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3 Idiots poster

Movies that feel like3 Idiots (2009)

Rascal. Joker. Dreamer. Genius... You've never met a college student quite like "Rancho." From the moment he arrives at India's most prestigious university, Rancho's outlandish schemes turn the campus upside down—along with the lives of his two newfound best friends. Together, they make life miserable for "Virus," the school’s uptight and heartless dean. But when Rancho catches the eye of the dean's daughter, Virus sets his sights on flunking out the "3 idiots" once and for all.

If you loved 3 Idiots, the closest films we have are Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015), The Squid and the Whale (2005) and Eighth Grade (2018). All three share 3 Idiots' contemplative and witty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Slums of Beverly Hills (1998).

🍅 94% Rotten Tomatoes★ 8.4 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Rajkumar Hiranicontemplativewittyplayfulwistful
7 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Hulu

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See it on the Mood Map

If 3 Idiots hit the spot, these will too

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl poster
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
2015 · dir. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
🍅 81%★ 7.7drama · comedyRent or buy

Both are working the same pair: growing up, friends

Greg is coasting through senior year of high school as anonymously as possible, avoiding social interactions like the plague while secretly making spirited, bizarre films with Earl, his only friend. But both his anonymity and friendship threaten to unravel when his mother forces him to befriend a classmate with leukemia.

The Squid and the Whale poster
The Squid and the Whale
2005 · dir. Noah Baumbach
🍅 91%★ 7.3comedy · drama

The same preoccupation in both: growing up

Based on the true childhood experiences of Noah Baumbach and his brother, The Squid and the Whale tells the touching story of two young boys dealing with their parents' divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980s.

Eighth Grade poster
Eighth Grade
2018 · dir. Bo Burnham
🍅 99%★ 7.3comedy · dramaNetflix

Both land stillness and wit at once

Thirteen-year-old Kayla endures the tidal wave of contemporary suburban adolescence as she makes her way through the last week of middle school — the end of her thus far disastrous eighth grade year — before she begins high school.

Rushmore poster
Rushmore
1998 · dir. Wes Anderson
🍅 90%★ 7.6comedy · drama

The same mix in both: play, then wistfulness

When a beautiful first-grade teacher arrives at a prep school, she soon attracts the attention of an ambitious teenager named Max, who quickly falls in love with her. Max turns to the father of two of his schoolmates for advice on how to woo the teacher. However, the situation soon gets complicated when Max's new friend becomes involved with her, setting the two pals against one another in a war for her attention.

Slums of Beverly Hills poster
Slums of Beverly Hills
1998 · dir. Tamara Jenkins
🍅 82%★ 6.7comedy · drama

Drama built on stillness, twice over

In 1976, a teenage girl struggles to cope while living with her neurotic lower-middle-class family of nomads on the outskirts of Beverly Hills.

Breaking Away poster
Breaking Away
1979 · dir. Peter Yates
🍅 95%★ 7.7drama · comedy

Both lean on wit more than on comedy

The difference: 30 years apart, and the 1970s show

Dave, nineteen, has just graduated high school, with his three friends: the comical Cyril, the warm hearted but short-tempered Moocher, and the athletic, spiteful but good-hearted Mike. Now, Dave enjoys racing bikes and hopes to race the Italians one day, and even takes up the Italian culture, much to his friends' and parents' annoyance.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople poster
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
2016 · dir. Taika Waititi
🍅 97%★ 7.8adventure · comedy · dramaPrime VideoPeacock

Playful drama, and it commits to that

The difference: Leans harder into adventure than 3 Idiots does

Ricky is a defiant young city kid who finds himself on the run with his cantankerous foster uncle in the wild New Zealand bush. A national manhunt ensues, and the two are forced to put aside their differences and work together to survive.

Booksmart poster
Booksmart
2019 · dir. Olivia Wilde
🍅 96%★ 7.1comedyRent or buy

Wistful comedy in both cases

The difference: Trades the stillness of 3 Idiots for an angle of its own

Two academic teenage superstars realize, on the eve of their high school graduation, that they should have worked less and played more. Determined to never fall short of their peers, the girls set out on a mission to cram four years of fun into one night.

Superbad poster
Superbad
2007 · dir. Greg Mottola
🍅 88%★ 7.6comedyParamount+

Comedy with a pulse of wit, in both cases

Two co-dependent high school seniors are forced to deal with separation anxiety after their plan to stage a booze-soaked party goes awry.

The Breakfast Club poster
The Breakfast Club
1985 · dir. John Hughes
🍅 87%★ 7.8comedy · dramaHulu

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

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 jock. Each has a chance to tell his or her story, making the others see them a little differently -- and when the day ends, they question whether school will ever be the same.

American Reunion poster
American Reunion
2012 · dir. Jon Hurwitz
🍅 45%★ 6.7comedy

Both run playful where it counts

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

The characters we met a little more than a decade ago return to East Great Falls for their high school reunion. In one long-overdue weekend, they will discover what has changed, who hasn’t, and that time and distance can’t break the bonds of friendship.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off poster
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
1986 · dir. John Hughes
🍅 85%★ 7.8comedyParamount+

A streak of wistfulness through both

After high school slacker Ferris Bueller successfully fakes an illness in order to skip school for the day, he goes on a series of adventures throughout Chicago with his girlfriend Sloane and best friend Cameron, all the while trying to outwit his wily school principal and fed-up sister.

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The best-reviewed films that share 3 Idiots’ defining feeling.