Movies like The Soloist (2009)
The best movies like The Soloist (2009) are The Identical (2014), 'Round Midnight (1986) and Whiplash (2014). If The Soloist hooked you with its drama and music, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedWhiplash (2014)8.4/10 from 17,377 votes
- NewestUnsung Hero (2024)Released 2024
The Identical (2014)
During the Great Depression, identical twins are separated at birth. One, Drexel Hemsley becomes a wildly successful '50s rock star, while the other, Ryan Wade, struggles to balance his passion for music and pleasing his parents, who want him to become a preacher. Finally, Ryan rebels against his parents' wishes and launches his own music career -- performing the hits of Drexel Hemsley. Ryan later learns the truth about Drexel when their fates tragically collide.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
SnoozefestMovies like this'Round Midnight (1986)
Inside the Blue Note nightclub one night in 1959 Paris, an aged, ailing jazzman coaxes an eloquent wail from his tenor sax. Outside, a young Parisian too broke to buy a glass of wine strains to hear those notes. Soon they will form a friendship that sparks a final burst of genius.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhiplash (2014)
Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisKyrie (2023)
Luca lost her family in the Great East Japan Earthquake causing her not to be able to speak. However, her singing voice shakes the hearts of those who listen to her. It is a hymn of compassion played by Luca and the people.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Mr. Holland's Opus (1995)
In 1965, passionate musician Glenn Holland takes a day job as a high school music teacher, convinced it's just a small obstacle on the road to his true calling: writing a historic opus. As the decades roll by with the composition unwritten but generations of students inspired through his teaching, Holland must redefine his life's purpose.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies 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: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOf Mind and Music (2014)
Dr. Alvaro Cruz, a neuroscientist, disillusioned by the death of his mother and his inability to help her, finds redemption and reward by helping Una Vida, a jazz singer he discovers performing on the streets of New Orleans. Her health declining and her singing partner and her adopted daughter unable to help, Cruz seeks out her long lost son in an effort to bring resolution to the grief, loss and longing that has overshadowed her hard but beautiful life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
August Rush (2007)
Evan, a musically gifted orphan, runs away from his orphanage and searches New York City for his birth parents. On his journey, he's taken under the wing of the Wizard, a homeless man who lives in an abandoned theater. After discovering his talent, the Wizard gives Evan the name "August Rush" and devises a plan to profit from his talent. Little does Evan know that his parents, Lyla and Louis, are searching for him too.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInside Llewyn Davis (2013)
In Greenwich Village in the early 1960s, gifted but volatile folk musician Llewyn Davis struggles with money, relationships, and his uncertain future.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSame Kind of Different as Me (2017)
International art dealer Ron Hall must befriend a dangerous homeless man in order to save his struggling marriage to his wife, a woman whose dreams will lead all three of them on the journey of their lives.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBorn to Be Blue (2015)
Jazz legend Chet Baker finds love and redemption when he stars in a movie about his own troubled life to mount a comeback.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClouds (2020)
Young musician Zach Sobiech discovers his cancer has spread, leaving him just a few months to live. With limited time, he follows his dream and makes an album, unaware that it will soon be a viral music phenomenon.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCrazy Heart (2009)
When reporter Jean Craddock interviews Bad Blake—an alcoholic, seen-better-days country music legend—they connect, and the hard-living crooner sees a possible saving grace in a life with Jean and her young son.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCoda (2020)
A famous pianist at the twilight of his career meets a free-spirited music critic who soon becomes his rock as his mental state deteriorates.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Visitor (2008)
A college professor travels to New York City to attend a conference and finds a young couple living in his apartment.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhiplash (2013)
A ferocious, bullying music teacher teaches a dedicated student.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSound of Metal (2020)
Metal drummer Ruben begins to lose his hearing. When a doctor tells him his condition will worsen, he thinks his career and life is over. His girlfriend Lou checks the former addict into a rehab for the deaf hoping it will prevent a relapse and help him adapt to his new life. After being welcomed and accepted just as he is, Ruben must choose between his new normal and the life he once knew.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTÁR (2022)
