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Movies like Paper Towns

Key Features:
Teen romance, Coming-of-age, Mystery, Road trip, Missing person, Unrequited love, Self-discovery, Eccentric character, Suburban setting, Friendship, Searching, Based on a novel
Tone:
earnest, restrained, poetic
Target Audience:
Teenagers, Young adults, Romantics, Mystery fans
Emotional Arc:
Infatuation → Confusion → Acceptance

Paper Towns

2015-06-18
Paper Towns Poster - Find Similar Movies

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge, he follows. After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Quentin arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Quentin soon learns that there are clues, and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer Quentin gets, the less he sees of the girl he thought he knew.

Genres
Mystery, Drama, Romance
Cast
Nat Wolff, Cara Delevingne, Austin Abrams, Justice Smith, Halston Sage, Jaz Sinclair, Cara Buono, Josiah Cerio, Hannah Riley, Meg Crosbie
Crew
Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber, Jake Schreier
Rating
6.2(5125 votes)
Paper TownsPaper Towns
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Paper Man
Paper Man(2009)
6.31

A coming-of-middle-age comedy that chronicles the unlikely friendship between failed author Richard Dunne and a Long Island teen who teaches him a thing or two about growing up, all under the disapproving eye of his long-suffering wife and his imaginary Superhero friend.



Jasper Jones
6.4

Fourteen-year-old Charlie's life changes when Jasper takes his help to dispose of the body of his girlfriend, Laura. He decides to look for the murderer and falls in love with Laura's younger sister.



Geography Club
6.2

A coming-of-age movie that tells a story unfolding in every high school around the country -- a story of kids hiding their true identities in plain sight, even as they feverishly pursue their hearts' desires.



Be Somebody
6.504

Pop superstar Jordan Jaye has a big dream he just wants to live like a regular teenager. When he's chased down by some excited female fans, he finds a perfect hideout and a reluctant new friend from a small town, high-school art student, Emily Lowe. Despite being from different worlds, they soon discover they have way more in common than they ever imagined. Over the course of several days, the two embark on an unexpected journey of friendship, first love and self-discovery -- proving that maybe opposites really do attract.



Boys and Girls
5.943

Ryan and Jennifer are opposites who definitely do not attract. At least that's what they always believed. When they met as twelve-year-olds, they disliked one another. When they met again as teenagers, they loathed each other. But when they meet in college, the uptight Ryan and the free-spirited Jennifer find that their differences bind them together and a rare friendship develops.



Paperhouse
6.5

A young girl lost in the loneliness and boredom of reality finds solace in an ill boy, whom she can visit in a surreal dream world that she drew in her school composition book.



The Half of It
7.1

Shy, straight-A student Ellie is hired by sweet but inarticulate jock Paul, who needs help wooing the most popular girl in school. But their new and unlikely friendship gets tricky when Ellie discovers she has feelings for the same girl.



Daydream Nation
5.747

Forced to move to a boring backwater town, a teenager embarks on affairs with a teacher and a stoner classmate.



Paper Heart
5.746

Paper Heart follows Nick and Charlyne on a cross-country journey to document what exactly "love" is. Interviewing ministers, happily married couples, chemists, romance novelists, divorce lawyers, a group of children and more, the determined young girl attempts to find definition and perhaps even experience the mysterious emotion.



Mad Love
Mad Love(1995)
5.2

Matt falls for Casey, the new girl in school. She's fun-loving and eccentric, but there's a darkness to her whimsy that Matt can't begin to comprehend. When Casey attempts to commit suicide, her parents place her in a mental institution. Matt springs her out, and together the young lovers head on a road trip. They believe their love can "cure" Casey's problems. Matt starts to wonder, though, if are they inspired or misguided.



Almost Friends
6.3

A man in his mid-20s, still living at home with his mother and stepfather, puts all his eggs in one basket: the girl who works at his local coffee shop. The problem is, she has a serious boyfriend. As they become closer, the line between friendship and intimacy is blurred, and the situation forces both to examine where they are in their lives.



