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Matilda poster

Movies that feel likeMatilda (1996)

Matilda Wormwood is an brilliant and intelligent little girl. Unfortunately, her parents, Harry and Zinnia, fail to see that fact. As time passes, she finally starts school and has a kind teacher, loyal friends, and a terrifying, sadistic headmistress. As she becomes fed up with the constant cruelty, she discovers she has a special gift that she just might be able to use to outwit the unruly adults around her.

If you loved Matilda, the closest films we have are Addams Family Values (1993), Hocus Pocus (1993) and Nanny McPhee (2005). All three share Matilda'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 Babe (1995).

🍅 89% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Danny DeVitowittyplayfulwarmcozydreamlike
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Hulu

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If Matilda hit the spot, these will too

Addams Family Values poster
Addams Family Values
1993 · dir. Barry Sonnenfeld
🍅 76%★ 6.9comedy · family · fantasyParamount+

Witty where it counts, playful underneath

Siblings Wednesday and Pugsley Addams will stop at nothing to get rid of Pubert, the new baby boy adored by parents Gomez and Morticia. Things go from bad to worse when the new "black widow" nanny, Debbie Jellinsky, launches her plan to add Fester to her collection of dead husbands.

Hocus Pocus poster
Hocus Pocus
1993 · dir. Kenny Ortega
🍅 42%★ 6.9fantasy · comedy · familyDisney+

Warm and cozy in the same breath

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

After 300 years of slumber, three sister witches are accidentally resurrected in Salem on Halloween night, and it is up to three kids and their newfound feline friend to put an end to the witches' reign of terror once and for all.

Nanny McPhee poster
Nanny McPhee
2005 · dir. Kirk Jones
🍅 74%★ 6.6fantasy · comedy · family

Dreamlike comedy, and it commits to that

Widower Cedric Brown hires Nanny McPhee to care for his seven rambunctious children, who have chased away all previous nannies. Taunted by Simon and his siblings, Nanny McPhee uses mystical powers to instill discipline. And when the children's great-aunt and benefactor, Lady Adelaide Stitch, threatens to separate the kids, the family pulls together under the guidance of Nanny McPhee.

Babe poster
Babe
1995 · dir. Chris Noonan
🍅 98%★ 6.9fantasy · drama · comedy

Family with a pulse of wit, in both cases

The difference: Sits closer to drama than Matilda does

Babe is a little pig who doesn't quite know his place in the world. With a bunch of odd friends, like Ferdinand the duck who thinks he is a rooster and Fly the dog he calls mum, Babe realises that he has the makings to become the greatest sheep pig of all time, and Farmer Hoggett knows it. With the help of the sheep dogs, Babe learns that a pig can be anything that he wants to be.

The Santa Clause poster
The Santa Clause
1994 · dir. John Pasquin
🍅 73%★ 6.6fantasy · drama · comedyDisney+

Fantasy built on play, twice over

On Christmas Eve, divorced dad Scott Calvin and his son discover Santa Claus has fallen off their roof. When Scott takes the reins of the magical sleigh, he finds he is now the new Santa, and must convince a world of disbelievers, including himself.

Mary Poppins Returns poster
Mary Poppins Returns
2018 · dir. Rob Marshall
🍅 80%★ 6.6fantasy · family · comedyDisney+

Both lean on warmth more than on comedy

The difference: 22 years apart, and the 2010s show

Mary Poppins returns to the Banks family and helps them evade grave dangers by taking them on magical, musical adventures.

Casper poster
Casper
1995 · dir. Brad Silberling
🍅 59%★ 6.2fantasy · comedy · familyHuluPeacock

Cozy family in both cases

Casper is a kind young ghost who peacefully haunts a mansion in Maine. When specialist James Harvey arrives to communicate with Casper and his fellow spirits, he brings along his teenage daughter, Kat. Casper quickly falls in love with Kat, but their budding relationship is complicated not only by his transparent state, but also by his troublemaking apparition uncles and their mischievous antics.

Doctor Dolittle poster
Doctor Dolittle
1998 · dir. Betty Thomas
🍅 44%★ 5.4comedy · family · fantasyDisney+

Both lean on dream logic more than on fantasy

A successful physician and devoted family man, John Dolittle seems to have the world by the tail, until a long suppressed talent he possessed as a child, the ability to communicate with animals is suddenly reawakened with a vengeance! Now every creature within squawking distance wants the good doctor's advice, unleashing an outrageous chain of events that turns his world upside down!

The Flintstones poster
The Flintstones
1994 · dir. Brian Levant
🍅 23%★ 5.1fantasy · comedy · familyNetflix

Comedy with a pulse of wit, in both cases

Modern Stone Age family the Flintstones hit the big screen in this live-action version of the classic cartoon. Fred helps Barney adopt a child. Barney sees an opportunity to repay him when Slate Mining tests its employees to find a new executive. But no good deed goes unpunished.

Evan Almighty poster
Evan Almighty
2007 · dir. Tom Shadyac
🍅 24%★ 5.5fantasy · comedy · family

Both keep coming back to the same thing: parents and children

God contacts Junior Congressman Evan Baxter and tells him to build an ark in preparation for a great flood.

Stuart Little poster
Stuart Little
1999 · dir. Rob Minkoff
🍅 66%★ 6family · fantasy · comedyNetflix

Family with a pulse of play, in both cases

When the Littles adopt Stuart, the mouse, George is initially unwelcoming to his new brother, and the family cat, Snowbell, is even less enthusiastic. Stuart resolves to face these difficulties with as much pluck and courage as he can muster.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory poster
🍅 84%★ 7.8family · fantasy · comedyMax

Both lean on warmth more than on fantasy

When eccentric candy man Willy Wonka promises a lifetime supply of sweets and a tour of his chocolate factory to five lucky kids, penniless Charlie Bucket seeks the golden ticket that will make him a winner.

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