Movies like On Air
The best movies like On Air are National Theatre Live: Hamlet (2015), Hands of Stone (2016) and Resurrecting the Champ (2007). If On Air hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
On Air
Quick picks
- Highest ratedHands of Stone (2016)6.6/10 from 470 votes
- NewestThe Singers (2026)Released 2026
National 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 thisHands of Stone (2016)
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisResurrecting the Champ (2007)
Up-and-coming sports reporter rescues a homeless man ("Champ") only to discover that he is, in fact, a boxing legend believed to have passed away. What begins as an opportunity to resurrect Champ's story and escape the shadow of his father's success becomes a personal journey as the ambitious reporter reexamines his own life and his relationship with his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCome Sunday (2018)
Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisJourneyman (2018)
A boxer suffers a serious head injury during a fight, and must deal with the consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTalhotBlond (2012)
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGracie (2007)
A teenager faces an uphill battle when she fights to give women the opportunity to play competitive soccer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEleanor the Great (2025)
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Map of the World (1999)
School nurse Alice Goodwin lives with her husband and two daughters on a dairy farm in a small Wisconsin community. After an accident on her property involving a friend's child, the town turns against her and Alice finds herself fighting charges of child abuse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisHungry Hearts (2015)
The relationship of a couple who meet by chance in New York City is put to the test when they encounter a life or death circumstance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGirl in the Box (2016)
The true story of 20-year-old Colleen Stan, a hitchhiking woman abducted by a young couple and held captive for seven years, during which time she's tortured and forced to live as a slave to her captors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Sound of Music Live! (2013)
The Sound of Music Live! is a television special that was originally broadcast by NBC on December 5, 2013. Produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the special was an adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway musical The Sound of Music, starring country singer Carrie Underwood as Maria von Trapp, performed and televised live from Grumman Studios in Bethpage, New York. Meron felt that if the telecast were successful, the concept could become "another kind of entertainment that can exist on TV." By her request, Underwood's casting as Maria was personally endorsed by Julie Andrews, who starred in the 1965 film.
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 thisBobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (2004)
The story of golf icon and legend, Bobby Jones, who retired from competition at the tender age of 28.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBlue Chips (1994)
Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future are secretly being paid by boosters. This practice is forbidden in the college game, but Pete is desperate and has pressures from all around.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSunshine State (2002)
A woman and her new husband returns to her hometown roots in coastal northern Florida, and must deal with family, business, and encroaching real estate development.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican Son (2019)
Time passes and tension mounts in a Florida police station as an estranged interracial couple awaits news of their missing teenage son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBroke (2025)
A bronc rider in denial about his fading rodeo career battles against brain injury and a sudden blizzard while reflecting on how it became so difficult to achieve his dreams.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIron Jawed Angels (2004)
Defiant young activists take the women's suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Singers (2026)
An impromptu singing contest at a dive bar turns a lonely night into a soul-baring moment of shared harmony.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Winslow Boy (1958)
In pre-WWI England, a youngster is expelled from a naval academy over a petty theft, but his parents raise a political furor by demanding a trial.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Live Broadcast (1982)
Two young men and a girl, going through all the dilemmas of their generation, live together and try to build different world, to find their place in society. The manner of their life, understanding of truth and justice, love and passion, gets each of them in conflict with environment, with people who want to change their relationship and fit them into accepted moral norms. They are giving in slowly, and their whole world changes. Some of them will fit the dull everyday's life, and some will find strength to resist.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
No Signal (2025)
All she knows comes from the screens. All she has known is the screens. A screen breaks and everything changes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Cinderella (1957)
Julie Andrews was nominated for an Emmy for portraying the titular scullery maid who finds true love with a prince in this legendary adaptation of one of the most famous fairy tales of all time. A musical, made-for-television, with music by Richard Rodgers and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, it is the only of the legendary composing team's musicals created specifically for that medium. It was originally broadcast live on CBS on March 31, 1957, and was a phenomenal success, viewed by more than 107 million people. Though it originally aired in full color, only a black & white kinescope of the production has survived.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Tokyo Blood (1993)
Tokyo Blood is an omnibus film of 4 short stories featuring various characters entrapped in Tokyo landscapes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Hands (2021)
Sign language interpreter Do-young is unable to focus on the regular COVID-19 briefing because he is worried about his wife who is about to give birth. Doyoung is anxious because her due date has passed, but the live emergency briefing continues regardless. During the live broadcast, Do-young learns from a colleague that his wife has given birth safely. And in his own way, he conveys his sincerity to his beloved wife and newborn child.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Canta Santiago (2024)
A young mariachi faces his first performance alone but discovers his brother has always been by his side.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Money Monster (2016)
Financial TV host Lee Gates and his producer Patty are put in an extreme situation when an irate investor takes over their studio.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhatever You Say (2002)
Bastien, an ambitious young production assistant, catches the attention of Jean-Louis, a producer of high regard, and is granted a shot at his own television show.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like On Air?
The closest matches to On Air are National Theatre Live: Hamlet (2015), Hands of Stone (2016) and Resurrecting the Champ (2007). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after On Air?
Start with National Theatre Live: Hamlet (2015), the closest match to On Air.
What is the highest-rated movie like On Air?
Hands of Stone (2016), rated 6.6/10 by 470 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like On Air?
The Singers (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like On Air?
Yes: National Theatre Live: Hamlet (2015), Hands of Stone (2016) and Resurrecting the Champ (2007).
How are movies similar to On Air chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside On Air, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.