Movies Like Life Is Sweet (1990)

Life Is Sweet is a 1990 comedy, drama film from Mike Leigh with a MovieMagicScore of 7.0/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with The Whale and Sharing the Secret.

Comedy Drama

The Whale

2022

A reclusive English teacher suffering from severe obesity attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter for one last chance at redemption.

7.8

MagicScore

Sharing the Secret

2000

A teenage girl, who feels she must always seem happy for her parents and friends, secretly binges and purges.

6.3

MagicScore

Likeness

2013

For Mia, beauty is everything. A trophy, a promise, a ball and chain, a wish upon a star. A life sentence.

6.1

MagicScore

Diana: In Her Own Words

2017

Using home videos recorded by her voice coach, Diana takes us through the story of her life.

7.7

MagicScore

Things Heard & Seen

2021

Catherine Clare reluctantly trades life in 1980 Manhattan for a remote home in the tiny hamlet of Chosen, New York, after her husband George lands a job teaching art history at a small Hudson Valley college. Even as she does her best to transform the old dairy farm into a place where young daughter Franny will be happy, Catherine increasingly finds herself isolated and alone. She soon comes to sense a sinister darkness lurking both in the walls of the ramshackle property—and in her marriage to George.

5.7

MagicScore

Feed

2017

Olivia and Matthew Grey, 18-year-old twins born into a world of privilege and high expectations. There are almost no boundaries between them - even their dreams are connected.

6.9

MagicScore

Parasite

2019

All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.

8.5

MagicScore

High Hopes

1989

Slice-of-life look at a sweet working-class couple in London, Shirley and Cyril, his mother, who's aging quickly and becoming forgetful, mum's ghastly upper-middle-class neighbors, and Cyril's pretentious sister and philandering husband. Shirley wants a baby, but Cyril, who reads Marx and wants the world to be perfect, is reluctant. Cyril's mum locks herself out and must ask her snooty neighbors for help. Then Cyril's sister Valerie stages a surprise party for mum's 70th birthday, a disaster from start to finish. Shirley holds things together, and she and Cyril may put aside her Dutch cap after all.

7.0

MagicScore

Bulgarian Lovers

2003

Graying Spaniard Daniel has a healthy budget for indulging in the finer things in life. Daniel's favorite luxury is playing sponsor to younger men amid the lights and sights of Madrid's gay club scene. After Daniel shares a night with handsome Bulgarian emigre Kyril, he finds himself consumed with an insatiable lust for the charismatic foreigner. But, as their relationship takes shape, Daniel's latest conquest reveals his own manipulative tendencies.

5.4

MagicScore

#10

Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven

1975

After a worker kills a superior and commits suicide, each of his family members attempts to forge a path forward in life.

7.6

MagicScore

#11

Pelle the Conqueror

1987

In the late 19th century, two Swedish emigrants, Lasse Karlsson and his son Pelle, arrive on the Danish island of Bornholm hoping to find work on a farm and save enough money to travel to the United States of America.

7.3

MagicScore

#12

I'm All Right Jack

1959

Naive Stanley Windrush looks for a career in a family business. Much to his dismay, he finds work at a munitions factory where he has to start from the bottom, while both the management and the labor union use him as a tool in their fight for power.

6.6

MagicScore

#13

Life Is a Long Quiet River

1988

Two babies are switched at birth. When the mistake is discovered 12 years later, it leads to complications in the lives of both families. One family is affluent, with dutiful and (apparently) contented children. The other family is poor, with rambunctious (even delinquent) children, often hungry, but with lots of laughter in the house.

6.8

MagicScore

#14

The Black Room

1935

In a 16th-century European town, the ruling family has been given a prophecy that, should there ever be twin boys born, the younger will murder the older; so is dismayed when twins are born to the popular baron. The older grows to be a selfish, slovenly man, who inherits the castle at his father's death and becomes ruler over the formerly happy villagers. He enjoys his power until he learns his younger brother is returning from abroad and, afraid of the prophecy, he determines to murder his sibling, hide his body in the "black room" - an old torture chamber sealed away behind the fireplace - and then impersonate him, right down to his withered arm. In this way he hopes to not only avoid the prophecy, but also escape consequences of his other criminal deeds and obtain marriage to a local girl of the nobility...

6.4

MagicScore

#15

Stepmom

1998

Jackie is a divorced mother of two. Isabel is the career minded girlfriend of Jackie’s ex-husband Luke, forced into the role of unwelcome stepmother to their children. But when Jackie discovers she is ill, both women realise they must put aside their differences to find a common ground and celebrate life to the fullest, while they have the chance.

7.2

MagicScore

#16

Trash Fire

2016

Owen and Isabel's love story simmers with spiteful rage and unfortunately for everyone, Isabel is pregnant with Owen's child. To prove to her that he can become a stable father, Owen agrees to reconnect with his only living relatives at Isabel's request. The couple take a trip to visit his perversely devoted grandmother and his sister Pearl, who was severely burned in a fire, to finally bury the hatchet. But sometimes the ties that bind can cut off all circulation.

5.8

MagicScore

#17

Kitchen Stories

2003

Swedish efficiency researchers come to Norway for a study of Norwegian men, to optimize their use of their kitchen. Folke Nilsson (Tomas Norström) is assigned to study the habits of Isak Bjørvik (Joachim Calmeyer). By the rules of the research institute, Folke has to sit on an umpire's chair in Isak's kitchen and observe him from there, but never talk to him. Isak stops using his kitchen and observes Folke through a hole in the ceiling instead. However, the two lonely men slowly overcome the initial post-war Norwegian-Swede distrust and become friends.

7.0

MagicScore

#18

Crossroads

2002

After eight years apart, three childhood friends - Lucy, Kit, and Mimi - rediscover their friendship on a cross-country trip. With barely a plan, practically no money but plenty of dreams, the girls catch a lift with Mimi's handsome friend Ben in his convertible. Along the way they not only gather experiences that will change their lives, but they also discover how important it is to hold onto their hearts' desires.

5.2

MagicScore

#19

Cape Fear

1991

Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, Bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? 14 years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape trial, and he made a serious error: he hid a document from his illiterate client that could have gotten him acquitted. Now, the cagey Cady has been released, and he intends to teach Sam Bowden and his family a thing or two about loss.

7.2

MagicScore

#20

Chinese Roulette

1977

A husband and wife lie to each other about their weekend travel plans, only to both show up at the family's country house with their lovers.

7.1

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Life Is Sweet?

The top films similar to Life Is Sweet by MovieMagicScore are The Whale (7.8), Sharing the Secret (6.3), Likeness (6.1). Each shares comedy/drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Life Is Sweet worth watching?

Life Is Sweet holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.0/10 from 169 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is Life Is Sweet?

Life Is Sweet (1990) is a comedy, drama film directed by Mike Leigh, starring Alison Steadman, Jim Broadbent, Timothy Spall.

Where can I find more recommendations like Life Is Sweet?

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 The Whale Movies like Sharing the Secret Movies like Likeness Movies like Diana: In Her Own Words Movies like Things Heard & Seen Movies like Feed

About movies like Life Is Sweet

This ranked list pairs Life Is Sweet (1990), a comedy and drama film from Mike Leigh, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Alison Steadman 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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