Movies like Swing Kids (2018)
The best movies like Swing Kids (2018) are Devotion (2022), Battle of Jangsari (2019) and The Scarlet and the Black (1983). If Swing Kids hooked you with its drama and war, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedEmpire of the Sun (1987)7.5/10 from 2,243 votes
- NewestThe Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023)Released 2023
- In KoreanBattle of Jangsari (2019)Also in Korean
Devotion (2022)
The harrowing true story of two elite US Navy fighter pilots during the Korean War. Their heroic sacrifices would ultimately make them the Navy's most celebrated wingmen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBattle of Jangsari (2019)
Korean War, September 1950. In order to fight the enemy forces based in the South of the peninsula, General MacArthur orders the start of the Incheon Landing Operation, deploying diversionary attacks in other locations. Without real military forces to spare, 772 very young Korean student soldiers, barely trained, are sent to Jangsari Beach, where they will face a heroic fate and discover the value of friendship. (A sequel to Operation Chromite, released in 2016.)
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Scarlet and the Black (1983)
Fr. Hugh O'Flaherty is a Vatican official in 1943-45 who has been hiding downed pilots, escaped prisoners of war, and Italian resistance families. His activities become so large that the Nazis decide to assassinate him the next time he leaves the Vatican.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBreaker Morant (1980)
During the Boer War, three Australian lieutenants are on trial for shooting Boer prisoners. Though they acted under orders, they are being used as scapegoats by the General Staff, who hopes to distance themselves from the irregular practices of the war. The trial does not progress as smoothly as expected by the General Staff, as the defence puts up a strong fight in the courtroom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTaking Sides (2002)
One of the most spectacular and renowned conductors of the 1930s, Wilhelm Furtwangler's reputation rivaled that of Toscanini's. After the war, he was investigated as part of the Allies' de-Nazification programme. In the bombed-out Berlin of the immediate post-war period, the Allies slowly bring law and order to bear on an occupied Germany. An American major is given the Furtwangler file, and is told to find everything he can and to prosecute the man ruthlessly. Tough and hard-nosed, Major Steve Arnold sets out to investigate a world of which he knows nothing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Steel Helmet (1951)
A ragtag group of American stragglers battles against superior Communist troops in an abandoned Buddhist temple during the Korean War.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023)
Barney Greenwald, a skeptical lawyer, reluctantly defends an officer of the navy who took control of the Caine from its captain, Lt. Philip Francis Queeg, while caught in a violent sea storm. As the court-martial proceeds, however, Greenwald increasingly questions if it was truly a mutiny or rather the courageous acts of a group of sailors who could not trust their unstable leader.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBattleground (1949)
Members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division are fighting for their country amidst the rugged terrain of Bastogne, Belgium, in December 1944. Holley and his American compatriots have already seen one of their own, Roderigues, perish under enemy fire. The men try to rebuff another series of Nazi attacks, but what they really need is a change in the weather. Without clear skies, they'll never get the air support they need.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParadise Road (1997)
A group of English, American, Dutch and Australian women creates a vocal orchestra while being imprisoned in a Japanese POW camp on Sumatra during World War II.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUprising (2001)
In the Warsaw ghetto in 1943, Jews rise against the Nazis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFixed Bayonets! (1951)
The story of a platoon during the Korean War. One by one, Corporal Denno's superiors are killed until it comes to the point where he must try to take command responsibility.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRunning on Empty (1988)
The Popes are a family who haven't been able to use their real identity for years. In the late sixties, the parents set a weapons lab afire in an effort to hinder the government's Vietnam war campaign. Ever since then, the Popes have been on the run with the authorities never far behind. Their survival is threatened when their eldest son falls in love with a girl, and announces his wish to live his life on his own terms.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSwing Kids (1993)
The story of a close-knit group of young kids in Nazi Germany who listen to banned swing music from the US. Soon dancing and fun leads to more difficult choices as the Nazis begin tightening the grip on Germany. Each member of the group is forced to face some tough choices about right, wrong, and survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBravetown (2015)
After an accidental drug overdose, a talented teenage DJ goes to live with his estranged father in a small Army town, where he gets to the bottom of his own pain and learns empathy for others.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMemories of the Sword (2015)
