Movies Like Happiness Is No Joke

If you liked Happiness Is No Joke (1995), a drama movie directed by Guillaume Nicloux, 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
Adieu Philippine (1962)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
Michel is a young technician in the fledgling TV industry and is due for military service in two months at the time of the Algerian War. Juliette and Liliane are inseparable best friends, and aspiring actresses, who…
2
Love Me No More (2008)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
Antoine Méliot is around 40 years old and has everything he needs to be happy: a beautiful wife, two adorable children, friends he can count on, a pretty house in the Yvelines and money. But one day he decides to ruin…
3
Another Day (2026)
★ 7/10Also drama
Garance is a young actress, but not a star. She manages everything as best she can, valiant, cheerful, a soldier, and she finds in alcohol an unconditional fuel, a source of comfort. Garance changes her life and begins…
4
Haute Couture (2021)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
Esther is at the end of her career as Head Seamstress at Dior Avenue Montaigne workshop. One day, she gets her handbag stolen in the metro by a 20 years old girl, Jade. Instead of calling the police she decides to take…
5
The Passengers of the Night (2022)
★ 6.9/10Also drama
On election night in 1981, celebrations spill out onto the street and there is an air of hope and change throughout Paris. But for Elisabeth, her marriage is coming to an end and she will now have to support herself…
6
Thank You, Life (1991)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
Camille, a naïve schoolgirl, meets an intriguing influence in Joelle, a slightly older and much more experienced spirit. Camille follows her new friend through the discovery of sex and the darker side of life. As the…
7
Hardball (2001)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.
8
Pasha (1968)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
Six months before his retirement from the criminal police, inspector Joss finds his colleague Gouvion dead, in a poorly faked suicide attempt. Joss loses his temper, and investigates on his own, which leads him through…
9
L'Argent (1928)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
Adapted from the novel L'Argent by Émile Zola, the film portrays the world of banking and the stock market in Paris in the 1920s.
10
Out of Love (2025)
★ 6.9/10Also drama
When Jeanne, a meticulous insurance assessor, is suddenly left to care for her estranged sister’s two children after their mother vanishes, her carefully ordered life begins to unravel. Confronted with unexpected…
11
The Young One (1960)
★ 7/10Also drama
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
12
Brother (2019)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
Because he wanted to protect his little brother, Teddy, a young man without a history, is accused of the murder of his father and sent to a closed educational center, waiting for his trial for parricide. He then…
13
The Colors of Fire (2022)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
February 1927. The funeral of Marcel Péricourt, the most powerful banker in Paris. His daughter Madeleine must take the helm of the financial empire of which she is the heiress. But she has a son, Paul, who with an…
14
Kisses (2008)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
Two kids, Dylan and Kylie, run away from home on Christmas Day and spend a night of magic and terror on the streets of inner-city Dublin.
15
La Belle Équipe (1936)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
Five unemployed workers win 100,000 Francs in the national lottery. Instead of sharing the money, they buy a ruin and build an open-air cafe. But difficulties come to split their friendly group apart.
16
A Single Girl (1995)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
A young Parisian must make major decisions about pregnancy, a job, and her boyfriend.
17
Out of Season (2024)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
Mathieu lives in Paris, Alice in a small seaside resort in Western France. He is a famous actor, about to turn fifty. She is a piano teacher in her forties. They were in love fifteen years ago, then separated. Time has…
18
Inside I'm Dancing (2004)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
Michael is a 24-year-old who has cerebral palsy and long-term resident of the Carrigmore Residential Home for the Disabled, run by the formidable Eileen. His life is transformed when the maverick Rory O'Shea moves in.
19
Chaos (2001)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
A bourgeois couple, modern yet conventional. One night by accident, a young prostitute barges into their lives. Hounded down, beaten up, threatened, she will continue to struggle, with the help of a well off lady…
20
Case 137 (2025)
★ 6.9/10Also drama
When Internal Affairs officer Stéphanie investigates a young man severely injured during a chaotic Paris demonstration and finds no police misconduct, the routine case hits close to home upon her discovering the victim…