Movies like Shadow Dance
The best movies like Shadow Dance are Frankie & Alice (2010), Rogue Agent (2022) and A Dry White Season (1989). If Shadow Dance hooked you with its drama and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Shadow Dance
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBird (2024)7.2/10 from 249 votes
- NewestDRAWN OUT (2025)Released 2025
Frankie & Alice (2010)
A drama centered on a go-go dancer with multiple personality disorder who struggles to remain her true self and begins working with a psychotherapist to uncover the mystery of the inner ghosts that haunt her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRogue Agent (2022)
Conman Robert Freegard poses as an undercover MI5 agent and kidnaps countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt, until the woman who fell for him brings him to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Dry White Season (1989)
During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKiller's Kiss (1955)
Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTake the Lead (2006)
A former professional dancer volunteers to teach dance in the New York public school system and, while his background first clashes with his students' tastes, together they create a completely new style of dance. Based on the story of ballroom dancer, Pierre Dulane.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPariah (2011)
A Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak, and family in a desperate search for sexual expression.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Jazz Singer (1927)
A young Jewish man is torn between tradition and individuality when his old-fashioned family objects to his career as a jazz singer. This is the first full length feature film to use synchronized sound, and is the original film musical.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJust Charlie (2017)
Football star Charlie has the world at her feet. With a top club desperate to sign her, her future is seemingly mapped out. But the teenager sees only a nightmare. Raised as a boy, Charlie is torn between wanting to live up to her father's expectations and shedding this ill fitting skin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMammal (2016)
After Margaret, a divorcée living in Dublin, loses her teenage son, she develops an unorthodox relationship with Joe, a homeless youth. Their tentative trust is threatened by his involvement with a violent gang and the escalation of her ex-husband's grieving rage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBird (2024)
12-year-old Bailey lives with her single dad Bug and brother Hunter in a squat in North Kent. Bug doesn’t have much time for his kids, and Bailey, who is approaching puberty, seeks attention and adventure elsewhere.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Congress (2013)
An aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job, though the consequences of her decision affect her in ways she didn't consider.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this1 Chance 2 Dance (2014)
When a 17-year old aspiring dancer is uprooted in her high school senior year, she finds herself divided between two boys, and she will have one last shot at making her dream a reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrom Straight A's to XXX (2017)
When a change of circumstances leaves Miriam unable to pay her college tuition, she makes a surprising decision: to start performing in adult films, using the pseudonym Belle Knox. Miriam lies to her family and her friends at school, keeping her double life a secret. But soon rumours spread and Miriam becomes the subject of vicious online attacks and unwanted attention. Miriam fights back: she talks to the media, saying her new line of work empowers her as a feminist. But her confident stand has unintended consequences. Miriam is shunned by her conservative family and her colleagues in the adult film world. One impulsive decision has quickly spiralled out of control - and Miriam's problems are just beginning.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSkater Girl (2021)
Prerna, a teenager growing up in rural India, comes of age when she’s introduced to the sport of skateboarding. As a result, she has to fight the odds to follow her dreams and compete in the national championship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStomp the Yard (2007)
After the death of his younger brother, a troubled 19-year-old street dancer from Los Angeles is able to bypass juvenile hall by enrolling in the historically black, Truth University in Atlanta, Georgia. But his efforts to get an education and woo the girl he likes are sidelined when he is courted by the top two campus fraternities, both of which want and need his fierce street-style dance moves to win the highly coveted national step show competition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBallet Shoes (2008)
An unusual explorer named Gum and his kindly niece adopt three orphans -- Pauline, Petrova and Posy -- and raise them as sisters in 1930s London. But the girls must fend for themselves when Gum doesn't return from one of his adventures. Together, they nurture their passions for acting, aviation and ballet in this charming TV adaptation of Noel Streatfield's novel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Brother the Devil (2012)
