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Movies that feel like Rushmore (1998)

If you loved Rushmore, the closest films we have are The Squid and the Whale (2005), Moonrise Kingdom (2012) and 3 Idiots (2009). All three share Rushmore's witty and playful feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 8 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.

When a beautiful first-grade teacher arrives at a prep school, she soon attracts the attention of an ambitious teenager named Max, who quickly falls in love with her. Max turns to the father of two of his schoolmates for advice on how to woo the teacher. However, the situation soon gets complicated when Max's new friend becomes involved with her, setting the two pals against one another in a war for her attention.

🍅 90% Rotten Tomatoes7.6 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Wes Andersonwittyplayfulcontemplativewistful

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If Rushmore hit the spot, these will too

The Squid and the Whale poster
The Squid and the Whale
2005 · dir. Noah Baumbach
🍅 91%7.3comedy · drama

Both are built on the same subject: growing up

Based on the true childhood experiences of Noah Baumbach and his brother, The Squid and the Whale tells the touching story of two young boys dealing with their parents' divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980s.

Moonrise Kingdom poster
Moonrise Kingdom
2012 · dir. Wes Anderson
🍅 93%7.7comedy · drama · romance

Wes Anderson working the same nerve twice

The difference: Sits closer to romance than Rushmore does

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.

3 Idiots poster
3 Idiots
2009 · dir. Rajkumar Hirani
🍅 94%8.4drama · comedy

Both keep coming back to the same thing: growing up

Rascal. Joker. Dreamer. Genius... You've never met a college student quite like "Rancho." From the moment he arrives at India's most prestigious university, Rancho's outlandish schemes turn the campus upside down—along with the lives of his two newfound best friends. Together, they make life miserable for "Virus," the school’s uptight and heartless dean. But when Rancho catches the eye of the dean's daughter, Virus sets his sights on flunking out the "3 idiots" once and for all.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl poster
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
2015 · dir. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
🍅 81%7.7drama · comedy

The same mix in both: wit, then play

Greg is coasting through senior year of high school as anonymously as possible, avoiding social interactions like the plague while secretly making spirited, bizarre films with Earl, his only friend. But both his anonymity and friendship threaten to unravel when his mother forces him to befriend a classmate with leukemia.

Booksmart poster
Booksmart
2019 · dir. Olivia Wilde
🍅 96%7.1comedy

The same preoccupation in both: teenager

The difference: Missing the stillness of Rushmore

Two academic teenage superstars realize, on the eve of their high school graduation, that they should have worked less and played more. Determined to never fall short of their peers, the girls set out on a mission to cram four years of fun into one night.

The Breakfast Club poster
The Breakfast Club
1985 · dir. John Hughes
🍅 87%7.8comedy · drama

One thread runs through both: teenager

Five high school students from different walks of life endure a Saturday detention under a power-hungry principal. The disparate group includes rebel John, princess Claire, outcast Allison, brainy Brian and Andrew, the jock. Each has a chance to tell his or her story, making the others see them a little differently -- and when the day ends, they question whether school will ever be the same.

Breaking Away poster
Breaking Away
1979 · dir. Peter Yates
🍅 95%7.7drama · comedy

Contemplative where it counts, wistful underneath

Dave, nineteen, has just graduated high school, with his three friends: the comical Cyril, the warm hearted but short-tempered Moocher, and the athletic, spiteful but good-hearted Mike. Now, Dave enjoys racing bikes and hopes to race the Italians one day, and even takes up the Italian culture, much to his friends' and parents' annoyance.

Eighth Grade poster
Eighth Grade
2018 · dir. Bo Burnham
🍅 99%7.3comedy · drama

Comedy with a pulse of wit, in both cases

The difference: Made in the 2010s, in a different era of the craft

Thirteen-year-old Kayla endures the tidal wave of contemporary suburban adolescence as she makes her way through the last week of middle school — the end of her thus far disastrous eighth grade year — before she begins high school.

The Spectacular Now poster
The Spectacular Now
2013 · dir. James Ponsoldt
🍅 92%7comedy · drama · romance

Both lean on play more than on drama

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.

Slums of Beverly Hills poster
Slums of Beverly Hills
1998 · dir. Tamara Jenkins
🍅 82%6.7comedy · drama

Contemplative comedy, and it commits to that

In 1976, a teenage girl struggles to cope while living with her neurotic lower-middle-class family of nomads on the outskirts of Beverly Hills.

A Summer's Tale poster
A Summer's Tale
1996 · dir. Éric Rohmer
🍅 98%7.6romance · drama · comedy

Wistful drama in both cases

Awaiting his girlfriend Léna’s arrival at the Breton seaside resort of Dinard, Gaspard befriends — and flirts heavily with — two other women, the companionable ethnology student Margot and the sensual townie Solène, making for a rather complicated situation when Léna finally arrives.

Bottle Rocket poster
Bottle Rocket
1996 · dir. Wes Anderson
🍅 86%6.9comedy · crime · drama

Both are Wes Anderson's work, and they rhyme

The difference: Not nearly as wistful as Rushmore

Upon his release from a mental hospital following a nervous breakdown, the directionless Anthony joins his friend Dignan, who seems far less sane than the former. Dignan has hatched a harebrained scheme for an as-yet-unspecified crime spree that somehow involves his former boss, the (supposedly) legendary Mr. Henry.

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