Movies like ¿Qué es? (1980)
The best movies like ¿Qué es? (1980) are I Am Cuba (1964), Cuba and the Cameraman (2017) and Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004). If ¿Qué es? hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedI Am Cuba (1964)7.9/10 from 267 votes
- NewestBelfast (2021)Released 2021
- In SpanishI Am Cuba (1964)Also in Spanish
I Am Cuba (1964)
A study in contrasts set in and around Havana that explores Cuba's 1959 revolution: a young woman's fascination with the excess of an American-owned casino leads to her downfall in the eyes of her street vendor boyfriend; a tenant farmer revolts the only way he knows how, attacking the land he works; university students gain first-hand knowledge of political upheaval; and, in the hills outside the city, the members of a poor peasant family are patriotically swept up into the burgeoning revolt.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCuba and the Cameraman (2017)
This revealing portrait of Cuba follows the lives of Fidel Castro and three Cuban families affected by his policies over the last four decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004)
In pre-revolution Cuba, Katey Miller is about to defy everyone's expectations. Instead of a parent-approved suitor, Katey is drawn to the sexy waiter, Javier, who spends his nights dancing in Havana's nightclubs. As she secretly learns to dance with Javier, she learns the meanings of love, sensuality and independence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStrawberry and Chocolate (1993)
In 1979 Cuba, flamboyant gay artist Diego attempts to seduce straitlaced David, an idealistic young communist, and fails dismally. But David conspires to be "friends" with Diego so he can monitor the artist's subversive life for the state. As Diego and David discuss politics, individuality and personal expression in Castro's Cuba, a genuine friendship develops between the two.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBefore Night Falls (2000)
Spanning several decades, this powerful biopic offers a glimpse into the life of famed Cuban poet and novelist Reinaldo Arenas, an artist who was vilified for his homosexuality in Fidel Castro's Cuba.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Lost City (2005)
In Havana, Cuba in the late 1950's, a wealthy family, one of whose sons is a prominent nightclub owner, is caught in the violent transition from the oppressive regime of Batista to the Marxist government of Fidel Castro. Castro's regime ultimately leads the nightclub owner to flee to New York.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCreature Comforts (1989)
A humorous and thought-provoking view of what animals in zoos might be thinking about their captivity and surroundings.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisParallel Mothers (2021)
Two unmarried women who have become pregnant by accident and are about to give birth meet in a hospital room: Janis, in her late-thirties, unrepentant and happy; Ana, a teenager, remorseful and frightened.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBehavior (2014)
Meet Chala, an eleven year-old boy with a hard life and strong respect for Carmela, his sixth grade teacher. The pair develops a solid bond, but after Carmela suffers an accident, things get complicated…
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisViva Cuba (2005)
The friendship between two children is threatened by their parents’ differences. Malú is from a family that was upper-class before the Revolution and remains well-to-do through remittances from relatives overseas, and her single mother (Larisa Vega Alamar) does not want her to play with Jorgito, as she thinks his background coarse and commonplace. Jorgito’s mother (Luisa María Jiménez Rodríguez),
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBelfast (2021)
Buddy is a young boy on the cusp of adolescence, whose life is filled with familial love, childhood hijinks, and a blossoming romance. Yet, with his beloved hometown caught up in increasing turmoil, his family faces a momentous choice: hope the conflict will pass or leave everything they know behind for a new life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOur Man in Havana (1960)
Jim Wormold is an expatriate Englishman living in pre-revolutionary Havana with his teenage daughter Milly. He owns a vacuum cleaner shop but isn’t very successful so he accepts an offer from Hawthorne of the British Secret Service to recruit a network of agents in Cuba.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBuena Vista Social Club (1999)
In this fascinating Oscar-nominated documentary, American guitarist Ry Cooder brings together a group of legendary Cuban folk musicians (some in their 90s) to record a Grammy-winning CD in their native city of Havana. The result is a spectacular compilation of concert footage from the group's gigs in Amsterdam and New York City's famed Carnegie Hall, with director Wim Wenders capturing not only the music -- but also the musicians' life stories.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBedtime Stories (2008)
Skeeter Bronson is a down-on-his-luck guy who's always telling bedtime stories to his niece and nephew. But his life is turned upside down when the fantastical stories he makes up for entertainment inexplicably turn into reality. Can a bewildered Skeeter manage his own unruly fantasies now that the outrageous characters and situations from his mind have morphed into actual people and events?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSicko (2007)
A documentary about the corrupt health care system in The United States whose main goal is to make profit even if it means losing people’s lives. "The more people you deny health insurance, the more money we make" is the business model for health care providers in America.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Perez Family (1995)
In the midst of the Mariel boat lift -- a hurried exodus of refugees from Cuba going to America -- an immigration clerk accidentally presumes that dissident Juan Raul Perez and Dorita Evita Perez are married. United by their last name and a mutual resolve to emigrate, Dorita and Juan agree to play along. But it gets complicated when the two begin falling for each other just as Juan reunites with his wife, Carmela, whom he hasn't seen in decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Holy Innocents (1984)
In 60s Extremadura, Paco el Bajo and his relatives work during day in a farmhouse, and silently suffer submission to their masters, who exploit them and treat them almost like animals. Meanwhile, Paco dreams that one day his children will be able to study.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAlexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (2014)
Alexander's day begins with gum stuck in his hair, followed by more calamities. Though he finds little sympathy from his family and begins to wonder if bad things only happen to him, his mom, dad, brother, and sister all find themselves living through their own terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPuzzle (2018)
After years of caring exclusively for the needs of her husband and children, Agnes, a devoted housewife living in a small town near New York, has found something she really enjoys doing: solving puzzles.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChe: Part One (2008)
Ernesto Guevara, known as 'Che', leads a group of Cuban exiles under Fidel Castro in a revolution to overthrow Fulgencio Batista, the dictator of Cuba.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like ¿Qué es??
The closest matches to ¿Qué es? are I Am Cuba (1964), Cuba and the Cameraman (2017) and Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after ¿Qué es??
Start with I Am Cuba (1964), the closest match to ¿Qué es?.
What is the highest-rated movie like ¿Qué es??
I Am Cuba (1964), rated 7.9/10 by 267 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like ¿Qué es??
Belfast (2021) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like ¿Qué es??
Yes: I Am Cuba (1964), Strawberry and Chocolate (1993) and Parallel Mothers (2021).
How are movies similar to ¿Qué es? chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside ¿Qué es?, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.