Movies like Alex Colville: Realist Painter (1983)
The best movies like Alex Colville: Realist Painter (1983) are Pollock (2000), Carrington (1995) and Mr. Turner (2014). If Alex Colville: Realist Painter hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFirebird (2021)7.4/10 from 255 votes
- NewestI Want Your Sex (2026)Released 2026
Pollock (2000)
In August of 1949, Life Magazine ran a banner headline that begged the question: "Jackson Pollock: Is he the greatest living painter in the United States?" The film is a look back into the life of an extraordinary man, a man who has fittingly been called "an artist dedicated to concealment, a celebrity who nobody knew." As he struggled with self-doubt, engaging in a lonely tug-of-war between needing to express himself and wanting to shut the world out, Pollock began a downward spiral.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCarrington (1995)
Painter Dora Carrington develops an intimate but extremely complex bond with writer Lytton Strachey. Though Lytton is a homosexual, he is enchanted by the mysterious Dora and they begin a lifelong friendship that has strangely romantic undertones. Eventually, Lytton and Dora decide to live together, despite the fact that the latter has fallen in love with military man Ralph Partridge, whom she plans to marry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMr. Turner (2014)
Eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner lives his last 25 years with gusto and secretly becomes involved with a seaside landlady, while his faithful housekeeper bears an unrequited love for him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Want Your Sex (2026)
When a naive young man becomes the sexual muse for a renowned and provocative artist, his dream job quickly turns dangerous as he is drawn into an obsessive world of power, betrayal, and murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998)
In the 1960s, British painter Francis Bacon surprises a burglar and invites him to share his bed. The burglar, a working class man named George Dyer, accepts. After the unique beginning to their love affair, the well-connected and volatile artist assimilates Dyer into his circle of eccentric friends, as Dyer's struggle with addiction strains their bond.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures (2016)
Nude men in rubber suits, close-ups of erections, objects shoved in the most intimate of places—these are photographs taken by Robert Mapplethorpe, known by many as the most controversial photographer of the twentieth century. Openly gay, Mapplethorpe took images of male sex, nudity, and fetish to extremes that resulted in his work still being labelled by some as pornography masquerading as art. But less talked about are the more serene, yet striking portraits of flowers, sculptures, and perfectly framed human forms that are equally pioneering and powerful.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLittle Boy (2015)
An eight-year-old boy is willing to do whatever it takes to end World War II so he can bring his father home. The story reveals the indescribable love a father has for his little boy and the love a son has for his father.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFive Came Back (2017)
The extraordinary story of how Hollywood changed World War II – and how World War II changed Hollywood, through the interwoven experiences of five legendary filmmakers who went to war to serve their country and bring the truth to the American people: John Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank Capra, and George Stevens. Based on Mark Harris’ best-selling book, “Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War.”
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisGet On Up (2014)
A chronicle of James Brown's rise from extreme poverty to become one of the most influential musicians in history.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCutie and the Boxer (2013)
This candid New York love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko. Anxious to shed her role as her overbearing husband's assistant, Noriko finds an identity of her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)
The turbulent personal and professional life of actor Peter Sellers (1925-1980), from his beginnings as a comic performer on BBC Radio to his huge success as one of the greatest film comedians of all time; an obsessive artist so dedicated to his work that neglected his loved ones and sacrificed part of his own personality to convincingly create that of his many memorable characters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Eyes of Orson Welles (2018)
A poetic journey into the visual world of the legendary filmmaker and actor Orson Welles (1915-85) that reveals a new portrait of a unique genius, both of his life and of his monumental work: through his own eyes, drawn by his own hand, painted with his own brush.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShowing Up (2023)
In the days leading up to a possibly career-changing exhibition, a sculptor navigates her relationships with family, friends, and colleagues.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisAt Eternity's Gate (2018)
Famed but tormented artist Vincent van Gogh spends his final years in Arles, France, painting masterworks of the natural world that surrounds him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBasquiat (1996)
The brief life of Jean Michel Basquiat, a world renowned New York street artist struggling with fame, drugs and his identity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFirebird (2021)
At the height of the Cold War, a troubled soldier forms a forbidden love triangle with a daring fighter pilot and his female comrade amid the dangerous surroundings of a Soviet Air Force Base.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCanvas (2020)
After a heartbreaking loss, a grandfather struggling to reclaim his passion for painting finds the inspiration to create again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Woman on the Beach (1947)
A sailor suffering from post-traumatic stress becomes involved with a beautiful and enigmatic seductress married to a blind painter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFinal Portrait (2017)
Paris, 1964. The Swiss sculptor and painter Alberto Giacometti, one of the most accomplished and respected artists of his generation, asks his friend, the American writer James Lord, to sit for a portrait, assuring him that it will take no longer than two or three hours, an afternoon at the most.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSix Degrees of Separation (1993)
The story of a young, gay, black, con artist who, posing as the son of Sidney Poitier, cunningly maneuvers his way into the lives of a white, upper-class New York family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Alex Colville: Realist Painter?
The closest matches to Alex Colville: Realist Painter are Pollock (2000), Carrington (1995) and Mr. Turner (2014). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Alex Colville: Realist Painter?
Start with Pollock (2000), the closest match to Alex Colville: Realist Painter.
What is the highest-rated movie like Alex Colville: Realist Painter?
Firebird (2021), rated 7.4/10 by 255 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Alex Colville: Realist Painter?
I Want Your Sex (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Alex Colville: Realist Painter?
Yes: Pollock (2000), Carrington (1995) and Mr. Turner (2014).
How are movies similar to Alex Colville: Realist Painter chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Alex Colville: Realist Painter, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.