Movies like Sanju (2018)
The best movies like Sanju (2018) are Dalíland (2022), Life (2015) and Effie Gray (2014). If Sanju hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedWhere Hope Grows (2014)7.9/10 from 232 votes
- NewestMagazine Dreams (2025)Released 2025
- In HindiShershaah (2021)Also in Hindi
Dalíland (2022)
In 1973, a young gallery assistant goes on a wild adventure behind the scenes as he helps aging genius Salvador Dali prepare for a big show in New York.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLife (2015)
In 1955, young photographer Dennis Stock develops a close bond with actor James Dean while shooting pictures of the rising Hollywood star.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEffie Gray (2014)
A look at the mysterious relationship between Victorian art critic John Ruskin and his teenage bride Effie Gray.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998)
In the 1960s, British painter Francis Bacon surprises a burglar and invites him to share his bed. The burglar, a working class man named George Dyer, accepts. After the unique beginning to their love affair, the well-connected and volatile artist assimilates Dyer into his circle of eccentric friends, as Dyer's struggle with addiction strains their bond.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Day and a Night (2020)
While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHands 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAaliyah: The Princess of R&B (2014)
The story of R&B singer and actress Aaliyah; namely, the highs and lows of her career, her romantic pursuits, and the events leading up to her death in 2001 at the age of 22.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bang Bang Club (2011)
In the early to mid '90s, when the South African system of apartheid was in its death throes, four photographers - Greg Marinovich, Kevin Carter, Ken Oosterbroek and João Silva - bonded by their friendship and a sense of purpose, worked together to chronicle the violence and upheaval leading up to the 1994 election of Nelson Mandela as president. Their work is risky and dangerous, potentially fatally so, as they thrust themselves into the middle of chaotic clashes between forces backed by the government (including Inkatha Zulu warriors) and those in support of Mandela's African National Congress.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Eyez on Me (2017)
All Eyez on Me chronicles the life and legacy of Tupac Shakur, including his rise to superstardom as a hip-hop artist, actor, poet and activist, as well as his imprisonment and prolific, controversial time at Death Row Records. Against insurmountable odds, Tupac rose to become a cultural icon whose career and persona both continue to grow long after his passing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShershaah (2021)
Inspired by the life of Captain Vikram Batra (PVC), the film celebrates his bravery, valiant spirit and honors his invaluable sacrifice during the Kargil War of 1999, at the age of 24.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Dry White Season (1989)
During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlue (1993)
Against a plain, unchanging blue screen, a densely interwoven soundtrack of voices, sound effects and music attempt to convey a portrait of Derek Jarman's experiences with AIDS, both literally and allegorically, together with an exploration of the meanings associated with the colour blue.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisA Mouthful of Air (2021)
Julie is a new mom and children's book author, who escapes into the bright Crayola-colored world of her creation in order to leave behind the darkness caused by her post-partum depression.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Outrun (2024)
Fresh out of rehab, Rona returns to the Orkney Islands—a place both wild and beautiful, right off the Scottish coast. Now 29 and after more than a decade of living life on the edge in London, where she both found and lost love, Rona attempts to come to terms with her troubled past. As she reconnects with the dramatic landscape where she grew up, memories of her traumatic childhood merge with more recent challenging events that have set her on the path to recovery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNocturnal Animals (2016)
Susan Morrow receives a book manuscript from her ex-husband – a man she left 20 years earlier – asking for her opinion of his writing. As she reads, she is drawn into the fictional life of Tony Hastings, a mathematics professor whose family vacation turns violent.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Joker is Wild (1957)
A Prohibition-era nightclub crooner has his career is cut short when his throat is slashed by a mob boss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisA Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006)
Dito Montiel, a successful author, receives a call from his long-suffering mother, asking him to return home and visit his ailing father. Dito recalls his childhood growing up in a violent neighborhood in Queens, N.Y., with friends Antonio, Giuseppe, Nerf and Mike.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhere Hope Grows (2014)
Calvin Campbell is a former professional baseball player sent to an early retirement due to his panic attacks at the plate. Even though he had all the talent for the big leagues, he struggles with the curveballs life has thrown him. Today, he mindlessly sleepwalks through his days and the challenge of raising his teenager daughter. His life is in a slow downward spiral when it is suddenly awakened and invigorated by the most unlikely person – Produce, a young-man with Down syndrome who works at the local grocery store.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMagazine Dreams (2025)
Aspiring bodybuilder Killian Maddox struggles to find human connection in an exploration of celebrity and violence. Nothing deters him from his fiercely protected dream of superstardom, not even the doctors who warn him of the permanent damage he causes to himself with his quest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKinsey (2004)
Kinsey is a portrait of researcher Alfred Kinsey, driven to uncover the most private secrets of a nation. What begins for Kinsey as a scientific endeavor soon takes on an intensely personal relevance, ultimately becoming an unexpected journey into the mystery of human behavior.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRiding in Cars with Boys (2001)
In 1965, a young woman with dreams of becoming a writer has a son at the age of 15 and struggles to make things work with the drug-addicted father.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAkeli Mat Jaiyo (1963)
A prince disguises himself as a common man to win the love of Seema, a middle-class woman. Complications arise when his true identity is revealed, testing their love and trust.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
III Smoking Barrels (2018)
A combination of three stories, each exploring a different stage in life - A CHILD involved in armed conflicts, a BOY in drug peddling and a MAN entangled in elephant poaching.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Mohabbatein (2000)
At a prestigious all-male university, three friends seek love outside of the school grounds; at the same time, a newly-hired music teacher seeks to befriend and loosen up the militantly strict headmaster.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAlmost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat (2023)
In pursuit of forbidden love, two young couples from different worlds find their lives entangled as rebellion and intolerance collide in dual stories.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Uff! Yeh Mohabbat (1997)
St. George's College in Bombay has two sweethearts namely, Chiclet (Saddiya Siddiqui), and Raja (Abhishek Kapoor), until Raja sets his eyes on Sonia Verma (Twinkle Khanna).
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Sham Ghansham (1998)
Satyadev Singh lives with his wife, Ganga, and two sons, Sham and Ghansham, and their family leads a fairly comfortable life. Things turn for the worse for them when a new corrupt Collector named Bhim Singh enters their region. Satyadev is killed, and Ganga has to flee with her children away from this region, and from Bhim Singh. Years later, Sham and Ghansham have grown up and would like to avenge their father's death. Their quest takes them to Collector Bhim Singh and his men, who are ready to let history repeat itself, by killing the sons of Satyadev Singh.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bloodsport (1988)
An American Army Major goes AWOL to Hong Kong for an outlawed martial arts contest called the Kumite.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDulhan Ek Raat Ki (1967)
Arrogant son of a wealthy, blind woman, rapes his mother's nurse and abandons her. She gets pregnant but the child does not live, and she continues to live her life and follow up on her love life, only to face the past, and her "reformed" rapist.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Sanju and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Sanju?
The closest matches to Sanju are Dalíland (2022), Life (2015) and Effie Gray (2014). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Sanju?
Start with Dalíland (2022), the closest match to Sanju.
What is the highest-rated movie like Sanju?
Where Hope Grows (2014), rated 7.9/10 by 232 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Sanju?
Magazine Dreams (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Hindi movies like Sanju?
Yes: Shershaah (2021), Akeli Mat Jaiyo (1963) and III Smoking Barrels (2018).
How are movies similar to Sanju chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Sanju, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.