Movies like A Plague and its Symptoms (1983)
The best movies like A Plague and its Symptoms (1983) are And the Band Played On (1993), Dallas Buyers Club (2013) and How to Survive a Plague (2012). If A Plague and its Symptoms hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
A Plague and its Symptoms
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDallas Buyers Club (2013)7.9/10 from 9,389 votes
- NewestAll the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022)Released 2022
And the Band Played On (1993)
The story of the discovery of the AIDS epidemic and the political infighting of the scientific community hampering the early fight with it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDallas Buyers Club (2013)
Loosely based on the true-life tale of Ron Woodroof, a drug-taking, women-loving, homophobic man who in 1986 was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and given thirty days to live.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHow to Survive a Plague (2012)
A story of two coalitions – ACT UP and TAG (Treatment Action Group) – whose activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition. Despite having no scientific training, these self-made activists infiltrated the pharmaceutical industry and helped identify promising new drugs, moving them from experimental trials to patients in record time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Normal Heart (2014)
The story of the onset of the HIV-AIDS crisis in New York City in the early 1980s, taking an unflinching look at the nation's sexual politics as gay activists and their allies in the medical community fight to expose the truth about the burgeoning epidemic to a city and nation in denial.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHoward (2018)
Though legendary lyricist Howard Ashman died far too young, his impact on Broadway, movies, and the culture at large were incalculable. Told entirely through rare archival footage and interviews with Ashman’s family, friends, associates, and longtime partner Bill Lauch, Howard is an intimate tribute to a once-in-a-generation talent and a rousing celebration of musical storytelling itself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGia (1998)
Gia Carangi meteorically rises to modeling fame in the late 1970s but becomes overconsumed by persistent loneliness and drug addiction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLongtime Companion (1989)
During the summer of 1981, a group of friends in New York are completely unprepared for the onslaught of AIDS. What starts as a rumor about a mysterious "gay cancer" soon turns into a major crisis as, one by one, some of the friends begin to fall ill, leaving the others to panic about who will be next. As death takes its toll, the lives of these friends are forever redefined by an unconditional display of love, hope and courage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlue (1993)
Against a plain, unchanging blue screen, a densely interwoven soundtrack of voices, sound effects and music attempt to convey a portrait of Derek Jarman's experiences with AIDS, both literally and allegorically, together with an exploration of the meanings associated with the colour blue.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this1985 (2018)
Having been gone for three years, closeted advertising executive Adrian returns to his Texas hometown and struggles to reveal his dire circumstances to his conservative family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBohemian Rhapsody (2018)
Singer Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bass guitarist John Deacon take the music world by storm when they form the rock 'n' roll band Queen in 1970. Hit songs become instant classics. When Mercury's increasingly wild lifestyle starts to spiral out of control, Queen soon faces its greatest challenge yet – finding a way to keep the band together amid the success and excess.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Celluloid Closet (1996)
Exuberant, eye-opening movie that serves up a dazzling hundred-year history of the role of gay men and lesbians have had on the silver screen. Film contains fabulous footage from 120 films showing the changing face of cinema sexuality, from cruel stereotypes to covert love to the activist triumphs of the 1990s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHolding the Man (2015)
Tim and John fell in love while teenagers at their all-boys high school. John was captain of the football team, Tim an aspiring actor playing a minor part in Romeo and Juliet. Their romance endured for 15 years in the face of everything life threw at it – the separations, the discrimination, the temptations, the jealousies and the losses – until the only problem that love can't solve tried to destroy them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisParting Glances (1986)
Michael and Robert, two gay men living in Brooklyn, spend their last day together before Robert leaves for Africa on work assignment. Michael still has feelings for his friend Nick, who has AIDS.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInterview (2007)
After falling out with his editor, a fading political journalist is forced to interview America's most popular soap actress.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022)
The life of internationally renowned artist and activist Nan Goldin is told through her slideshows, intimate interviews, ground-breaking photography, and rare footage of her personal fight to hold the Sackler family accountable for the overdose crisis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThis Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)
Kirby Dick's provocative documentary investigates the secretive and inconsistent process by which the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rates films, revealing the organization's underhanded efforts to control culture. Dick questions whether certain studios get preferential treatment and exposes the discrepancies in how the MPAA views sex and violence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPhiladelphia (1993)
Two lawyers join forces to sue a prestigious law firm for AIDS discrimination. As their unlikely friendship develops, their courage overcomes the prejudice and corruption of their powerful adversaries.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Social Dilemma (2020)
This documentary-drama hybrid explores the dangerous human impact of social networking, with tech experts sounding the alarm on their own creations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBuddies (1985)
David, a naive graduate student, has volunteered to work as a 'buddy' for people dying of AIDS. Assigned to the intensely political Robert, a lifelong activist whose friends and family have abandoned him following his diagnosis, the two men, each with notably different world views, soon discover common bonds, as David's inner activist awakens and Robert's need for emotional release is fulfilled.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisJeffrey (1995)
Jeffrey, a gay man living in New York City with an overwhelming fear of contracting AIDS, concludes that being celibate is the only option to protect himself. As fate would have it, shortly after his declaration of a sex-free existence, he meets the handsome Steve Howard, his dream man -- except for his HIV-positive status. Facing this dilemma, Jeffrey turns to his best friend and an outrageous priest for guidance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like A Plague and its Symptoms and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like A Plague and its Symptoms?
The closest matches to A Plague and its Symptoms are And the Band Played On (1993), Dallas Buyers Club (2013) and How to Survive a Plague (2012). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after A Plague and its Symptoms?
Start with And the Band Played On (1993), the closest match to A Plague and its Symptoms.
What is the highest-rated movie like A Plague and its Symptoms?
Dallas Buyers Club (2013), rated 7.9/10 by 9,389 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like A Plague and its Symptoms?
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like A Plague and its Symptoms?
Yes: And the Band Played On (1993), Dallas Buyers Club (2013) and How to Survive a Plague (2012).
How are movies similar to A Plague and its Symptoms chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside A Plague and its Symptoms, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.