Movies Like Bright College Years

If you liked Bright College Years (1971), a movie directed by Peter Rosen, 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
American Teen (2008)
★ 6.4/10
A documentary on seniors at a high school in a small Indiana town and their various cliques.
2
Room 237 (2012)
★ 6.1/10
A subjective documentary that explores various theories about hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick's classic film The Shining. Five very different points of view are illuminated through voice over, film clips, animation…
3
All the Empty Rooms (2025)
★ 7.2/10
A journalist and a photographer set out to memorialize the bedrooms left behind by children killed in school shootings.
4
Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me (2022)
★ 8.4/10
After years in the limelight, Selena Gomez achieves unimaginable stardom. But just as she reaches a new peak, an unexpected turn pulls her into darkness. This uniquely raw and intimate documentary spans her six-year…
5
Dazed and Confused (1993)
★ 7.3/10
The adventures of a group of Texas teens on their last day of school in 1976, centering on student Randall Floyd, who moves easily among stoners, jocks and geeks. Floyd is a star athlete, but he also likes smoking…
6
Teen Beach Movie (2013)
★ 6.9/10
Life's a beach for surfers Brady and McKenzie – until a rogue wave magically transports them inside the classic '60s beach party flick, "Wet Side Story," where a full-blown rivalry between bikers and surfers threatens…
7
Everybody’s Everything (2019)
★ 8.4/10
The story of artist Lil Peep from his birth in Long Island and meteoric rise as a genre blending pop star & style icon, to his death due to an accidental opioid overdose in Arizona at just 21 years of age.
8
No Half Measures: Creating the Final Season of Breaking Bad (2013)
★ 8.5/10
A documentary about the making of season five of the acclaimed AMC series Breaking Bad.
9
Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese (2019)
★ 7/10
Part documentary, part concert film, part fever dream, this film captures the troubled spirit of America in 1975 and the joyous music that Dylan performed during the fall of that year.
10
Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return (2022)
★ 6.8/10
This special explores the return of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to the screen, as well as Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen to their classic roles. Director Deborah Chow leads the cast and crew as they…
11
Life in a Day (2011)
★ 7.2/10
A documentary shot by filmmakers all over the world that serves as a time capsule to show future generations what it was like to be alive on the 24th of July, 2010.
12
42 Up (1999)
★ 7.6/10
Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
13
La Bamba (1987)
★ 7.3/10
Los Angeles teenager Ritchie Valens becomes an overnight rock 'n' roll success in 1958, thanks to a love ballad called "Donna" that he wrote for his girlfriend. But as his star rises, Valens has conflicts with his…
14
The Hate U Give (2018)
★ 8.1/10
Raised in a poverty-stricken slum, a 16-year-old girl named Starr now attends a suburban prep school. After she witnesses a police officer shoot her unarmed best friend, she's torn between her two very different worlds…
15
Zabriskie Point (1970)
★ 7/10
Anthropology student Daria, who's helping a property developer build a village in the Los Angeles desert, and dropout Mark, who's wanted by the authorities for allegedly killing a policeman during a student riot…
16
Car Wash (1976)
★ 6/10
This day-in-the-life cult comedy focuses on a group of friends working at Sully Boyar's Car Wash in the Los Angeles ghetto. The team meets dozens of eccentric customers -- including a smooth-talking preacher, a wacky…
17
Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
★ 7.5/10
In this fascinating Oscar-nominated documentary, American guitarist Ry Cooder brings together a group of legendary Cuban folk musicians (some in their 90s) to record a Grammy-winning CD in their native city of Havana…
18
Muscle Shoals (2013)
★ 7.2/10
In a tiny Alabama town with the curious name of Muscle Shoals, something miraculous sprang from the mud of the Tennessee River. A group of unassuming, yet incredibly talented, locals came together and spawned some of…
19
Two Tars (1928)
★ 6.8/10
Two sailors on shore leave rent a car and go on a drive with their dates, but soon get involved in a huge traffic jam with dozens of ill-tempered motorists. A minor collision sets off an escalating series of…
20
Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021)
★ 7.6/10
During the same summer as Woodstock, over 300,000 people attended the Harlem Cultural Festival, celebrating African American music and culture, and promoting Black pride and unity. The footage from the festival sat in…