Movies like The Day of the Locust (1975)
The best movies like The Day of the Locust (1975) are The Player (1992), Bugsy (1991) and Gangster Squad (2013). If The Day of the Locust hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThere Will Be Blood (2007)8.1/10 from 7,888 votes
- NewestNickel Boys (2024)Released 2024
The Player (1992)
A Hollywood studio executive is being sent death threats by a writer whose script he rejected - but which one?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBugsy (1991)
New York gangster Ben 'Bugsy' Siegel takes a brief business trip to Los Angeles. A sharp-dressing womanizer with a foul temper, Siegel doesn't hesitate to kill or maim anyone crossing him. In L.A. the life, the movies, and most of all strong-willed Virginia Hill detain him while his family wait back home. Then a trip to a run-down gambling joint at a spot in the desert known as Las Vegas gives him his big idea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGangster 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 · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSave the Tiger (1973)
A businessman's professional struggles begin to conflict with his personal life over the course of two days.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDevil 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 · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Movie Star (2018)
An aging screen icon gets lured into accepting an award at a rinky-dink film festival in Nashville, Tenn., sending him on a hilarious fish-out-of-water adventure and an unexpectedly poignant journey into his past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoodlum (1997)
In 1934, the second most lucrative business in New York City was running 'the numbers'. When Madam Queen—the powerful woman who runs the scam in Harlem—is arrested, Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson takes over the business and must resist an invasion from a merciless mobster.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLawless (2012)
In 1931, the Bondurant brothers of Franklin County, Virginia, run a multipurpose backwoods establishment that hides their true business — bootlegging. Middle brother Forrest is the brain of the operation; older Howard is the brawn, and younger Jack, the lookout. Though the local police have taken bribes and left the brothers alone, a violent war erupts when a sadistic lawman from Chicago arrives and tries to shut down the Bondurants operation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisValentino (1977)
The untimely death of silent screen star Rudolph Valentino prompts the many women in his past to reminisce about his troubled rise to superstardom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisIn Dubious Battle (2016)
In the California apple country, 900 migratory workers rise 'in dubious battle' against the landowners. The group takes on a life of its own—stronger than its individual members, and more frightening. Led by the doomed Jim Nolan, the strike is founded on his tragic idealism—'courage, never submit, or yield'.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisNickel Boys (2024)
Chronicles the powerful friendship between two young Black teenagers navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLive by Night (2016)
A group of Boston-bred gangsters set up shop in balmy Florida during the Prohibition era, facing off against the competition and the Ku Klux Klan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThere Will Be Blood (2007)
Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview, moves to oil-rich California. Using his son to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday suspects Plainview's motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBobby (2006)
In 1968 the lives of a retired doorman, hotel manager, lounge singer, busboy, beautician and others intersect in the wake of Robert F. Kennedy's assassination at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChaplin (1992)
An aged Charlie Chaplin narrates his life to his autobiography's editor, including his rise to wealth and comedic fame from poverty, his turbulent personal life and his run-ins with the FBI.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeing the Ricardos (2021)
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz face a crisis that could end their careers and another that could end their marriage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pawnbroker (1965)
A Jewish pawnbroker, a victim of Nazi persecution, loses all faith in his fellow man until he realizes too late the tragedy of his actions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGotti (1996)
John Gotti, the head of a small New York mafia crew breaks a few of the old family rules. He rises to become the head of the Gambino family and the most well-known mafia boss in America. Life is good, but suspicion creeps in, and greed, rule-breaking and his high public profile all threaten to topple him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll That Jazz (1979)
Joe Gideon is at the top of the heap, one of the most successful directors and choreographers in musical theater. But he can feel his world slowly collapsing around him - his obsession with work has almost destroyed his personal life, and only his bottles of pills keep him going.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
A tale of murder, crime and punishment set in the summer of 1949. Ed Crane, a barber in a small California town, is dissatisfied with his life, but his wife Doris' infidelity and a mysterious opportunity presents him with a chance to change it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPreludes to Ecstasy (1961)
