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Breaking Away poster

Movies that feel likeBreaking Away (1979)

Dave, nineteen, has just graduated high school, with his three friends: the comical Cyril, the warm hearted but short-tempered Moocher, and the athletic, spiteful but good-hearted Mike. Now, Dave enjoys racing bikes and hopes to race the Italians one day, and even takes up the Italian culture, much to his friends' and parents' annoyance.

If you loved Breaking Away, the closest films we have are Slums of Beverly Hills (1998), The Squid and the Whale (2005) and Gregory's Girl (1980). All three share Breaking Away's witty and playful feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is A Summer's Tale (1996).

🍅 95% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Peter Yatescontemplativewittyplayfulwistful
8 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Hulu

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If Breaking Away hit the spot, these will too

Slums of Beverly Hills poster
Slums of Beverly Hills
1998 · dir. Tamara Jenkins
🍅 82%★ 6.7comedy · drama

Both are built on the same subject: growing up

In 1976, a teenage girl struggles to cope while living with her neurotic lower-middle-class family of nomads on the outskirts of Beverly Hills.

The Squid and the Whale poster
The Squid and the Whale
2005 · dir. Noah Baumbach
🍅 91%★ 7.3comedy · dramaNetflix

Both keep coming back to the same thing: growing up

The difference: 26 years apart, and the 2000s show

Based on the true childhood experiences of Noah Baumbach and his brother, The Squid and the Whale tells the touching story of two young boys dealing with their parents' divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980s.

Gregory's Girl poster
Gregory's Girl
1980 · dir. Bill Forsyth
🍅 95%★ 7.1comedy · romance

Witty and playful in the same breath

The difference: Easier on the stillness than Breaking Away

A teenager falls hard for the female soccer player who has replaced him on the team and attempts to pursue her.

Rushmore poster
Rushmore
1998 · dir. Wes Anderson
🍅 90%★ 7.6comedy · drama

Both land stillness and wistfulness at once

When a beautiful first-grade teacher arrives at a prep school, she soon attracts the attention of an ambitious teenager named Max, who quickly falls in love with her. Max turns to the father of two of his schoolmates for advice on how to woo the teacher. However, the situation soon gets complicated when Max's new friend becomes involved with her, setting the two pals against one another in a war for her attention.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl poster
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
2015 · dir. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
🍅 81%★ 7.7drama · comedyRent or buy

One thread runs through both: teenage boy

Greg is coasting through senior year of high school as anonymously as possible, avoiding social interactions like the plague while secretly making spirited, bizarre films with Earl, his only friend. But both his anonymity and friendship threaten to unravel when his mother forces him to befriend a classmate with leukemia.

The Breakfast Club poster
The Breakfast Club
1985 · dir. John Hughes
🍅 87%★ 7.8comedy · dramaHulu

Contemplative drama in both cases

Five high school students from different walks of life endure a Saturday detention under a power-hungry principal. The disparate group includes rebel John, princess Claire, outcast Allison, brainy Brian and Andrew, the jock. Each has a chance to tell his or her story, making the others see them a little differently -- and when the day ends, they question whether school will ever be the same.

A Summer's Tale poster
A Summer's Tale
1996 · dir. Éric Rohmer
🍅 98%★ 7.6romance · drama · comedyMax

Comedy built on wit, twice over

The difference: Leans harder into romance than Breaking Away does

Awaiting his girlfriend Léna’s arrival at the Breton seaside resort of Dinard, Gaspard befriends — and flirts heavily with — two other women, the companionable ethnology student Margot and the sensual townie Solène, making for a rather complicated situation when Léna finally arrives.

Eighth Grade poster
Eighth Grade
2018 · dir. Bo Burnham
🍅 99%★ 7.3comedy · dramaNetflix

Playful drama, and it commits to that

Thirteen-year-old Kayla endures the tidal wave of contemporary suburban adolescence as she makes her way through the last week of middle school — the end of her thus far disastrous eighth grade year — before she begins high school.

3 Idiots poster
3 Idiots
2009 · dir. Rajkumar Hirani
🍅 94%★ 8.4drama · comedy

Comedy with a pulse of wistfulness, in both cases

Rascal. Joker. Dreamer. Genius... You've never met a college student quite like "Rancho." From the moment he arrives at India's most prestigious university, Rancho's outlandish schemes turn the campus upside down—along with the lives of his two newfound best friends. Together, they make life miserable for "Virus," the school’s uptight and heartless dean. But when Rancho catches the eye of the dean's daughter, Virus sets his sights on flunking out the "3 idiots" once and for all.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off poster
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
1986 · dir. John Hughes
🍅 85%★ 7.8comedyParamount+

Both lean on wit more than on comedy

The difference: Trades the stillness of Breaking Away for an angle of its own

After high school slacker Ferris Bueller successfully fakes an illness in order to skip school for the day, he goes on a series of adventures throughout Chicago with his girlfriend Sloane and best friend Cameron, all the while trying to outwit his wily school principal and fed-up sister.

Amarcord poster
Amarcord
1973 · dir. Federico Fellini
🍅 88%★ 7.8comedy · dramaMax

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

In an Italian seaside town, young Titta gets into trouble with his friends and watches various local eccentrics as they engage in often absurd behavior. Frequently clashing with his stern father and defended by his doting mother, Titta witnesses the actions of a wide range of characters, from his extended family to Fascist loyalists to sensual women, with certain moments shifting into fantastical scenarios.

Show Me Love poster
Show Me Love
1998 · dir. Lukas Moodysson
🍅 93%★ 7.5comedy · romance · drama

A streak of play through both

Two teenage girls in small-town Sweden. Elin is beautiful, popular, and bored with life. Agnes is friendless, sad, and secretly in love with Elin.

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The best-reviewed films that share Breaking Away’s defining feeling.