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Movies that feel like Hairspray (2007)

If you loved Hairspray, the closest films we have are A Dog's Will (2000), Strictly Ballroom (1992) and Shallow Hal (2001). All three share Hairspray's witty and playful feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 6 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Peacock Premium and others, checked against today's data.

Pleasantly plump teenager Tracy Turnblad auditions to be on Baltimore's most popular dance show - The Corny Collins Show - and lands a prime spot. Through her newfound fame, she becomes determined to help her friends and end the racial segregation that has been a staple of the show.

🍅 92% Rotten Tomatoes6.7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Adam Shankmanwittyplayfulromantictendercontemplativedreamlike

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If Hairspray hit the spot, these will too

A Dog's Will poster
A Dog's Will
2000 · dir. Guel Arraes
8.6comedy · drama · fantasy

The same preoccupation in both: based on play or musical

The difference: Leans harder into fantasy than Hairspray does

The lively João Grilo and the sly Chicó are poor guys living in the hinterland who cheat a bunch of people in a small town in Northeastern Brazil. When they die, they have to be judged by Christ, the Devil and the Virgin Mary before they are admitted to paradise.

Strictly Ballroom poster
Strictly Ballroom
1992 · dir. Baz Luhrmann
7.2comedy · drama · romance

The same two preoccupations: dance, and musical

The difference: Missing the dream logic of Hairspray

Brave new steps put Scott's career in jeopardy. With a new partner and determination, can he still succeed?

Shallow Hal poster
Shallow Hal
2001 · dir. Peter Farrelly
🍅 49%6comedy · drama · fantasy

One thread runs through both: overweight woman

The difference: Reviewed a good deal more coolly

After taking his dying father's advice, Hal dates only the embodiments of female physical perfection. But that all changes after Hal has an unexpected run-in with self-help guru Tony Robbins. Intrigued by Hal's shallowness, Robbins hypnotizes him into seeing the beauty that exists even in the least physically appealing women. Hal soon falls for Rosemary, but he doesn't realize that his gorgeous girlfriend is actually a 300-pound-not-so-hottie.

Kal Ho Naa Ho poster
Kal Ho Naa Ho
2003 · dir. Nikkhil Advani
🍅 75%7.9comedy · drama · romance

Both keep coming back to the same thing: musical

An uptight MBA student falls for the charismatic new neighbor who charms her troubled family – but he has a secret that forces him to push her away.

Stranger Than Fiction poster
Stranger Than Fiction
2006 · dir. Marc Forster
🍅 73%7.5drama · comedy · romance

Both land wit and play at once

Harold Crick is a lonely IRS agent whose mundane existence is transformed when he hears a mysterious voice narrating his life.

Home for the Holidays poster
Home for the Holidays
1995 · dir. Jodie Foster
🍅 63%6.6comedy · drama · romance

Both are built on the same subject: baltimore, usa

After losing her job, making out with her soon-to-be former boss, and finding out that her daughter plans to spend Thanksgiving with her boyfriend, Claudia Larson faces spending the holiday with her unhinged family.

Jab We Met poster
Jab We Met
2007 · dir. Imtiaz Ali
🍅 100%7.9drama · comedy · romance

Romantic and tender in the same breath

A depressed wealthy businessman and a spunky carefree young woman embark on an unexpected journey that changes their lives.

Lisbela and the Prisoner poster
Lisbela and the Prisoner
2003 · dir. Guel Arraes
7.6comedy · romance

Common ground: based on play or musical

Lisbela is a young woman who loves going to the movies. Leléu is a con man, going from town to town selling all sort of things and performing as master of ceremonies for some cheesy numbers, such as the woman who gets transformed into a gorilla. He gets involved with Linaura, a sexy and beautiful woman who happens to be the wife of the most frightening hitman of the place. The hitman finds out his wife's affair and goes after Leléu, who has to leave in a hurry. In another town, he meets and falls instantly in love with Lisbela, who is engaged to Douglas, a hillbilly who tries hard to pass for a cosmopolitan Rio de Janeiro dweller.

The Invention of Lying poster
The Invention of Lying
2009 · dir. Ricky Gervais
🍅 56%6.4comedy · fantasy · romance

Dreamlike comedy in both cases

Set in a world where the concept of lying doesn't exist, a loser changes his lot when he invents lying and uses it to get ahead.

Bedtime Stories poster
Bedtime Stories
2008 · dir. Adam Shankman
🍅 27%6fantasy · comedy · family

Both are Adam Shankman's work, and they rhyme

Skeeter Bronson is a down-on-his-luck guy who's always telling bedtime stories to his niece and nephew. But his life is turned upside down when the fantastical stories he makes up for entertainment inexplicably turn into reality. Can a bewildered Skeeter manage his own unruly fantasies now that the outrageous characters and situations from his mind have morphed into actual people and events?

Swiss Army Man poster
Swiss Army Man
2016 · dir. Daniel Kwan
🍅 73%6.9comedy · drama · romance

Romance with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

Alone on a tiny deserted island, Hank has given up all hope of ever making it home again. But one day everything changes when a dead body washes ashore, and he soon realizes it may be his last opportunity to escape certain death. Armed with his new “friend” and an unusual bag of tricks, the duo go on an epic adventure to bring Hank back to the woman of his dreams.

Defending Your Life poster
Defending Your Life
1991 · dir. Albert Brooks
🍅 92%7.2romance · fantasy · comedy

Drama built on wit, twice over

Is there love after death? After he dies suddenly, the hapless advertising executive Daniel Miller finds himself in Judgment City, a gleaming way station where the newly deceased must prove they lived a life of sufficient courage to advance in their journey through the universe. As the self-doubting Daniel struggles to make his case, a budding relationship with the uninhibited Julia offers him a chance to finally feel alive.

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