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Home/Zappa/Similar Movies

Zappa

Movies Like Zappa (1983)

Zappa is a 1983 drama film from Bille August with a MovieMagicScore of 7.1/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Twist and Shout and A Brighter Summer Day.

Twist and Shout poster

Twist and Shout

1984

Danish teens come of age in 1963. Bjorn and Erik are close friends. Bjorn is pursued by Kirsten, a future Stepford wife, but he falls for Anna, who initiates him into love and sex. Erik is somber, caring for his home-bound mentally-ill mother while his strict father rules his life. He desires Kirsten, but she's unattainable. Pregnancy, a horrific abortion, an engagement party, and a revelation about the rectitude of Erik's father lead to a climax: Bjorn and Erik must stand up to controlling adults.

A Brighter Summer Day poster

A Brighter Summer Day

1991

A boy experiences first love, friendships and injustices growing up in 1960s Taiwan.

That's What I Am poster

That's What I Am

2011

A coming-of-age story that follows 12-year-old Andy Nichol, a bright student who, like most kids his age, will do anything to avoid conflict for fear of suffering overwhelming ridicule and punishment from his junior high school peers.

White Squall poster

White Squall

1996

In 1960, a hardy group of prep school students boards an old-fashioned sailing ship. With Capt. Christopher Sheldon at the helm, the oceangoing voyage is intended to teach the boys fortitude and discipline. But the youthful crew are about to get some unexpected instruction in survival when they get caught in the clutches of a white squall storm.

Flipped poster

Flipped

2010

When Juli meets Bryce in the second grade, she knows it's true love. After spending six years trying to convince Bryce the same, she's ready to give up - until he starts to reconsider.

Wildlife poster

Wildlife

2018

14-year-old Joe is the only child of Jeanette and Jerry — a housewife and a golf pro — in a small town in 1960s Montana. Nearby, an uncontrolled forest fire rages close to the Canadian border, and when Jerry loses his job (and his sense of purpose) he decides to join the cause of fighting the fire, leaving his wife and son to fend for themselves.

Call Me by Your Name poster

Call Me by Your Name

2017

In the summer of 1983, a 17-year-old Elio spends his days in his family's villa in Italy. One day Oliver, a graduate student, arrives to assist Elio's father, a professor of Greco-Roman culture. Soon, Elio and Oliver discover a summer that will alter their lives forever.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower poster

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

2012

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1991. High school freshman Charlie is a wallflower, always watching life from the sidelines, until two senior students, Sam and her stepbrother Patrick, become his mentors, helping him discover the joys of friendship, music and love.

In the Heat of the Sun poster

In the Heat of the Sun

1995

Beijing, 1970s. The Cultural Revolution has driven most adults to the provinces leaving 14-year-old Monkey and his pals have free reign over the city. They hang around, get up to no good, and discover that unsolvable mystery known as "girls."

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl poster

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

2015

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.

Kes poster

Kes

1970

Bullied at school and ignored and abused at home by his indifferent mother and older brother, Billy Casper, a 15-year-old working-class Yorkshire boy, tames and trains his pet kestrel falcon whom he names Kes. Helped and encouraged by his English teacher and his fellow students, Billy finally finds a positive purpose to his unhappy existence.

Tea in the Harem poster

Tea in the Harem

1985

The story of two youths – one Algerian, one French – who become juvenile delinquents in a Paris suburb.

Children's Island poster

Children's Island

1980

Reine is supposed to go to a summer camp called Children's Island but decides to remain in Stockholm over the summer while his mother is working at a hospital. She thinks he is at the camp, and he tells her he is. We then follow him around Stockholm that summer and see what he encounters on the path of life.

Youth in Revolt poster

Youth in Revolt

2009

As a fan of Albert Camus and Jean-Luc Godard, teenage Nick Twisp is definitely out of his element when his mother and her boyfriend move the family to a trailer park. When a pretty neighbor named Sheeni plays records by French crooners, it's love at first sight for frustrated and inexperienced Nick. Learning that she is dating someone, Nick launches a hilarious quest to find his way into Sheeni's heart -- and bed.

Exploits of a Young Don Juan poster

Exploits of a Young Don Juan

1986

In 1914, sixteen year old Roger returned home from boarding school during vacation to find his puberty hit hard in a house filled with beautiful women. These women have previous engagements with other men who are away, and during this time, Roger impregnates them all, including his aunt and sister, then devises plans to cuckold the men.

The Long Walk poster

The Long Walk

2025

In a dystopian 1970s America, fifty teenage boys take part in a deadly annual walking contest, forced to maintain a minimum pace or be executed, until only one survivor remains.

Where the Crawdads Sing poster

Where the Crawdads Sing

2022

Abandoned by her family, Kya raises herself all alone in the marshes outside of her small town. When her former boyfriend is found dead, Kya is instantly branded by the local townspeople and law enforcement as the prime suspect for his murder.

My Brother Is an Only Child poster

My Brother Is an Only Child

2007

Accio and Manrico are siblings from a working-class family in 1960s Italy: older Manrico is handsome, charismatic, and loved by all, while younger Accio is sulky, hot-headed, and treats life as a battleground — much to his parents' chagrin. After the former is drawn into left-wing politics, Accio joins the fascists out of spite, but his flimsy beliefs are put to test when he falls for Manrico's like-minded girlfriend.

A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries poster

A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries

1998

This fictionalized story, based on the family life of writer James Jones, is an emotional slice-of-life story. Jones is portrayed here as Bill Willis, a former war hero turned author who combats alcoholism and is starting to experience health problems. Living in France with his wife, daughter, and an adopted son, the family travels an unconventional road which casts them as outsiders to others. Preaching a sexual freedom, his daughter's sexual discovery begins at an early age and betrays her when the family moves to Hanover in America. Her overt sexuality clashes with the values of her teenage American peers and gives her a problematic reputation. Meanwhile, her brooding brother copes with his own interior pain regarding his past, only comfortable communicating within the domestic space.

A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon poster

A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon

1988

A recent high school graduate is faced with two options, either go to a business school where his father wants him to go to, or get a full time job. However he decides to defy his father and go to Hawaii. Trouble is he has no money. Along the way he comes to understand his parents and eventually bonds with his father.

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Zappa?

The top films similar to Zappa by MovieMagicScore are Twist and Shout (6.6), A Brighter Summer Day (8.2), That's What I Am (6.8). Each shares drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Zappa worth watching?

Zappa holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.1/10 from 31 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is Zappa?

Zappa (1983) is a drama film directed by Bille August, starring Adam Tønsberg, Morten Hoff, Peter Reichhardt.

Where can I find more recommendations like Zappa?

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

Keep exploring

Movies like Twist and Shout Movies like A Brighter Summer Day Movies like That's What I Am Movies like White Squall Movies like Flipped Movies like Wildlife

About movies like Zappa

This ranked list pairs Zappa (1983), a drama film from Bille August, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Adam Tønsberg 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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