Movies like Her Smell (2019)
The best movies like Her Smell (2019) are Vox Lux (2018), A Star Is Born (2018) and Prey for Rock & Roll (2003). If Her Smell hooked you with its drama and music, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedWhiplash (2014)8.4/10 from 17,377 votes
- NewestClika (2026)Released 2026
Vox Lux (2018)
In 1999, teenage sisters Celeste and Eleanor survive a seismic, violent tragedy. The sisters compose and perform a song about their experience, making something lovely and cathartic out of catastrophe — while also catapulting Celeste to stardom. By 2017, the now 31-year-old Celeste is mother to a teenage daughter of her own and struggling to navigate a career fraught with scandals when another act of terrifying violence demands her attention.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Star Is Born (2018)
Seasoned musician Jackson Maine discovers — and falls in love with — struggling artist Ally. She has just about given up on her dream to make it big as a singer — until Jack coaxes her into the spotlight. But even as Ally's career takes off, the personal side of their relationship is breaking down, as Jack fights an ongoing battle with his own internal demons.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPrey for Rock & Roll (2003)
In late 1980s Los Angeles, Jacki and her all-girl punk rock band, Clam Dandy, are trying to make it big. On the verge of turning 40, Jacki decides that if the band's one last shot at the big time is unsuccessful, she will give up her dreams of stardom.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Saturn Return (2024)
A rock band has to record their third LP, which will either propel them to stardom or fade into oblivion. Despite executives’ reservations, their idea is to have the recording take place in New York. But everything complicates, and the creative process turns into a hellish ordeal. A love triangle with all its consequences unfolds, band members desert, romantic relationships shatter, rehearsals become rampant with drugs and alcohol, and the unbearable pressure from the record label leads to endless fights and arguments only interrupted by fleeting moments of happiness. Meanwhile, unknowingly, they will be composing an album that will leave a mark on an entire generation.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisInside Llewyn Davis (2013)
In Greenwich Village in the early 1960s, gifted but volatile folk musician Llewyn Davis struggles with money, relationships, and his uncertain future.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBreaking Glass (1980)
Breaking Glass is the story of punk singer Kate and her meteoric rise to stardom. Starting out in the rock pubs of London, Kate, assisted by her manager Danny, becomes a huge star overnight. Once at the top the pressure is immense as Kate's band are squeezed out and she is left to cope alone in the spotlight.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
The Runaways (2010)
Joan Jett and Cherie Currie, two rebellious teenagers from Southern California, become the frontwomen for The Runaways -- the now-legendary group that paved the way for future generations of female rockers. Under the Svengali-like influence of impresario Kim Fowley, the band becomes a huge success.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWe Are the Best! (2013)
Three girls in 1980s Stockholm decide to form a punk band—despite not having any instruments, and being told by everyone that punk is dead.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLondon Town (2017)
A 14-year old boy’s life changes forever when his estranged mother introduces him to the music of The Clash in 1979 London.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Yellow Rose (2020)
Rose, a 17-year-old Filipino-American teenager from Texas, dreams of becoming a country music icon. She has to fend for herself when her mother is arrested by ICE, and must choose between following her dreams without her mother or leaving her passions behind.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Rudderless (2014)
A grieving father in a downward spiral stumbles across a box of his recently deceased son's demo tapes and lyrics. Shocked by the discovery of this unknown talent, he forms a band in the hope of finding some catharsis.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSpringsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (2025)
Bruce Springsteen, a young musician on the cusp of global superstardom, struggles to reconcile the pressures of success with the ghosts of his past.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlmost Famous (2000)
In 1973, a precocious 15-year-old aspiring rock journalist lands a dream assignment from Rolling Stone to tour with a rising rock band, embarking on a coming-of-age journey as he discovers the exhilarating and heartbreaking realities behind rock stardom.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWithin Temptation & The Metropole Orchestra: Black Symphony (2008)
Their most ambitious staging to date, Black Symphony is capturing a unique concert at Rotterdam's Ahoy Arena on February 7, 2008. Sold out months in advance, Within Temptation performed to 10,000 fans with the 60-piece Metropole Orchestra and a 20-voice classical choir, as well as on-stage stilt performers, costume changes, and an array of stunning pyrotechnic and lighting effects. Special guests include Keith Caputo (ex-Life Of Agony), Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering), and George Oosthoek (Orphanage)
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
Singer Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bass guitarist John Deacon take the music world by storm when they form the rock 'n' roll band Queen in 1970. Hit songs become instant classics. When Mercury's increasingly wild lifestyle starts to spiral out of control, Queen soon faces its greatest challenge yet – finding a way to keep the band together amid the success and excess.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisWhiplash (2014)
Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSound of Metal (2020)
Metal drummer Ruben begins to lose his hearing. When a doctor tells him his condition will worsen, he thinks his career and life is over. His girlfriend Lou checks the former addict into a rehab for the deaf hoping it will prevent a relapse and help him adapt to his new life. After being welcomed and accepted just as he is, Ruben must choose between his new normal and the life he once knew.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDreamin' Wild (2023)
The true story of the Emerson family and the tumult that followed the success of their self-recorded pop-funk album of the same name, which went largely unnoticed until critics rediscovered and reappraised it decades later. Now, as an adult, Donnie is forced to confront the ghosts from the past and grapple with the emotional toll his dreams have taken on the family who supported him.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
I Am Not a Hipster (2013)
Things are not looking good for Brook, a young, talented singer/songwriter who has become the clichéd tortured artist. Slow to come to terms with the death of his mother, Brook is self-absorbed, aggressive, and the major obstruction to his own career success. His isolation is lifted when his three sisters and estranged father come to spread his mother’s ashes. Brook’s loving sisters have a magical effect on his anger and apathy, suggesting there may be hope for the misanthropic musician after all.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Clika (2026)
Aspiring small-town musician Chito is determined to make it big. When a clip of him performing one of his songs goes viral, he seizes the opportunity and pushes to carve out a place for himself in the new wave of Mexican-American music... and ultimately gets caught in a game more dangerous than anticipated.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Forty-Year-Old Version (2020)
Desperate for a breakthrough as she nears the big 4-0, struggling New York City playwright Radha finds inspiration by reinventing herself as a rapper.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMasked and Anonymous (2003)
A nation wracked with civil war and social unrest anticipates a giant charity concert, organized by deceptive promoter Uncle Sweetheart, who plans on raking in huge sums for himself from the event. Headlining is legendary musician Jack Fate, whose prison time is cut short with Sweetheart's help. Meanwhile, journalist Tom Friend investigates the corrupt concert and sets out to unmask the truth to the public.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisMetallica: Through the Never (2013)
Trip, a young roadie for Metallica, is sent on an urgent mission during the band's show. But what seems like a simple assignment turns into a surreal adventure.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBarbara (2017)
An actress will play Barbara, the French singer. The shoot will soon start. The actress works on her character, her voice, the songs, scores, the gestures, knitting, scenes she has to learn, things are going okay, there's progress, development, she is even overwhelmed. The film director also works, through his encounters, through archives, music, he let's himself be submerged, overwhelmed like the actress, by the actress.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisRobbie Williams - One Night At the Palladium (2013)
Robbie Williams takes over the London Palladium for an evening of swing classics and new songs. Special guests joining Robbie and his big band on stage are Lily Allen, Rufus Wainwright and Muppets Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog, and grumpy old men Statler and Waldorf.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music
Control (2007)
The story of Joy Division’s lead singer Ian Curtis, from his schoolboy days in 1973 to his suicide on the eve of the band's first American tour in 1980.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPatti Cake$ (2017)
Straight out of Jersey comes Patricia Dombrowski, a.k.a. Killa P, a.k.a. Patti Cake$, an aspiring rapper fighting through a world of strip malls and strip clubs on an unlikely quest for glory.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClouds (2020)
Young musician Zach Sobiech discovers his cancer has spread, leaving him just a few months to live. With limited time, he follows his dream and makes an album, unaware that it will soon be a viral music phenomenon.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisWhiplash (2013)
A ferocious, bullying music teacher teaches a dedicated student.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGod Help the Girl (2014)
Eve is a catastrophe—low on self-esteem but high on fantasy, especially when it comes to music. Over the course of one Glasgow summer, she meets two similarly rootless souls: posh Cass and fastidious James, and together they form a band.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Her Smell?
The closest matches to Her Smell are Vox Lux (2018), A Star Is Born (2018) and Prey for Rock & Roll (2003). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Her Smell?
People who watched Her Smell most often go on to Vox Lux (2018), A Star Is Born (2018) and Prey for Rock & Roll (2003).
What is the highest-rated movie like Her Smell?
Whiplash (2014), rated 8.4/10 by 17,377 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Her Smell?
Clika (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Her Smell?
Yes: Vox Lux (2018), A Star Is Born (2018) and Prey for Rock & Roll (2003).
How are movies similar to Her Smell chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Her Smell, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.