Movies like Rebetiko (2015)
The best movies like Rebetiko (2015) are Footloose (2011), Center Stage: Turn It Up (2008) and Ethel & Ernest (2016). If Rebetiko hooked you with its animation and romance, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedI Still Believe (2020)7.6/10 from 1,255 votes
- NewestDilution (2025)Released 2025
Footloose (2011)
Ren MacCormack is transplanted from Boston to the small southern town of Bomont where loud music and dancing are prohibited. Not one to bow to the status quo, Ren challenges the ban, revitalizing the town and falling in love with the minister’s troubled daughter Ariel in the process.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCenter Stage: Turn It Up (2008)
All self-taught dancer Kate Parker has ever wanted to do was perform with the American Academy of Ballet. But when she doesnt make it after auditioning, she learns that it takes more than precision and perfection to succeed in the dance world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEthel & Ernest (2016)
This hand drawn animated film, based on the award winning graphic novel by Raymond Briggs, is an intimate and affectionate depiction of the life and times of his parents, two ordinary Londoners living through extraordinary events.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHigh Strung (2016)
When a hip hop violinist busking in the New York subway encounters a classical dancer on scholarship at the Manhattan Conservatory of the Arts, sparks fly. With the help of a hip hop dance crew they must find a common ground while preparing for a competition that could change their lives forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHoney 3: Dare to Dance (2016)
While attending college in Cape Town, Melea Martin feels constrained by the school's strict policies, and decides to set out on her own. Searching for a way to use her talents as a dancer and inspire the community around her, Melea rents a failing theater in order to put on a Hip-Hop Romeo and Juliet performance. But much like the Capulets and Montagues, conflicts between cast members threaten to bring the whole performance to a halt...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStreetDance 2 (2012)
After suffering humiliation by the crew Invincible, street dancer Ash looks to gather the best dancers from around the world for a rematch.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Still Believe (2020)
The true-life story of Christian music star Jeremy Camp and his journey of love and loss that looks to prove there is always hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMelody Time (1948)
In the grand tradition of Disney's great musical classics, Melody Time features seven timeless stories, each enhanced with high-spirited music and unforgettable characters. You'll be sure to tap your toes and clap your hands in this witty feast for the eyes and ears.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Maker (2011)
A strange creature races against time to make the most important and beautiful creation of his life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSturgill Simpson Presents Sound & Fury (2019)
In this anime visual album, a mysterious driver heads deep into a postapocalyptic hellscape toward a ferocious showdown with two monstrous opponents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWinnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968)
Winnie the Pooh and his friends experience high winds, heavy rains, and a flood in Hundred Acre Wood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBarbie: Big City, Big Dreams (2021)
Barbie meets another Barbie Roberts, forming a close friendship, nicknaming each other Malibu and Brooklyn when they both attend the Handlers, Performing Art School in NYC, over the summer, competing for a spot at the spotlight solo.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDestino (2003)
Short film to a song of love lost and rediscovered, a woman sees and undergoes surreal transformations. Her lover's face melts off, she dons a dress from the shadow of a bell and becomes a dandelion, ants crawl out of a hand and become Frenchmen riding bicycles. Not to mention the turtles with faces on their backs that collide to form a ballerina, or the bizarre baseball game.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMake Mine Music (1946)
In the tradition of Fantasia, Make Mine Music is a glorious collection of musically charged animated shorts featuring such fun-filled favorites as "Peter and the Wolf", narrated by the beloved voice behind Winnie the Pooh. In addition you'll enjoy such classic cartoon hits as "Casey at the Bat," "The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met" and "Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisBattle of the Year (2013)
A down-on-his-luck coach is hired to prepare a team of the best American dancers for an international tournament that attracts all the best crews from around the world, but the Americans haven't won in fifteen years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCanvas (2020)
After a heartbreaking loss, a grandfather struggling to reclaim his passion for painting finds the inspiration to create again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWaking Life (2001)
Waking Life is about a young man in a persistent lucid dream-like state. The film follows its protagonist as he initially observes and later participates in philosophical discussions that weave together issues like reality, free will, our relationships with others, and the meaning of life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Tales of Hoffmann (1951)
A melancholy poet reflects on three women he loved and lost in the past: a mechanical performing doll, a Venetian courtesan, and the consumptive daughter of a celebrated composer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBilal: A New Breed of Hero (2016)
A thousand years ago, one boy with a dream of becoming a great warrior is abducted with his sister and taken to a land far away from home. Thrown into a world where greed and injustice rule all, Bilal finds the courage to raise his voice and make a change. Inspired by true events, this is a story of a real hero who earned his remembrance in time and history.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDC Showcase: Death (2019)
Vincent, an artist with unresolved inner demons, meets a mysterious girl who helps him come to terms with his creative legacy… and eventual death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisNegative Space (2017)
Even though Sam's father is hardly ever home because he is often away on business trips, he is able to connect with his son by teaching him how to pack a suitcase.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDilution (2025)
Dilution is an experimental short film that explores the transit between resistance and (di)ssolution, between holding and releasing and a path towards obsessive repetition. They are layers, exposed pores, matter that oscillates between remaining or disappearing. The sound is not a background, but a puncture: friction, tearing, water that drags what still persists. A sensorial testimony of what refuses to vanish completely.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & drama
B. (2015)
The true story of B.: Torn between a cold relationship with K. and her feelings for another woman, shy and insecure B. is heading for a disaster. For too long she has suppressed her desire and lived a lie. But is it really too late for B. to follow her heart?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & drama
The Phantom of the Opera (2021)
Stop motion adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
The Exploits of Moominpappa – Adventures of a Young Moomin (2022)
A beautiful summer day in Moomin Valley. Suddenly, a wasp stings Moomintroll, who falls ill and has to stay in bed. To cheer him up, Moominpappa recounts his youthful adventures; his misunderstood childhood, escape from an orphanage and his historic meeting with the inventor Hodgkins.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Araan (2015)
A little girl waits for his father, who is fighting on the front line, to come back home.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Alice in Not So Wonderland (2007)
The story of Alice in Wonderland, explored in the stop-motion world of the Quay brothers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Winter In The Rainforest (2019)
The tropical rainforests of Mexico and Peru. A unique poetic reality. The eternal dance of life and death as experienced by magical creatures of porcelain - animals, birds, insects and flowers – fragile and resilient at the same time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
The Ugly Duckling (1968)
A stop-motion puppet animation adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson's tale The Ugly Duckling.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Tenma no Torayan (1971)
A short puppet animation. Winner of the Oofuji Noburou Award.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Rebetiko?
The closest matches to Rebetiko are Footloose (2011), Center Stage: Turn It Up (2008) and Ethel & Ernest (2016). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Rebetiko?
Start with Footloose (2011), the closest match to Rebetiko.
What is the highest-rated movie like Rebetiko?
I Still Believe (2020), rated 7.6/10 by 1,255 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Rebetiko?
Dilution (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Rebetiko chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Rebetiko, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.