Ghost World
7.081

Two quirky, cynical teenaged girls try to figure out what to do with their lives after high school graduation. After they play a prank on an eccentric, middle aged record collector, one of them befriends him, which causes a rift in the girls’ friendship.



Lost and Delirious
6.795

After starting at an upmarket boarding school, a teenage girl forms close friendships with her two older roommates. However, when she discovers that her new friends are lovers she finds herself caught in a complicated situation.



Words on Bathroom Walls

Diagnosed with a mental illness halfway through his senior year of high school, a witty, introspective teen struggles to keep it a secret while falling in love with a brilliant classmate who inspires him to open his heart and not be defined by his condition.



Beautiful Girls
6.7

During a snowy winter in the small fictional town of Knight's Ridge, Massachusetts, a group of lifelong buddies hang out, drink and struggle to connect with the women who affect their decisions, dreams and desires.



Love, Simon
8

Everyone deserves a great love story, but for 17-year-old Simon Spier, it's a little more complicated. He hasn't told his family or friends that he's gay, and he doesn't know the identity of the anonymous classmate that he's fallen for online.



Elsewhere
Elsewhere(2009)
5.8

A teen girl disappears after trying to meet men online in order to escape her small town. Apparently, only her best friend worries enough to investigate the mystery.



Molly Maxwell
6.623

At Phoenix Progressive School, students take notes lying on parlor couches and are encouraged to explore their gifts through electives like break-dancing and graphic-novel writing. In the midst of all this liberal pedagogy and budding talent, Molly Maxwell feels unexceptional, until she falls for her attractive English teacher, Ben.



Terri
Terri(2011)
6.325

Terri, a pajama-clad, disaffected high school student learns how to engage the world with the help of Mr. Fitzgerald, his assistant principal.



Secret Admirer
6.7

An anonymous love letter left in Michael Ryan's locker on the last day of school wreaks havoc on his life and the lives of everyone who comes in contact with it.



Stargirl
Stargirl(2020)
7.4

An unassuming high schooler finds himself inexplicably drawn to the free-spirited new girl, whose unconventional ways change how they see themselves…and their world.



Arthur Newman
5.6

A story of a man who fakes his own death and assumes a new identity in order to escape his life, who then moves in with a woman who is also trying to leave her past behind.



November Criminals
5.3

When Addison investigates the murder of his friend Kevin with the help of Phoebe, they discover that the truth is darker than they had ever imagined.



Fanfic
Fanfic(2023)
6.96

Two high school students form an intense connection as they navigate the challenges of discovering and expressing their truest selves.



Natural Selection
5.3

Tyler is a young man who is desperately seeking direction from a world that seems to have abandoned him. Searching for answers he looks to his new friend Indrid who appears to have it all figured out.



The Edge of Seventeen
7.157

Two high school girls are best friends until one dates the other's older brother, who is totally his sister's nemesis.



Say Anything...
7

Lloyd, an eternal optimist, seeks to capture the heart of Diane, an unattainable high school beauty and straight-A student. He surprises just about everyone-including himself-when she returns the sentiment. But Diane's over-possessive, divorced Dad disapproves and it's going to take more than just the power of love to conquer all.



The First Time
6.99

A spark of attraction smolders, then ignites, between two teens from different high schools who meet by chance at a party.



Sierra Burgess Is a Loser

A case of mistaken identity results in unexpected romance when the most popular girl in high school and the biggest loser must come together to win over their crushes.



Read It and Weep
5.783

A young girl turns into an A-List celebrity over night when her private journal is accidently published and becomes a best-seller.



The Secret Diary of an Exchange Student

Two best friends embark on a life-changing adventure abroad as exchange students.



Marshmallow
6

At a secluded summer camp, timid and introverted 12-year-old Morgan is thrust into a waking nightmare when a once-fabled campfire tale becomes real. As a mysterious figure descends upon the camp, Morgan and his newfound friends must embark on a treacherous journey and uncover a sinister reality buried beneath the surface.



Starstruck
7

Pop star Christopher Wilde has fame, fortune and a big-budget Hollywood movie awaiting him. But after meeting Jessica Olson, a down-to-earth girl from the Midwest, he is faced with following his heart or doing what's best for his career.



