feelsalike.com

Movies that feel like Election (1999)

If you loved Election, the closest films we have are Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014), Withnail & I (1987) and The Devil Wears Prada (2006). All three share Election's witty and playful feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 7 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on HBO Max Amazon Channel, Criterion Channel and HBO Max and others, checked against today's data.

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

πŸ… 92% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.2 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Alexander Paynewittyplayfulcontemplativedarkly funny

When is Election streaming? β†’

If Election hit the spot, these will too

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) poster
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
2014 Β· dir. Alejandro G. IΓ±Γ‘rritu
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7.7drama Β· comedy

The same preoccupation in both: dark comedy

A fading actor best known for his portrayal of a popular superhero attempts to mount a comeback by appearing in a Broadway play. As opening night approaches, his attempts to become more altruistic, rebuild his career, and reconnect with friends and family prove more difficult than expected.

Feels alike?
Withnail & I poster
Withnail & I
1987 Β· dir. Bruce Robinson
πŸ… 84%β˜… 7.5comedy Β· drama

Both keep circling back to 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.

Feels alike?
The Devil Wears Prada poster
The Devil Wears Prada
2006 Β· dir. David Frankel
πŸ… 75%β˜… 7drama Β· comedy

Witty where it counts, playful underneath

The difference: None of the dark humor that defines Election

A young woman from the Midwest gets more than she bargained for when she moves to New York to become a writer and ends up as the assistant to the tyrannical, larger-than-life editor-in-chief of a major fashion magazine.

Feels alike?
Smoke poster
Smoke
1995 Β· dir. Wayne Wang
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7.4comedy Β· drama

Contemplative comedy in both cases

Writer Paul Benjamin is nearly hit by a bus when he leaves Auggie Wren's smoke shop. Stranger Rashid Cole saves his life, and soon middle-aged Paul tells homeless Rashid that he wouldn't mind a short-term housemate. Still grieving over his wife's murder, Paul is moved by both Rashid's quest to reconnect with his father and Auggie's discovery that a woman who might be his daughter is about to give birth.

Feels alike?
The Disaster Artist poster
The Disaster Artist
2017 Β· dir. James Franco
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7.3comedy Β· drama

Jealousy runs into ambition in each of them

An aspiring actor in Hollywood meets an enigmatic stranger by the name of Tommy Wiseau, the meeting leads the actor down a path nobody could have predicted; creating the worst movie ever made.

Feels alike?
Little Miss Sunshine poster
Little Miss Sunshine
2006 Β· dir. Valerie Faris
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7.8comedy Β· drama

Both trade on wit more than on being drama

A family loaded with quirky, colorful characters piles into an old van and road trips to California for little Olive to compete in a beauty pageant.

Feels alike?
Sunshine Cleaning poster
Sunshine Cleaning
2008 Β· dir. Christine Jeffs
πŸ… 74%β˜… 6.8comedy Β· drama

Playful comedy, and it commits to that

A single mother and her slacker sister find an unexpected way to turn their lives around in this off-beat dramatic comedy. In order to raise the tuition to send her young son to private school the mom starts an unusual business – a biohazard removal/crime scene clean-up service.

Feels alike?
The Trip poster
The Trip
2011 Β· dir. Michael Winterbottom
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7comedy Β· drama

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

When Steve Coogan is asked by The Observer to tour the country's finest restaurants, he envisions it as the perfect getaway with his beautiful girlfriend. But, when she backs out on him, he has no one to accompany him but his best friend and source of eternal aggravation, Rob Brydon.

Feels alike?
The Truman Show poster
The Truman Show
1998 Β· dir. Peter Weir
πŸ… 94%β˜… 8.2comedy Β· drama

Comedy built on dark humor, twice over

In a picture-perfect seaside town, an insurance salesman begins to realize that his entire existence may be staged and observed by a vast unseen audience as part of a long-running real-time reality TV show.

Feels alike?
Due Date poster
Due Date
2010 Β· dir. Todd Phillips
πŸ… 39%β˜… 6.5comedy Β· drama

Drama built on wit, twice over

The difference: Reviewed a good deal more coolly

Peter Highman must scramble across the US in five days to be present for the birth of his first child. He gets off to a bad start when his wallet and luggage are stolen, and put on the 'no-fly' list. Peter embarks on a terrifying journey when he accepts a ride from an actor.

Feels alike?
The Grand Budapest Hotel poster
The Grand Budapest Hotel
2014 Β· dir. Wes Anderson
πŸ… 92%β˜… 8.1comedy Β· drama

Play is the shared currency

The Grand Budapest Hotel tells of a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars and his friendship with a young employee who becomes his trusted protΓ©gΓ©. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting, the battle for an enormous family fortune and the slow and then sudden upheavals that transformed Europe during the first half of the 20th century.

Feels alike?
The Big Short poster
The Big Short
2015 Β· dir. Adam McKay
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7.8comedy Β· drama

Both work the same stillness

The men who made millions from a global economic meltdown.

Feels alike?

In the mood for more witty?

all witty movies β†’

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