Movies like Shoeshine (1946)
The best movies like Shoeshine (1946) are The Professor (1986), The Conspiracy of Torture (1969) and The Immortal (2019). If Shoeshine hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedUmberto D. (1952)7.9/10 from 777 votes
- NewestCreators: The Past (2020)Released 2020
- In ItalianThe Professor (1986)Also in Italian
The Professor (1986)
Young Franco is imprisoned for murder and rises to become the feared and powerful 'Professor', taking control of Naples' underworld from behind bars.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Conspiracy of Torture (1969)
In 1599 Italy, Beatrice Cenci is the teenage daughter of the crazed landowner and nobleman Francesco Cenci who keeps her locked up in the dungeon of his castle where he sexually abuses her. Beatrice plots with her stepmother, her besotted servant Olimpio, as well as a local bandit, named Catalano to plan Francesco’s murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Immortal (2019)
After reuniting with his first mentor Bruno and receiving his latest mission, an exiled Ciro is left to fearlessly confront whatever comes his way, navigating a new chapter of gang warfare while grappling with devastating memories of loss and trauma. Weaving between his past as an orphan in Naples' cruel underworld and present as a hardened, cunning assassin with nothing left to lose, Ciro is plunged into the cold, dark depths of a world where immortality is just another form of damnation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBronson (2009)
A young man who was sentenced to 7 years in prison for robbing a post office ends up spending 30 years in solitary confinement. During this time, his own personality is supplanted by his alter ego, Charles Bronson.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDon't Be Bad (2015)
A story set in the 90s and in the outskirts of Rome to Ostia. A world where money, luxury cars, night clubs, cocaine and synthetic drugs are easy to run. A world in which Vittorio and Cesare, in their early twenties, act in search of their success.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLoro 1 (2018)
"Loro", in two parts, is a period movie that chronicles, as a fiction story, events likely happened in Italy (or even made up) between 2006 and 2010. "Loro" wants to suggest in portraits and glimps, through a composite constellation of characters, a moment in history, now definitively ended, which can be described in a very summary picture of the events as amoral, decadent but extraordinarily alive. Additionally, "Loro" wishes to tell the story of some Italians, fresh and ancient people at the same time: souls from a modern imaginary Purgatory who, moved by heterogeneous intents like ambition, admiration, affection, curiosity, personal interests, establish to try and orbit around the walking Paradise that is the man named Silvio Berlusconi.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Outfit (1973)
A two-bit criminal takes on the Mafia to avenge his brother's death. Earl Macklin is a small time criminal who is released from prison after an unsuccessful bank robbery only to discover that a pair of gunmen killed his brother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Conformist (1971)
A weak-willed Italian man becomes a fascist flunky who goes abroad to arrange the assassination of his old teacher, now a political dissident.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMcVicar (1980)
John McVicar was a London Bad Boy. he graduated to armed bank robbery and was Britain's "Public Enemy No. 1". He was captured and put into a high security prison. Will even the highest security prison be able to hold him? This is the true story of his life, his criminal exploits and his eventual rehabilitation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWalking with the Enemy (2014)
Regent Horthy is the leader of Hungary and a German ally, but his favorable standing with Hitler changes as the war comes to an end. Forced to cede Hungary’s power or else witness the execution of his son, Regent Horthy gives up control of his country to the Nazis, who quickly move Hungarians to ghettos and death camps, with no hope in sight. But the despair changes when a young man named Elek emerges. Separated from his family during the relocations and aided by the woman he loves , Elek defies the enemy by becoming one of them. In a race against time, disguised as a Nazi Officer he embarks on a mission to save his family and thousands of his countrymen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParadise Alley (1978)
Three Italian-American brothers, living in the slums of 1940's New York City, try to help each other with one's wrestling career using one brother's promotional skills and another brother's con-artist tactics to thwart a sleazy manager.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisConvict (2014)
Set in the dark and old Parramatta prison built by the original convicts our lead character Ray a war veteran finds himself serving 18 months for manslaughter after defending his fiance. He soon realizes that the prison boss has it in for him and does everything possible to break Ray even going after his fiance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPimp (2018)
An urban love story set on the hard streets of the Bronx. A struggling female pimp, named Wednesday, grows up learning the game from her dad. Once he's gone she's left to look out for her prostitute mother and girlfriend Nikki.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSouth Central (1992)
During a 10-year sentence for murdering the leader of a rival South Central Los Angeles gang, Bobby Johnson finds religion and rehabilitation with the help of Muslim inmate Ali. Upon his release, Bobby returns home to find that his young son, Jimmie, has joined the Deuces, his old crew. Tensions rise as Bobby struggles to convince Jimmie to leave the gang that was his only family during the painful years his absent father spent behind bars.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this1900 (1976)
The epic tale of a class struggle in twentieth century Italy, as seen through the eyes of two childhood friends on opposing sides.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmerican Me (1992)
During his 18 years in Folsom Prison, street-gang leader Santana rules over all the drug-and-murder activities behind bars. Upon his release, Santana goes back to his old neighborhood, intending to lead a peaceful, crime-free life. But his old gang buddies force him back into his old habits.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWe Die Young (2019)
Lucas, a 14-year-old boy inducted into the gang life in Washington D.C., is determined that his 10-year-old brother won't follow the same path. When an Afghanistan war veteran comes into the neighborhood, an opportunity arises.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCop (1988)
