Movies like A Pianista (2025)
The best movies like A Pianista (2025) are An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong (2009), Nowhere Safe (2014) and Copying Beethoven (2006). If A Pianista hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedOnce (2007)7.4/10 from 1,518 votes
- NewestDon't Buy the Liverwurst (2025)Released 2025
An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong (2009)
A fourth grader and her friends deal with bullying from a more popular girl in their class.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNowhere Safe (2014)
After two girls cruelly impersonate her online in a "reverse cyber bullying" plot, Ashley's reputation is ruined and she and her mother flee a growing threat to their lives. Starting over at a new school, romantic interests and the poignant lessons from an eccentric history teacher draw them out of seclusion until they realize confronting a hurtful past is essential to ensure a brighter future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCopying Beethoven (2006)
Serving as Ludwig van Beethoven's copyist gives a conservatory student access to the composer's musical genius, but also exposes her to his cruelty.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBoychoir (2015)
A troubled and angry 11-year-old orphan from a small Texas town, ends up at a Boy Choir school after the death of his single mother. Completely out of his element, he finds himself in a battle of wills with a demanding Choir Master who recognises a unique talent in this young boy as he pushes him to discover his creative heart and soul in music.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMusic of the Heart (1999)
After Roberta Guaspari separates from her husband, she receives encouragement from her mother to take up a job of a music teacher at the Central Park East School in East Harlem.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPermanent Vacation (1981)
In downtown Manhattan, twentysomething Allie, whose father is not around and whose mother is institutionalized, is a big Charlie Parker fan. He almost subconsciously searches for meaning in his life and meets some idiosyncratic characters along the way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Winslow Boy (1999)
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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDance Academy: The Movie (2017)
This 2017 movie follows the original dance academy TV show and tracks where the characters are in their lives now.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Karate Kid (1984)
New Jersey teen Daniel LaRusso moves to Los Angeles with his mother, and soon strikes up a relationship with Ali. He quickly finds himself the target of bullying by a group of thugs, led by Ali's ex-boyfriend Johnny, who study karate at the Cobra Kai dojo under ruthless sensei John Kreese. Fortunately, Daniel befriends Mr. Miyagi, an unassuming repairman who just happens to be a martial arts master himself. Miyagi takes Daniel under his wing, training him in a more compassionate form of karate for self-defense and, later, preparing him to compete against the brutal Cobra Kai.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Emperor's Club (2002)
William Hundert is a passionate and principled Classics professor who finds his tightly-controlled world shaken and inexorably altered when a new student, Sedgewick Bell, walks into his classroom. What begins as a fierce battle of wills gives way to a close student-teacher relationship, but results in a life lesson for Hundert that will still haunt him a quarter of a century later.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFast Girls (2012)
A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Browning Version (1994)
Andrew Crocker-Harris is an embittered and disliked teacher of Greek and Latin at a British prep school. After nearly 20 years of service, he is being forced to retire for 'health reasons', and perhaps may not even be given a pension. The boys regard him as a Hitler, with some justification. His unfaithful wife Laura tries to hurt him in any way she can. Andrew must come to terms with his failed life and at least regain his own self-esteem.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlackmail (1929)
London, 1929. Frank Webber, a very busy Scotland Yard detective, seems to be more interested in his work than in Alice White, his girlfriend. Feeling herself ignored, Alice agrees to go out with an elegant and well-mannered artist who invites her to visit his fancy apartment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Together Now (2020)
An optimistic, talented teen clings to a huge secret: she's homeless and living on a school bus. When tragedy strikes, can she learn to accept a helping hand?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDetour (1945)
The life of Al Roberts, a pianist in a New York nightclub, turns into a nightmare when he decides to hitchhike to Los Angeles to visit his girlfriend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSound of Christmas (2016)
Lizzie is a young piano teacher working at a music school while trying to save enough money for a Steinway piano. The school is gearing up for their major Christmas fundraiser and she has committed much of her time to plan the event. One afternoon, she meets Brad who takes an interest in her playing and asks if she will teach his uninterested teenage daughter. She begins to break through to the young girl, and sparks begin to fly with Brad, but she is shocked to find out that his interest is not solely in her playing, but in the property that houses the music school. She sets out to save the school and the event, but can she work things out with Brad?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLook Back in Anger (1959)
A disillusioned, angry university graduate comes to terms with his grudge against middle-class life and values.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Seventh Veil (1945)
A concert pianist with amnesia fights to regain her memory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShadows (1960)
The relationship between Lelia, a light-skinned black woman, and Tony, a white man is put in jeopardy when Tony meets Lelia’s darker-skinned jazz singer brother, Hugh, and discovers that her racial heritage is not what he thought it was.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Believe in Unicorns (2015)
Feeling awkward and isolated, an imaginative and strong-willed teenage girl runs away from home with an older punk rock drifter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPassion (1999)
Passion concentrates on Grainger's unusual relationship with his mother and his sexual peculiarities (especially his obsessive self-flagellation, though homosexuality is also hinted at) which affect his relationship with a woman who comes to love him. It is set mainly in London in 1914, when Grainger's mother Rose was ill (she would later jump to her death in New York, upset by ill-founded rumours of incest with her son).
