Movies Like The Happiest Hours of our Lives

If you liked The Happiest Hours of our Lives (2016), a movie directed by Ron Jäger, 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
Fist Fight (2017)
★ 6/10
When one school teacher gets the other fired, he is challenged to an after-school fight.
2
Dismissed (2017)
★ 6.5/10
A straight-edged teacher finds trouble when an honors student is willing to do anything to get an A.
3
The Teachers' Lounge (2023)
★ 7.2/10
When one of her students is suspected of theft, teacher Carla Nowak decides to get to the bottom of the matter. Caught between her ideals and the school system, the consequences of her actions threaten to break her.
4
Locked in Society (2022)
★ 6.3/10
On a Friday afternoon, there was an unexpected knock on the door of the staff room of a city high school. An ambitious father is willing to go to extremes to get his son admitted to high school. The six teachers who…
5
Blackboard Jungle (1955)
★ 6.9/10
Richard Dadier is a teacher at North Manual High School, an inner-city school where many of the pupils frequently engage in anti-social behavior. Dadier makes various attempts to engage the students' interest in…
6
Lemonade Mouth (2011)
★ 7.4/10
When five ragtag freshman first meet in detention, it seems they have nothing in common. But, through music, they form an unbreakable bond and discover they have the makings of the greatest high school garage band in…
7
Lean On Me (1989)
★ 7.3/10
When principal Joe Clark takes over decaying Eastside High School, he's faced with students wearing gang colors and graffiti-covered walls. Determined to do anything he must to turn the school around, he expels…
8
Toy Soldiers (1991)
★ 6.5/10
After federal agents arrest a drug czar and put him on trial, the cartel leader's vicious son storms a prep school and takes its students hostage. They rebel against the armed intruders and try to take back their…
9
The United States of Leland (2003)
★ 6.5/10
A withdrawn young man, Leland Fitzgerald is imprisoned for the murder of a mentally disabled boy, who also happened to be the brother of his girlfriend, Becky. As the community struggles to deal with the killing, Pearl…
10
Class of 1984 (1982)
★ 6.4/10
Andy is a new teacher at an inner city high school that is unlike any he has seen before. There are metal detectors at the front door and the place is basically run by a tough kid named Peter Stegman. Soon, Andy and…
11
The Breakfast Club (1985)
★ 7.7/10
Five high school students from different walks of life endure a Saturday detention under a power-hungry principal. The disparate group includes rebel John, princess Claire, outcast Allison, brainy Brian and Andrew, the…
12
The Ron Clark Story (2006)
★ 7.6/10
Passionate and innovative teacher Ron Clark leaves his small hometown to teach in one of Harlem's toughest schools. But to break through to the students, he must use unconventional methods, including his…
13
Whiplash (2013)
★ 7.8/10
A ferocious, bullying music teacher teaches a dedicated student.
14
Foxfire (1996)
★ 6/10
The story of five teenage girls who form an unlikely bond after beating up a teacher who has sexually harassed them. They build a solid friendship but their wild ways begin to get out of control.
15
The Final (2010)
★ 6/10
A group of high school outcasts get revenge on the students that torment them.
16
One Eight Seven (1997)
★ 6.7/10
When a Brooklyn high school student writes the police code for homicide, 187, inside a textbook owned by teacher Trevor Garfield, Garfield feels threatened. The principal dismisses the incident, but the same student…
17
Stand and Deliver (1988)
★ 7.8/10
Jaime Escalante is a mathematics teacher in a school in a hispanic neighbourhood. Convinced that his students have potential, he adopts unconventional teaching methods to try and turn gang members and no-hopers into…
18
Drillbit Taylor (2008)
★ 5.9/10
Dealing with a sociopathic school bully, three high school freshmen hire a low-budget bodyguard to protect them, not realizing he is just a homeless beggar and petty thief looking for some easy cash.
19
Steve (2025)
★ 6.4/10
Over one intense day, the devoted head teacher of a last-chance reform school strives to keep his students in line while facing pressures of his own.
20
Freedom Writers (2007)
★ 7.9/10
A young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves, and pursue education beyond high school.