Sten Lehtoja, a married, middle-aged businessman, picks up a young hitchhiker, Elsie, while driving to his summer home. Elsie spends the night and becomes his mistress. Later during the summer, Elsie also begins an affair with Reino, the teenage son of a local storekeeper. Sten offers to divorce his wife, and Elsie, attracted by the prospect of a secure social position, agrees to marry him when the divorce becomes final. One night when the couple are in bed, Reino climbs a ladder and attempts to force his way into their room; he falls and breaks his neck, and to avoid scandal Sten hides the body. But the strain of guilt ruins the romance, and Elsie contacts the police, who arrest her lover.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Welcome to the Quiet Room (2007)
28 year old freelance writer Sakura Asuka wakes up tied in a white room. The white room is a protected room located in an isolated ward of a psychiatric hospital. Sakura first became unconscious because of heavy alcohol use and a druge overdose. She’s confined in the single room because of her high risk of committing suicide. Sakura tried to talk to the nurses and doctors but they didn’t listen to her. Under the circumstances another patient Miki, who suffers from an eating disorder, leads her to understand the unknown world. But, Sakura is looking for the way to get back to the real world as soon as possible.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
We Are Your Friends (2015)
Young Cole Carter dreams of hitting the big time as a Hollywood disc jockey, spending his days and nights hanging with buddies and working on the one track that will set the world on fire. Opportunity comes knocking when he meets James Reed, a charismatic DJ who takes the 23-year-old under his wing. Soon, his seemingly clear path to success gets complicated when he starts falling for his mentor's girlfriend, jeopardizing his new friendship and the future he seems destined to fulfill.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlonde (2022)
From her volatile childhood as Norma Jeane, through her rise to stardom and romantic entanglements, this reimagined fictional portrait of Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe blurs the lines of fact and fiction to explore the widening split between her public and private selves.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLocomotive Teacher (2004)
Seigo Yoshioka (Kenji Sakaguchi) is a teacher that became mute after a kendo accident. He feels lost after the accident and eventually decides to teach again on a small island where his mother was born. The children there on the island quickly name him "Kikansha Sensei" (Teacher Locomotive) after learning he is mute. The parents on the island are mostly hostile to Seigo Yoshioka, believing he is incapable of teaching their children. But with Seigo Yoshioka's determination and kindness, a strong bond develops between the students and the mute teacher, which then changes the parents' opinions of Seigo Yoshioka. Suddenly, tragedy then strikes ...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bihter: A Forbidden Passion (2023)
Bihter, who is desperate for love, sees Adnan, a wealthy and respected older guy, as a way out of the stereotype that society and her materialistic mother have given her. But she soon discovers that she is not satisfied with his attention and has other needs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisRaazi (2018)
An Indian spy is married to a Pakistani military officer during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Tarnished Angels (1957)
In the 1930s, once-great World War I pilot Roger Shumann performs as a daredevil barnstorming pilot at aerial stunt shows while his wife, LaVerne, works as a parachutist. When newspaper reporter Burke Devlin arrives to do a story on the Shumanns’ act, he quickly falls in love with the beautiful--and neglected--LaVerne.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTombstone of the Fireflies (2008)
Set during World War II, the film follows a young brother and sister as they attempt to survive the aftermath of the firebombing of Kobe City.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Heidi (1968)
Heidi is an orphaned girl initially raised by her aunt Dete in Maienfeld, Switzerland. In order to get a job in Frankfurt, Dete brings 5-year-old Heidi to her grandfather, who has been at odds with the villagers for years and lives in seclusion on the alm. He at first resents Heidi's arrival, but the girl manages to penetrate his harsh exterior and subsequently has a delightful stay with him and her best friend, young Peter the goat-herd.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Day of the Locust?
The closest matches to The Day of the Locust are The Player (1992), Bugsy (1991) and Gangster Squad (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Day of the Locust?
Start with The Player (1992), the closest match to The Day of the Locust.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Day of the Locust?
There Will Be Blood (2007), rated 8.1/10 by 7,888 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Day of the Locust?
Nickel Boys (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Day of the Locust?
Yes: The Player (1992), Bugsy (1991) and Gangster Squad (2013).
How are movies similar to The Day of the Locust chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Day of the Locust, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.