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Movies like The Rivals (1970)

The best movies like The Rivals (1970) are Richard III (1995), Detour (1945) and 23 Paces to Baker Street (1956). If The Rivals hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. Richard III (1995)

    Having helped his brother King Edward IV take the throne of England, the jealous hunchback Richard, Duke of Gloucester, plots to seize power for himself. Masterfully deceiving and plotting against nearly everyone in the royal court, including his eventual wife, Lady Anne, and his brother George, Duke of Clarence, Richard orchestrates a bloody rise to power before finding all his gains jeopardized by those he betrayed.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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  2. Detour (1945)

    The life of Al Roberts, a pianist in a New York nightclub, turns into a nightmare when he decides to hitchhike to Los Angeles to visit his girlfriend.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  3. 23 Paces to Baker Street (1956)

    Philip Hannon, a blind playwright living in London, overhears part of a conversation , that leads him into a desperate race, to find a kidnapped child. When he gets no help from the police, he along with his butler, and his ex fiancée, attempt to track down the crooks.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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  4. The Killers (1964)

    A hit man and his partner try to find out why their latest victim, a former race-car driver, did not try to get away.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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  5. Red Dawn (1984)

    It is the dawn of World War III. In mid-western America, a group of teenagers band together to defend their town—and their country—from invading Soviet forces.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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  6. Coda (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: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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  7. Shakespeare in Love (1998)

    Young William Shakespeare is forced to stage his latest comedy, 'Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter', before it's even written. When lovely noblewoman Viola de Lesseps auditions for a role, they fall into forbidden love — and Shakespeare's play finds a new life (and title). As their relationship intensifies, the comedy soon transforms into tragedy.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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  8. The Lords of Discipline (1983)

    Will arrives for his last year at Military Academy, in the Deep South USA, in the 1960's. A black student, Pearce, has been accepted, for the first time and Will is asked to keep an eye out for the inevitable racism. The racists come in the form of The Ten, a secret group of the elite students. They want Pearce to leave on his own free will, but are prepared to torture him to make it 'his free will'. Will is forced to help Pearce and he is prepared to risk his own career to do so.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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  9. Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)

    In late 1940s Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins is an unemployed black World War II veteran with few job prospects. At a bar, Easy meets DeWitt Albright, a mysterious white man looking for someone to investigate the disappearance of a missing white woman named Daphne Monet, who he suspects is hiding out in one of the city's black jazz clubs. Strapped for money and facing house payments, Easy takes the job, but soon finds himself in over his head.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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  10. High Anxiety (1977)

    A psychiatrist with intense acrophobia (fear of heights) goes to work for a mental institution run by doctors who appear to be crazier than their patients, and have secrets that they are willing to commit murder to keep.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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  11. Jasper Jones (2017)

    Fourteen-year-old Charlie's life changes when Jasper takes his help to dispose of the body of his girlfriend, Laura. He decides to look for the murderer and falls in love with Laura's younger sister.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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  12. The Killers (1946)

    Two hit men walk into a diner asking for a man called "the Swede". When the killers find the Swede, he's expecting them and doesn't put up a fight. Since the Swede had a life insurance policy, an investigator, on a hunch, decides to look into the murder. As the Swede's past is laid bare, it comes to light that he was in love with a beautiful woman who may have lured him into pulling off a bank robbery overseen by another man.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  13. Gangster Squad (2013)

    Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, the guns, the prostitutes and — if he has his way — every wire bet placed west of Chicago. And he does it all with the protection of not only his own paid goons, but also the police and the politicians who are under his control. It’s enough to intimidate even the bravest, street-hardened cop… except, perhaps, for the small, secret crew of LAPD outsiders led by Sgt. John O’Mara and Jerry Wooters who come together to try to tear Cohen’s world apart.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  14. Hamlet (1948)

    Winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, Sir Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet continues to be the most compelling version of Shakespeare’s beloved tragedy. Olivier is at his most inspired—both as director and as the melancholy Dane himself—as he breathes new life into the words of one of the world’s greatest dramatists.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  15. Danny Collins (2015)

    An ageing hard-living 1970s rock star decides to change his life when he discovers a 40-year-old undelivered letter written to him by John Lennon.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  16. The Hard Corps (2005)

    An Army veteran assembles a team of bodyguards to protect a former boxer. Complications arise when the boxer suspects his sister may be romantically involved with the bodyguard.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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  17. Deathtrap (1982)

    A Broadway playwright puts murder in his plan to take credit for a student's script.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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  18. The Kill Team (2019)

    When Andrew Briggman — a young soldier in the US Army during the invasion of Afghanistan — witnesses the murderous behavior of fellow soldiers, under the direction of a malevolent Sergeant, he faces a moral dilemma. His increasingly-violent platoon becomes suspicious that someone in their ranks has turned on them, and Andrew begins to fear for his safety. A fictionalized dramatization based on a true story.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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  19. Dead Man Down (2013)

    In New York City, a crime lord's right-hand man is seduced by a woman seeking retribution.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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  20. Crossfire (1947)

    A man is murdered, apparently by one of a group of soldiers just out of the army. But which one? And why?

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers

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Like The Rivals and something else?

Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies like The Rivals?

The closest matches to The Rivals are Richard III (1995), Detour (1945) and 23 Paces to Baker Street (1956). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after The Rivals?

Start with Richard III (1995), the closest match to The Rivals.

What is the highest-rated movie like The Rivals?

The Killers (1946), rated 7.4/10 by 455 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like The Rivals?

Coda (2020) is the most recent release on this list.

Are there English movies like The Rivals?

Yes: Richard III (1995), Detour (1945) and 23 Paces to Baker Street (1956).

How are movies similar to The Rivals chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Rivals, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.

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