Fourteen-year-old Mo is a lonely, sensitive boy whose hunger for the rant and banter of buddies makes him prone to tread dangerous territories. He idolizes his handsome older brother, Rashid, a charismatic, well-respected member of a local gang, whose drug dealing enables “Rash” to provide for his family. Aching to be seen as a tough guy himself, Mo takes a job that unlocks a fateful turn of events and forces the brothers to confront their inner demons. It turns out that hate is easy. It is love and understanding that take real courage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCowboys (2020)
Troy and his young transgender son Joe are on the run from his conservative mother in the Montana wilderness, with a detective in hot pursuit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAny Day Now (2012)
In the late 1970s, when a mentally handicapped teenager is abandoned, a gay couple takes him in and becomes the family he's never had. But once the unconventional living arrangement is discovered by authorities, the men must fight the legal system to adopt the child.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHasta encontrarte (2013)
Javier chats online with a girl called sofi_dark, a mysterious girl who indulges in a subtle game of perversions. As the relationship grown, he wants to meet her in person. He begins to desperately look for her through the city, until a series of photographs that he discovers on the Internet disrupts his plans.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & drama
Talking To My Mother (2014)
A young Asian American man struggles for both personal happiness and the love of his mother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
DRAWN OUT (2025)
On the eve of leaving for college, Randy discovers that the childhood drawings she's long forgotten are not quite ready to let her go. When her imaginary friends come to life, they pull her into a surreal final adventure through her own home, one that forces her to confront buried memories, unresolved guilt, and the fear she's been avoiding. As fantasy and reality collide, Randy must decide whether to run from her past or face it head-on, learning that growing up doesn't mean leaving every part of yourself behind.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
About You I Don't Know (2022)
One day, college student Keiko, who is looking for a job, learns that the person she had feelings for has committed suicide. Keiko wonders if she was the cause of this. Classmate Mami, through her boyfriend Takuya, tries to introduce Keiko to Kazuo, a member of Takuya's theater company. However, Keiko, who met Takuya, has a special feeling for him. Miyata, a young man who seems to be hiding in the darkness of everyday life, meets Keiko one day.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Eagle Rock (2019)
In the early 1970s, a young woman in prison for murder reflects on what led her to the crime, the cult she was a part of, and her relationship with its leader.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Boys on Film 24: Happy Endings (2024)
Let BOYS ON FILM move, inspire and uplift you with this stunning collection of 11 new gay short films, marking the final physical edition of the series. The 11 short films are: We Collide (2023); Firsts (2022); Sea Sparkles [Noctilucas] (2022); Aloof [מנגד] (2020); The Rev (2021); Prelude [Preludio] (2019); Beautiful Stranger (2021); You Like That (2023); Thursday, Friday, Saturday [Jeudi, vendredi, samedi] (2021); The Unknown Man [L'homme inconnu] (2021); S.A.M. (2020).
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Wedding Banquet (1993)
A Taiwanese-American man is happily settled in New York with his American boyfriend. He plans a marriage of convenience to a Chinese woman in order to keep his parents off his back and to get the woman a green card. Chaos follows when his parents arrive in New York for the wedding.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSee You (2024)
After his suicide, a teen ghost contacts his classmate through sign language, revealing the queer love and pain they were never allowed to voice.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Brick (2006)
A teenage loner pushes his way into the underworld of a high school crime ring to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeautiful Girls (1996)
During a snowy winter in the small fictional town of Knight's Ridge, Massachusetts, a group of lifelong buddies hang out, drink and struggle to connect with the women who affect their decisions, dreams and desires.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Shadow Dance?
The closest matches to Shadow Dance are Frankie & Alice (2010), Rogue Agent (2022) and A Dry White Season (1989). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Shadow Dance?
Start with Frankie & Alice (2010), the closest match to Shadow Dance.
What is the highest-rated movie like Shadow Dance?
Bird (2024), rated 7.2/10 by 249 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Shadow Dance?
DRAWN OUT (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Shadow Dance?
Yes: Frankie & Alice (2010), Rogue Agent (2022) and A Dry White Season (1989).
How are movies similar to Shadow Dance chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Shadow Dance, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.