Movies like Billy Budd (1988)
The best movies like Billy Budd (1988) are South Pacific (1958), Taking Sides (2002) and Maria (2024). If Billy Budd hooked you with its music, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAmadeus (1984)8.0/10 from 5,004 votes
- NewestCharles Gounod: Faust @ Bavarian State Opera, Munich (2026)Released 2026
South Pacific (1958)
Can a girl from Little Rock find happiness with a mature French planter she got to know one enchanted evening away from the military hospital where she is a nurse? Or should she just wash that man out of her hair? Bloody Mary is the philosopher of the island and it's hard to believe she could be the mother of Liat who has captured the heart of Lt. Joseph Cable USMC. While waiting for action in the war in the South Pacific, sailors and nurses put on a musical comedy show. The war gets closer and the saga of Nellie Forbush and Emile de Becque becomes serious drama.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTaking Sides (2002)
One of the most spectacular and renowned conductors of the 1930s, Wilhelm Furtwangler's reputation rivaled that of Toscanini's. After the war, he was investigated as part of the Allies' de-Nazification programme. In the bombed-out Berlin of the immediate post-war period, the Allies slowly bring law and order to bear on an occupied Germany. An American major is given the Furtwangler file, and is told to find everything he can and to prosecute the man ruthlessly. Tough and hard-nosed, Major Steve Arnold sets out to investigate a world of which he knows nothing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaria (2024)
Maria Callas, the world's greatest opera singer, lives the last days of her life in 1970s Paris, as she confronts her identity and life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEasy Come, Easy Go (1967)
Navy frogman Ted Jackson balances his time between twin careers as a deep-sea diver and nightclub singer. During a dive, Ted spots sunken treasure and returns with the hope to retrieve it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBuck Privates (1941)
Petty con artists Slicker Smith and Herbie Brown mistakenly join the Army evading the cops. The cop chasing them winds up as their drill instructor. A rich young man and his former working class chauffeur are not only in the same unit, they're vying for a pretty girl who seems attracted to both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Eyez on Me (2017)
All Eyez on Me chronicles the life and legacy of Tupac Shakur, including his rise to superstardom as a hip-hop artist, actor, poet and activist, as well as his imprisonment and prolific, controversial time at Death Row Records. Against insurmountable odds, Tupac rose to become a cultural icon whose career and persona both continue to grow long after his passing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNewsies (2017)
A week in the life of the exploited, child newspaper sellers in turn-of-the-century New York. When their publisher, Joseph Pulitzer, tries to squeeze a little more profit out of their labours, they organize a strike, only to be confronted with the Pulitzer's hard-ball tactics.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisOne Chance (2013)
This film follows the remarkable and inspirational true story of Paul Potts, a shy, bullied shop assistant by day and an amateur opera singer by night.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Testament of Ann Lee (2025)
The extraordinary true legend of Ann Lee, founder of the devotional sect known as the Shakers, who preached gender and social equality and was revered by her followers as the female Christ.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Choral (2025)
As World War I rages on, Dr Henry Guthrie takes over a British choral society that's lost most of its men to the army. The community soon discovers that the best response to the chaos of war is to make beautiful music together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYellow Submarine (1968)
The wicked Blue Meanies take over Pepperland, eliminating all color and music. As the only survivor, the Lord Admiral escapes in the yellow submarine and journeys to Liverpool to enlist the help of the Beatles.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPlaying for Time (1980)
When a Jewish songstress is plucked from the stage and sent to Auschwitz, she and other musicians find themselves assigned to a terrible task—using their talents to soothe fellow prisoners who are sentenced to die in the gas chambers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pirate (1948)
A girl is engaged to the local richman, but meanwhile she has dreams about the legendary pirate Macoco. A traveling singer falls in love with her and to impress her he poses as the pirate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTom Sawyer (1973)
Tom Sawyer and his pal Huckleberry Finn have great adventures on the Mississippi River, pretending to be pirates, attending their own funeral, and witnessing a murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGet On Up (2014)
A chronicle of James Brown's rise from extreme poverty to become one of the most influential musicians in history.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCadillac Records (2008)
The story of sex, violence, race and rock and roll in 1950s Chicago, and the exciting but turbulent lives of some of America's musical legends, including Muddy Waters, Leonard Chess, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Etta James and Chuck Berry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGuava Island (2019)
Deni Maroon, a musician and dock worker is determined to pull off a music festival against the interests of the local factory owner.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmadeus (1984)
Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Salzburger composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Mambo Kings (1992)
