Movies Like California Dreaming

If you liked California Dreaming (2014), a movie directed by François Clousot, 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
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.
2
Sideways (2004)
★ 7.1/10
Two middle-aged men embark on a spiritual journey through Californian wine country. One is an unpublished novelist suffering from depression, and the other is only days away from walking down the aisle.
3
Playing It Cool (2014)
★ 5.9/10
A young man meets and instantly falls in love with an engaged woman.
4
Riding in Cars with Boys (2001)
★ 6.7/10
In 1965, a young woman with dreams of becoming a writer has a son at the age of 15 and struggles to make things work with the drug-addicted father.
5
The Roses (2025)
★ 6.7/10
Life seems easy for picture-perfect couple Ivy and Theo: successful careers, a loving marriage, great kids. But beneath the façade of their supposed ideal life, a storm is brewing – as Theo's career nosedives while…
6
One Day (2011)
★ 7.4/10
After spending the night together on the eve of their college graduation, Dexter and Emma are shown each year on the same date to see where they are in their lives. They are sometimes together, and sometimes not.
7
The Love Bug (1968)
★ 6.6/10
Down-on-his-luck race car driver Jim Douglas teams up with a little VW Bug that has a mind of its own, not realizing Herbie's worth until a sneaky rival plots to steal him.
8
10 (1979)
★ 5.8/10
A Hollywood songwriter goes through a mid-life crisis and becomes infatuated with a sexy blonde newlywed.
9
(500) Days of Summer (2009)
★ 7.3/10
Tom, greeting-card writer and hopeless romantic, is caught completely off-guard when his girlfriend, Summer, suddenly dumps him. He reflects on their 500 days together to try to figure out where their love affair went…
10
Less Than Zero (1987)
★ 6.4/10
A college freshman returns to Los Angeles for Christmas at his ex-girlfriend's request, but discovers that his former best friend has an out-of-control drug habit.
11
Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
★ 7.2/10
Ben Sanderson, an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his drinking, arrives in Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There, he meets and forms an uneasy friendship and non-interference pact…
12
Love Story (1970)
★ 6.8/10
Harvard Law student Oliver Barrett IV and music student Jennifer Cavilleri share a chemistry they cannot deny - and a love they cannot ignore. Despite their opposite backgrounds, the young couple put their hearts on…
13
Seriously Single (2020)
★ 6.8/10
While her free-living bestie urges her to embrace singlehood, a commitment-craving social media expert can't stop following the life of a former love.
14
The Disaster Artist (2017)
★ 7.1/10
An aspiring actor in Hollywood meets an enigmatic stranger by the name of Tommy Wiseau, the meeting leads the actor down a path nobody could have predicted; creating the worst movie ever made.
15
The Woman in Red (1984)
★ 6.3/10
When a happily married family man, who would never consider an affair, meets a beautiful woman in red, he is totally infatuated and desperate to make her acquaintance. However, as he tries out various schemes to sneak…
16
The Matchmaker's Playbook (2018)
★ 7.1/10
After a career-ending accident, former NFL recruit Ian Hunter is back on campus, and he's putting his extensive skills with women to work as one of the masterminds behind a successful and secretive dating service. But…
17
Train Dreams (2025)
★ 7.3/10
A logger leads a life of quiet grace as he experiences love and loss during an era of monumental change in early 20th-century America.
18
Priscilla (2023)
★ 6.7/10
When teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley at a party, the man who is already a meteoric rock-and-roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in…
19
Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)
★ 7.3/10
Cal Weaver is living the American dream. He has a good job, a beautiful house, great children and a beautiful wife, named Emily. Cal's seemingly perfect life unravels, however, when he learns that Emily has been…
20
Alfie (2004)
★ 5.9/10
A tale of a philosophical womanizer who is forced to question his seemingly carefree existence.