy's most-wanted extraterrestrial. Stitch, Pleakley, and Dr. Jumba are all part of the household now, but what Lilo and Stitch don't know is that Dr. Jumba brought his other alien "experiments" to Hawaiʻi as well.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Holdovers (2023)
A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBad Santa (2003)
You'd better watch out - Willie T. Soke is coming to town, and he doesn't care if you've been naughty or nice. Willie's favorite holiday tradition is to fill his sacks with loot lifted from shopping malls across the country. But this year his plot gets derailed by a wisecracking store detective, a sexy bartender, and a kid who's convinced Willie is the real Santa Claus.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisForgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)
When actress Sarah Marshall dumps aspiring musician Peter Bretter for rock star Aldous Snow, Peter's world comes crashing down. His best friend Brian suggests that Peter should get away from everything and to fly off to Hawaii to escape all his problems. After arriving in Hawaii and meeting the beautiful receptionist Rachel Jansen, Peter is shocked to see not only Aldous in Hawaii, but also Sarah.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Holiday Swap (2022)
When two strangers mistakenly pick up the wrong piece of luggage at the airport, each must use the intriguing contents within to track down the other's whereabouts in time for Christmas.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
American Pie 2 (2001)
After a year apart - attending different schools, meeting different people - the guys rent a beach house and vow to make this the best summer ever. As it turns out, whether that will happen or not has a lot to do with the girls. Between the wild parties, outrageous revelations and yes, a trip to band camp, they discover that times change and people change, but in the end, it's all about sticking together.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStaycation (2023)
As a candid interview carries on between the country's leading virologist and a no-nonsense journalist, a couple separated between continents play catch up while a pandemic rages across the globe.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
In July (2000)
Daniel’s drab existence as a physics teacher takes an adventurous turn when he falls in love with a Turkish girl named Melek. He spontaneously decides to follow her to Instanbul by car. On the road across Europe, he picks up his free-spirited friend Juli, who is secretly in love with him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWho Are You Really? (2019)
"A socially anxious college student reluctantly heads to a party attempting to make new friends. Nande Walters directs “Who Are You Really?”, an experimental portrait of insecurity characterized by a raw, youthful energy. Anya walks into the room and immediately feels like everyone is judging her. Eventually she strikes up a conversation with a young man, but neither really knows what to say and it doesn’t go anywhere. After struggling through the awkward night, she’s surprised to learn that an extroverted friend didn’t fare much better. Walters is only 19 years old, one of the youngest we’ve ever featured on NoBudge, and her film is the work of an artist still learning her craft but she clearly knows the feeling she’s after and captures it with pops of style and a touching closing monologue." -Kentucker Audley
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Just Friends (2005)
While visiting his hometown during Christmas, a man comes face-to-face with his old high school crush whom he was best friends with – a woman whose rejection of him turned him into a ferocious womanizer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHot Rod (2007)
For Rod Kimble, performing stunts is a way of life, even though he is rather accident-prone. Poor Rod cannot even get any respect from his stepfather, Frank, who beats him up in weekly sparring matches. When Frank falls ill, Rod devises his most outrageous stunt yet to raise money for Frank's operation -- and then Rod will kick Frank's butt.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like Hawaii and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Hawaii?
The closest matches to Hawaii are Little White Lies (2010), Nothing to Hide (2018) and SubUrbia (1997). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Hawaii?
Start with Little White Lies (2010), the closest match to Hawaii.
What is the highest-rated movie like Hawaii?
The Holdovers (2023), rated 7.7/10 by 2,775 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Hawaii?
Matchbox the Movie (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like Hawaii?
Yes: Little White Lies (2010), Nothing to Hide (2018) and New Biz in the Hood (2019).
How are movies similar to Hawaii chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Hawaii, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.