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Movies like Rivals (1929)

The best movies like Rivals (1929) are Hands of Stone (2016), Hounddog (2008) and Gracie (2007). If Rivals hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. Hands of Stone (2016)

    The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  2. Hounddog (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

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  3. Gracie (2007)

    A teenager faces an uphill battle when she fights to give women the opportunity to play competitive soccer.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  4. Bastard Out of Carolina (1996)

    A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  5. Won't Back Down (2012)

    Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  6. Jane Got a Gun (2015)

    After her outlaw husband returns home shot with eight bullets and barely alive, Jane reluctantly reaches out to an ex-lover who she hasn't seen in over ten years to help her defend her farm when the time comes that her husband's gang eventually tracks him down to finish the job.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

  7. True Grit (1969)

    The murder of her father sends a teenage tomboy on a mission of 'justice', which involves avenging her father's death. She recruits a tough old marshal, 'Rooster' Cogburn because he has 'true grit', and a reputation of getting the job done.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  8. The River (1984)

    Tom and Mae Garvey are a Tennessee farming couple battling violent floods to save their land. In addition to natural disasters, the Garveys fight to stop a selfish land developer and a local corporation from foreclosing on their farm. While Mae stays at home to care for their children and tend to the crops, Tom finds work as a scab at a steel mill to preserve his family's property.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  9. Gigi & Nate (2022)

    A young man with a bright future suffers a near-fatal accident and recreates his new life with the help of an unlikely animal friend.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  10. Road to Paloma (2014)

    While Native American Wolf is being pursued by the FBI for having taken the law into his own hands, when his mother was raped and killed on their reservation he crosses paths with Cash, a down and out musician who is coping with the end of his marriage. An unlikely friendship develops, as they ride together towards the Teton mountain range, where Wolf will spread his mothers ashes.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

  11. The Safety of Objects (2002)

    In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

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  12. What Maisie Knew (2013)

    In New York City, six-year-old Maisie is caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle between her self-absorbed parents—an aging rock singer mother and a distracted art dealer father. As both quickly marry new partners to strengthen their legal standing, Maisie is shuttled back and forth in an endless game of emotional point-scoring. Yet amid the chaos and upheaval, Maisie begins to find true comfort and affection in her new step-parents.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  13. The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972)

    Middle-aged widow Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her daughters Ruth and Matilda are struggling to survive in a society they barely understand. Beatrice dreams of opening an elegant tea room but does not have the wherewithal to achieve her lofty goal. Epileptic Ruth is a rebellious adolescent, while shy but highly intelligent and idealistic Matilda seeks solace in her pets and school projects, including one designed to show how small amounts of radium affect marigolds.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  14. El Chicano (2019)

    A pair of twin brothers from East L.A. choose to live their lives differently and end up on opposite sides of the law.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  15. The Trials of Cate McCall (2013)

    In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  16. Rogue Agent (2022)

    Conman Robert Freegard poses as an undercover MI5 agent and kidnaps countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt, until the woman who fell for him brings him to justice.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  17. The Young One (1960)

    A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  18. 1 Chance 2 Dance (2014)

    When a 17-year old aspiring dancer is uprooted in her high school senior year, she finds herself divided between two boys, and she will have one last shot at making her dream a reality.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  19. National Theatre Live: Hamlet (2015)

    As a country arms itself for war, a family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father's death but paralyzed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  20. Hunting Season (2025)

    When a reclusive survivalist and his daughter rescue a mysterious, wounded woman from a river, they become entangled in a deadly web of violence and revenge, forcing them to confront a brutal criminal to survive.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  21. The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906)

    Just as Galeen and Wegener's Der Golem (1915) can be seen as a testament to early German film artistry, The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906) symbolizes both the birth of the Australian film industry and the emergence of an Australian cinema identity. Even more significantly, it heralds the emergence of the feature film format. However, only fragments of the original production of more than one hour are known to exist, preserved at the National Film and Sound Archive, Canberra; Efforts at reconstruction have made the film available to modern audiences.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  22. The Making of O'Malley (1925)

    A policeman falls for a teacher, and befriends her students. A gang of bootleggers threatens his newfound joys.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  23. Theater of Life: Youth Version (1936)

    During the 20s in Japan, a romantic student at Tokyo's Waseda University is filled with noble sentiments absorbed from literature but his naive illusions will be shattered by the ruthless realities of money and power.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  24. A Poet from the Sea (1927)

    Hou Yao wrote, directed and starred in A Poet from the Sea (1927). It was shot in Stanley, Hong Kong. The surviving copy was only 23-minute long, but Hou Yao's romantic side was obvious through the scenic location and beautiful set-up. The love story between Poet (Hou Yao) and his lover (Lee Dan-dan) was pure and lyrical, a gem from China Sun Motion Picture Company (Shanghai) in the 1920s.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  25. Dead Man's Curve (1928)

    A grease monkey discovers a defect in an auto engine being turned out by his employer. But since our hero discovers this only after losing an important race, his boss chalks up the loss to Fairbanks' supposed cowardice.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  26. Die Flamme (1923)

    In 19th century Paris a hedonistic woman marries an aristocrat but has trouble keeping faithful to him.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  27. Should We Be Silent? (1926)

    A melodrama about a painter who is infected with syphilis, refuses treatment, turns to the use instead of narcotics, and withers away.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  28. The Miracle Man (1919)

    A gang of crooks evade the police by moving their operations to a small town. There the gang's leader encounters a faith healer and uses him to scam gullible public of funds for a supposed chapel. But when a real healing takes place, a change comes over the gang. Lost film, only the most famous scene has survived.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  29. Bleak House (1922)

    Focuses on the suspenseful, intertwined stories of the Chancery court injustices and the scandalous secrets surrounding Lady Dedlock's past. Part of serial Tense Moments from Great Plays.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

  30. The Paul Street Boys (1925)

    A couple of boy gangs in Budapest constantly fight over the neighborhood turf.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

Like Rivals and something else?

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

Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies like Rivals?

The closest matches to Rivals are Hands of Stone (2016), Hounddog (2008) and Gracie (2007). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after Rivals?

Start with Hands of Stone (2016), the closest match to Rivals.

What is the highest-rated movie like Rivals?

Hunting Season (2025), rated 7.4/10 by 488 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like Rivals?

Hunting Season (2025) is the most recent release on this list.

How are movies similar to Rivals chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside 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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