Movies Like The Adventures of a Paraíba

If you liked The Adventures of a Paraíba (1982), a comedy and drama movie directed by Marco Altberg, 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
Somewhere in Queens (2023)
★ 6.3/10Also comedy and drama
Leo and Angela Russo live a simple life in Queens, surrounded by their overbearing Italian-American family. When their son finds success on his high school basketball team, Leo tears the family apart trying to make it…
2
Family Weekend (2013)
★ 6.3/10Also comedy and drama
A 16-year-old girl takes her parents hostage after they miss her big jump-roping competition.
3
In the Soup (1992)
★ 6.8/10Also comedy and drama
An aspiring young filmmaker gets involved with an eccentric gangster for the financing of his first film.
4
The Clique (2008)
★ 5.9/10Also comedy and drama
A young girl tries to fit in with a clique of popular middle school girls after moving into the guest house of one of their homes.
5
Ricky Gervais: Mortality (2025)
★ 7/10Also comedy
Ricky Gervais tackles life, death and the state of the world in a brutally honest special that spares no topic, even his own mortality.
6
Bill Burr: Drop Dead Years (2025)
★ 7.2/10Also comedy
In what might be his most personal and introspective hour yet, Bill offers hilarious takes on everything from male sadness to dating advice.
7
Balls Up (2026)
★ 5.8/10Also comedy
Two marketing executives go "balls out" and pitch a bold full‑coverage condom sponsorship with the World Cup. After their drunken celebration in Brazil sparks a global scandal, they must outrun furious fans, criminals…
8
Ill Manors (2012)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
Ensemble film revolving around characters living in Forest Gate, London. Over the course of a few days, six inter-linking stories explore issues of drug use, prostitution and urban poverty.
9
Stretch (2014)
★ 6.2/10Also comedy
A hard-luck limo driver struggling to go straight and pay off a debt to his bookie takes on a job with a crazed passenger whose sought-after ledger implicates some seriously dangerous criminals.
10
Hard to Die (1990)
★ 6/10Also comedy
While doing the inventory for a lingerie outlet in a high rise office building, five attractive women are terrorized by a series of bizarre killings. They suspect that the strange janitor, who witnessed another series…
11
Macunaima (1969)
★ 6.9/10Also comedy
Born a fully grown black man in a village in the Brazilian jungle, Macunaíma later magically transforms into a white man before making an adventure-filled trip to the city of São Paulo. Once there, he becomes something…
12
Accident Man (2018)
★ 6.3/10Also comedy
Mike Fallon, the Accident Man, is a stone cold killer. When a loved one is murdered by his own crew, Fallon is forced to avenge the one person who actually meant something to him.
13
Jawbone (2017)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
A former youth boxing champion, Jimmy McCabe is a man in search of hope but looking in all the wrong places. When he hits rock bottom he turns to his childhood boxing club and the only family he has left: gym owner…
14
El padrino: The Latin Godfather (2004)
★ 7.2/10Also drama
In the streets of East Los Angeles, Manny is a formidable drug dealer. Impressed by his extravagant lifestyle and prowess, his young son, Kilo, yearns to follow in his footsteps. Kilo resolves to learn how to prosper…
15
Mexicali (2026)
★ 7.7/10Also drama
A former special forces contractor is forced out of retirement as an avocado farmer in Mexico when local gangsters try to force him and his family off their farm.
16
Convict (2014)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
Set in the dark and old Parramatta prison built by the original convicts our lead character Ray a war veteran finds himself serving 18 months for manslaughter after defending his fiance. He soon realizes that the…
17
Who Is Cletis Tout? (2001)
★ 5.9/10Also comedy
With a hitman’s gun aimed at him, Finch tells the story of how he broke out of jail, fell in love, and took the identity of a man wanted by the Mafia.
18
Blindfire (2020)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
A police officer who while responding to a violent hostage call, kills the African American suspect only to later learn of his innocence. Sensing this was a set-up, and facing repercussions, he must track down the…
19
Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970)
★ 6.2/10Also comedy
Harlem's African-American population is being ripped off by the Rev. Deke O'Malley, who dishonestly claims that small donations will secure parcels of land in Africa. When New York City police officers Gravedigger…
20
The Rookie (1990)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
Veteran cop Nick Pulovski is used to playing musical partners; many of the partners he's had in the past have died on the job, and often as a result of Nick's risky tactics. But the rookie who's been assigned to help…