Here are Cinephile Corner’s 10 recommendations for movies like Allen:
Elio
Elio is Pixar’s take on the lonely-kid-meets-aliens story. Its space-obsessed hero gets beamed into an intergalactic council and is mistaken for Earth’s ambassador, setting off a colorful adventure about belonging and friendship. The film shows signs of too many cooks in the kitchen, but its central bond between a boy and an unlikely alien companion will strike a familiar chord for fans of Allen.
Lilo & Stitch
Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch retells the story of a lonely Hawaiian girl who adopts a destructive little alien she mistakes for a dog. Dean Fleischer Camp’s remake rarely justifies itself next to the animated original, but the core of the story, an outsider from space teaching a family what ohana means, remains as sweet as ever.
Disclosure Day
Disclosure Day finds Steven Spielberg returning to the subject that helped define his career: what happens when humanity learns it is not alone. Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor lead the ensemble in a film that covers familiar ground, though few filmmakers stage wonder and paranoia about extraterrestrials better.
Signs
Signs may be M. Night Shyamalan’s best movie, a sci-fi classic that is really about a family pulling itself back together. Mel Gibson plays a former priest on a Pennsylvania farm who discovers crop circles in his fields as signs of an alien arrival spread worldwide. Joaquin Phoenix co-stars, and Shyamalan wrings enormous tension out of a single farmhouse.
Luca
Luca follows two young sea monsters who disguise themselves as human boys to spend a summer in a seaside Italian town. Enrico Casarosa’s Pixar film is a gentle story about a friendship built around a secret, and while its by-the-numbers plotting holds it back, its sunny coastal setting and warm heart make it a natural fit alongside Allen’s Queensland coast.
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie is a mockumentary for the ages. Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol play versions of themselves, two best friends with big dreams and terrible plans, in a feature-length parody of Back to the Future. It is a chaotic, guerrilla-style comedy about a lifelong friendship, with the same man-child sense of play that powers Allen.
Read our full review of Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
Friendship
Friendship is A24’s acidic riff on male bonding. Tim Robinson plays Craig, a socially awkward suburban dad who becomes fixated on his cool new neighbor, a local weatherman played by Paul Rudd, after one great night together. It is one of the best comedies of 2025, a cringe-filled look at how badly some grown men want a best friend.
Paddington in Peru
Paddington in Peru sends everyone’s favorite marmalade-loving bear back to his homeland with the Brown family in tow. Without Paul King behind the camera or Sally Hawkins as Mrs. Brown, the third installment feels like slightly diminished returns, but it still delivers the warmth of a story about a visitor from far away who becomes family.
The Mandalorian and Grogu
The Mandalorian and Grogu brings Star Wars back to movie theaters with Pedro Pascal’s bounty hunter and his tiny green ward. We were not convinced it justifies its own existence on the big screen, but for younger viewers, the bond between a gruff protector and an adorable alien is the same kind of pull that makes Allen work.
Toy Story 5
Toy Story 5 finds Pixar going back to the well once more with Woody, Buzz and the gang. The franchise’s steady theme, what it means to grow up and leave childhood companions behind, is right in line with Allen’s story of a man reunited with the friend who vanished from his youth. Check where it lands in our Pixar ranking.
READ MORE: Movies Like Paddington in Peru, The 10 Best Alien Movies of All Time
