Movies like Shiner (2018)
The best movies like Shiner (2018) are Never Back Down (2008), Bloodsport (1988) and Beast (2026). If Shiner hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)8.1/10 from 16,967 votes
- NewestBeast (2026)Released 2026
Never Back Down (2008)
Jake, full of anger after his father's death, is just starting to find a place for himself at his new Orlando high school - until Ryan, head of an underground MMA fight club, picks Jake out as a prime opponent. After being trounced by Ryan in front of the entire school, Jake begins training under the firm, moral guidance of a MMA master, where he learns how to fight... and how to avoid a fight. But it becomes obvious that a rematch will be inevitable if Jake wants to stop Ryan and his bullying, once and for all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBloodsport (1988)
An American Army Major goes AWOL to Hong Kong for an outlawed martial arts contest called the Kumite.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeast (2026)
MMA legend Patton James, now a commercial fisherman, is pulled back into the cage when his brother is in danger. Reuniting with his old coach Sammy, he commits to one final fight in one championship against the brutal champion Xavier Grau.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlood and Bone (2009)
In Los Angeles, an ex-con takes the underground fighting world by storm in his quest to fulfill a promise to a dead friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBorn a Champion (2021)
After a blood- soaked jujitsu match in Dubai, fighting legend Mickey Kelley falls to superstar Blaine. But years later, an online video proves that Blaine cheated, and the world demands a rematch. Can the aging underdog get back into shape in time to vanquish his foe, get revenge, and claim his prize?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNever Back Down: No Surrender (2016)
Picking up after the events of Never Back Down 2, former MMA champion Case Walker is on the comeback trail to become champion once again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEmbattled (2020)
The eldest son of a ruthlessly tough MMA champion must fight his way out of the abusive cycle his father has continued.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNever Back Down 2: The Beatdown (2011)
Four fighters from different backgrounds come together to train under an ex MMA rising star and then ultimately have to fight each other and the traitor in their midst.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLife After Fighting (2024)
Retired martial arts world champion Alex Faulkner has settled into a simple life, when the disappearance of two of his students leads to an unthinkable discovery close to home. Just when all hope of finding the children is lost, he locates the imprisoned girls and unsurfaces an international child trafficking operation, which draws him back into the fight of his life against those behind it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Quest (1996)
Ghang-gheng, the ancient winner-take-all competition in which the deadliest fighters from around the world employ the most spectacular feats of martial arts skills ever displayed in order to win the prized Golden Dragon. But fighting prowess alone will not be enough for Chris to triumph over such daunting foes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUndisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006)
Heavyweight Champ George "Iceman" Chambers is sent to a Russian jail on trumped-up drug charges. In order to win his freedom he must fight against the jailhouse fighting champ Uri Boyka in a battle to the death. This time he is not fighting for a title, he is fighting for his life!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisJawbone (2017)
A former youth boxing champion, Jimmy McCabe is a man in search of hope but looking in all the wrong places. When he hits rock bottom he turns to his childhood boxing club and the only family he has left: gym owner Bill corner man Eddie and promoter Joe. Back in training, years after anyone thought he was a contender, he risks his life, as he tries to stand tall and regain his place in the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUndisputed III: Redemption (2010)
Russian inmate Boyka, now severely hobbled by the knee injury suffered at the end of Undisputed 2. No longer the feared prison fighter he was, he has declined so far that he is now good only for cleaning toilets. But when a new prison fight tournament begins - an international affair, matching the best fighters from prisons around the globe, enticing them with the promise of freedom for the winner - Boyka must reclaim his dignity and fight for his position in the tournament.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLady Bloodfight (2016)
Jane is a beautiful but troubled American girl backpacking through Japan, when her raw street fighting skills draw the attention of Oshima, Japanese karate champion, who recruits and trains her to fight in the vicious, all-female, underground martial arts tournament known as "The Kumite". After months of rigorous preparation, Jane is ready to face off against the deadliest female fighters in the world, including Ling, the Chinese apprentice of Oshima's nemesis. But other nefarious forces lie in the shadows, and Jane and Ling will have to unite on a journey that will take them from the gritty underworld of Hong Kong to the glitz of Macao, before deciding who really is the best female fighter on the planet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBoyka: Undisputed IV (2016)
