Movies like Once (2007)
The best movies like Once (2007) are High Fidelity (2000), Sing Street (2016) and Almost Famous (2000). If Once 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 17,363 votes
- NewestMile End Kicks (2026)Released 2026
High Fidelity (2000)
After his long-time girlfriend dumps him, a thirty-year-old record store owner seeks to understand why he is unlucky in love while recounting his "top five breakups of all time".
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSing Street (2016)
A boy growing up in Dublin during the 1980s escapes his strained family life by starting a band to impress the mysterious girl he likes.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 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 thisAugust Rush (2007)
Evan, a musically gifted orphan, runs away from his orphanage and searches New York City for his birth parents. On his journey, he's taken under the wing of the Wizard, a homeless man who lives in an abandoned theater. After discovering his talent, the Wizard gives Evan the name "August Rush" and devises a plan to profit from his talent. Little does Evan know that his parents, Lyla and Louis, are searching for him too.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBegin Again (2014)
Gretta, a budding songwriter, finds herself alone after her boyfriend Dave ditches her. Her life gains purpose when Dan, a record label executive, notices her talent.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & romance
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisLa La Land (2016)
Mia, an aspiring actress, serves lattes to movie stars in between auditions and Sebastian, a jazz musician, scrapes by playing cocktail party gigs in dingy bars, but as success mounts they are faced with decisions that begin to fray the fragile fabric of their love affair, and the dreams they worked so hard to maintain in each other threaten to rip them apart.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMile End Kicks (2026)
Grace Pine, a 24-year-old music critic, moves to Montreal to write a book on Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, but her plans are complicated when she becomes romantically involved with two members of an indie band she is covering and decides to become their publicist.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thistick, tick... BOOM! (2021)
On the brink of turning 30, a promising theater composer navigates love, friendship and the pressure to create something great before time runs out.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMoulin Rouge! (2001)
A celebration of love and creative inspiration takes place in the infamous, gaudy and glamorous Parisian nightclub, at the cusp of the 20th century. A young poet, who is plunged into the heady world of Moulin Rouge, begins a passionate affair with the club's most notorious and beautiful star.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Commitments (1991)
Jimmy Rabbitte, just a thick-ya out of school, gets a brilliant idea: to put a soul band together in Barrytown, his slum home in north Dublin. First he needs musicians and singers: things slowly start to click when he finds three fine-voiced females virtually in his back yard, a lead singer (Deco) at a wedding, and, responding to his ad, an aging trumpet player, Joey "The Lips" Fagan.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCrazy Heart (2009)
When reporter Jean Craddock interviews Bad Blake—an alcoholic, seen-better-days country music legend—they connect, and the hard-living crooner sees a possible saving grace in a life with Jean and her young son.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCODA (2021)
As a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults), Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family's fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her love of music and her fear of abandoning her parents.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisWalk the Line (2005)
A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe History of Sound (2025)
In 1917, two young music students attending the Boston Conservatory bond over a mutual love of folk music. They reconnect a few years later, embarking on a song-collecting trip in the backwaters of Maine.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSong Sung Blue (2025)
Based on a true story, two down-on-their-luck musicians form a joyous Neil Diamond tribute band, proving it's never too late to find love and follow your dreams.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & romance
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisMr. Holland's Opus (1995)
In 1965, passionate musician Glenn Holland takes a day job as a high school music teacher, convinced it's just a small obstacle on the road to his true calling: writing a historic opus. As the decades roll by with the composition unwritten but generations of students inspired through his teaching, Holland must redefine his life's purpose.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThat Thing You Do! (1996)
A Pennsylvania band scores a hit in 1964 and rides the star-making machinery as long as it can, with lots of help from its manager. But behind the scenes, the group’s sudden fame tests their strength, their maturity and responsibility, and their ability to resist the temptations that money and notoriety always make possible.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYesterday (2019)
A struggling musician realizes he's the only person on Earth who can remember The Beatles after waking up in an alternate reality where the group was forgotten.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSong to Song (2017)
In this modern love story set against the Austin, Texas music scene, two entangled couples — struggling songwriters Faye and BV, and music mogul Cook and the waitress whom he ensnares — chase success through a rock ‘n’ roll landscape of seduction and betrayal.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMusic and Lyrics (2007)
A washed-up '80s pop star gets a chance at a comeback when reigning pop diva Cora Corman invites him to write & record a duet with her, but there's a problem--Alex hasn't written a song in years; he's never written lyrics and he has to come up with a hit in a matter of days.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBrooklyn (2015)
In 1950s Ireland and New York, young Eilis Lacey has to choose between two men and two countries.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBilly Elliot (2000)
County Durham, England, 1984. The miners' strike has started and the police have started coming up from Bethnal Green, starting a class war with the lower classes suffering. Caught in the middle of the conflict is 11-year old Billy Elliot, who, after leaving his boxing club for the day, stumbles upon a ballet class and finds out that he's naturally talented. He practices with his teacher Mrs. Wilkinson for an upcoming audition in Newcastle-upon Tyne for the royal Ballet school in London.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNine (2009)
Arrogant, self-centered movie director Guido Contini finds himself struggling to find meaning, purpose, and a script for his latest film endeavor. With only a week left before shooting begins, he desperately searches for answers and inspiration from his wife, his mistress, his muse, and his mother.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisMaestro (2023)
A towering and fearless love story chronicling the lifelong relationship between Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein. A love letter to life and art, Maestro at its core is an emotionally epic portrayal of family and love.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008)
Nick cannot stop obsessing over his ex-girlfriend, Tris, until Tris' friend Norah suddenly shows interest in him at a club. Thus begins an odd night filled with ups and downs as the two keep running into Tris and her new boyfriend while searching for Norah's drunken friend, Caroline, with help from Nick's band mates. As the night winds down, the two have to figure out what they want from each other.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMúsica (2024)
A young man, plagued by the music in his head, has to come to terms with an uncertain future while balancing love, family and Brazilian culture in Newark, New Jersey.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSaiyaara (2025)
Two artistic souls find harmony through music despite their contrasting worlds. As feelings deepen, age and circumstances challenge their undeniable bond.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Once?
The closest matches to Once are High Fidelity (2000), Sing Street (2016) and Almost Famous (2000). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Once?
People who watched Once most often go on to High Fidelity (2000), Sing Street (2016) and Almost Famous (2000).
What is the highest-rated movie like Once?
Whiplash (2014), rated 8.4/10 by 17,363 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Once?
Mile End Kicks (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Once?
Yes: High Fidelity (2000), Sing Street (2016) and Almost Famous (2000).
How are movies similar to Once chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Once, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.