Movies Like Ella McCay (2025)

Ella McCay is a 2025 comedy, drama film from James L. Brooks with a MovieMagicScore of 5.5/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Here Today and Brazil.

Comedy Drama

Here Today

2021

Veteran comedy writer Charlie Berns, who is slowly but surely losing his grip on reality, befriends a talented young New York street singer Emma Payge. Together, they form an unlikely yet hilarious and touching friendship that kicks the generation gap aside and redefines the meaning of love and trust.

6.9

MagicScore

Brazil

1985

Low-level bureaucrat Sam Lowry escapes the monotony of his day-to-day life through a recurring daydream of himself as a virtuous hero saving a beautiful damsel. Investigating a case that led to the wrongful arrest and eventual death of an innocent man instead of wanted terrorist Harry Tuttle, he meets the woman from his daydream, and in trying to help her gets caught in a web of mistaken identities, mindless bureaucracy and lies.

7.7

MagicScore

Apocalypto

2006

Set in the Mayan civilization, when a man's idyllic presence is brutally disrupted by a violent invading force, he is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression where a harrowing end awaits him. Through a twist of fate and spurred by the power of his love for his woman and his family he will make a desperate break to return home and to ultimately save his way of life.

7.6

MagicScore

An American Werewolf in London

1981

American tourists David and Jack are savagely attacked by an unidentified animal while hiking on the Yorkshire Moors. After retiring to the home of a beautiful nurse to recuperate, David soon begins experiencing disturbing changes to his body and mind.

7.4

MagicScore

Marley & Me

2008

A newly married couple, in the process of starting a family, learn many of life's important lessons from their trouble-loving retriever, Marley. Packed with plenty of laughs to lighten the load, the film explores the highs and lows of marriage, maturity and confronting one's own mortality, as seen through the lens of family life with a dog.

7.2

MagicScore

Held for Ransom

2019

HELD FOR RANSOM tells the true story of Danish photojournalist Daniel Rye who was held hostage for 398 days in Syria by the terror organization ISIS along with several other foreign nationals including the American journalist, James Foley. The film follows Daniel’s struggle to survive in captivity, his friendship with James, and the nightmare of the Rye family back home in Denmark as they try to do everything in their power to save their son. At the center of this crisis, we find hostage negotiator, Arthur, who plays a pivotal role in securing Daniel’s release.

7.0

MagicScore

Ammonite

2020

In 1840s England, palaeontologist Mary Anning and a young woman sent by her husband to convalesce by the sea develop an intense relationship. Despite the chasm between their social spheres and personalities, Mary and Charlotte discover they can each offer what the other has been searching for: the realisation that they are not alone. It is the beginning of a passionate and all-consuming love affair that will defy all social bounds and alter the course of both lives irrevocably.

6.9

MagicScore

The Clan

2015

In Argentina, between 1982 and 1985, the Puccios, a well-established family of San Isidro, an upper-class suburb of Buenos Aires, kidnap several people and hold them as hostages for a ransom.

6.8

MagicScore

Breaking Surface

2020

Two Swedish/Norwegian half sisters go on a winter diving trip in Northern Norway, when they get trapped after a rockslide.

6.7

MagicScore

#10

Who You Think I Am

2019

Claire, a 50-year-old divorced teacher, creates a fake Facebook profile of a 24-year-old woman to catfish Alex, the roommate of her former lover, Ludo.

6.6

MagicScore

#11

Beast

2018

A troubled woman living in an isolated community finds herself pulled between the control of her oppressive family and the allure of a secretive outsider suspected of a series of brutal murders.

6.6

MagicScore

#12

The Public

2019

An act of civil disobedience turns into a standoff with police when homeless people in Cincinnati take over the public library to seek shelter from the bitter cold.

6.5

MagicScore

#13

What Lies Beneath

2000

When Claire Spencer starts hearing ghostly voices and seeing spooky images, she wonders if an otherworldly spirit is trying to contact her. All the while, her husband tries to reassure her by telling her it's all in her head. But as Claire investigates, she discovers that the man she loves might know more than he's letting on.

6.4

MagicScore

#14

The Pink Cloud

2021

After a toxic and mysterious pink cloud suddenly appears around the globe, people are forced to shelter in place. A woman finds herself stuck in an apartment with a stranger after a one-night stand, and the two come to terms with staying together.

5.8

MagicScore

#15

Thank You for Smoking

2005

Nick Naylor is a charismatic spin-doctor for Big Tobacco who'll fight to protect America's right to smoke -- even if it kills him -- while still remaining a role model for his 12-year old son. When he incurs the wrath of a senator bent on snuffing out cigarettes, Nick's powers of "filtering the truth" will be put to the test.

7.2

MagicScore

#16

Estamira

2004

Estamira is a 63-year-old woman who suffers from schizophrenia. She leads a tough life and has supported herself for the past 20 years by picking through garbage at the Jardim Gramacho Disposal Area in Rio de Janeiro. The film follows her starting in 2000, the year she begins treatment in a psychiatric clinic. At first, it is hard to understand her in her stream-of-consciousness sentences, delusions and obsessions. Gradually, however, we get to know her as a woman who can have quiet and lucid moments despite her illness.

7.6

MagicScore

#17

Friendly Beast

2018

A restaurant owner going over the edge when an armed robbery is attempted at his establishment. He holds everyone captive at gunpoint – criminals and customers alike – and situations corrode into a nightmare state, guided by manipulation and raw compulsion.

6.5

MagicScore

#18

The Mermaid: Lake of the Dead

2018

An evil Mermaid falls in love with Marina's fiancé Roman and aims to keep him away from Marina in her Kingdom of Death under water. The Mermaid is a young woman who drowned a few centuries ago. Marina only has one week to overcome her fear of the dark water, to remain human in the deathly fight with the monsters and not to become one herself.

6.1

MagicScore

#19

The Dare

2019

A rare family night for Jay takes a brutal twist when he awakens in a basement with three other prisoners. As their vengeful captor runs riot, Jay engages in a twisted battle to solve the puzzle to his past and save his family's future.

5.8

MagicScore

#20

Medusa

2021

By day, Mari and her friends broadcast their spiritual devotion through pastel pinks and catchy evangelical songs about purity and perfection, and by night they form a vigilante girl gang, prowling the streets in search of sinners who have deviated from the rightful path. After an attack goes wrong, leaving Mari scarred and unemployed, her views of community, religion, and her peers begin to shift.

5.6

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Ella McCay?

The top films similar to Ella McCay by MovieMagicScore are Here Today (6.9), Brazil (7.7), Apocalypto (7.6). Each shares comedy/drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Ella McCay worth watching?

Ella McCay holds a MovieMagicScore of 5.5/10 from 113 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Ella McCay?

Ella McCay (2025) is a comedy, drama film directed by James L. Brooks, starring Emma Mackey, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jack Lowden.

Where can I find more recommendations like Ella McCay?

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 Here Today Movies like Brazil Movies like Apocalypto Movies like An American Werewolf in London Movies like Marley & Me Movies like Held for Ransom

About movies like Ella McCay

This ranked list pairs Ella McCay (2025), a comedy and drama film from James L. Brooks, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Emma Mackey 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.

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