Movies like Applebaum (2012)
The best movies like Applebaum (2012) are Take the Lead (2006), The Crash (2026) and Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds (2016). If Applebaum hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (1979)7.4/10 from 230 votes
- NewestThe Crash (2026)Released 2026
Take the Lead (2006)
A former professional dancer volunteers to teach dance in the New York public school system and, while his background first clashes with his students' tastes, together they create a completely new style of dance. Based on the story of ballroom dancer, Pierre Dulane.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Crash (2026)
A teen slams her car into a building, killing her boyfriend and his friend. What seems like a tragic accident becomes a murder case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds (2016)
An intimate portrait of Hollywood royalty featuring Debbie Reynolds, Todd Fisher, and Carrie Fisher.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCheck Inn to Christmas (2019)
Julia Crawley and Ryan Mason must unite their families during Crestridge's Centennial Christmas celebration in order to save their family inns from a chain resort.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDaddio (2024)
A woman taking a cab ride from JFK airport engages in a conversation with the driver about the important relationships in their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Thousand and One (2023)
Struggling but unapologetically living on her own terms, Inez is moving from shelter to shelter in mid-1990s New York City. With her 6-year-old son Terry in foster care and unable to leave him again, she kidnaps him so they can build their life together. As the years go by, their family grows and Terry becomes a smart yet quiet teenager, but the secret that has defined their lives threatens to destroy the home they have so improbably built.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019)
Nancy Drew, a smart high schooler with a penchant for keen observation and deduction, stumbles upon the haunting of a local home. A bit of an outsider struggling to fit into her new surroundings, Nancy and her pals set out to solve the mystery, make new friends, and establish their place in the community
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChristmas Made to Order (2018)
When architect and Christmas amateur Steven finds himself hosting his family for Christmas, he recruits holiday coordinator Gretchen to bring holiday joy to his home. Gretchen’s expert Christmas spirit brings Steven’s family together, but neither expected it to bring them closer to each other. After a great opportunity presents itself to Gretchen, she and Steven must decide what’s really important in life.
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 thisHead Full of Honey (2018)
A young girl tries to help her grandfather, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, navigate his increasing forgetfulness, and ends up going on a remarkable adventure with him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisGood Luck Charlie, It's Christmas! (2011)
Teddy Duncan's middle-class family embarks on a road trip from their home in Denver to visit Mrs. Duncans Parents, the Blankenhoopers, in Palm Springs. When they find themselves stranded between Denver and Utah, they try to hitch a ride to Las Vegas with a seemingly normal older couple in a station wagon from Roswell, New Mexico. It turns out that the couple believes they are the victims of alien abduction. The Duncan's must resort to purchasing a clunker Yugo to get to Utah, have their luggage stolen in Las Vegas, and survive a zany Christmas with Grandpa and Grandma Blankenhooper.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Sassy Girl (2008)
A guy has his life planned out until he is wooed, groomed and then dumped by an elusive woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRock-a-Bye Baby (1958)
An average television repairman must care for the newborn triplets of his former hometown sweetheart—now a famous movie star—so her career will not suffer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Trials of Cate McCall (2013)
In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisElectrick Children (2012)
Rachel is a rambunctious girl from a polygamist colony in southern Utah. On Rachel’s 15th birthday, she finds a forbidden cassette tape. Having never seen anything like it before, Rachel plays the cassette tape, and finds glorious rock & roll thereupon. Weeks later, Rachel realizes a miracle has occurred - and the cassette tape must have something to do with it. She leaves her family and runs away to the closest city: Las Vegas. There she searches for the singer of the band on the cassette tape.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnder the Sea: A Descendants Story (2018)
Mal emerges from the shadows of a mystical forest onto a dark coastline where she crosses paths with Dizzy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (1979)
