Movies like Kings in Exile (1938)
The best movies like Kings in Exile (1938) are Penguins (2019), Happy Feet (2006) and The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (2005). If Kings in Exile hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Kings in Exile
Quick picks
- Highest ratedTrainspotting (1996)8.0/10 from 10,833 votes
- NewestReminiscence (2025)Released 2025
Penguins (2019)
The story of Steve, an Adélie penguin, on a quest to find a life partner and start a family. When Steve meets with Wuzzo the emperor penguin they become friends. But nothing comes easy in the icy Antarctic.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHappy Feet (2006)
Into the world of the Emperor Penguins, who find their soul mates through song, a penguin is born who cannot sing. But he can tap dance something fierce!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (2005)
During the holiday season, when the animals of the Central Park Zoo are preparing for Christmas, Private, the youngest of the penguins notices that the Polar Bear is all alone. Assured that nobody should have to spend Christmas alone, Private goes into the city for some last-minute Christmas shopping. Along the way, he gets stuffed into a stocking
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEncounters at the End of the World (2008)
Acclaimed filmmaker Werner Herzog travels to Antarctica, where he finds a desolate, beautiful landscape, largely untouched by human hands, and a group of truly unique people who risk their lives to study it. Centered at McMurdo Station, the United States' largest Antarctic research center, Herzog explores the minds of the scientists willing to abandon civilization and endure volatile conditions to learn more about the continent's wildlife and awe-inspiring natural wonders.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMr. Popper's Penguins (2011)
Tom Popper is a successful businessman who’s clueless when it comes to the really important things in life...until he inherits six “adorable” penguins, each with its own unique personality. Soon Tom’s rambunctious roommates turn his swank New York apartment into a snowy winter wonderland — and the rest of his world upside-down.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPolar Trappers (1938)
Donald and Goofy are trappers in the frozen south (Antarctica) with different approaches. Donald sees a penguin and dresses as one to lure her to the chopping block; Goofy baits a trap with fish (then acts like a walrus to capture one that steals his bait bucket).
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Penguin Friend (2024)
A lost penguin rescued from an oil spill transforms the life of a heartbroken fisherman. They become unlikely friends, so bonded that even the vast ocean cannot divide them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBack to the Outback (2021)
Tired of being locked in a reptile house where humans gawk at them like they are monsters, a ragtag group of Australia’s deadliest creatures plot an escape from their zoo to the Outback, a place where they’ll fit in without being judged.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024)
Gromit’s concern that Wallace is becoming too dependent on his inventions proves justified, when Wallace invents a “smart” gnome that seems to develop a mind of its own. When it emerges that a vengeful figure from the past might be masterminding things, it falls to Gromit to battle sinister forces and save his master… or Wallace may never be able to invent again!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Zookeeper's Wife (2017)
The account of keepers of the Warsaw Zoo, Jan and Antonina Zabinski, who helped save hundreds of people and animals during the Nazi invasion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCreature Comforts (1989)
A humorous and thought-provoking view of what animals in zoos might be thinking about their captivity and surroundings.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSwiss Miss (1938)
Stan and Ollie are mousetrap salesmen hoping for better business in Switzerland, with Stan's theory that because there is more cheese in Switzerland, there should be more mice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Penguin Lessons (2025)
In 1976, as Argentina descends into violence and chaos, a world-weary English teacher regains his compassion for others thanks to an unlikely friendship with a penguin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPenguin Bloom (2021)
When an unlikely ally enters the Bloom family's world in the form of an injured baby magpie they name Penguin, the bird’s arrival makes a profound difference in the struggling family’s life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHappy Feet Two (2011)
Mumble the penguin has a problem: his son Erik, who is reluctant to dance, encounters the Mighty Sven — a penguin who can fly! Things get worse for Mumble when the world is shaken by powerful forces, causing him to bring together the penguin nations and their allies to set things right.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wrong Trousers (1993)
Wallace rents out Gromit's former bedroom to a penguin, who takes up an interest in the techno trousers created by Wallace. However, Gromit later learns that the penguin is a wanted criminal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFeels Good Man (2020)
When indie comic character Pepe the Frog becomes an unwitting icon of hate, his creator, artist Matt Furie, fights to bring Pepe back from the darkness and navigate America's cultural divide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSurf's Up (2007)
With a documentary crew in tow, Cody Maverick—a young surfer from Antarctica—travels to the pacific for his first professional competition. Determined to earn respect and live up to his idol, Big Z, Cody pushes himself to the limit. But all that changes when an encounter with a laid-back local forces him to rethink his values.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChristmas at the Palace (2018)
Katie, a former professional ice skater, is hired by the king of San Senova, Alexander, to help his daughter in a Christmas ice skating performance. As Katie spends time in the castle and with the king, she and Alex begin to develop feelings for each other and ultimately fall in love. But will the tradition-loving people of San Senova allow their king to make a foreigner their queen?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Prince for Christmas (2015)
A prince from Europe meets a charming waitress when he travels to America during the Christmas holiday to escape an arranged marriage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisZoo (1988)
Martina lives in the Rome's zoo, because her father is the guardian. She becomes friend with a young Slavic escaped from a gypsy camp. When the police arrives searching for the kid, they run away riding an elephant!
