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The Princess Diaries poster

Movies that feel likeThe Princess Diaries (2001)

A socially awkward but very bright 15-year-old girl being raised by a single mom discovers that she is the princess of a small European country because of the recent death of her long-absent father, who, unknown to her, was the crown prince of Genovia. She must make a choice between continuing the life of a San Francisco teen or stepping up to the throne.

If you loved The Princess Diaries, the closest films we have are The Parent Trap (1998), Chocolat (2000) and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998). All three share The Princess Diaries' witty and playful feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Italian for Beginners (2000).

🍅 50% Rotten Tomatoes★ 6.4 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Garry Marshallwittyplayfulwarmcozyromantictender
8 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Disney Plus

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If The Princess Diaries hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004)

The Parent Trap poster
The Parent Trap
1998 · dir. Nancy Meyers
🍅 86%★ 6.7comedy · family · romanceDisney+

Both land wit and play at once

The difference: Reviewed even better

Hallie Parker and Annie James are identical twins who were separated at a young age due to their parents' divorce. Unbeknownst to their parents, the girls are sent to the same summer camp, where they meet, discover the truth about their relationship, and come up with a plan to switch places in an effort to reunite their mother and father.

Chocolat poster
Chocolat
2000 · dir. Lasse Hallström
🍅 63%★ 7.2comedy · drama · romanceParamount+

Cozy where it counts, romantic underneath

The difference: Takes it somewhere less warm than The Princess Diaries does

In the winter of 1959, a single mother and her young daughter arrive in a rural French town, where they open an unusual chocolate shop that disrupts the moral fiber of the strictly Catholic townsfolk and mayor.

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai poster
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
1998 · dir. Karan Johar
🍅 71%★ 7.5romance · drama · comedyNetflixPrime Video

Both keep coming back to the same thing: joyful

The difference: Easier on the comfort than The Princess Diaries

Per her mother's last wish, an 8 year old girl sets out to reunite her father with his college best friend who was in love with him.

About a Boy poster
About a Boy
2002 · dir. Chris Weitz
🍅 93%★ 7.1drama · comedy · romance

Warm and tender in the same breath

The difference: Sits closer to drama than The Princess Diaries does

Will Freeman is a good-looking, smooth-talking bachelor whose primary goal in life is avoiding any kind of responsibility. But when he invents an imaginary son in order to meet attractive single moms, Will gets a hilarious lesson about life from a bright, but hopelessly geeky 12-year-old named Marcus. Now, as Will struggles to teach Marcus the art of being cool, Marcus teaches Will that you're never too old to grow up.

Italian for Beginners poster
Italian for Beginners
2000 · dir. Lone Scherfig
🍅 87%★ 7comedy · drama · romance

Witty comedy in both cases

Several lonely hearts in a semi-provincial suburb of a town in Denmark use a beginner's course in Italian as the platform to meet the romance of their lives. The film, which unspools the connections and family drama shared between the students, complies with several aesthetic principles of Dogme 95 movement.

Freaky Friday poster
Freaky Friday
2003 · dir. Mark Waters
🍅 88%★ 6.4comedy · family · fantasyDisney+

Common ground: high school

Mother and daughter bicker over everything -- what Anna wears, whom she likes and what she wants to do when she's older. In turn, Anna detests Tess's fiancé. When a magical fortune cookie switches their personalities, they each get a peek at how the other person feels, thinks and lives.

A Cinderella Story poster
A Cinderella Story
2004 · dir. Mark Rosman
🍅 11%★ 6comedy · family · romance

Both are built on the same subject: high school

Routinely exploited by her wicked stepmother, the downtrodden Samantha Montgomery is excited about the prospect of meeting her Internet beau at the school's Halloween dance.

He's Just Not That Into You poster
He's Just Not That Into You
2009 · dir. Ken Kwapis
🍅 42%★ 6.4comedy · romance · dramaParamount+

Romance built on play, twice over

Remember that really cute girl/guy who said they'd call – and didn't? Maybe they lost your number. Maybe they're in the hospital. Maybe they're awed by your looks, brains or success. Or maybe... They're just not that into you.

Enchanted poster
Enchanted
2007 · dir. Kevin Lima
🍅 93%★ 7.1comedy · family · fantasyDisney+

The same preoccupation in both: princess

The beautiful princess Giselle is banished by an evil queen from her magical, musical animated land and finds herself in the gritty reality of the streets of modern-day Manhattan. Shocked by this strange new environment that doesn't operate on a "happily ever after" basis, Giselle is now adrift in a chaotic world badly in need of enchantment. But when Giselle begins to fall in love with a charmingly flawed divorce lawyer who has come to her aid - even though she is already promised to a perfect fairy tale prince back home - she has to wonder: Can a storybook view of romance survive in the real world?

The Last Song poster
The Last Song
2010 · dir. Julie Anne Robinson
🍅 22%★ 6drama · family · romanceDisney+Paramount+

Warm family, and it commits to that

A drama centered on a rebellious girl who is sent to a Southern beach town for the summer to stay with her father. Through their mutual love of music, the estranged duo learn to reconnect.

Eat Drink Man Woman poster
Eat Drink Man Woman
1994 · dir. Ang Lee
🍅 88%★ 7.8comedy · drama · romance

Comedy with a pulse of comfort, in both cases

Retired and widowed Chinese master chef Chu lives in modern day Taipei, with his three attractive daughters, all of whom are unattached. Soon, each daughter encounters a new man in their lives. When these new relationships blossom, stereotypes are broken and the living situation within the family changes.

Cheaper by the Dozen poster
Cheaper by the Dozen
2003 · dir. Shawn Levy
🍅 25%★ 6comedy · familyDisney+

Both lean on wit more than on family

The Baker brood moves to Chicago after patriarch Tom gets a job coaching football at Northwestern University, forcing his writer wife, Kate, and the couple's 12 children to make a major adjustment. The transition works well until work demands pull the parents away from home, leaving the kids bored -- and increasingly mischievous.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Princess Diaries’ defining feeling.