Movies Like The Joy of Life

If you liked The Joy of Life (1967), a movie directed by Huang Hua-Cheng, 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
The Cameraman (1928)
★ 7.8/10
A photographer takes up newsreel shooting to impress a secretary.
2
City Lights (1931)
★ 8.2/10
A tramp falls in love with a beautiful blind flower girl. His on-and-off friendship with a wealthy man allows him to be the girl's benefactor and suitor.
3
The Shift (2023)
★ 6.4/10
Following a tense encounter with a mysterious stranger with otherworldly powers, a man finds himself banished to a parallel, tyrannical Earth, where he fights to get back to the woman he loves.
4
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.
5
Lady and the Tramp (2019)
★ 7.2/10
The love story between a pampered Cocker Spaniel named Lady and a streetwise mongrel named Tramp. Lady finds herself out on the street after her owners have a baby and is saved from a pack by Tramp, who tries to show…
6
Autumn in New York (2000)
★ 6.1/10
Will Keane, a Manhattan restaurateur, is content with his playboy lifestyle until he meets Charlotte Fielding, a free-spirited young woman. Together the pair pursue a passionate affair that forces them both to…
7
Encanto (2021)
★ 7.6/10
The tale of an extraordinary family, the Madrigals, who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia, in a magical house, in a vibrant town, in a wondrous, charmed place called an Encanto. The magic of the Encanto has…
8
Beau Hunks (1931)
★ 6.8/10
Stan and Ollie join the French Foreign Legion after Ollie's sweetheart rejects him.
9
The Karate Kid (1984)
★ 7.2/10
New Jersey teen Daniel LaRusso moves to Los Angeles with his mother, and soon strikes up a relationship with Ali. He quickly finds himself the target of bullying by a group of thugs, led by Ali's ex-boyfriend Johnny…
10
Home Again (2017)
★ 6.1/10
Life for a single mom in Los Angeles takes an unexpected turn when she allows three young guys to move in with her.
11
A Very Jonas Christmas Movie (2025)
★ 6.2/10
Kevin, Nick, and Joe Jonas face a series of escalating obstacles as they struggle to make it from London to New York in time to spend Christmas with their families.
12
The Secret Life of Bees (2008)
★ 7.5/10
Set in South Carolina in 1964, this is the tale of Lily Owens a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother. To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father, Lily flees with…
13
13 Going on 30 (2004)
★ 6.8/10
After total humiliation at her thirteenth birthday party, Jenna Rink wants to just hide until she's thirty. Thanks to some magic wishing dust, Jenna's prayer has been answered. With a knockout body, a fabulous…
14
Heathers (1989)
★ 7.2/10
A girl who halfheartedly tries to be part of the "in crowd" of her school meets a rebel who teaches her a more devious way to play social politics: by killing the popular kids.
15
Baraka (1992)
★ 8.2/10
A paralysingly beautiful documentary with a global vision—an odyssey through landscape and time—that attempts to capture the essence of life.
16
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…
17
The Last Sunrise (2026)
★ 6.9/10
Ry, a college student with a chronic illness, escapes to Mallorca for the summer with her mother, where she unexpectedly falls for a local and begins to embrace living in the moment. But as her condition worsens and…
18
Angela's Christmas (2017)
★ 6.8/10
A trip to church with her family on Christmas Eve gives young Angela an extraordinary idea. A heartwarming tale based on a story by Frank McCourt.
19
Gia (1998)
★ 7.1/10
Gia Carangi meteorically rises to modeling fame in the late 1970s but becomes overconsumed by persistent loneliness and drug addiction.
20
Bring It On (2000)
★ 6.3/10
The Toro cheerleading squad from Rancho Carne High School in San Diego has got spirit, spunk, sass and a killer routine that's sure to land them the national championship trophy for the sixth year in a row. But for…