Movies like The Deep Blue Sea (1957)
The best movies like The Deep Blue Sea (1957) are Mo' Better Blues (1990), Crossroads (1986) and Taurus (2022). If The Deep Blue Sea 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 ratedOpen Your Eyes (1997)7.5/10 from 1,270 votes
- NewestClika (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseBECK (2010)Also in Japanese
Mo' 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrossroads (1986)
A wanna-be blues guitar virtuoso seeks a long-lost song by legendary musician, Robert Johnson.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTaurus (2022)
A rising but troubled musician searches for the inspiration to record one last song, pushing himself deep into the void.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisToo Late Blues (1961)
Ghost is an ideological musician and leader of a jazz band who would rather play his blues in the park to the birds than compromise himself. His peripatetic performances lead him to cross paths with a singer, while his masculinity is thrown into question following a violent brawl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Mambo Kings (1992)
The Mambo Kings tells the story of César and Nestor Castillo, brothers and aspiring musicians who flee from Cuba to America in search of the American Dream.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Five Heartbeats (1991)
In the early 1960s, a quintet of hopeful, young African-American men form an amateur vocal group called The Five Heartbeats. After an initially rocky start, the group improves, turns pro, and rises to become a top flight music sensation. Along the way, however, the guys learn many hard lessons about the reality of the music industry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA (2017)
A young alcoholic ambient musician locks himself in his apartment on a dangerous seven day bender as he attempts to finish his upcoming album.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClika (2026)
Aspiring small-town musician Chito is determined to make it big. When a clip of him performing one of his songs goes viral, he seizes the opportunity and pushes to carve out a place for himself in the new wave of Mexican-American music... and ultimately gets caught in a game more dangerous than anticipated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBeyond the Sea (2004)
Based on the life and career of legendary entertainer, Bobby Darin, the biopic moves back and forth between his childhood and adulthood, to tell the tale of his life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpringsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (2025)
Bruce Springsteen, a young musician on the cusp of global superstardom, struggles to reconcile the pressures of success with the ghosts of his past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoney: Rise Up and Dance (2018)
Street dancer Skyler comes out of the shadow of her trained dancer sister, Tosha, & joins a dance competition with the Honey dance studio; the prize is a college scholarship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGrace Unplugged (2013)
A talented young singer and aspiring songwriter’s Christian faith and family ties are tested when she defies her worship-pastor father and pursues pop-music stardom in GRACE UNPLUGGED, a moving and inspiring new film that explores the true meaning of success.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTeen Spirit (2019)
A shy teenager living on the Isle of Wight dreams of pop stardom. With the help of an unlikely mentor, she enters a singing competition that will test her integrity, talent, and ambition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKing Creole (1958)
Delinquent Danny Fisher flunks out of high school, quits his job as a nightclub busboy, and one night gets the chance to perform. Success is imminent and local crime boss Maxie Fields wants to hire him to perform at The Blue Shade. Danny declines, but Fields won't take no for an answer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeats (2019)
An agoraphobic hip-hop prodigy and a disgraced former music manager cross paths in Chicago’s South Side and help each other face demons of their pasts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoneydripper (2007)
In 1950s Alabama, the owner of the Honeydripper juke joint finds his business dropping off and against his better judgment, hires a young electric guitarist in a last ditch effort to draw crowds during harvest time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisBECK (2010)
Yukio is your average high school student who spends his days going to class and avoiding bullies. That is until he meets Ryusuke, a guitar prodigy. Together with Taira, Chiba, and Saku they form the rock band BECK. As their popularity increases so does the danger as Ryusuke's past catches up with him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Colors Within (2024)
Totsuko is a high school student with the ability to see the 'colors' of others. Colors of bliss, excitement, and serenity, plus a color she treasures as her favorite. Kimi, a classmate at her school, gives off the most beautiful color of all. Although she doesn't play an instrument, Totsuko forms a band with Kimi and Rui, a quiet music enthusiast they meet at a used bookstore in a far corner of town. As they practice at an old church on a remote island, music brings them together, forming friendships and stirring affections.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCassandra's Dream (2007)
The tale of two brothers with serious financial woes. When a third party proposes they turn to crime, things go bad and the two become enemies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOpen Your Eyes (1997)
Handsome 25-year-old Cesar had it all -- a successful career, expensive cars, a swank bachelor's pad, and an endless string of beautiful and willing women -- until he is thrown into a strange psychological mystery after a car accident scars his face and lands him in prison.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRosa's Dilemma (2025)
Rosa finds herself in a whirlwind of emotions as she navigates an unexpected love triangle between her two coworkers at a fast food joint.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Last Mistress (2007)
Secrets, rumors and betrayals surround the upcoming marriage between a young dissolute man and virtuous woman of the French aristocracy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisJules and Jim (1962)
In the carefree days before World War I, introverted Austrian author Jules strikes up a friendship with the exuberant Frenchman Jim and both men fall for the impulsive and beautiful Catherine.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Rules of Attraction (2002)
The incredibly spoiled and overprivileged students of Camden College are a backdrop for an unusual love triangle between a drug dealer, a virgin and a bisexual classmate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Sand Castle (1962)
Two boys are on an unplanned vacation by foot. They meet a girl who has nothing but a bikini under her coat. She says her cloths were stolen while she was bathing. She joins their company. They steel cloths for her. There is a little kissing with both but nothing that could make the other jealous. During most of the movie they enjoy minor pleasures. But occasionally when the girl is alone she has attacks of very painful emotions. In the end it turns out that she is a former child-prisoner of a German KZ-lager, who had run away from a mental hospital in bikini and coat. Some of the staff were searching for her. But when she sees them she commits suicide.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Angel Face (1953)
Ambulance driver Frank Jessup is ensnared in the schemes of the sensuous but dangerous Diane Tremayne.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBamy (2018)
One day, Fumiko Tashiro runs into Ryota Saeki - an old acquaintance from college - outside the municipal library where she works. Brought together by chance, they find themselves drawn to one another, and before long they are set to get married. They make their preparations for the wedding, envisioning their happy future together. But all the while, Ryota is troubled by his own secret ability to see the dead.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Vortex (1967)
A beautiful young woman Hana Angelousi is lured aboard the yacht of a man who is trying to break the spell that turns men into stone. An updated version of the legend of Perseus and Medusa.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Love in Thoughts (2004)
A posthumous look at the last days of Guenther's life as he, his best friend, and his sister let loose on a four-day binge of alcohol, drugs, and sex.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Deep Blue Sea?
The closest matches to The Deep Blue Sea are Mo' Better Blues (1990), Crossroads (1986) and Taurus (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Deep Blue Sea?
Start with Mo' Better Blues (1990), the closest match to The Deep Blue Sea.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Deep Blue Sea?
Open Your Eyes (1997), rated 7.5/10 by 1,270 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Deep Blue Sea?
Clika (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like The Deep Blue Sea?
Yes: BECK (2010), The Colors Within (2024) and Bamy (2018).
How are movies similar to The Deep Blue Sea chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Deep Blue Sea, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.