Movies Like Happiness (1998)

Happiness is a 1998 comedy, drama film from Todd Solondz with a MovieMagicScore of 7.4/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Life During Wartime and American Beauty.

Comedy Drama

Life During Wartime

2010

Friends, family, and lovers struggle to find love, forgiveness, and meaning in an almost war-torn world riddled with comedy and pathos. Follows Solondz's film Happiness (1998).

5.9

MagicScore

American Beauty

1999

Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.

8.0

MagicScore

The Taste of Others

2000

Unpolished and ultra-pragmatic industrialist Jean-Jacques Castella reluctantly attends Racine's tragedy "Berenice" in order to see his niece play a bit part. He is taken with the play's strangely familiar-looking leading lady Clara Devaux. During the course of the show, Castella soon remembers that he once hired and then promptly fired the actress as an English language tutor. He immediately goes out and signs up for language lessons. Thinking that he is nothing but an ill-tempered philistine with bad taste, Clara rejects him until Castella charms her off her feet.

6.8

MagicScore

Serial Mom

1994

Beverly is the perfect happy homemaker, along with her doting husband and two children, but this nuclear family just might explode when her fascination with serial killers collides with her ever-so-proper code of ethics.

6.7

MagicScore

Showbiz Kids

2020

A documentary chronicling the shared experiences of prominent former child stars and the personal and professional price of fame and failure on a child.

6.8

MagicScore

Little Tickles

2018

Odette is a 8-yr-old girl who loves to dance and draw. Once she has become an adult, Odette realizes she was abused, and immerses herself body and soul in her career as a dancer while trying to deal with her past.

7.4

MagicScore

Midori

1992

After losing her parents, young flower selling Midori is put up by a fairground group. She is abused and forced to slavery, until the arrival of an enigmatic magician of short stature, who gives her hope for a better future.

6.1

MagicScore

Hard Candy

2005

Hayley’s a smart, charming teenage girl. Jeff’s a handsome, smooth fashion photographer. An Internet chat, a coffee shop meet-up, an impromptu fashion shoot back at Jeff’s place. Jeff thinks it’s his lucky night. He’s in for a surprise.

6.8

MagicScore

Notes on a Scandal

2006

A veteran high school teacher befriends a younger art teacher, who is having an affair with one of her 15-year-old students. However, her intentions with this new "friend" also go well beyond platonic friendship.

7.1

MagicScore

#10

The Savages

2007

A sister and brother face the realities of familial responsibility as they begin to care for their ailing father.

6.9

MagicScore

#11

The Girl from the Wardrobe

2013

This is the story of three characters (brothers Tomek and Jacek and their neighbor Magda), each of them is in their own way lonely and alienated. The title character makes herself secluded. Tomek's alienation results from his neurological disease, and Jacek contacts the world mainly via the Internet. This is also a film about love. Love of one brother to the other and of one alienated human being to the other. All together it creates a very universal picture with a Polish entourage.

5.8

MagicScore

#12

Beau Is Afraid

2023

Following the sudden death of his mother, a mild-mannered but anxiety-ridden man confronts his darkest fears as he embarks on an epic odyssey back home.

6.7

MagicScore

#13

Shall We Kiss?

2007

When Gabriel and Emilie meet by chance, he offers her a ride, and they spend the evening talking, laughing and getting along famously. At the end of the night, Emilie declines Gabriel's offer of "a kiss without consequences". Emilie admonishes him that the kiss could have unexpected consequences, and tells him a story, unfolding in flashbacks, about the impossibility of indulging your desires without affecting someone else's life.

6.1

MagicScore

#14

Chithha

2023

Easwaran, a young government employee gets the shock of his life when his niece Sundari goes missing. When Easwaran gets to know that a child abuser has kidnapped her, after coming to terms with the ghastly reality of being him being wrongly accused in such a child abuse case, he makes it his mission is to rescue Sundari.

7.7

MagicScore

#15

Kite

1998

Sawa, orphaned as a child by murderous thugs, now targets the scourge of society as a trained killer for a mercenary syndicate. Coquettish and capable of unimaginable violence, she's grown into the perfect weapon — but doubt takes hold in Sawa's mind when her fellow assassin, Oburi, decides he wants out.

6.7

MagicScore

#16

Grill Point

2002

In the style of a documentary this tragic comedy tells the story of a relationship crisis between two married couples and their longing to break out of their miserable daily lives. In this East German post-wall movie Andreas Dresen introduces the sad everyday life of two couples from Frankfurt an der Oder in a honest and tolerable manner.

6.6

MagicScore

#17

Cha Cha Real Smooth

2022

Fresh out of college and stuck at his New Jersey home without a clear path forward, 22-year-old Andrew begins working as a party starter for bar/bat mitzvahs—where he strikes up a unique friendship with a young mom and her teenage daughter.

7.1

MagicScore

#18

Diary of a Mad Black Woman

2005

Charles, an attorney, and Helen, his devoted wife, seem to have everything – money, a beautiful mansion – the American Dream. However, as Helen prepares to celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary, her life takes an unexpected twist when she comes home to find her clothes packed up in a U-Haul van parked in the driveway. Charles is divorcing her and kicks her out. Helen moves in with her grandmother Madea, an old woman who doesn't take any lip from anyone. Madea helps Helen through these tough times by showing her what is really important in life. Helen is forced to rediscover love, life, and religion in her pursuit for happiness.

6.5

MagicScore

#19

Open Hearts

2002

Cecilie and Joachim are about to get married when a freak car accident leaves Joachim disabled, throwing their lives into a spin. The driver of the other car, Marie, and her family don’t get off lightly, either. Her husband Niels works in the hospital where he meets Cecilie and falls madly in love with her.

7.0

MagicScore

#20

I Want Your Sex

2026

When a naive young man becomes the sexual muse for a renowned and provocative artist, his dream job quickly turns dangerous as he is drawn into an obsessive world of power, betrayal, and murder.

6.2

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Happiness?

The top films similar to Happiness by MovieMagicScore are Life During Wartime (5.9), American Beauty (8.0), The Taste of Others (6.8). Each shares comedy/drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Happiness worth watching?

Happiness holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.4/10 from 882 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is Happiness?

Happiness (1998) is a comedy, drama film directed by Todd Solondz, starring Jane Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Dylan Baker.

Where can I find more recommendations like Happiness?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more comedy recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Life During Wartime Movies like American Beauty Movies like The Taste of Others Movies like Serial Mom Movies like Showbiz Kids Movies like Little Tickles

About movies like Happiness

This ranked list pairs Happiness (1998), a comedy and drama film from Todd Solondz, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Jane Adams take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

← Back to Happiness