Movies like Salamatu’s Rhapsody (2024)
The best movies like Salamatu’s Rhapsody (2024) are Hala (2019), The Jazz Singer (1980) and The Forty-Year-Old Version (2020). If Salamatu’s Rhapsody hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLady Bird (2017)7.2/10 from 9,270 votes
- NewestOne Mile: Chapter One (2026)Released 2026
Hala (2019)
Seventeen-year-old Pakistani American teenager Hala struggles to balance desire with her family, cultural, and religious obligations. As she comes into her own, she grapples with a secret that threatens to unravel her family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Jazz Singer (1980)
A young Jewish man is torn between tradition and individuality when his old-fashioned family objects to his career as a jazz singer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Forty-Year-Old Version (2020)
Desperate for a breakthrough as she nears the big 4-0, struggling New York City playwright Radha finds inspiration by reinventing herself as a rapper.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLady Bird (2017)
Lady Bird McPherson, a strong willed, deeply opinionated, artistic 17 year old comes of age in Sacramento. Her relationship with her mother and her upbringing are questioned and tested as she plans to head off to college.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLet It Shine (2012)
A teenage rapper must use his musical talent to help a friend and win the girl of his dreams while overcoming self-doubt and the expectations of his strict religious parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGet Rich or Die Tryin' (2005)
A tale of an inner city drug dealer who turns away from crime to pursue his passion, rap music.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeyond the Lights (2014)
Noni Jean is a hot new rising star. But not all is what it seems, and the pressure causes Noni to nearly fall apart - until she meets Kaz Nicol, a promising young cop and aspiring politician who's been assigned to her detail. Can Kaz's love give Noni the courage to find her own voice and break free to become the artist she was meant to be?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSome Kind of Wonderful (1987)
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.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Mile: Chapter One (2026)
After being released from special forces, a father tries to reconnect with his daughter by taking her on a tour of college, but they soon find themselves fighting for more than their lost relationship when a murderous cult pursues them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHustle & Flow (2005)
With help from his friends, a Memphis pimp in a mid-life crisis attempts to become a successful hip-hop emcee.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShaft (1971)
Cool Black private eye John Shaft is hired by a crime lord to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLOL (2012)
In a world connected by YouTube, iTunes, and Facebook, Lola and her friends navigate the peer pressures of high school romance and friendship while dodging their sometimes overbearing and confused parents. When Lola's mom, Anne, "accidentally" reads her teenage daughter's racy journal, she realizes just how wide their communication gap has grown.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRaise Your Voice (2004)
A coming-of-age story centered around a small-town singer brokenhearted by the death of her brother in a car crash, who had secretly submitted her for a summer session at a performing arts academy in Los Angeles. In the academy, she experiences a whole new way of life in the big city, far from the small town lifestyle she's used to.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Starling Girl (2023)
17-year-old Jem Starling struggles with her place within her Christian fundamentalist community. But everything changes when her magnetic youth pastor Owen returns to their church.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDivine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002)
In a sleepy Louisiana parish, a group of lifelong friends stage a rather unorthodox intervention to help a young playwright unravel the truth about her complicated mother and let go of her painful past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEast Is East (1999)
In 1971 Salford fish-and-chip shop owner George Khan expects his family to follow his strict Pakistani Muslim ways. But his children, with an English mother and having been born and brought up in Britain, increasingly see themselves as British and start to reject their father's rules on dress, food, religion, and living in general.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRudderless (2014)
A grieving father in a downward spiral stumbles across a box of his recently deceased son's demo tapes and lyrics. Shocked by the discovery of this unknown talent, he forms a band in the hope of finding some catharsis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHearts Beat Loud (2018)
In the hip Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook, single dad and record store owner Frank is preparing to send his hard-working daughter Sam off to college while being forced to close his vintage shop. Hoping to stay connected through their shared musical passions, Frank urges Sam to turn their weekly jam sessions into a father-daughter live act. After their first song becomes an internet breakout, the two embark on a journey of love, growing up and musical discovery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Salamatu’s Rhapsody?
The closest matches to Salamatu’s Rhapsody are Hala (2019), The Jazz Singer (1980) and The Forty-Year-Old Version (2020). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Salamatu’s Rhapsody?
Start with Hala (2019), the closest match to Salamatu’s Rhapsody.
What is the highest-rated movie like Salamatu’s Rhapsody?
Lady Bird (2017), rated 7.2/10 by 9,270 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Salamatu’s Rhapsody?
One Mile: Chapter One (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Salamatu’s Rhapsody chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Salamatu’s Rhapsody, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.