Movies like Burning Blue (2023)
The best movies like Burning Blue (2023) are Lady Driver (2020), The Girl in the Book (2015) and Teen Spirit (2019). If Burning Blue hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMonster (2023)7.9/10 from 1,002 votes
- NewestDaydream (2026)Released 2026
Lady Driver (2020)
When a rebellious teen embarks on a solo summer journey to connect with her roots, she finds herself in a new world, geared up for the ride of her life, and discovers she had the drive in her all along.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Girl in the Book (2015)
The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisTeen Spirit (2019)
A shy teenager living on the Isle of Wight dreams of pop stardom. With the help of an unlikely mentor, she enters a singing competition that will test her integrity, talent, and ambition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnthem of a Teenage Prophet (2019)
A small town-teen predicts his friend’s death with startling accuracy and is labelled the “Prophet of Death.” One thing he didn’t see coming? Falling in love - with his best friend’s girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCall Me Crazy: A Five Film (2013)
A psychotherapist helps a law student cope with schizophrenia in one of five interconnected tales dealing with mental illness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSkin (2009)
Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTigertail (2020)
A man reflects on the lost love of his youth and his long-ago journey from Taiwan to America as he begins to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat Maisie Knew (2013)
In New York City, six-year-old Maisie is caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle between her self-absorbed parents—an aging rock singer mother and a distracted art dealer father. As both quickly marry new partners to strengthen their legal standing, Maisie is shuttled back and forth in an endless game of emotional point-scoring. Yet amid the chaos and upheaval, Maisie begins to find true comfort and affection in her new step-parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Believe in Unicorns (2015)
Feeling awkward and isolated, an imaginative and strong-willed teenage girl runs away from home with an older punk rock drifter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBefore I Fall (2017)
Samantha Kingston has everything. Then, everything changes. After one fateful night, she wakes up with no future at all. Trapped into reliving the same day over and over, she begins to question just how perfect her life really was.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTyson's Run (2022)
When fifteen-year-old Tyson attends public school for the first time, his life is changed forever. While helping his father clean up after the football team, Tyson befriends champion marathon runner Aklilu. Never letting his autism hold him back, Tyson becomes determined to run his first marathon in hopes of winning his father's approval. With the help of an unlikely friend and his parents, Tyson learns that with faith in yourself and the courage to take the first step, anything is possible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972)
Middle-aged widow Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her daughters Ruth and Matilda are struggling to survive in a society they barely understand. Beatrice dreams of opening an elegant tea room but does not have the wherewithal to achieve her lofty goal. Epileptic Ruth is a rebellious adolescent, while shy but highly intelligent and idealistic Matilda seeks solace in her pets and school projects, including one designed to show how small amounts of radium affect marigolds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHomeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story (2003)
Based on a true story. Liz Murray is a young girl who is taken care of by her loving, but drug-addicted parents. Liz becomes homeless at 15 and after a tragedy comes upon her, she begins her work to finish high school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAnuja (2024)
When a brilliant nine-year-old working in a sweatshop gets a chance to attend school, she must make a difficult choice for her and her sister's future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Sound of Silence (2019)
A successful "house tuner" in New York City, who calibrates the sound in people's homes in order to adjust their moods, meets a client with a problem he can't solve.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSky (2016)
A woman embarks on a journey alone across the United States after fleeing from her violent husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNational Theatre Live: Hamlet (2015)
As a country arms itself for war, a family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father's death but paralyzed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSpringsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (2025)
Bruce Springsteen, a young musician on the cusp of global superstardom, struggles to reconcile the pressures of success with the ghosts of his past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAn American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong (2009)
A fourth grader and her friends deal with bullying from a more popular girl in their class.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain (1995)
Two teen girls, one from the city, one from the country, try to find the hidden gold of Bear Mountain learning about friendship, loyalty and courage on the way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMystic Pizza (1988)
Three teenage girls come of age while working at a pizza parlor in Mystic, Connecticut.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFreeway (1996)
Following the arrest of her mother, Ramona, young Vanessa Lutz decides to go in search of her estranged grandmother. On the way, she is given a ride by school counselor Bob Wolverton. During the journey, Lutz begins to realize that Bob is the notorious I-5 Killer and manages to escape by shooting him several times. Wounded but still very much alive, Bob pursues Lutz across the state in this modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSlope (2020)
Living in a village full of slopes can drive you mad. Those who have climbed them in the old-fashioned way are fully aware of that. What they don’t know is that their souls might have stuck around.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Final Day (2024)
Yadira, a creative young Cuban girl, struggles packing on her final day home. Embarking on an immigration journey alone, her suitcase feels too small to carry everything her heart holds.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Choir Girl (2019)
CHOIR GIRL is a gritty drama about a lonely photographer, Eugene, who becomes obsessed with an underage prostitute, Josephine, in his rundown neighbourhood. She has escaped a worn-torn country only to be trapped in the illegal sex trade by corruption and a powerful underworld criminal named Daddy. Yet for Eugene, Josephine represents a symbol of purity in the darkness - when he takes her photograph there is something captivating about her and she quickly becomes his muse.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
I'll Be Gone in June (2026)
In 2001, Franny, a 16-year-old exchange student from Germany, arrives in the sleepy desert town of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Far from home, Franny struggles through awkward school days, stifling heat, and restless nights until she meets Elliott, a boy whose quiet sadness mirrors her own. As America reels from 9/11, something resonates within Franny and an unexpected tenderness begins to bloom.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bad Girl (1963)
Wakae is a 15 year old girl who lived under the same roof with her alcoholic father and stepmom. Her mother had died years ago. She spends her nights at a rundown bar, sharing drinks and cigarettes with the lowlife drunks. She has nowhere to turn and no one to talk to, until she is reunited with her childhood friend, Saburo, who brings warmth to her heart.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Monster (2023)
After an outburst at school involving her son, a concerned single mother demands answers, triggering a sequence of deepening suspicion and turmoil.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHigh School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008)
As seniors in high school, Troy and Gabriella struggle with the idea of being separated from one another as college approaches. Along with the rest of the Wildcats, they stage a spring musical to address their experiences, hopes and fears about their future.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDaydream (2026)
A young adult recounts childhood memories involving his 6th grade teacher and the lessons she taught, particularly her unconventional assignment: to daydream.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Burning Blue and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Burning Blue?
The closest matches to Burning Blue are Lady Driver (2020), The Girl in the Book (2015) and Teen Spirit (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Burning Blue?
Start with Lady Driver (2020), the closest match to Burning Blue.
What is the highest-rated movie like Burning Blue?
Monster (2023), rated 7.9/10 by 1,002 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Burning Blue?
Daydream (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Burning Blue chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Burning Blue, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.