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Once (2007)
A vacuum repairman moonlights as a street musician and hopes for his big break. One day a Czech immigrant, who earns a living selling flowers, approaches him with the news that she is also an aspiring singer-songwriter. The pair decide to collaborate, and the songs that they compose reflect the story of their blossoming love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Girl Like Him (2025)
In a small, close-knit town, lifelong best friends Justin and Lennon (or Lena) each harbor deep secrets. As the school year begins, the arrival of a new student helps Lennon explore their identity, while Justin’s hidden feelings for their friend intensify, driving tension and conflict. Over one summer, their bonds are tested, leading to emotional and potentially destructive confrontations, as friendship, love, and self-discovery collide.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Blind in Love (2017)
Salim, a homicide detective, is a reclusive man in his 30s. Salim, who is divorced and has a 3-year-old daughter, learns that the eye treatment he has been undergoing for some time is not working and that he will eventually go completely blind. While trying to cope with this problem, he begins working on a new murder case, and the fact that the wife of the murdered man, Handan Hanım, is also a blind pianist makes Salim's situation even more interesting. As the case progresses, Salim falls deeply in love with Handan Hanım, but when she rejects him, he turns his attention to Leyla, the blind wife of the prime suspect in the murder. But undoubtedly the strangest thing is that Salim's beloved mother is an elderly, blind prostitute. As events unfold, Salim becomes even more blinded.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Good-bye Debussy (2013)
16-year-old Haruka lost the people she loved the most in a fire. Haruka is also physically and emotionally wounded from the fire, but she still dreams of becoming a pianist. She takes part in an upcoming competition. Inauspicious incidents then occur around her. Musical student Yosuke, who teaches piano to Haruka, tries to solve the case.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
If Only (2004)
After his impetuous musician girlfriend, Samantha, dies in an accident shortly after they had a fight (and nearly broke up), Ian Wyndham, a grief-stricken British businessman living in London gets a chance to relive the day all over again, in the hope of changing the events that led up to her getting killed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKesäillan valssi (1951)
A story built around the music of Oskar Merikanto, tells the love story of the poor musician Lauri Alanko and the daughter of the rich Grahn family Annina. Annina’s family doesn’t approve of the relationship, and the couple’s happiness is also threatened by Lauri’s worsening eye disease.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Running on Empty (1988)
The Popes are a family who haven't been able to use their real identity for years. In the late sixties, the parents set a weapons lab afire in an effort to hinder the government's Vietnam war campaign. Ever since then, the Popes have been on the run with the authorities never far behind. Their survival is threatened when their eldest son falls in love with a girl, and announces his wish to live his life on his own terms.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDon't Buy the Liverwurst (2025)
Washed-up novelty musician Reuben Gimbel wants to resurrect his career after his agent dies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Ragtime (1981)
A young black pianist becomes embroiled in the lives of an upper-class white family set among the racial tensions, infidelity, violence, and other nostalgic events in early 1900s New York City.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like A Pianista?
The closest matches to A Pianista are An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong (2009), Nowhere Safe (2014) and Copying Beethoven (2006). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after A Pianista?
Start with An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong (2009), the closest match to A Pianista.
What is the highest-rated movie like A Pianista?
Once (2007), rated 7.4/10 by 1,518 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like A Pianista?
Don't Buy the Liverwurst (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to A Pianista chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside A Pianista, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.