The Mambo Kings tells the story of César and Nestor Castillo, brothers and aspiring musicians who flee from Cuba to America in search of the American Dream.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBritten: Peter Grimes (2012)
The Italian and international press were unanimous in their praise for "Peter Grimes" at La Scala, which revived the tradition of Britten's operas on the lyric stages of Italy. A top British cast was marshaled by the baton of Robin Ticciati. Richard Jones's production focuses on the fisherman as the outside in a brutal and brutalized 1980s society, cut off by mutual suspicion and misunderstanding: an unforgettable production of a 20th-century operatic masterpiece that never loses its power. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in true Surround Sound.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Svätopluk (2024)
Eugen Suchoň's opera Svätopluk returns to the stage of the Slovak National Theatre Opera in 2023. Since 1960, when it had its world premiere, this is the fifth production of this musical drama at the Slovak National Theatre. It returns as an eloquent witness of Slovak operatic history, as a bearer of a message, as an impulse for reflection and reassessment of historical attitudes in a broader context.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Kaufmann's Otello at the Royal Opera House (2017)
On a June night in 2017, opera lovers thronged to the Royal Opera House in London to hear tenor Jonas Kaufmann, recently acclaimed by The Daily Telegraph as the world s greatest tenor, make his eagerly anticipated debut in the title role of Otello Verdi s greatest and most demanding role for tenor voice. As the New York Times wrote Mr. Kaufmann made his debut in the part, and he calmly, confidently sang it for the ages.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Verdi La Traviata (1992)
This set has Edita Gruberova singing in top form, all her scooping cast aside, which one finds in abundance in her Lucia under Richard Bonynge. Here, however, she makes ravishing use of those bits of tone that only she can produce: those instances of coloratura and dramatic legato with little asides and small florishes of style that suggest her intelligent approach and her high degree of musical involvement in this role. She does this in her I Puritani and her Anna Bolena, less so in Roberto Deveraux and Maria Stuarda(both sets). Listen to Addio del passato and the Sempre Libra...ravishing, yes, but there are again those nuances learned from Callas that she makes her own. A very singualr perform,ance, and extremely moving with its detail and cry for pity throughout..from the start even. Neil Schicoff is excellent, not an unworthy Alfredo at all! His is a great lyric tenor voice that should have been in the top line.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
The Turn of the Screw - OperaGlass Works (2021)
A film of the opera The Turn of the Screw by Benjamin Britten. A young governess arrives at an old house in the country to look after two orphans. What unfolds is a chilling tale as she experiences strange ghostly encounters with some of the previous occupants of the house and finds herself engaged in a battle to protect the children’s souls from evil. Myfanwy Piper’s libretto of Henry James’s famous short story leaves much to our imagination and Britten’s score is haunting, terrifying and brilliant. Shot on location at Wilton's Music Hall, London, the whole space of the venue, not just the stage, is used to tell the story.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Kaija Saariaho: Innocence (2021)
The world premiere of composer Kaija Saariaho's opera, "Innocence", at the 2021 Aix-en-Provence Festival. Finland is the setting but the protagonists come from the four corners of Europe: a Finnish groom and his Romanian bride, a French mother-in-law and a Czech maid. Around them memories unravel in a contemporary tragedy of guilt and lost innocence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Charles Gounod: Faust @ Bavarian State Opera, Munich (2026)
Gounod's Faust at the Bavarian State Opera: Jonathan Tetelman plays Faust, the scholar who makes a pact with Mephistopheles (Kyle Ketelsen) before seducing Marguerite (Olga Kulchynska). The unfortunate woman descends into madness but ultimately achieves redemption. Lotte de Beer directs this production, which marks Nathalie Stutzmann's debut in Munich as conductor.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Rudi Stephan: Die ersten Menschen (2021)
The 2021 production by the Dutch National Opera of the work by German composer Rudi Stephan (1887–1915) "Die ersten Menschen" ("The First Humans"), completed in 1914 to a libretto by Otto Borngräber interpreting the Biblical story of the Garden of Eden through symbolism and the then nascent science of psychoanalysis. This production was part of the Holland Festival of Amsterdam.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Die Tote Stadt (2009)
"Die tote Stadt" is a psychologically layered drama with Hitchcock-like features, about Paul who, after the loss of his beloved Marie, slowly but surely becomes entangled in a dream world of obsessions and delusions. This impressive opera is a passionate as well as a surrealistic plea for mourning. "He who cannot live with death has no life."
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Billy Budd?
The closest matches to Billy Budd are South Pacific (1958), Taking Sides (2002) and Maria (2024). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Billy Budd?
Start with South Pacific (1958), the closest match to Billy Budd.
What is the highest-rated movie like Billy Budd?
Amadeus (1984), rated 8.0/10 by 5,004 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Billy Budd?
Charles Gounod: Faust @ Bavarian State Opera, Munich (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Billy Budd?
Yes: South Pacific (1958), Taking Sides (2002) and Maria (2024).
How are movies similar to Billy Budd chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Billy Budd, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.