Movies Like Only When I Laugh

If you liked Only When I Laugh (1981), a comedy and drama movie directed by Glenn Jordan, 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
Postcards from the Edge (1990)
★ 6.6/10Also comedy and drama
A substance-addicted actress tries to look on the bright side even as she's forced to move back in with her mother to avoid unemployment.
2
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002)
★ 6/10Also comedy and drama
In a sleepy Louisiana parish, a group of lifelong friends stage a rather unorthodox intervention to help a young playwright unravel the truth about her complicated mother and let go of her painful past.
3
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
★ 7.4/10Also drama and comedy
A fading actor best known for his portrayal of a popular superhero attempts to mount a comeback by appearing in a Broadway play. As opening night approaches, his attempts to become more altruistic, rebuild his career…
4
Dinner at Eight (1933)
★ 6.8/10Also comedy and drama
An ambitious New York socialite plans an extravagant dinner party as her businessman husband, Oliver, contends with financial woes, causing a lot of tension between the couple. Meanwhile, their high-society friends and…
5
Demolition (2016)
★ 6.9/10Also comedy and drama
An emotionally desperate investment banker finds hope through a woman he meets.
6
Otherhood (2019)
★ 6.1/10Also comedy
Feeling forgotten on Mother's Day, three best friends leave the suburbs and drive to New York City to surprise their adult sons.
7
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (2017)
★ 6.5/10Also comedy and drama
An estranged family gathers together in New York for an event celebrating the artistic work of their father.
8
The Florida Project (2017)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
The story of a precocious six year-old and her ragtag group of friends whose summer break is filled with childhood wonder, possibility and a sense of adventure while the adults around them struggle with hard times.
9
'night, Mother (1986)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
A mother and daughter spend a night together after the daughter reveals that she will kill herself by the end of it.
10
Shiva Baby (2021)
★ 7.1/10Also comedy and drama
College student Danielle must cover her tracks when she unexpectedly runs into her sugar daddy at a shiva - with her parents, ex-girlfriend and family friends also in attendance.
11
All That Jazz (1979)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
Joe Gideon is at the top of the heap, one of the most successful directors and choreographers in musical theater. But he can feel his world slowly collapsing around him - his obsession with work has almost destroyed…
12
Standing Up, Falling Down (2020)
★ 6.3/10Also comedy and drama
An unlikely friendship kindles between a struggling stand-up comedian from L.A. — forced to move back home to Eastern Long Island with his tail between his legs — and a tragically flawed, but charming and charismatic…
13
A Thousand and One (2023)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
Struggling but unapologetically living on her own terms, Inez is moving from shelter to shelter in mid-1990s New York City. With her 6-year-old son Terry in foster care and unable to leave him again, she kidnaps him so…
14
Ghostlight (2024)
★ 7.2/10Also comedy and drama
When melancholic construction worker Dan finds himself drifting from his wife and daughter, he discovers community and purpose in a local theater's production of Romeo and Juliet. As the drama onstage starts to mirror…
15
Match (2014)
★ 5.8/10Also comedy and drama
A Seattle couple travel to New York to interview colorful former dancer Tobi for research on a dissertation about dance. But soon, common niceties and social graces erode when the questions turn personal and the true…
16
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
★ 7.5/10Also comedy and drama
Royal Tenenbaum and his wife Etheline had three children and then they separated. All three children are extraordinary --- all geniuses. Virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums was subsequently…
17
Bad Moms (2016)
★ 6.5/10Also comedy
When three overworked and under-appreciated moms are pushed beyond their limits, they ditch their conventional responsibilities for a jolt of long overdue freedom, fun, and comedic self-indulgence.
18
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.
19
Fish Tank (2009)
★ 6.9/10Also drama
Fifteen-year-old Mia is in a constant state of war with her family and the world around her. When she meets her party-girl mother’s charming new boyfriend Connor, she is amazed to find he returns her attention, and…
20
Igby Goes Down (2002)
★ 6.6/10Also comedy and drama
Igby Slocumb, a rebellious and sarcastic 17-year-old boy, is at war with the stifling world of old money privilege he was born into. With a schizophrenic father, a self-absorbed, distant mother, and a shark-like young…