Movies Like This Happy Life

If you liked This Happy Life (1944), a comedy and drama movie directed by Mikio Naruse, 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
SubUrbia (1997)
★ 6.2/10Also comedy and drama
A group of suburban teenagers try to support each other through the difficult task of becoming adults.
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
Lady Windermere's Fan (1925)
★ 6.9/10Also comedy and drama
A society woman believes her husband is having an affair, a misconception which may have dire personal consequences for all involved.
4
CQ (2001)
★ 5.9/10Also comedy and drama
A young filmmaker in 1960s Paris juggles directing a cheesy sci-fi debacle, directing his own personal art film, coping with his crumbling relationship with his girlfriend, and a new-found infatuation with the sci-fi…
5
Landline (2017)
★ 6.2/10Also comedy and drama
A teenager living with her sister and parents in Manhattan during the 1990s discovers that her father is having an affair.
6
The Parts You Lose (2019)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
An unlikely friendship unfolds between a young deaf boy, Wesley, and a fugitive criminal who takes refuge in an abandoned barn on the family’s rural North Dakota farm.
7
House of D (2004)
★ 6.3/10Also comedy and drama
In the present, artist Tom Warshaw recalls his traumatic coming of age. As a 13-year-old growing up in New York City in 1973, Tom hangs out with Pappass, a mentally disabled man. With Tom's mother battling depression…
8
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…
9
The Joneses (2010)
★ 6.2/10Also comedy and drama
A seemingly perfect family moves into a suburban neighborhood, but when it comes to the truth as to why they're living there, they don't exactly come clean with their neighbors.
10
Don't Think Twice (2016)
★ 6.4/10Also comedy and drama
An improv group deals with several crises, including the loss of their lease and one member hitting the big time.
11
It Runs in the Family (2003)
★ 6/10Also comedy and drama
This is the story of a dysfunctional New York family, and their attempts to reconcile
12
The House of Tomorrow (2019)
★ 6.8/10Also drama and comedy
The film tells futurist, architect, and inventor R. Buckminster Fuller's incredible story through two teens hoping to get laid, become punk gods, and survive high school.
13
The Good Half (2024)
★ 6.2/10Also comedy and drama
Renn Wheeland returns home to Cleveland for his mother's funeral. Once there, he forges new relationships while healing old ones, before confronting his problems and trying to face his grief.
14
The Beanie Bubble (2023)
★ 6.4/10Also comedy and drama
Ty was a frustrated toy salesman until his collaboration with three women turned his stuffed animals into a defining '90s trend. This behind-the-scenes look at history's biggest toy craze is a wild story about what—and…
15
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024)
★ 7.5/10Also comedy and drama
On an empty road in the middle of the night, Shula stumbles across the body of her uncle. As funeral proceedings begin around them, she and her cousins bring to light the buried secrets of their middle-class Zambian…
16
Judy & Punch (2019)
★ 6.1/10Also drama and comedy
In the anarchic town of Seaside, nowhere near the sea, puppeteers Judy and Punch are trying to resurrect their marionette show. The show is a hit due to Judy's superior puppeteering but Punch's driving ambition and…
17
Suburbicon (2017)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
In the quiet family town of Suburbicon during the 1950s, the best and worst of humanity is hilariously reflected through the deeds of seemingly ordinary people. When a home invasion turns deadly, a picture-perfect…
18
Tyler Perry's Madea on the Run - The Play (2017)
★ 7.5/10Also comedy and drama
In trouble with the local authorities, Mabel Simmons, notoriously known as Madea, is on the run from the law. With no place to turn, she moves in with her friend Bam who is recovering from surgery. Unbeknownst to Bam…
19
Achilles and the Tortoise (2008)
★ 7/10Also comedy and drama
Machisu is a painter. He never had the success he thinks he is entitled to. Regardless of this, he always remains trying to be successful. His wife Sachiko keeps supporting him, despite all setbacks.
20
Hostile Takeover (2025)
★ 6.9/10Also comedy
Follows Pete, a professional hitman, as he faces a group of assassins after the boss of a crime syndicate suspects disloyalty due to his attendance at Workaholics Anonymous meetings.