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Movies that feel like Licorice Pizza (2021)

If you loved Licorice Pizza, the closest films we have are Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Love, Simon (2018) and Cousins (2019). All three share Licorice Pizza's contemplative and witty feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 11 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video and others, checked against today's data.

The story of Gary Valentine and Alana Kane growing up, running around and going through the treacherous navigation of first love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973.

πŸ… 90% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.1 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Paul Thomas Andersoncontemplativewittyplayfulromantictenderwistful
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If Licorice Pizza hit the spot, these will too

Punch-Drunk Love poster
Punch-Drunk Love
2002 Β· dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
πŸ… 79%β˜… 7.3romance Β· drama Β· comedy

Paul Thomas Anderson directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

A socially awkward and volatile small business owner meets the love of his life after being threatened by a gang of scammers.

Love, Simon poster
Love, Simon
2018 Β· dir. Greg Berlanti
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7.5comedy Β· drama Β· romance

Common ground in both: high school and growing up

Everyone deserves a great love story, but for 17-year-old Simon Spier, it's a little more complicated. He hasn't told his family or friends that he's gay, and he doesn't know the identity of the anonymous classmate that he's fallen for online.

Cousins poster
Cousins
2019 Β· dir. Mauro Carvalho
β˜… 6.3comedy Β· romance Β· drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: growing up

Lucas is a young man who lives with his religious aunt Lourdes in a quiet country town. He helps his aunt by holding religious meetings with the ladies of the area, in the living room, playing biblical songs on the keyboard. This quiet life will end as soon as the charitable aunt communicates the arrival of another nephew, Mario, just out of jail. The clash of reality between the cousins ends up causing unusual situations, and an unexpected attraction among the boys.

The Spectacular Now poster
The Spectacular Now
2013 Β· dir. James Ponsoldt
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7comedy Β· drama Β· romance

Contemplative and witty in the same breath

Sutter, a popular party animal, unexpectedly meets the introverted Aimee after waking up on a stranger's lawn. As Sutter deals with the problems in his life and Aimee plans for her future beyond school, an unexpected romance blossoms between them.

It's Kind of a Funny Story poster
It's Kind of a Funny Story
2010 Β· dir. Anna Boden
πŸ… 58%β˜… 7.1comedy Β· drama Β· romance

Both land play and romance at once

The difference: Critics were much harder on this one

A clinically depressed teenager gets a new start after he checks himself into an adult psychiatric ward.

Show Me Love poster
Show Me Love
1998 Β· dir. Lukas Moodysson
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.5comedy Β· romance Β· drama

Both are built on the same subject: teenage love

The difference: Made in the 1990s, in a different era of the craft

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.

LOL poster
LOL
2012 Β· dir. Lisa Azuelos
πŸ… 14%β˜… 4.4drama Β· comedy Β· romance

The same mix in both: tenderness, then wistfulness

In a world connected by YouTube, iTunes, and Facebook, Lola and her friends navigate the peer pressures of high school romance and friendship while dodging their sometimes overbearing and confused parents. When Lola's mom, Anne, "accidentally" reads her teenage daughter's racy journal, she realizes just how wide their communication gap has grown.

A Summer's Tale poster
A Summer's Tale
1996 Β· dir. Γ‰ric Rohmer
πŸ… 98%β˜… 7.6romance Β· drama Β· comedy

Contemplative drama in both cases

Awaiting his girlfriend LΓ©na’s arrival at the Breton seaside resort of Dinard, Gaspard befriends β€” and flirts heavily with β€” two other women, the companionable ethnology student Margot and the sensual townie SolΓ¨ne, making for a rather complicated situation when LΓ©na finally arrives.

Moonrise Kingdom poster
Moonrise Kingdom
2012 Β· dir. Wes Anderson
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.7comedy Β· drama Β· romance

Witty comedy, and it commits to that

Set on an island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965, Moonrise Kingdom tells the story of two twelve-year-olds who fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away together into the wilderness. As various authorities try to hunt them down, a violent storm is brewing off-shore – and the peaceful island community is turned upside down in more ways than anyone can handle.

Flavors of Youth poster
Flavors of Youth
2018 Β· dir. Joshua
πŸ… 83%β˜… 6.6animation Β· romance Β· drama

One thread runs through both: young love

The difference: None of the wit Licorice Pizza is built on

The rigorous city life of China, while bustling and unforgiving, contains the everlasting memories of days past. Three stories told in three different cities, follow the loss of youth and the daunting realization of adulthood. Though reality may seem ever changing, unchangeable are the short-lived moments of one's childhood days. A plentiful bowl of noodles, the beauty of family and the trials of first love endure the inevitable flow of time, as three different characters explore the strength of bonds and the warmth of cherished memories. Within the disorder of the present world, witness these quaint stories recognize the comfort of the past, and attempt to revive the neglected flavors of youth.

10 Things I Hate About You poster
10 Things I Hate About You
1999 Β· dir. Gil Junger
πŸ… 72%β˜… 7.4comedy Β· romance Β· drama

Common ground: high school

On the first day at his new school, Cameron instantly falls for Bianca, the gorgeous girl of his dreams. The only problem is that Bianca is forbidden to date until her ill-tempered, completely un-dateable older sister Kat goes out, too. In an attempt to solve his problem, Cameron singles out the only guy who could possibly be a match for Kat: a mysterious bad boy with a nasty reputation of his own.

Clueless poster
Clueless
1995 Β· dir. Amy Heckerling
β˜… 6.9comedy Β· romance

Romance with a pulse of play, in both cases

The difference: Missing the stillness of Licorice Pizza

Shallow, rich and socially successful Cher is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school's pecking scale. Seeing herself as a matchmaker, Cher first coaxes two teachers into dating each other. Emboldened by her success, she decides to give hopelessly klutzy new student Tai a makeover. When Tai becomes more popular than she is, Cher realizes that her disapproving ex-stepbrother was right about how misguided she was -- and falls for him.

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