Movies like Selma (2014)
The best movies like Selma (2014) are The Long Walk Home (1990), All the Way (2016) and Shirley (2024). If Selma hooked you with its history and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFord v Ferrari (2019)8.0/10 from 9,476 votes
- NewestDown the Arm of God (2026)Released 2026
The Long Walk Home (1990)
Two women, black and white, in 1955 Montgomery Alabama, must decide what they are going to do in response to the famous bus boycott led by Martin Luther King.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll the Way (2016)
Lyndon B. Johnson's amazing 11-month journey from taking office after JFK's assassination, through the fight to pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act and his own presidential campaign, culminating on the night LBJ is actually elected to the office – no longer the 'accidental President.'
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShirley (2024)
Shirley Chisholm makes a trailblazing run for the 1972 Democratic presidential nomination after becoming the first Black woman elected to Congress.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Best of Enemies (2019)
Centers on the unlikely relationship between Ann Atwater, an outspoken civil rights activist, and C.P. Ellis, a local Ku Klux Klan leader who reluctantly co-chaired a community summit, battling over the desegregation of schools in Durham, North Carolina during the racially-charged summer of 1971. The incredible events that unfolded would change Durham and the lives of Atwater and Ellis forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTill (2022)
The true story of Mamie Till Mobley's relentless pursuit of justice for her 14-year-old son, Emmett Till, who, in 1955, was lynched while visiting his cousins in Mississippi.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Call to Spy (2020)
The story of Vera Atkins, a crafty spy recruiter, and two of the first women she selects for Churchill's "secret army": Virginia Hall, a daring American undaunted by a disability and Noor Inayat Khan, a pacifist. These civilian women form an unlikely sisterhood while entangled in dangerous missions to turn the tide of the war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOrigin (2023)
While investigating the global phenomenon of caste and its dark influence on society, a journalist faces unfathomable personal loss and uncovers the beauty of human resilience.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWorth (2021)
Kenneth Feinberg, a powerful D.C. lawyer appointed Special Master of the 9/11 Fund, fights off the cynicism, bureaucracy, and politics associated with administering government funds and, in doing so, discovers what life is worth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFord v Ferrari (2019)
American car designer Carroll Shelby and the British-born driver Ken Miles work together to battle corporate interference, the laws of physics, and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford Motor Company and take on the dominating race cars of Enzo Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France in 1966.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisYoung Washington (2026)
Before he led a nation, George Washington was a young soldier thrown into a global conflict. With alliances crumbling and war closing in, he must choose who to trust and confront the leader he's becoming.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRed Tails (2012)
The story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American pilots to fly in a combat squadron during World War II.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMary (2024)
A miraculous conception. A merciless king. A murderous pursuit. Mary's journey to give birth to Jesus unfolds in this biblical coming-of-age epic.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLion of the Desert (1981)
Resistance leader Omar Mukhtar opposes Italian colonization before World War II. The brutal guerrilla war against Italian General Rodolfo Graziani and the Fascist forces of Benito Mussolini highlights the struggle for Libyan independence and the harsh tactics utilised by the colonisers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993)
This film is a glimpse into the life, love and the unconquerable spirit of the legendary Bruce Lee. From a childhood of rigorous martial arts training, Lee realizes his dream of opening his own kung-fu school in America. Before long, he is discovered by a Hollywood producer and begins a meteoric rise to fame and an all too short reign as one the most charismatic action heroes in cinema history.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Great Debaters (2007)
The true story of a brilliant but politically radical debate team coach who uses the power of words to transform a group of underdog African-American college students into a historical powerhouse that took on the Harvard elite.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNorma Rae (1979)
Norma Rae is a southern textile worker employed in a factory with intolerable working conditions. This concern about the situation gives her the gumption to be the key associate to a visiting labor union organizer. Together, they undertake the difficult, and possibly dangerous, struggle to unionize her factory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Butler (2013)
Cecil Gaines was a sharecropper's son who grew up in the 1920s as a domestic servant for the white family who casually destroyed his. Eventually striking out on his own, Cecil becomes a hotel valet of such efficiency and discreteness in the 1950s that he becomes a butler in the White House itself. There, Cecil would serve numerous US Presidents over the decades as a passive witness of history with the American Civil Rights Movement gaining momentum even as his family has troubles of its own. As his wife, Gloria, struggles with alcoholism and his defiant eldest son, Louis, strives for a just world, Cecil must decide whether he should take action in his own way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTo Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Scout Finch, 6, and her older brother Jem live in sleepy Maycomb, Alabama, spending much of their time with their friend Dill and spying on their reclusive and mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. When Atticus, their widowed father and a respected lawyer, defends a black man named Tom Robinson against fabricated rape charges, the trial and tangent events expose the children to evils of racism and stereotyping.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Banker (2020)
In the 1960s, two entrepreneurs hatch an ingenious business plan to fight for housing integration—and equal access to the American Dream.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJOY (2024)
A young nurse, a visionary scientist and an innovative surgeon face opposition from the church, state, media and medical establishment, in their pursuit of the world’s first ‘test tube baby’, Louise Joy Brown.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCasualties of War (1989)
During the Vietnam War, a soldier finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisConcert of 1936 (1978)
In 1936, two female artists (a singer and a pianist) visit the city of Lushnja, which was very conservative.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Glory (1989)
Robert Gould Shaw leads the US Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices of both his own Union army and the Confederates.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeggars and Noblemen (1991)
In June 1945, during the final days of WWII, former university professor Gohar meets a young prostitute in a brothel and kills her in a moment of frenzy. Police Detective Noureddine takes on the murder case and tracks down Gohar, hoping to confront him and get a confession to the murder from him. However, both the detective and the killer face startling facts that change the way they think.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Stick It (2006)
Haley is a naturally gifted athlete but, with her social behavior, the teen seems intent on squandering her abilities. After a final brush with the law, a judge sentences her to an elite gymnastics academy run by a legendary, hard-nosed coach. Once there, Haley's rebellious attitude wins her both friends and enemies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Color of Milk (2004)
Selma's mother died giving birth to her, and Selma's step aunt is living proof that men only cause trouble. So the 11 year old girl makes a deal with her best friends that they will stay away from boys and dedicate their lives to science. And by the way, Selma was probably born on another planet and not meant to fall in love with anyone. But what happens when her friends break the pact, and she actually meets a boy who's not like the rest?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Avenue Montaigne (2006)
A young woman arrives in Paris where she finds a job as a waitress in bar next on Avenue Montaigne that caters to the surrounding theaters and the wealthy inhabitants of the area. She will meet a pianist, a famous actress and a great art collector, and become acquainted with the "luxurious" world her grandmother has told her about since her childhood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDown the Arm of God (2026)
A young pastor goes through a harsh winter in a small Texas town, where his mission to help the homeless is faced with resistance by his congregation, exposing deep-seated prejudice and systemic failures.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Little Women (1994)
Four sisters come of age in America in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisŠek, na kterém chyběl podpis (1974)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Selma and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Selma?
The closest matches to Selma are The Long Walk Home (1990), All the Way (2016) and Shirley (2024). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Selma?
Start with The Long Walk Home (1990), the closest match to Selma.
What is the highest-rated movie like Selma?
Ford v Ferrari (2019), rated 8.0/10 by 9,476 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Selma?
Down the Arm of God (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Selma?
Yes: The Long Walk Home (1990), All the Way (2016) and Shirley (2024).
How are movies similar to Selma chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Selma, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.