The Map of Tiny Perfect Things

Two teenagers trapped in an endless time loop set out to find all the tiny things that make that one day perfect.



Confessions of an Invisible Girl

When the clever but socially-awkward Tetê joins a new school, she'll do anything to fit in. But the queen bee among her classmates has other ideas.



The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love

An adventurous love story between two young women of different social and economic backgrounds who find themselves going through all the typical struggles of a new romance.



Chemical Hearts
7.3

When a hopelessly romantic high school senior falls for a mysterious new classmate, it sets them both on an unexpected journey that teaches them about love, loss, and most importantly themselves.



Twilight
Twilight(2008)
6.284

When Bella Swan moves to a small town in the Pacific Northwest, she falls in love with Edward Cullen, a mysterious classmate who reveals himself to be a 108-year-old vampire. Despite Edward's repeated cautions, Bella can't stay away from him, a fatal move that endangers her own life.



Simon Birch
6.8

Simon Birch and Joe Wenteworth are boys who have a reputation for being oddballs. Joe never knew his father, and his mother, Rebecca, is keeping her lips sealed no matter how much he protests. Simon, meanwhile, is an 11-year-old dwarf whose outsize personality belies his small stature. Indeed, he often assails the local reverend with thorny theological questions and joins Joe on his quest to find his biological father.



Lovesong
Lovesong(2017)
5.7

Neglected by her husband, Sarah embarks on an impromptu road trip with her young daughter and her best friend, Mindy. Along the way, the dynamic between the two friends intensifies before circumstances force them apart. Years later, Sarah attempts to rebuild their intimate connection in the days before Mindy’s wedding.



Dear Zoe
Dear Zoe(2022)
6.2

Tess enlists her biological father – a lovable slacker from the wrong side of the tracks – and the charming juvenile delinquent next door to help her come to grips with the death of her little sister.



Keith
Keith(2008)
7.042

Natalie is high school royalty, but her queen bee status falls apart when she falls for the new guy at school. Although Keith ignores her at first, they soon become friends -- even though Natalie suspects that Keith has something to hide. As the free-spirited Keith shows Natalie how to embrace what life offers, they grow closer -- until a secret tests the bounds of their relationship



Some Kind of Wonderful

Keith Nelson, an artsy high school outcast, tries to land a date with popular girl Amanda Jones with some help from his tomboy best friend, Watts. However, Watts realizes she likes Keith as more than just a friend and tries to convince him to stop pursuing Amanda. Matters are further complicated when Keith's invitation draws the ire of Amanda's rich yet snobby ex-boyfriend, Hardy Jenns, who makes plans to get even.



Ashby
Ashby(2015)
6.207

When new kid in town Ed Wallis is given an assignment to interview an older person, he turns to his mysterious neighbor, Ashby Holt for help. That new connection leads to unexpected journeys for both of them, as Ashby – who turns out to be a retired CIA assassin – deals with a terminal prognosis, and Ed deals with adjusting to life with his newly single mom and developing relationship with a brainy classmate, Eloise.



Anne+: The Film
6.174

Just before Anne is moving from Amsterdam to live with her great love Sara in Montreal, her publisher criticizes the manuscript for her first novel. What exactly is the story she's trying to tell? Does she even have something to say at all? Anne is forced to search for what she wants in life, because it is not only the main character in her novel who seems to be a little lost.



Geek Charming
6.7

Film geek Josh is looking for the subject of his new documentary when a chance meeting puts the perfect star in his sights—Dylan, his school's most popular junior. But Dylan's hopes of using the film to become Blossom Queen don't quite match with Josh's goal to make a hard-hitting exposé about popularity. Will Josh shoot the film as planned, or show Dylan as the truly interesting person she is?



Abduction
Abduction(2011)
5.85

For many years, Nathan Harper has had the uneasy feeling that life with his family isn't quite what it seems. As he draws closer to uncovering the truth, he is hunted by assassins, forcing him to flee with his neighbor, Karen, the only person he can trust.