An obsessive, insubordinate homicide cop is convinced a serial killer is loose in the Hollywood area and disobeys orders in order to catch him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPiazza Fontana: The Italian Conspiracy (2012)
On December 12, 1969, a bomb kills 17 people at the Piazza Fontana national bank in Milan, Italy, marking the beginning of the Years of Lead. Local anarchists are scapegoated for the massacre by police and the media, but a lone prosecutor uncovers a conspiracy of far-right groups, corrupt secret services, and other interests that seek to undermine democracy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMidnight Express (1978)
Billy Hayes is caught attempting to smuggle drugs out of a country. The courts decide to make an example of him, sentencing him to more than 30 years in prison. Hayes has two opportunities for release: the appeals made by his lawyer, his family, and the American government, or the "Midnight Express".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUmberto D. (1952)
When elderly pensioner Umberto Domenico Ferrari returns to his boarding house from a protest calling for a hike in old-age pensions, his landlady demands her 15,000-lire rent by the end of the month or he and his small dog will be turned out onto the street. Unable to get the money in time, Umberto fakes illness to get sent to a hospital, giving his beloved dog to the landlady's pregnant and abandoned maid for temporary safekeeping.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Discovery of Heaven (2001)
Disappointed with humanity, God wants to revoke his contract with humanity and wants to take back the stone tablets containing the ten commandments. To this end an angel is sent out to affect the personal lives of three humans so an appropriate child may be conceived.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
City Streets (1938)
When her mother dies, wheel-chair bound Winnie Brady is taken in by shopkeeper and neighbor "Uncle" Joe Carmine. Joe convinces Father Ryan to let him informally adopt her. Joe and Winnie live together with Tommy Devlin and his grandmother, Mrs. Devlin, and a dog Winnie names Muriel. Joe sells his shop to pay for an unsuccessful operation on Winnie's legs. This bankrupts Carmine, who then earns a meager living selling fruits and vegetables on the streets. Winnie is sent to live in an orphanage, and Carmine is discouraged from continuing his relationship with her. Carmine is so distraught by grief that he slowly begins to die. Winnie is brought to him by Father Ryan, and she finds the strength to stand and walk to his bedside and sings his favorite song, "Santa Maria." Later, after Winnie has acquired full use of her legs, Joe, in his new catering truck, takes the children on a picnic in the country.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Delinquent Parents (1938)
A woman is forced to keep her marriage and past indiscretions a secret from those she loves.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Gift (2000)
Annie Wilson, young widow and mother of three, makes her living foretelling others' futures—though her own has become cloudier than even she can see. Threatened by a client's violent husband and plagued by visions of a missing local woman, Annie finds herself pulled into a thicket of lies and deception in which her extraordinary gift may ultimately get her killed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAsk the Dust (2006)
Mexican beauty Camilla hopes to rise above her station by marrying a wealthy American. That is complicated by meeting Arturo Bandini, a first-generation Italian hoping to land a writing career and a blue-eyed blonde on his arm.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisGolden Door (2006)
The story is set at the beginning of the 20th century in Sicily. Salvatore, a very poor farmer, and a widower, decides to emigrate to the US with all his family, including his old mother. Before they embark, they meet Lucy. She is supposed to be a British lady and wants to come back to the States. Lucy, or Luce as Salvatore calls her, for unknown reasons wants to marry someone before to arrive to Ellis Island in New York. Salvatore accepts the proposal. Once they arrive in Ellis Island they spend the quarantine period trying to pass the examinations to be admitted to the States. Tests are not so simple for poor farmers coming from Sicily. Their destiny is in the hands of the custom officers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Glass House (2001)
When Ruby and Rhett's parents are killed in a car accident, their carefree teenage lives are suddenly shattered. Moving to an incredible house in Malibu with the Glasses', old friends of the family, seems to be the beginning of a new life for them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCreators: The Past (2020)
Where do we come from and where do we go ? The eternal question of humanity which religions have tried to answer over the centuries - lt's the end of the year 2012. The Universe is about to undergo an imposing planetary alignment and a Total Eclipse will soon be upon Planet Earth. Great vibrational changes are imminent and set to disturb us. The eight members of the Galactic Council, led by Lord Ogmha (William Shatner), meet to discuss the effects of the imminent alignment. They are 8 creators (aliens) and each one of them governs a Planet. They are each responsible for the security and well-being of a 'LENS'. Together they balance the conflict and allegiance of the Universe. Treason puts Earth in danger and the LENS, the hard disc (crystal core) containing the recording of the entire history, DNA, memories and nucleus of mankind is hidden somewhere in Italy. Everyone is searching for it. If the Lens is opened and in the wrong hands it could reveal to the human beings the shocking
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Sweet and the Bitter (1967)
A Japanese woman arrives in Vancouver seeking revenge against the businessman who ruined her family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Shoeshine?
The closest matches to Shoeshine are The Professor (1986), The Conspiracy of Torture (1969) and The Immortal (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Shoeshine?
Start with The Professor (1986), the closest match to Shoeshine.
What is the highest-rated movie like Shoeshine?
Umberto D. (1952), rated 7.9/10 by 777 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Shoeshine?
Creators: The Past (2020) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Italian movies like Shoeshine?
Yes: The Professor (1986), The Conspiracy of Torture (1969) and The Immortal (2019).
How are movies similar to Shoeshine chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Shoeshine, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.