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Movies that feel like The Squid and the Whale (2005)

If you loved The Squid and the Whale, the closest films we have are Eighth Grade (2018), Slums of Beverly Hills (1998) and Breaking Away (1979). All three share The Squid and the Whale'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.

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.

🍅 91% Rotten Tomatoes7.3 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Noah Baumbachwittyplayfulcontemplativewistful
Stream it:Netflix
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If The Squid and the Whale hit the spot, these will too

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

Both keep coming back to the same thing: growing up

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.

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

Common ground: semi autobiographical

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.

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

Both are built on the same subject: growing up

The difference: 26 years apart, and the 1970s show

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.

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

Witty and playful in the same breath

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.

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

Comedy with a pulse of wistfulness, in both cases

The difference: Not nearly as contemplative as The Squid and the Whale

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.

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

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

The difference: Leans harder into romance than The Squid and the Whale does

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.

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Show Me Love poster
Show Me Love
1998 · dir. Lukas Moodysson
🍅 93%7.5comedy · romance · drama

Comedy built on wit, twice over

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.

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

The same preoccupation in both: 1980s

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.

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Smoke poster
Smoke
1995 · dir. Wayne Wang
🍅 89%7.4comedy · drama

One thread runs through both: writer

Writer Paul Benjamin is nearly hit by a bus when he leaves Auggie Wren's smoke shop. Stranger Rashid Cole saves his life, and soon middle-aged Paul tells homeless Rashid that he wouldn't mind a short-term housemate. Still grieving over his wife's murder, Paul is moved by both Rashid's quest to reconnect with his father and Auggie's discovery that a woman who might be his daughter is about to give birth.

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The Night Before the Exams poster
The Night Before the Exams
2006 · dir. Fausto Brizzi
6.4comedy · drama

Common ground: 1980s

Rome, 1989. On his last day of high school, Luca gets in trouble when he takes it all out on hated literature teacher Martinelli, only to discover he's going to be heading the examination board for his finals. During a summer of fruitless study, he falls in love with a girl he met once at a party, unaware that she's Martinelli's daughter. The latter, strangely enough, has just offered Luca to prepare with him...

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Step Brothers poster
Step Brothers
2008 · dir. Adam McKay
🍅 54%6.9comedy

Playful drama in both cases

The difference: Reviewed a good deal more coolly

Brennan Huff and Dale Doback might be grown men. But that doesn't stop them from living at home and turning into jealous, competitive stepbrothers when their single parents marry. Brennan's constant competition with Dale strains his mom's marriage to Dale's dad, leaving everyone to wonder whether they'll ever see eye to eye.

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Amarcord poster
Amarcord
1973 · dir. Federico Fellini
🍅 88%7.8comedy · drama

One thread runs through both: semi autobiographical

In an Italian seaside town, young Titta gets into trouble with his friends and watches various local eccentrics as they engage in often absurd behavior. Frequently clashing with his stern father and defended by his doting mother, Titta witnesses the actions of a wide range of characters, from his extended family to Fascist loyalists to sensual women, with certain moments shifting into fantastical scenarios.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Squid and the Whale’s defining feeling.