Movies Like Emile's Boat

If you liked Emile's Boat (1962), a comedy and drama movie directed by Denys de La Patellière, 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
Bazaar (Murder in the Building) (2026)
★ 6.5/10Also comedy and drama
Misanthropic novelist François writes gripping crime stories – “Agatha Christie meets The Scarlet Pimpernel” – but outside of the swashbuckling imaginary world of his Marquis la Rose-novels, life is far from thrilling…
2
The Crime is Mine (2023)
★ 6.5/10Also crime and comedy
In 1930s Paris, Madeleine, a pretty, young, penniless, and talentless actress, is accused of murdering a famous producer. Helped by her best friend, Pauline, a young, unemployed lawyer, she is acquitted on the grounds…
3
Guardian Angels (1995)
★ 6.1/10Also comedy and crime
A sleazy Paris nightclub owner and ex-detective flies to Hong Kong to rescue the young son of a friend murdered by the Chinese mob.
4
The Parts You Lose (2019)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and crime
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.
5
Hold-up (1985)
★ 6.2/10Also comedy and crime
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…
6
An Indian Tale (2017)
★ 5.8/10Also drama and comedy
The life of two men changed unexpectedly when Ajith, an Indian sailor who was robbed and lost everything, appears out of nowhere in front of Pierre, a single and grumpy Frenchman.
7
Uranus (1990)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and comedy
After World War II, a small French village struggles to put the war behind as the controlling Communist Party tries to flush out Petain loyalists. The local bar owner, a simple man who likes to write poetry, who only…
8
Limbo (2023)
★ 6.1/10Also crime and drama
Travis, a jaded detective, arrives in the remote outback town of Limbo to investigate the cold case murder of local Indigenous girl Charlotte Hayes 20 years ago. As truths about the murder begin to unfold, the…
9
RRRrrrr!!! (2004)
★ 6.3/10Also comedy and crime
In 35,000 BC, the tribe of the Dirty Hairs is at war against the tribe of the Clean Hairs for eight hundred years, trying to get their shampoo. The chief of the Dirty Hairs sends his daughter Guy disguised to the enemy…
10
Saint Omer (2022)
★ 6.1/10Also drama and crime
A novelist attends the trial of a woman accused of killing her 15-month-old daughter by abandoning her to the rising tide on a beach in northern France. But as the trial continues, her own family history, doubts, and…
11
Umbrella Coup (1980)
★ 6.9/10Also comedy and crime
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…
12
The Caveman's Valentine (2001)
★ 5.9/10Also drama and mystery
Romulus, a misunderstood musician turned recluse hiding from personal demons in a New York City cave, finds the frozen body of a young drifter in a tree. The authorities, including his police officer daughter, claim…
13
Maigret and the Dead Lover (2026)
★ 6/10Also mystery and drama
Commissioner Maigret rushes to the Quai d’Orsay with Lieutenant Janvier. There, they find Mademoiselle Larrieu in a state of shock. That very morning, she discovered the bullet-riddled body of Mr. Berthier-Lagès, a…
14
Zero Effect (1998)
★ 6.3/10Also mystery and crime
Daryl Zero is a private investigator and—along with his assistant, Steve Arlo—he solves impossible crimes and puzzles. Although Daryl's a master investigator, he doesn't know what to do with himself when he's not…
15
Unsubmissives (2025)
★ 7.2/10Also drama and crime
Early 1990’s, south of France. Katy, Hélène, Laurence and Carole have been best friends since childhood. Now in their twenties, they find themselves struggling with hardship and limited opportunities in their sunny…
16
Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Reunited and It Feels So Deadly (2020)
★ 7.3/10Also mystery and crime
Aurora's high school reunion turns deadly when a body is found in the hotel pool. Aurora and her Real Murders Club help investigate which classmate was most likely to kill.
17
Riddled with Deceit: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery (2020)
★ 7.4/10Also mystery and drama
Former detective Jeff Jackson teams up with Dr. Zee Madieras to track down their friend's missing emerald brooch, a thief, and also... a murderer.
18
The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
★ 6.9/10Also comedy and crime
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.
19
Just to Be Sure (2017)
★ 6.4/10Also drama and comedy
Erwan, a strapping Breton who clears mines for a living, is shaken when he discovers that his father is not his father. Despite his affection for the man who raised him, he quietly sets out to find his biological…
20
Fahim (2019)
★ 6.8/10Also drama and comedy
Fahim Mohammad, a Bangladeshi immigrant, becomes a world junior chess champion in France.