As celebrated conductor Lydia Tár starts rehearsals for a career-defining symphony, the consequences of her past choices begin to echo in the present.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Legend of 1900 (1998)
Musician Max Tooney goes to sell his prized Conn trumpet to a music shop, where he plays the instrument one last time. The shopkeeper recognises the song as one on a record matrix he found and asks who the piece is by. Tooney tells the story of an infant found abandoned in the first class dining room of the four-stacker ocean-liner SS Virginian on 1 January 1900. Danny Boodman, a coal-man from the boiler room, names the boy Danny Boodman T. D. Lemon 1900, after himself, the fruit crate the boy was found in, and the year, and raises him as his own.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Absolute CinemaMovies 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: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Late Quartet (2012)
When the beloved cellist of a world-renowned string quartet is diagnosed with a life threatening illness, the group's future suddenly hangs in the balance as suppressed emotions, competing egos and uncontrollable passions threaten to derail years of friendship and collaboration. As they are about to play their 25th anniversary concert — quite possibly their last — only their intimate bond and the power of music can preserve their legacy.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMr. Church (2016)
A unique friendship develops when a little girl and her dying mother inherit a cook - Mr. Church. What begins as an arrangement that should only last six months, instead spans fifteen years.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Violin Teacher (2015)
After failing to be admitted into the OSESP Orchestra, a talented violinist is forced to give music classes to teenagers in a public school. He soon finds his world transformed by the power of music and friendships formed with his pupils.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTo Write Love on Her Arms (2015)
The story follows 19-year-old Renee who has always loved fairy tales: the idea of a princess, a hero and a happily ever after. But Renee’s life is that of a darker tale: she’s a young woman battling addiction, depression and self-injury. In a creative blend of artistic fantasy balanced with harsh reality, the movie follows Renee on her courageous journey towards recovery.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnsung Hero (2024)
When David Smallbone's successful music company collapses, he moves his family from Australia to the United States in search of a brighter future. With nothing more than their six children, their suitcases, and their love of music, David and his pregnant wife Helen set out to rebuild their lives from the ground up. Based on a remarkable true story, a mum's faith stands against all odds; and inspires her husband and children to hold onto theirs.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFinding Forrester (2000)
Gus Van Sant tells the story of a young African American man named Jamal who confronts his talents while living on the streets of the Bronx. He accidentally runs into an old writer named Forrester who discovers his passion for writing. With help from his new mentor Jamal receives a scholarship to a private school.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSing (2016)
Quiet 10-year-old Zsofi has just changed schools. Feeling out of place at first, she is quickly admitted to the school’s famous choir and befriends her popular classmate Liza. Soon, they have to stand up united against their choir master, who isn’t quite the friendly and inspirational teacher they first thought she was.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like this8 Mile (2002)
For Jimmy Smith, Jr., life is a daily fight just to keep hope alive. Feeding his dreams in Detroit's vibrant music scene, Jimmy wages an extraordinary personal struggle to find his own voice - and earn a place in a world where rhymes rule, legends are born and every moment… is another chance.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRay (2004)
Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mom who insisted he make his own way, He found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered coupling gospel and country together.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBravetown (2015)
After an accidental drug overdose, a talented teenage DJ goes to live with his estranged father in a small Army town, where he gets to the bottom of his own pain and learns empathy for others.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Soloist?
The closest matches to The Soloist are The Identical (2014), 'Round Midnight (1986) and Whiplash (2014). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Soloist?
People who watched The Soloist most often go on to The Identical (2014), 'Round Midnight (1986) and Whiplash (2014).
What is the highest-rated movie like The Soloist?
Whiplash (2014), rated 8.4/10 by 17,377 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Soloist?
Unsung Hero (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Soloist?
Yes: The Identical (2014), 'Round Midnight (1986) and Whiplash (2014).
How are movies similar to The Soloist chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Soloist, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.