In the fourth installment of the fighting franchise, Boyka is shooting for the big leagues when an accidental death in the ring makes him question everything he stands for. When he finds out the wife of the man he accidentally killed is in trouble, Boyka offers to fight in a series of impossible battles to free her from a life of servitude.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Prayer Before Dawn (2018)
The amazing true story of Billy Moore, an English boxer incarcerated in Thailand’s most notorious prison. Thrown into a world of drugs and violence, he finds his best chance to escape is to fight his way out in prison Muay Thai tournaments.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAn Ordinary Man (2017)
A war criminal in hiding forms a relationship with his only connection to the outside world - his maid.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMissing in Action 2: The Beginning (1985)
Prequel to the first Missing In Action, set in the early 1980s it shows the capture of Colonel Braddock during the Vietnam war in the 1970s, and his captivity with other American POWs in a brutal prison camp, and his plans to escape.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe State I Am In (2001)
Clara and Hans are left-wing terrorists who have been sought by police for almost fifteen years. Their increasingly rebellious daughter Jeanne begins to pose a threat to their security when she falls in love with a boy she meets on the beach.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this¡Tango! (1933)
¡Tango! follows a formula established by Carlos Gardel with films such as Luces de Buenos Aires (The Lights of Buenos Aires, 1931) in which a melodramatic story is interspersed with tango songs. However, the film had less dialog and more music, making it more like a musical revue. This format would be copied by many subsequent films. The plot is derived from tango songs. Many of these songs tell of the seduction of an innocent slum girl by a rich man who promises her a glamorous life, but who abandons her when her looks fade. The stylized and sentimental plot of ¡Tango! revolves around a young man who is abandoned by his girlfriend for an older rich man and is heartbroken. The film follows his misfortunes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
9 Songs (2004)
Matt, a young glaciologist, soars across the vast, silent, icebound immensities of the South Pole as he recalls his love affair with Lisa. They meet at a mobbed rock concert in a vast music hall - London's Brixton Academy. They are in bed at night's end. Together, over a period of several months, they pursue a mutual sexual passion whose inevitable stages unfold in counterpoint to nine live-concert songs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThree Colors: White (1994)
Polish immigrant Karol Karol finds himself out of a marriage, a job and a country when his French wife, Dominique, divorces him after six months due to his impotence. Forced to leave France after losing the business they jointly owned, Karol enlists fellow Polish expatriate Mikołaj to smuggle him back to their homeland.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEast of Eden (1955)
In the Salinas Valley in and around World War I, Cal Trask feels he must compete against overwhelming odds with his brother for the love of their father. Cal is frustrated at every turn, from his reaction to the war, how to get ahead in business and in life, and how to relate to his estranged mother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBoys Don't Cry (1999)
A young transgender man explores his gender identity and searches for love in rural Nebraska.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Joel Barish, heartbroken that his girlfriend underwent a procedure to erase him from her memory, decides to do the same. However, as he watches his memories of her fade away, he realises that he still loves her, and may be too late to correct his mistake.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe City (1963)
Three stories (Love, Heart, The Hoop) set in the urban, alienated world of a big city. It tells how thin is the line between melancholy and depression.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Between Us (TBA)
Two friends meet and the news is given that the grandmother of one of them has died. What was supposed to be a moment of consolation ends up becoming a change of perspective on death.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Shiner and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Shiner?
The closest matches to Shiner are Never Back Down (2008), Bloodsport (1988) and Beast (2026). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Shiner?
Start with Never Back Down (2008), the closest match to Shiner.
What is the highest-rated movie like Shiner?
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), rated 8.1/10 by 16,967 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Shiner?
Beast (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Shiner?
Yes: Never Back Down (2008), Bloodsport (1988) and Beast (2026).
How are movies similar to Shiner chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Shiner, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.