While in medieval Korea, a young girl sets out to revenge the betrayal and the death of her mother. But therefore she must face one of the most powerful men and warriors of the Goryeo Dynasty.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSunflower (2006)
Tae-sik gets out of a prison after spending 10 years for killing a man and wishes nothing but an ordinary life. A local lady welcomes him into her household like a son and he gets a second chance in life. His former gang tries to destroy his new home in order to build a night club but he won’t let them destroy his new family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThree Wishes (1995)
While Jane Holman is driving with her two sons, she accidentally runs into a drifter, Jack McCloud, who breaks his leg. Being responsible, Jane invites Jack, and his dog, to stay at her home until his leg has healed. Jack struggles to adapt their lifestyle, and finds himself loved by the family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Parts You Lose (2019)
An unlikely friendship unfolds between a young deaf boy, Wesley, and a fugitive criminal who takes refuge in an abandoned barn on the family’s rural North Dakota farm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisF.I.S.T. (1978)
Johnny Kovak joins the Teamsters trade-union in a local chapter in the 1930s and works his way up in the organization. As he climbs higher and higher his methods become more ruthless and finally senator Madison starts a campaign to find the truth about the alleged connections with the Mob.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOut Live (2000)
A sweeping, epic tale of a martial arts warrior who attempts to defy a kingdom to be with his love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEmpire of the Sun (1987)
Jamie Graham, a privileged English boy, is living in Shanghai when the Japanese invade and force all foreigners into prison camps. Jamie is captured with an American sailor, who looks out for him while they are in the camp together. Even though he is separated from his parents and in a hostile environment, Jamie maintains his dignity and youthful spirit, providing a beacon of hope for the others held captive with him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRescue Dawn (2007)
A US Fighter pilot's epic struggle of survival after being shot down on a mission over Laos during the Vietnam War.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMerry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983)
Island of Java, 1942, during World War II. British Major Jack Celliers arrives at a Japanese prison camp, run by the strict Captain Yonoi. Colonel John Lawrence, who has a profound knowledge of Japanese culture, and Sergeant Hara, brutal and simpleton, will witness the struggle of wills between two men from very different backgrounds who are tragically destined to clash.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSpirit of Korean Celadon (2003)
"Spirit of Korean Celadon" tells the story of a craftsman devoted to making traditional ceramics. Set in the Koryo Kingdom, the movie shows the beauty of the ancient Kingdom's celadon and the effort of a craftsman to enrich it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Changeling (1974)
Sexual passion breeds violence in the Thomas Middleton and William Rowley written tale of a beautiful woman who falls in love with a sea-captain. Filmed with lush production values and at a leisurely, very British pace, Helen Mirren is riveting as Beatrice-Joanna, a young lass already torn by love and commitment.Beatrice-Joanna (Helen Mirren) is betrothed to Lord Alonzo de Piraquo (Malcolm Reynolds) but is in love with Alsemero (Brian Cox). She hires her father's manservant, De Flores (Stanley Baker), to kill Alonzo but after he has done so, she realises De Flores wants her as a reward.The Changeling was an instalment of the BBC's Play of the Month series and is a production for television of a 1622 Jacobean tragedy of the same name, written by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Moon Over the River (1953)
A look back at old classmates at a high school reunion, discovering how life has fruitlessly slipped through their fingers. And they don't even have a chance to break free from the small-town grip.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Riot Club (2014)
Two first-year students at Oxford University join a secret society and learn that their reputations can be made or destroyed over the course of one evening.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisCompany (1996)
Set in modern upper-crust Manhattan, an exploration of love and commitment as seen through the eyes of a charming perpetual bachelor questioning his single state and his enthusiastically married, slightly envious friends.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Paper Store (2016)
A former college student writes essays for cash until a client becomes her lover.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Swing Kids?
The closest matches to Swing Kids are Devotion (2022), Battle of Jangsari (2019) and The Scarlet and the Black (1983). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Swing Kids?
Start with Devotion (2022), the closest match to Swing Kids.
What is the highest-rated movie like Swing Kids?
Empire of the Sun (1987), rated 7.5/10 by 2,243 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Swing Kids?
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Korean movies like Swing Kids?
Yes: Battle of Jangsari (2019), Memories of the Sword (2015) and Sunflower (2006).
How are movies similar to Swing Kids chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Swing Kids, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.