Movies like Born to Be Blue (2015)
The best movies like Born to Be Blue (2015) are Miles Ahead (2016), Nina (2016) and The Benny Goodman Story (1956). If Born to Be Blue 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 ratedLa La Land (2016)7.9/10 from 18,728 votes
- NewestKöln 75 (2025)Released 2025
Miles Ahead (2016)
An exploration of the life and music of Miles Davis.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNina (2016)
The story of the late jazz musician and classical pianist Nina Simone including her rise to fame and relationship with her manager Clifton Henderson.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Benny Goodman Story (1956)
Young Benny Goodman is taught clarinet by a music professor. He is advised to play whichever kind of music he likes best, but to make a living, Benny begins by joining the Ben Pollack traveling band.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
'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 thisLady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill (2016)
It's 1959 in a seedy bar in Philadelphia, and Billie Holiday is giving one of her last performances interlaced with salty, often humorous, reminiscences to project a riveting portrait of the lady and her music 4 months before her death.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Köln 75 (2025)
The true story of Vera Brandes, teenage patron saint of the 1970s Cologne music scene, who risked everything to organize the greatest solo concert in music history: Keith Jarrett’s legendary Köln Concert.
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 thisSweet and Lowdown (1999)
In the 1930s, jazz guitarist Emmet Ray idolizes Django Reinhardt, faces gangsters and falls in love with a mute woman.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBird (1988)
Saxophone player Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker comes to New York in 1940 and is quickly noticed for his remarkable way of playing. He becomes a drug addict but his loving wife Chan tries to help him.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Called Him Morgan (2016)
Part jazz history, part true-crime tale, Kasper Collin’s new documentary employs extensive archival footage and new interviews to tell the tragic story of the magnificently talented trumpeter Lee Morgan and his common-law wife Helen, who murdered him in a New York bar in 1972.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSpinning Gold (2023)
A biopic of 1970s record producer Neil Bogart, co-founder of Casablanca Records.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLove & Mercy (2015)
In the late 1960s, the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson stops touring, produces "Pet Sounds" and begins to lose his grip on reality. By the 1980s, under the sway of a controlling therapist, he finds a savior in Melinda Ledbetter.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Rat Pack (1998)
After a brief flash-forward to Frank Sinatra as an old man, saying "I miss my guys," the movie's main narrative begins during high points in the solo careers of the Rat Pack: Dean Martin has become a big success despite the breakup of his partnership with Jerry Lewis; Sinatra's career is at its peak; Sammy Davis, Jr., is making a comeback after a near fatal car crash, and standup comic Joey Bishop is gaining exposure as an opening act for the other three. The Pack becomes complete when Sinatra reconciles with actor Peter Lawford, who has been ostracized since being seen out publicly with Sinatra's ex-wife, Ava Gardner.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisGuy and Madeline on a Park Bench (2010)
After connecting with the shy Madeline, a jazz trumpeter embarks on a quest for a more gregarious paramour, but through a series of twists and turns punctuated by an original score, the two lovers seem destined to be together.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisWalk the Line (2005)
A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMo' Better Blues (1990)
Talented but self-centered trumpeter Bleek Gilliam is obsessed with his music and indecisiveness about his girlfriends Indigo and Clarke. But when he is forced to come to the aid of his manager and childhood friend, Bleek finds his world more fragile than he ever imagined.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Passion (2016)
A two-hour musical event, airing live from New Orleans, that tells the 2000-year-old story of the last hours of Jesus Christ’s life on earth.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Lulu on the Bridge (1998)
A famous jazz saxophonist's life is forever changed after he is accidentally shot. After discovering a mysterious package, he meets and falls in love with a beautiful aspiring actress, but their happiness is cut short by a series of strange, dreamlike events.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBolden (2019)
A mythical account of the life of Buddy Bolden, the first Cornet King of New Orleans.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
I'm Not There (2007)
Six actors portray six personas of music legend Bob Dylan in scenes depicting various stages of his life, chronicling his rise from unknown folksinger to international icon and revealing how Dylan constantly reinvented himself.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisThe Doors (1991)
The story of the famous and influential 1960s rock band and its lead singer and composer, Jim Morrison.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Soloist (2009)
A Los Angeles journalist befriends a homeless Juilliard-trained musician, while looking for a new article for the paper.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLet's Get Lost (1988)
Documentary about jazz great Chet Baker that intercuts footage from the 1950s, when he was part of West Coast Cool, and from his last years. We see the young Baker, he of the beautiful face, in California and in Italy, where he appeared in at least one movie and at least one jail cell (for drug possession). And, we see the aged Baker, detached, indifferent, his face a ruin. Includes interviews with his children and ex-wife, women companions, and musicians.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisThirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993)
A collection of vignettes highlighting different aspects of the life, work, and character of the acclaimed Canadian classical pianist.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies 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
La La Land (2016)
Mia, an aspiring actress, serves lattes to movie stars in between auditions and Sebastian, a jazz musician, scrapes by playing cocktail party gigs in dingy bars, but as success mounts they are faced with decisions that begin to fray the fragile fabric of their love affair, and the dreams they worked so hard to maintain in each other threaten to rip them apart.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisVelvet Goldmine (1998)
Almost a decade since larger-than-life glam-rock enigma Brian Slade disappeared from public eye, an investigative journalist is on assignment to uncover the truth behind his former idol.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGreat Balls of Fire! (1989)
The story of Jerry Lee Lewis, arguably the greatest and certainly one of the wildest musicians of the 1950s. His arrogance, remarkable talent, and unconventional lifestyle often brought him into conflict with others in the industry, and even earned him the scorn and condemnation of the public.
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 Born to Be Blue?
The closest matches to Born to Be Blue are Miles Ahead (2016), Nina (2016) and The Benny Goodman Story (1956). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Born to Be Blue?
People who watched Born to Be Blue most often go on to Miles Ahead (2016), Nina (2016) and The Benny Goodman Story (1956).
What is the highest-rated movie like Born to Be Blue?
La La Land (2016), rated 7.9/10 by 18,728 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Born to Be Blue?
Köln 75 (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Born to Be Blue?
Yes: Miles Ahead (2016), Nina (2016) and The Benny Goodman Story (1956).
How are movies similar to Born to Be Blue chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Born to Be Blue, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.