Movies like Footloose (1984)
The best movies like Footloose (1984) are Dirty Dancing (1987), Step Up (2006) and Save the Last Dance (2001). If Footloose hooked you with its drama and romance, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedIt's a Wonderful Life (1946)8.3/10 from 5,158 votes
- NewestHello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between (2022)Released 2022
Dirty Dancing (1987)
Expecting the usual tedium that accompanies a summer in the Catskills with her family, 17-year-old Frances 'Baby' Houseman is surprised to find herself stepping into the shoes of a professional hoofer—and unexpectedly falling in love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStep Up (2006)
Delinquent Tyler Gage receives the opportunity of a lifetime after vandalizing a performing arts school, gaining him the chance to earn a scholarship and dance with up-and-coming dancer Nora.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSave the Last Dance (2001)
After the death of her mother, Sara moves to the South Side of Chicago to live with her father and gets transferred to a majority-black school. Her life takes a turn for the better when befriends Chenille and her brother Derek, who helps her with her dancing skills.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFootloose (2011)
Ren MacCormack is transplanted from Boston to the small southern town of Bomont where loud music and dancing are prohibited. Not one to bow to the status quo, Ren challenges the ban, revitalizing the town and falling in love with the minister’s troubled daughter Ariel in the process.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThat Night (1992)
A coming-of-age story about an eleven-year-old girl who idolizes her troubled sixteen-year-old neighbor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Turning Point (1977)
As young dancers, they were best friends and fierce rivals. Deedee left the stage for marriage and motherhood, while Emma would become an international ballet icon. But when Deedee's teenage daughter is invited to join Emma's dance company and begins an affair with a young Russian star, the two women are forced to confront the choices they've made, the resentments they've hidden and the emotional truths they must face at the turning point.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoney 3: Dare to Dance (2016)
While attending college in Cape Town, Melea Martin feels constrained by the school's strict policies, and decides to set out on her own. Searching for a way to use her talents as a dancer and inspire the community around her, Melea rents a failing theater in order to put on a Hip-Hop Romeo and Juliet performance. But much like the Capulets and Montagues, conflicts between cast members threaten to bring the whole performance to a halt...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStep Up Revolution (2012)
Emily arrives in Miami with aspirations to become a professional dancer. She sparks with Sean, the leader of a dance crew whose neighborhood is threatened by Emily's father's development plans.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStep Up 3D (2010)
A tight-knit group of New York City street dancers, including Luke and Natalie, team up with NYU freshman Moose, and find themselves pitted against the world's best hip-hop dancers in a high-stakes showdown that will change their lives forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between (2022)
Clare and Aidan make a pact to break up before college — no regrets, no broken hearts. But will one epic goodbye date offer them a last chance at love?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCenter Stage: Turn It Up (2008)
All self-taught dancer Kate Parker has ever wanted to do was perform with the American Academy of Ballet. But when she doesnt make it after auditioning, she learns that it takes more than precision and perfection to succeed in the dance world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMoonlight Mile (2002)
As he copes with the death of his fiancee along with her parents, a young man must figure out what he wants out of life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Never Sang for My Father (1970)
A man living in the towering shadow of his aging father finds it difficult to start a new chapter in his life by marrying his girlfriend and moving to California.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove You to Death (2019)
Inspired by a true story, this film tells the shocking tale of a mother and daughter who are nothing like they seem, their tumultuous relationship ending in a brutal murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLight of My Life (2019)
Years after a pandemic wipes out most of the female population, a father struggles to shield his daughter from a dangerous and predatory world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTigertail (2020)
A man reflects on the lost love of his youth and his long-ago journey from Taiwan to America as he begins to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
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 thisWhat Maisie Knew (2013)
In New York City, six-year-old Maisie is caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle between her self-absorbed parents—an aging rock singer mother and a distracted art dealer father. As both quickly marry new partners to strengthen their legal standing, Maisie is shuttled back and forth in an endless game of emotional point-scoring. Yet amid the chaos and upheaval, Maisie begins to find true comfort and affection in her new step-parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStillwater (2021)
Bill Baker, an American oil-rig roughneck from Oklahoma, travels to Marseille to visit his estranged daughter, Allison, who is in prison for a murder she claims she did not commit. Confronted with language barriers, cultural differences, and a complicated legal system, Bill builds a new life for himself in France as he makes it his personal mission to exonerate his daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Redeeming Sin (1929)
The Redeeming Sin (1929) is a crime drama part-talking silent film with Vitaphone music and sound effects. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros. and stars Dolores Costello. This film is currently a lost film.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004)
In pre-revolution Cuba, Katey Miller is about to defy everyone's expectations. Instead of a parent-approved suitor, Katey is drawn to the sexy waiter, Javier, who spends his nights dancing in Havana's nightclubs. As she secretly learns to dance with Javier, she learns the meanings of love, sensuality and independence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat a Girl Wants (2003)
American Daphne Reynolds heads to Europe in search of the father she's never met. But instead of finding a British version of her boho mother, she learns the love of her mom's life is an uptight politician. The only problem now is that her long-lost father is engaged to a fiercely territorial social climber with a daughter who makes Daphne's life miserable.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Host (2006)
A teenage girl is captured by a giant mutated squid-like creature that appears from Seoul's Han River after toxic waste was dumped in it, prompting her family into a frantic search for her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIt's a Wonderful Life (1946)
George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town is George's modest building and loan company. But on Christmas Eve the business's $8,000 is lost and George's troubles begin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Boys & Girl from County Clare (2003)
In Ireland in the mid 1960s, two feuding brothers and their respective Ceilidh bands compete at a music festival.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
Based on the journals of Che Guevara, leader of the Cuban Revolution. In his memoirs, Guevara recounts adventures he and best friend Alberto Granado had while crossing South America by motorcycle in the early 1950s.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSeetha Kalyanam (1976)
An epic musical drama depicting the preface to Seetha and Rama's wedding.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMission to Mars (2000)
When the first manned mission to Mars meets with a catastrophic and mysterious disaster after reporting an unidentified structure, a rescue mission is launched to investigate the tragedy and bring back any survivors.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like Footloose and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Footloose?
The closest matches to Footloose are Dirty Dancing (1987), Step Up (2006) and Save the Last Dance (2001). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Footloose?
Start with Dirty Dancing (1987), the closest match to Footloose.
What is the highest-rated movie like Footloose?
It's a Wonderful Life (1946), rated 8.3/10 by 5,158 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Footloose?
Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Footloose?
Yes: Dirty Dancing (1987), Step Up (2006) and Save the Last Dance (2001).
How are movies similar to Footloose chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Footloose, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.