A collection of Warner Brothers short cartoon features, "starring" the likes of Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and Wile E. Coyote. These animations are interspersed by Bugs Bunny reminiscing on past events and providing links between the individual animations which are otherwise unconnected. This 1979 feature-length compilation includes several of his best cartoons. Among the 11 shorts shown in their entirety are the classics "Robin Hood Daffy," "What's Opera, Doc?," "Bully for Bugs," and "Duck Amuck". The Bugs Bunny Road Runner Movie provides a showcase not only for Jones's razor-sharp timing, but for the work of his exceptional crew, which included designer Maurice Noble, writer Mike Maltese, composers Carl Stalling and Milt Franklyn, and voice actor Mel Blanc.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHypnotic (2021)
A young woman seeking self-improvement enlists the help of a renowned hypnotist but, after a handful of intense sessions, discovers unexpected and deadly consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBrian's Song (1971)
Based on the real-life relationship between teammates Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers and the bond established when Piccolo discovers that he is dying.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFirebreather (2010)
It's not easy being a teen like Duncan. His mom wants him to pay more attention to his homework, while his dad - a 120-foot-tall monster known as a Kaiju - wants him to become the next King of All Monsters. When these worlds collide, Duncan must use his human wits and his Kaiju powers - including super strength, agility and the ability to breathe fire - to protect his family and friends from a giant monster rampage.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSeth Mattsonin tarina (1979)
The TV film depicts the loneliness that follows divorce.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Love’s Dark Ride (1978)
A young advertising executive, blinded in a gun accident, attempts to rebuild his life and career by living through a nightclub entertainer who befriends him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Face of Rage (1983)
Filmed in quasi-documentary fashion, the made-for-TV The Face of Rage is set in a rehabilitation facility. Here a group of rapists are required to confront their victims face-to-face. The film concentrates on the bitter verbal sparring session between assaulter Richard (Graham Bechel) and assaultee Rebecca (Dianne Weist). Director Donald Wrye co-wrote the screenplay for Face of Rage with Hal Sitowicz, drawing much of the dialogue from real-life transcripts. The film was first aired as an "ABC Theatre" presentation on March 20, 1983, preceded with an all too appropriate "parental guidance" proviso.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Intimate Betrayal (2004)
When her brother is murdered, a young reporter sets out to find his killer. She is comforted by his boss, a wealthy computer magnate, until her investigation slowly points to him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Ball & Chain (2001)
A couple who are struggling in their marriage end up getting superpowers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Hamburg Cell (2004)
A fictionalized account of the September 11 hijackers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Thugaboo: Sneaker Madness (2006)
When D-Roc sees a pair of expensive sneakers called Air Jareds, he wants his mother to buy them to wear at school in order to look cool. His mother purchases a cheaper priced pair of Air Johnsons instead. Afraid of looking bad to his crew, D-Roc asks Soo-Young to make Air Jareds out of Air Johnsons and when they work out well, they realize they can make money by converting the shoes. Their plan to make money eventually goes wary and D-Roc is taught a lesson about being himself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Who You Callin' a Nigger? (2004)
To mark his 21st anniversary in broadcasting, the commentator Darcus Howe picks up on his chosen topic for another piece of work; racism. However, when Howe came to England "racism" was something that all ethnic groups faced from white people and it bonded the community together. Now Howe travels to the Midlands and several other areas of England to find that racism is rife within the ethnic community. He interviews those within the West Indian, Indian, Pakistani and Somalis communities to find that they are split with hatred and racism views of one another bringing the communities to the boil.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Like Applebaum and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Applebaum?
The closest matches to Applebaum are Take the Lead (2006), The Crash (2026) and Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds (2016). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Applebaum?
Start with Take the Lead (2006), the closest match to Applebaum.
What is the highest-rated movie like Applebaum?
The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (1979), rated 7.4/10 by 230 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Applebaum?
The Crash (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Applebaum?
Yes: Take the Lead (2006), The Crash (2026) and Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds (2016).
How are movies similar to Applebaum chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Applebaum, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.

