Juanita
Juanita(2019)
5.4

Fed up with her deadbeat grown kids and marginal urban existence, Juanita takes a Greyhound bus to Paper Moon, Montana - where she reinvents herself and finds her mojo.



Kelly & Cal
6.2

Punk-rocker turned suburban mom, Kelly, is nostalgic for a life she can no longer have and uncertain of a future she doesn’t yet fit in. Seventeen-year-old Cal is frustrated at his lack of control over the hand he's been dealt. When the two strike up an unlikely friendship, it's the perfect spark needed to thrust them both back to life.



#realityhigh
6.257

When nerdy high schooler Dani finally attracts the interest of her longtime crush, she lands in the cross hairs of his ex, a social media celebrity.



Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop

After meeting one day, a shy boy who expresses himself through haiku and a bubbly but self-conscious girl share a brief, magical summer.



Polaroid
Polaroid(2019)
6.016

High school loner Bird Fitcher has no idea what dark secrets are tied to the mysterious Polaroid vintage camera she stumbles upon, but it doesn't take long to discover that those who have their picture taken meet a tragic end. Bird and her friends must survive one more night as they race to solve the mystery of the haunted Polaroid before it kills them all.



The Case of Hana & Alice

A Japanese girl struggling to fit in at her new school teams up with a reclusive neighbor to find out what happened to an upperclassman who disappeared under mysterious circumstances.



Over the Sky
6.76

Mio is a girl in high school who slacks off. She and her childhood friend Arata and best friend Madoka spend their after-school days in Ikebukuro hanging out. One day, Madoka tells Mio that she loves Arata, and Mio realizes that she loves Arata, too. But she’s scared of their relationship falling apart and lies, saying she’ll help them. Mio deliberately acts coldly to Arata, and they get into a fight. She decides to work things out with Arata, but gets into a car accident on her way to meet him. She wakes up in a mysterious world. It's the Ikebukuro she knows, but something’s different...



Lucas
Lucas(1986)
6.7

A brilliant but socially inept 14-year-old experiences heartbreak for the first time when his two best friends – Cappie, an older-brother figure, and Maggie, the new girl with whom he is in love – fall for each other.



The Invisible Girl
6.4

Ariana always went unnoticed until she accidentally posted a video in which she declared her love for the most popular boy in school. Now his ex-girlfriend will do everything she can to ruin the romance and make her wish she could go back to being invisible.



Paper Planes
5.992

Dylan discovers he has a talent for making paper planes. He has a chance to compete in a world championship, but he'll have to face bullies and self-doubt to do so.



First Girl I Loved
6.286

Seventeen-year-old Anne just fell in love with Sasha, the most popular girl at her L.A. public high school. But when Anne tells her best friend, Clifton—who has always harbored a secret crush on her—he does his best to get in the way.



Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Nick cannot stop obsessing over his ex-girlfriend, Tris, until Tris' friend Norah suddenly shows interest in him at a club. Thus begins an odd night filled with ups and downs as the two keep running into Tris and her new boyfriend while searching for Norah's drunken friend, Caroline, with help from Nick's band mates. As the night winds down, the two have to figure out what they want from each other.



Spontaneous
6.8

When students in their high school begin inexplicably exploding (literally), seniors Mara and Dylan struggle to survive in a world where each moment may be their last.



To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You

Lara Jean and Peter have just taken their romance from pretend to officially real when another recipient of one of her love letters enters the picture.



L.A. Without a Map
5.774

An aspiring Hollywood actress, on a visit to a charming North England town, has a brief fling with the town undertaker, who also writes obituaries for the local paper. Returning home, where she works as a waitress at a Japanese restaurant, she tells everyone about the handsome "writer" she met on her trip. Unfortunately, he decides to follow her back to Hollywood, setting up the expected light romantic comedy with asides as the newcomer gains experience about the goings on in Hollywood.



Sex Drive
Sex Drive(2008)
6.4

A high school senior drives cross-country with his best friends to hook up with a babe he met online.



