Movies like The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)
The best movies like The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021) are Get On Up (2014), Cadillac Records (2008) and Blaze (2018). If The United States vs. Billie Holiday hooked you with its music and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedRay (2004)7.5/10 from 2,350 votes
- NewestThe Smashing Machine (2025)Released 2025
Get On Up (2014)
A chronicle of James Brown's rise from extreme poverty to become one of the most influential musicians in history.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCadillac Records (2008)
The story of sex, violence, race and rock and roll in 1950s Chicago, and the exciting but turbulent lives of some of America's musical legends, including Muddy Waters, Leonard Chess, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Etta James and Chuck Berry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlaze (2018)
Inspired by the life of Blaze Foley, the unsung songwriting legend of the Texas outlaw country movement that spawned the likes of Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. The film weaves together three periods in Blaze's life, exploring his love affair with Sybil Rosen; his last, dark night on Earth; and the impact his songs and his death had on his fans, friends, and foes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiles Ahead (2016)
An exploration of the life and music of Miles Davis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChevalier (2023)
The illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, Joseph Bologne rises to improbable heights in French society as a celebrated violinist-composer and fencer, complete with an ill-fated love affair and a falling out with Marie Antoinette and her court.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBird (1988)
Saxophone player Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker comes to New York in 1940 and is quickly noticed for his remarkable way of playing. He becomes a drug addict but his loving wife Chan tries to help him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBorn to Be Blue (2015)
Jazz legend Chet Baker finds love and redemption when he stars in a movie about his own troubled life to mount a comeback.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Doors (1991)
The story of the famous and influential 1960s rock band and its lead singer and composer, Jim Morrison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Catcher Was a Spy (2018)
Former major league baseball player Moe Berg lives a double life working for the Office of Strategic Services in World War II Europe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBessie (2015)
The story of legendary blues performer, Bessie Smith, who rose to fame during the 1920s and '30s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRocketman (2019)
The story of Elton John's life, from his years as a prodigy at the Royal Academy of Music through his influential and enduring musical partnership with Bernie Taupin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJ. Edgar (2011)
As the face of law enforcement in the United States for almost 50 years, J. Edgar Hoover was feared and admired, reviled and revered. But behind closed doors, he held secrets that would have destroyed his image, his career, and his life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
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 & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Smashing Machine (2025)
In the late 1990s, up-and-coming mixed martial artist Mark Kerr aspires to become the greatest fighter in the world. However, he must also battle his opioid dependence and a volatile relationship with his girlfriend Dawn.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRay (2004)
Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mom who insisted he make his own way, He found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered coupling gospel and country together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
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 & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Secrets We Keep (2020)
In post-World War II America, a woman, rebuilding her life in the suburbs with her husband, kidnaps her neighbor and seeks vengeance for the heinous war crimes she believes he committed against her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! (1989)
In the sixties, Eddie and the Cruisers were the hottest band around. But the tragic death of its lead singer broke the band up...only Eddie is not dead. He works as a carpenter in Montreal, but his love of music forces him to create a new band which will have to struggle with its anonymity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKill the Messenger (2014)
A reporter becomes the target of a vicious smear campaign that drives him to the point of suicide after he exposes the CIA's role in arming Contra rebels in Nicaragua and importing cocaine into California. Based on the true story of journalist Gary Webb.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pentagon Papers (2003)
This compelling political drama is based on the true story of high-ranking Pentagon official Daniel Ellsberg, who, during the Nixon era, strove to preserve American democracy by leaking top-secret documents to the New York Times and Washington Post. The documents in question would eventually become famous as the Pentagon Papers, which revealed the true reasons for U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Thin Red Line (1998)
The story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II battle of Guadalcanal. It follows their journey, from the surprise of an unopposed landing, through the bloody and exhausting battles that follow, to the ultimate departure of those who survived.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEvita (1996)
The hit musical based on the life of Evita Duarte, an Argentinian actress who eventually became the wife of Argentinian president Juan Perón, and the most beloved and hated woman in Argentina.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNational Theatre Live: Nye (2024)
Confronted with death, National Health Service founder Aneurin 'Nye' Bevan's deepest memories lead him on a mind-bending journey back through his life; from childhood to mining underground, Parliament and fights with Winston Churchill.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history & drama
Sœur Sourire: Who Killed the Voice of God? (2021)
1962. A crystalline voice becomes a planetary tube. A Belgian nun jostles Elvis and the Beatles on the world charts. Her name: Sister Smile. A popstar with the trajectory of a comet who understands her success no more than the double meaning of her words… The harder the fall will be. Even God does not protect sharks' appetites or pretenses of success! Who killed the little voice of God? Here is the tragic story of an innocent voice, of an extraordinary fate, almost of a curse ...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music & drama
Che: Part Two (2008)
Seven years after his triumph in Cuba, Che winds up in Bolivia, where he tries to ignite the same revolutionary fires as before.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChe: Part One (2008)
Ernesto Guevara, known as 'Che', leads a group of Cuban exiles under Fidel Castro in a revolution to overthrow Fulgencio Batista, the dictator of Cuba.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmelia (2009)
A look at the life of legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart, who disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to make a flight around the world.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
SnoozefestMovies like thisMonarch (2000)
From double BAFTA nominated Writer and Director John Walsh. Monarch is part fact, part fiction and unfolds around one night when the injured ruler arrives at a manor house closed for the season.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Ali (2001)
In 1964, a brash, new pro boxer, fresh from his Olympic gold medal victory, explodes onto the scene: Cassius Clay. Bold and outspoken, he cuts an entirely new image for African Americans in sport with his proud public self-confidence and his unapologetic belief that he is the greatest boxer of all time. Yet at the top of his game, both Ali's personal and professional lives face the ultimate test.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · 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: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The United States vs. Billie Holiday?
The closest matches to The United States vs. Billie Holiday are Get On Up (2014), Cadillac Records (2008) and Blaze (2018). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The United States vs. Billie Holiday?
Start with Get On Up (2014), the closest match to The United States vs. Billie Holiday.
What is the highest-rated movie like The United States vs. Billie Holiday?
Ray (2004), rated 7.5/10 by 2,350 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The United States vs. Billie Holiday?
The Smashing Machine (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The United States vs. Billie Holiday?
Yes: Get On Up (2014), Cadillac Records (2008) and Blaze (2018).
How are movies similar to The United States vs. Billie Holiday chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The United States vs. Billie Holiday, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.