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Jeopardy (2025)
A student goes through a panic after receiving an ominous email. This is made worse when they began being tormented by a game show host.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Reminiscence (2025)
When fate brings two friends anxiously awaiting the uncertain future together, a life-altering conversation will change how they remember the past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Emperor Penguins (1955)
Documents the life and habits of the largest of all penguins, filmed during a French Antarctic expedition led by Paul Emile Victor.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Trainspotting (1996)
Heroin addict Mark Renton stumbles through bad ideas and sobriety attempts with his unreliable friends --Sick Boy, Begbie, Spud and Tommy. He also has an underage girlfriend, Diane, along for the ride. After cleaning up and moving from Edinburgh to London, Mark finds he can't escape the life he left behind as Begbie and Sick Boy come knocking.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHuman Nature (2001)
Obsessive scientist Nathan and his lover, the naturalist Lila, discover Puff: a man born and raised in the wild. As Nathan trains the wild man in the civilized ways of the world, Lila fights to preserve the man’s natural state. In the power struggle that ensues, an unusual love triangle emerges.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMadagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)
Alex, Marty, and other zoo animals find a way to escape from Madagascar when the penguins reassemble a wrecked airplane. The precariously repaired craft stays airborne just long enough to make it to the African continent. There the New Yorkers encounter members of their own species for the first time. Africa proves to be a wild place, but Alex and company wonder if it is better than their Central Park home.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMarch of the Penguins (2005)
Every year, thousands of Antarctica's emperor penguins make an astonishing journey to breed their young. They walk, marching day and night in single file 70 miles into the darkest, driest and coldest continent on Earth. This amazing, true-life tale is touched with humour and alive with thrills. Breathtaking photography captures the transcendent beauty and staggering drama of devoted parent penguins who, in the fierce polar winter, take turns guarding their egg and trekking to the ocean in search of food. Predators hunt them, storms lash them. But the safety of their adorable chicks makes it all worthwhile. So follow the leader... to adventure!!
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBird on a Wire (1990)
An FBI informant has kept his new identity secret for 15 years. Now an old flame has recognised him, and the bad guys are back for revenge.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Boxer From Somewhere Else (2025)
The Boxer from Somewhere Else is a feature documentary film which charts the life and career of Ken Buchanan. The story is told through the words of Ken Buchanan himself as he talks through his life in chronological order.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Kings in Exile?
The closest matches to Kings in Exile are Penguins (2019), Happy Feet (2006) and The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (2005). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Kings in Exile?
Start with Penguins (2019), the closest match to Kings in Exile.
What is the highest-rated movie like Kings in Exile?
Trainspotting (1996), rated 8.0/10 by 10,833 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Kings in Exile?
Reminiscence (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Kings in Exile?
Yes: Penguins (2019), Happy Feet (2006) and The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (2005).
How are movies similar to Kings in Exile chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Kings in Exile, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.