Movies like Substance (2016)
The best movies like Substance (2016) are Bones Brigade: An Autobiography (2012), mid90s (2018) and Thrashin' (1986). If Substance hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBack to the Future Part II (1989)7.8/10 from 14,495 votes
- NewestBorder Hunters (2025)Released 2025
Bones Brigade: An Autobiography (2012)
When six teenage boys came together as a skateboarding team in the 1980s, they reinvented not only their chosen sport but themselves too – as they evolved from insecure outsiders to the most influential athletes in the field.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thismid90s (2018)
In 1990s Los Angeles, a 13-year-old spends his summer navigating between a troubled home life and a crew of new friends he meets at a skate shop.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThrashin' (1986)
Corey and his band of skater buddies sometimes make mischief, but they're more interested in girls and having fun on their boards than in getting into any real trouble. Notorious enemy crew the Daggers, led by Tommy Hook, get their kicks terrorizing the locals at Venice Beach. When Corey starts dating Tommy's kid sister Chrissy, the Daggers are furious. The boys then take their beef to the "L.A. Massacre," a deadly skate race down a canyon road.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCKY 3 (2001)
The third entry in the CKY series of extreme stunts and skateboarding programs. Directed by and featuring Bam Margera and Brandon DiCamillo, starring Margera, DiCamillo and the rest of the CKY crew.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGleaming the Cube (1989)
An Orange County teenager's carefree life of ditching class and skateboarding abandoned pools comes to a screeching halt when someone close to him dies. The cops rule the death a suicide, but the bereaved skater believes he was murdered. It's up to him to solve the case, with a skateboard.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off (2022)
A wide-ranging, definitive look at Hawk’s life and iconic career, and his relationship with the sport with which he’s been synonymous for decades, featuring unprecedented access, never-before-seen footage, and interviews with Hawk and prominent figures in the sport including Stacy Peralta, Rodney Mullen, Mike McGill, Lance Mountain, Steve Caballero, Neil Blender, Andy MacDonald, Duane Peters, Sean Mortimer, and Christian Hosoi.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisScott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
As bass guitarist for a garage-rock band, Scott Pilgrim has never had trouble getting a girlfriend; usually, the problem is getting rid of them. But when Ramona Flowers skates into his heart, he finds she has the most troublesome baggage of all: an army of ex-boyfriends who will stop at nothing to eliminate him from her list of suitors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAirborne (1993)
Good-natured teen surfer Mitchell Goosen finds himself staying with his aunt and uncle in Cincinnati, Ohio when his parents head to Australia for work. There he meets his cousin, Wiley, and together they try to navigate the perils of high school—avoid the bullies, get the girl, and win a little respect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGrind (2003)
Four skaters follow their idol on his summer tour in an attempt to get noticed, get sponsored, and become stars themselves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDogtown and Z-Boys (2002)
This award-winning, thrilling story is about a group of discarded kids who revolutionized skateboarding and shaped the attitude and culture of modern day extreme sports. Featuring old skool skating footage, exclusive interviews and a blistering rock soundtrack, DOGTOWN AND Z-BOYS captures the rise of the Zephyr skateboarding team from Venice's Dogtown, a tough "locals only" beach with a legacy of outlaw surfing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSkate Kitchen (2018)
Camille's life as a lonely suburban teenager changes dramatically when she befriends a group of girl skateboarders. As she journeys deeper into this raw New York City subculture, she begins to understand the true meaning of friendship as well as her inner self.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Art of Flight (2011)
Iconic snowboarder Travis Rice and friends redefine what is possible in the mountains. Experience the highs, as new tricks are landed and new zones opened, alongside the lows, where avalanches, accidents, and wrong-turns strike.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLords of Dogtown (2005)
The radical true story behind three teenage surfers from Venice Beach, California, who took skateboarding to the extreme and changed the world of sports forever. Stacy Peralta, Tony Alva and Jay Adams are the Z-Boys, a bunch of nobodies until they create a new style of skateboarding that becomes a worldwide phenomenon. But when their hobby becomes a business, the success shreds their friendship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMVP 2: Most Vertical Primate (2001)
