feelsalike.comSign in
Election poster

Movies that feel likeElection (1999)

A high school teacher meets his match in an over-achieving student politician.

If you loved Election, the closest films we have are Withnail & I (1987), The Ruling Class (1972) and Digger (2026). All three share Election'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 Lost in America (1985).

🍅 92% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.2 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Alexander Paynewittyplayfulcontemplativedarkly funny
8 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Paramount Plus Premium

Can't choose? Answer three questions and get one movie for tonight.

Stream it:Paramount+ ↗
See it on the Mood Map

When is Election streaming? →

If Election hit the spot, these will too

Withnail & I poster
Withnail & I
1987 · dir. Bruce Robinson
🍅 84%★ 7.5comedy · dramaMax

Common ground: dark comedy

Two out-of-work actors -- the anxious, luckless Marwood and his acerbic, alcoholic friend, Withnail -- spend their days drifting between their squalid flat, the unemployment office and the pub. When they take a holiday "by mistake" at the country house of Withnail's flamboyantly gay uncle, Monty, they encounter the unpleasant side of the English countryside: tedium, terrifying locals and torrential rain.

The Ruling Class poster
The Ruling Class
1972 · dir. Peter Medak
🍅 83%★ 7.2comedy · dramaMax

The same preoccupation in both: satire

The difference: Made in the 1970s, in a different era of the craft

When the Earl of Gurney dies in a cross-dressing accident, his schizophrenic son, Jack, inherits the Gurney estate. Jack is not the average nobleman; he sings and dances across the estate and thinks he is Jesus reincarnated. Believing that Jack is mentally unfit to own the estate, the Gurney family plots to steal Jack's inheritance. As their outrageous schemes fail, the family strives to cure Jack of his bizarre behavior, with disastrous results.

Digger poster
Digger
2026 · dir. Alejandro G. Iñárritu
🍅 52%★ 7.5comedy · drama

One thread runs through both: dark comedy

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

The most powerful man in the world embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity's savior before the disaster he's unleashed destroys everything.

OMG: Oh My God! poster
OMG: Oh My God!
2012 · dir. Umesh Shukla
★ 8.1comedy · drama

Both land wit and play at once

A shopkeeper takes God to court when his shop is destroyed by an earthquake.

In the Loop poster
In the Loop
2009 · dir. Armando Iannucci
🍅 94%★ 7.4comedy

Comedy with a pulse of dark humor, in both cases

The difference: Takes it somewhere less contemplative than Election does

The US President and the UK Prime Minister are planning on launching a war in the Middle East, but—behind the scenes—government officials and advisers are either promoting the war or are trying to prevent it.

Carnage poster
Carnage
2011 · dir. Roman Polanski
🍅 71%★ 7.1comedy · drama

Drama built on stillness, twice over

Two pairs of parents hold a cordial meeting after their sons are involved in a fight, though as their time together progresses, increasingly childish behavior throws the discussion into chaos.

Men & Chicken poster
Men & Chicken
2015 · dir. Anders Thomas Jensen
★ 6.7comedy · drama

Witty comedy, and it commits to that

Men & Chicken is a black comedy about two outcast brothers who, by getting to know their unknown family, discover a horrible truth about themselves and their relatives.

Drop Dead Gorgeous poster
Drop Dead Gorgeous
1999 · dir. Michael Patrick Jann
🍅 47%★ 6.7comedy

Both are built on the same subject: satire

In a small Minnesota town, the annual beauty pageant is being covered by a TV crew. Former winner Gladys Leeman wants to make sure her daughter follows in her footsteps; explosions, falling lights, and trailer fires prove that. As the Leemans are the richest family in town, the police are pretty relaxed about it all. Despite everything, main rival (but sweet) Amber Atkins won't give up without a fight.

Adam's Apples poster
Adam's Apples
2005 · dir. Anders Thomas Jensen
🍅 70%★ 7.7drama · comedy · crime

Both lean on play more than on drama

The difference: Sits closer to crime than Election does

A neo-nazi sentenced to community service at a church clashes with the blindly devotional priest.

Triangle of Sadness poster
Triangle of Sadness
2022 · dir. Ruben Östlund
🍅 71%★ 7.2comedy · dramaNetflix

Contemplative comedy in both cases

A celebrity model couple are invited on a luxury cruise for the uber-rich, helmed by an unhinged, alcoholic captain. What first appears Instagrammable ends catastrophically, leaving the survivors stranded on a desert island in a struggle of hierarchy.

Lost in America poster
Lost in America
1985 · dir. Albert Brooks
🍅 95%★ 7comedy

Darkly funny drama in both cases

David and Linda Howard are successful yuppies from LA. When he gets a job disappointment, David convinces Linda that they should quit their jobs, liquidate their assets, and emulate the movie Easy Rider, spending the rest of their lives traveling around America...in a Winnebago.

Office Space poster
Office Space
1999 · dir. Mike Judge
🍅 82%★ 7.6comedyParamount+

Both sit in the same witty register

A depressed white-collar worker tries hypnotherapy, only to find himself in a perpetual state of devil-may-care bliss that prompts him to start living by his own rules, and hatch a hapless attempt to embezzle money from his soul-killing employers.

In the mood for more witty?

all witty movies →

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