Movies Like Passing Through

If you liked Passing Through (1998), a movie directed by Nathan Adolfson, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Orange County (2002)
★ 6/10
Shaun Brumder is a local surfer kid from Orange County who dreams of going to Stanford to become a writer and to get away from his dysfunctional family household. Except Shaun runs into one complication after another…
2
Dìdi (弟弟) (2024)
★ 7.2/10
In 2008, during the last month of summer before high school begins, an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy learns what his family can't teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love your mom.
3
Beautiful Boy (2018)
★ 7.6/10
After he and his first wife separate, journalist David Sheff struggles to help their teenage son, who goes from experimenting with drugs to becoming devastatingly addicted to methamphetamine.
4
The Longest Ride (2015)
★ 7.6/10
The lives of a young couple intertwine with a much older man as he reflects back on a lost love while he's trapped in an automobile crash.
5
One Mile: Chapter One (2026)
★ 6.6/10
After being released from special forces, a father tries to reconnect with his daughter by taking her on a tour of college, but they soon find themselves fighting for more than their lost relationship when a murderous…
6
The Kissing Booth (2018)
★ 7.2/10
When teenager Elle's first kiss leads to a forbidden romance with the hottest boy in high school, she risks her relationship with her best friend.
7
Indignation (2016)
★ 6.3/10
In 1951, Marcus Messner, a working-class Jewish student from New Jersey, attends a small Ohio college, where he struggles with anti-Semitism, sexual repression, and the ongoing Korean War.
8
Try Seventeen (2002)
★ 6.2/10
Teenager Jones has opted not to go to college and is instead renting a room in a boarding house to work on his writing skills. Soon, Jones finds himself dividing his time between two women: a young actress named Lisa…
9
American Underdog (2021)
★ 7.1/10
The true story of Kurt Warner, who went from a stockboy at a grocery store to a two-time NFL MVP, Super Bowl champion, and Hall of Fame quarterback.
10
The True Adventures of Wolfboy (2019)
★ 5.9/10
Follows a young boy who runs away from home in the search of his estranged mother.
11
Past Lives (2023)
★ 7.7/10
After decades apart, childhood friends Nora and Hae Sung are reunited in New York for one fateful weekend as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life.
12
Sydney White (2007)
★ 6.5/10
College freshman Sydney White arrives at Southern Atlantic University, determined to pledge her late mother's sorority. Unfortunately, she finds that the sisterhood has changed since her parent's day. Banished to a…
13
Joe's College Road Trip (2026)
★ 6.1/10
To teach his sheltered grandson about the real world, Madea's foul-mouthed brother Joe takes the college-bound teen on a raucous cross-country road trip.
14
Dope (2015)
★ 7/10
Malcolm is carefully surviving life in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles while juggling college applications, academic interviews, and the SAT. A chance invitation to an underground party leads him into an adventure…
15
Sidelined: The QB and Me (2025)
★ 6.4/10
Dallas, a burdened but headstrong dancer, is determined to get into the best dance school in the country—her late mother’s alma mater. However, that dream is suddenly derailed when the cheeky yet secretly grieving…
16
What If (2013)
★ 6.7/10
Medical-school dropout Wallace has been repeatedly burned by bad relationships. So while everyone around him, including his roommate Allan, seems to be finding the perfect partner, Wallace decides to put his love life…
17
How High (2001)
★ 6.4/10
Jamal and Silas, two ordinary guys who smoke something magical, pass their college entrance exams with flying colors and end up at Harvard. Ivy League ways are strange but Silas and Jamal take it in a stride -- until…
18
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013)
★ 6.2/10
86-year-old Irving Zisman is on a journey across America with the most unlikely companion: his 8 year-old grandson, Billy.
19
No One Gets Out Alive (2021)
★ 5.8/10
An immigrant in search of the American dream is forced to take a room in a boarding house and soon finds herself in a nightmare from which she can't escape.
20
Reality Bites (1994)
★ 6.5/10
A small circle of friends suffering from post-collegiate blues must confront the hard truth about life, love and the pursuit of gainful employment. As they struggle to map out survival guides for the future, the Gen-X…