MVP 2 opens with the lovable Jack being ousted from his hockey team, the Seattle Simians, and having to hit the road after being falsely accused of league misconduct. Jack ends up in the city, where he's befriended by Ben, a homeless skateboarder, and Ollie, a skate shop owner. Jack proves to be as adept at mastering the half-pipe as he does at delivering a slap shot, and before long, he and Ben are crashing amateur skateboarder competitions all over the country.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisBattle of the Year (2013)
A down-on-his-luck coach is hired to prepare a team of the best American dancers for an international tournament that attracts all the best crews from around the world, but the Americans haven't won in fifteen years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWWE WrestleMania 31 (2015)
WrestleMania 31 was the thirty-first annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on March 29, 2015, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe 355 (2022)
A group of top female agents from American, British, Chinese, Colombian, and German government agencies are drawn together to try and stop an organization from acquiring a deadly weapon to send the world into chaos.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEleanor the Great (2025)
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBorder Hunters (2025)
After his police officer brother is killed by a drug dealer who flees to the protection of his cartel-connected uncle in Mexico, an American man with a diverse law enforcement/military background goes south of the border to get revenge
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFedora (1978)
Down-on-his-luck Hollywood producer Barry 'Dutch' Detweiler attempts to lure Fedora, a famous but reclusive film actress, out of retirement, only to discover the horrifying truth behind her success.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBack to the Future Part II (1989)
Marty and Doc are at it again as the time-traveling duo head to 2015 to nip some McFly family woes in the bud. But things go awry thanks to bully Biff Tannen and a pesky sports almanac. In a last-ditch attempt to set things straight, Marty finds himself bound for 1955 and face to face with his teenage parents -- again.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll This Mayhem (2014)
A searing account of what happens when raw talent and extreme personalities collide. In this unflinching, never-before-seen account of drugs and the dark side of professional skateboarding, brothers Tas and Ben Pappas' intense bond and charisma take them from the pinnacle of their sport into a spiraling world of self-destruction.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSanta Cruz Skateboards - Streets On Fire (1989)
Jason Jessee goes to jail and dreams of shredding the gnar.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Super (8) Skate (2020)
Skating is cool. Super 8 films too. Fuck-shit! That was dope! // "Super (8) Skate" is a Stop-Motion short, shot on Super 8 film to express the love of skating and filmmaking.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
AKA: Girl Skater (2002)
A skate video film that provides a fascinating insight into the unique and rapidly emerging subculture of skaters.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Getting Nowhere Faster (2004)
Skate video featuring Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins Pastrana, Cara-Beth "CB" Burnside, Vanessa Torres, Amy Caron, Mimi Knoop and others.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
You Remind Me of Me (2005)
You Remind Me of Me is about the varying lives of girls who love to ride - surfboards, skateboards, snowboards - viewed through a kaleidoscope of separate experiences and insights.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Anti-Hero's Fucktards (1997)
Anti-Hero's Fucktards video featured John Cardiel, Bob Burnquist, Julien Stranger, Eric J, Sean Young and friends.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Deck Dogz (2005)
It is a movie about three teen skaters, played by young Australian actors Richard Wilson, Sean Kennedy and Ho Thi Lu. Their characters Poker, Spasm and Blue Flame, are trying to escape the law, their school, their parents, their demons and a couple of low-life criminals to realise their burning ambition — to meet world class skating champion, Tony Hawk.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Substance?
The closest matches to Substance are Bones Brigade: An Autobiography (2012), mid90s (2018) and Thrashin' (1986). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Substance?
Start with Bones Brigade: An Autobiography (2012), the closest match to Substance.
What is the highest-rated movie like Substance?
Back to the Future Part II (1989), rated 7.8/10 by 14,495 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Substance?
Border Hunters (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Substance?
Yes: Bones Brigade: An Autobiography (2012), mid90s (2018) and Thrashin' (1986).
How are movies similar to Substance chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Substance, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.