Movies Like Candide or The Optimism in the 20th Century

If you liked Candide or The Optimism in the 20th Century (1960), a comedy movie directed by Norbert Carbonnaux, 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
Family Resemblances (1996)
★ 7.4/10Also comedy
An upper middle-class French family celebrates a birthday in a restaurant. In one evening and during one meal, family history, tensions, collective and separate grudges, delights, and memories both clash and coalesce.
2
Le Clan (2023)
★ 6.8/10Also comedy
Fred, Achille, Max and Belette form a good-for-nothing gang of crooks. Dismally failing their last raid, they decide to get back in the game, kidnapping Sophie Marceau.
3
Hold-up (1985)
★ 6.2/10Also comedy
Dressed as a clown, the clever rascal Grimm holds up the most secure bank of Montreal and takes 30 hostages. While confusing and ridiculing the police with his strange behavior, he calmly manages to rid the bank of a…
4
What's in a Name (2012)
★ 7.3/10Also comedy
Vincent, a wealthy real estate agent, is invited to dinner by his sister Elizabeth and her husband Peter, both professors in Paris. Claude, a childhood friend and trombonist in a symphony orchestra, is also present…
5
Umbrella Coup (1980)
★ 6.9/10Also comedy
Grégoire Lecomte, the unlucky actor anxious to find a "real job", goes to take a screen test for a role of a killer, but gets to mafiosi by mistake. He takes their don for a producer, and they mistake him for a hitman…
6
One Hundred and One Nights (1995)
★ 6.1/10Also comedy
Monsieur Cinema, a hundred years old, lives alone in a large villa. His memories fade away, so he engages a young woman to tell him stories about all the movies ever made.
7
The Nannies (2022)
★ 6.5/10Also comedy
Angèle, a thirty-something from Ivory Coast, always cope thanks to the gift of gab and audacity. To escape from a bunch of dangerous criminals, she becomes a nanny in the uptown Paris, hired by Hélène, the single mom…
8
Dead Tired (1994)
★ 6/10Also comedy
Stressed and overworked, famous French movie star Michel Blanc is beginning to wear down, physically and mentally, from the pressure and demands of fame. Already in a fragile state of mind, strange events start to…
9
Thunderstruck (2012)
★ 6.2/10Also comedy
After NBA star Kevin Durant switches talent with 16 year old Brian, the teenager becomes the star of his high school team, but Durant starts struggling and eventually learns an important lesson.
10
After the Ball (2015)
★ 6.3/10Also comedy
After the Ball, a retail fairy tale set in the world of fashion. Kate's dream is to design for couturier houses. Although she is a bright new talent, Kate can't get a job. No one trusts the daughter of Lee Kassell, a…
11
Cadet Kelly (2002)
★ 6.2/10Also comedy
Hyperactive teenager Kelly is enrolled into a military school when her new stepfather becomes the Commandant. At first she has problems fitting in and taking orders until she tries out for the drill team.
12
Here and There (2024)
★ 5.9/10Also comedy
A visa problem forces Adrien back to Paris after 15 years in Senegal with his wife Aminata. Her cousin Sékou, now distanced from his Senegalese origins, takes in Adrien. As Adrien awaits his return, Sékou shows him…
13
Me, Myself and Mum (2013)
★ 6.6/10Also comedy
How to become a man when your mother and your closed circle have decided otherwise? This is the challenge Guillaume took up. The film recounts Guillaume's tragicomic battle from the young age of eight, as he adopts the…
14
The Women on the 6th Floor (2011)
★ 6.8/10Also comedy
Paris, in the early 1960s. Jean-Louis Joubert is a serious but uptight stockbroker, married to Suzanne, a starchy class-conscious woman and father of two arrogant teenage boys, currently in a boarding school. The…
15
Wrong Cops (2013)
★ 6.1/10Also comedy
A group of bad cops look to dispose of a body that one of them accidentally shot.
16
The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
★ 6.9/10Also comedy
Charles Dreyfus, who has finally cracked over inspector Clouseau's antics, escapes from a mental institution and launches an elaborate plan to get rid of Clouseau once and for all.
17
LOL 2.0: Anne’s Golden Hour (2026)
★ 6/10Also comedy
At 55, Anne is finally enjoying her freedom after her children leave home. But everything changes when her 23-year-old daughter, Louise, moves back in with her after a professional and romantic failure. And to make…
18
Love Song for Tough Guys (2021)
★ 6/10Also comedy
In a port city, the lives of a few isolated people, used to violence, are strongly influenced by the love they feel for each other. Choices, envy, love and tenderness are the driving forces that help these characters…
19
Buffet Froid (1979)
★ 7/10Also comedy
Alphonse Tram is unwittingly involved in several murders despite having no memory of committing the crimes. His confusion lead him to confess to his neighbour, Inspector Morvandieu. Alphonse and Morvandieu become the…
20
Serial (Bad) Weddings 2 (2019)
★ 5.9/10Also comedy
Claude and Marie Verneuil face a new crisis. The four spouses of their daughters, David, Rachid, Chao and Charles decided to leave France for various reasons. Here they are imagining their lives elsewhere.