Diary of a Wimpy Kid
6.256

Greg Heffley is headed for big things, but first he has to survive the scariest, most humiliating experience of any kid’s life – middle school! That won’t be easy, considering he’s surrounded by hairy-freckled morons, wedgie-loving bullies and a moldy slice of cheese with nuclear cooties!



Crush
Crush(2022)
7.412

When an aspiring young artist is forced to join her high school track team, she uses it as an opportunity to pursue the girl she's been harboring a long-time crush on. But she soon finds herself falling for an unexpected teammate and discovers what real love feels like.



The Spectacular Now
6.673

Sutter, a popular party animal, unexpectedly meets the introverted Aimee after waking up on a stranger's lawn. As Sutter deals with the problems in his life and Aimee plans for her future beyond school, an unexpected romance blossoms between them.



Boy Meets Girl
6.642

In Kentucky, a transgender woman and her best male friend lament the lack of eligible partners and step across old boundaries of love and romance.



Alice Upside Down
5.7

Still mourning the death of her mother a few years back, Alice McKinley finds her life seriously disrupted when her father Ben buys a store and moves her and her older brother Lester to a new town.



P.S.
P.S.(2004)
5.6

Louise, an unfulfilled divorced woman with regrets, gets the chance to relive her past when she meets a young man who bears an uncanny resemblance, in name and appearance, to her high school sweetheart who died many years before.



Death Note
4.3

Light Turner finds a supernatural notebook and uses it to mete out death, attracting the attention of a detective, a demon and a girl in his class.



Playing It Cool
5.844

A young man meets and instantly falls in love with an engaged woman.



Dating Amber
7.1

Eddie and Amber decide to stage a relationship in order to stop everyone speculating about their sexuality. Eddie is keen to follow his dad into the military, while Amber dreams of moving to the liberal hub of London. The plan seems solid, but as their arrangement begins to fall apart, Eddie’s denial gets deeper as Amber realizes that a perilous future awaits her best friend unless she intervenes.



On the Road
5.617

Sal Paradise is a young writer whose life is shaken and ultimately redefined by the arrival of Dean Moriarty, a free-spirited, fearless, fast talking Westerner and his girl, Marylou. Traveling cross-country, Sal and Dean venture out on a personal quest for freedom from the conformity and conservatism engulfing them in search of the unknown, themselves, and the pursuit of “it” -- the pure essence of experience.



Good on Paper
5.6

After years of putting her career ahead of love, stand-up comic Andrea Singer has stumbled upon the perfect guy. On paper, he checks all the boxes, but is he everything he appears to be?



Kids in Love
5.752

Drifting through his gap year with its internships and travel plans, Jack has always suspected there was more to life than this. A chance encounter with the beautiful and ethereal Evelyn swerves his life radically off course.



The Sky Is Everywhere

Lennie is a teen musical prodigy grieving the death of her sister when she finds herself caught between a new guy at school and her sister's devastated boyfriend. Through her vivid imagination and conflicted heart, Lennie navigates first love and first loss.



The Vanishing of Sidney Hall

Over the course of 12 years, and three stages of life, Sidney Hall falls in love, writes the book of a generation and then disappears without a trace.



Laggies
Laggies(2014)
6.1

Overeducated and underemployed, 28 year old Megan is in the throes of a quarterlife crisis. Squarely into adulthood with no career prospects, no particular motivation to think about her future and no one to relate to, Megan is comfortable lagging a few steps behind - while her friends check off milestones and celebrate their new grown-up status. When her high-school sweetheart proposes, Megan panics and- given an unexpected opportunity to escape for a week - hides out in the home of her new friend, 16-year old Annika and Annika's world-weary single dad Craig.



Bixler High Private Eye

Teenage detective Xander DeWitt is the new kid at Bixler Valley High, and he's there to unravel the biggest mystery of his life- the truth about his missing father. But in order to crack this case, Xander must learn to work with a partner- fearless investigative reporter Kenzie Messina.



Endless
Endless(2020)
6.7

When madly in love high school graduates Riley and Chris are separated by a tragic car accident, Riley blames herself for her boyfriend's death while Chris is stranded in limbo. Miraculously, the two find a way to connect. In a love story that transcends life and death, both Riley and Chris are forced to learn the hardest lesson of all: letting go.



Anonymously Yours
7.536

After an accidental text message turns into a digital friendship, Vale and Alex start crushing on each other without realizing they've met in real life.



Sweethearts
5.7

Two college freshmen who decided to stick with their high school sweethearts have to pull a 'Turkey Dump' and break up with them over 'Drunksgiving' the one chaotic night before Thanksgiving in their hometown that puts their codependent friendship to the test.



The Paperboy
5.55

A reporter returns to his Florida hometown to investigate a case involving a death row inmate.



The Misfits Club
6.831

Valeria has just moved to Madrid after her parent's separation. What at first seems a bad start for her new life becomes the beginning of an amazing life experience. New friendships, a city full of possibilities, first love...



Eighth Grade
7.2

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.



A Cinderella Story
6.6

Routinely exploited by her wicked stepmother, the downtrodden Samantha Montgomery is excited about the prospect of meeting her Internet beau at the school's Halloween dance.



The Thing About Harry

Two high school enemies, uber-jock Harry and out-and-proud Sam, are forced to share a car ride to their Missouri hometown for a friend's engagement party on Valentine's Day. Things take a turn when Sam learns Harry has come out.



Better Off Dead...
6.6

High school student Lane Meyer sinks into suicidal depression when his girlfriend dumps him for jock Roy Stalin, the high school ski racing champion. Meanwhile, he has to deal with his eccentric family, a tenacious paperboy and an obnoxious neighbor whose mother is hosting a beautiful French exchange student named Monique.



The Go-Getter
6.174

When his mother dies, a teenager takes a road-trip in a stolen car to find his long-lost brother. Along the way he discovers a profound connection with the car-owner and with himself as well.



Beautiful Creatures
6.038

Ethan Wate just wants to get to know Lena Duchannes better, but unbeknownst to him, Lena has strange powers. As Lena's 16th birthday approaches she might decide her fate, to be good or evil. A choice which will impact her relationship forever.



Winter Spring Summer or Fall

Remi and Barnes, two very different teenagers, meet by chance in the winter of their senior year, then spend four days together over the course of a year that will change their lives forever.



The Tomorrow Man
5.7

Ed Hemsler spends his life preparing for a disaster that may never come. Ronnie Meisner spends her life shopping for things she may never use. In a small town somewhere in America, these two people will try to find love while trying not to get lost in each other’s stuff.



Safelight
Safelight(2015)
5.8

A teenage boy and girl discover a renewed sense of possibility as they go on a road trip to photograph lighthouses along the California coast.



Get Over It
5.6

When Berke Landers, a popular high school basketball star, gets dumped by his life-long girlfriend, Allison, he soon begins to lose it. But with the help of his best friend Felix's sister Kelly, he follows his ex into the school's spring musical. Thus ensues a love triangle loosely based upon Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", where Berke is only to find himself getting over Allison and beginning to fall for Kelly.



To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Lara Jean's love life goes from imaginary to out of control when her secret letters to every boy she's ever fallen for are mysteriously mailed out.



Digging to China
6.4

Precocious young Harriet and her older sister Gwen live at their mother's motel in small-town New Hampshire. Harriet dreams of a life beyond her inattentive family and the stultifying town. A mentally disabled man named Ricky comes to stay at the motel, and Harriet finds him kinder and more interesting than anyone she has ever met. After tragedy strikes, Harriet and Ricky cling to each other ever more tightly.



People, Places, Things

Will Henry is a newly single graphic novelist balancing being a parent to his young twin daughters and teaching a classroom full of college students, all the while trying to navigate the rich complexities of new love and letting go of the woman who left him.



Young Adult
5.8

A divorced writer from the Midwest returns to her hometown to reconnect with an old flame, who's now married with a family.



Just Friends
6.218

While visiting his hometown during Christmas, a man comes face-to-face with his old high school crush whom he was best friends with – a woman whose rejection of him turned him into a ferocious womanizer.

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