Movies like Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020)
The best movies like Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020) are Get On Up (2014), One Night in Miami... (2020) and Ray (2004). If Ma Rainey's Black Bottom 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 ratedMichael (2026)8.6/10 from 4,721 votes
- NewestMichael (2026)Released 2026
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: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Night in Miami... (2020)
In the aftermath of Cassius Clay's defeat of Sonny Liston in 1964, the boxer meets with Malcolm X, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown to change the course of history in the segregated South.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Piano Lesson (2024)
A brother and sister's battle over a prized heirloom piano unleashes haunting truths about how the past is perceived — and who defines a family legacy.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Color Purple (2023)
A decades-spanning tale of love and resilience and of one woman's journey to independence. Celie faces many hardships in her life, but ultimately finds extraordinary strength and hope in the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhat's Love Got to Do with It (1993)
Singer Tina Turner rises to stardom while mustering the courage to break free from her abusive husband Ike.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMichael (2026)
The story of Michael Jackson, one of the most influential artists the world has ever known, and his life beyond the music. His journey from the discovery of his extraordinary talent as the lead of the Jackson Five, to the visionary artist whose creative ambition fueled a relentless pursuit to become the biggest entertainer in the world, highlighting both his life off-stage and some of the most iconic performances from his early solo career.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisChicago (2002)
Murderesses Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart find themselves on death row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in 1920s Chicago.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)
Billie Holiday spent much of her career being adored by fans. In the 1940s, the government targeted Holiday in a growing effort to racialize the war on drugs, ultimately aiming to stop her from singing her controversial ballad, "Strange Fruit."
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPassing (2021)
In 1920s New York City, a Black woman finds her world upended when her life becomes intertwined with a former childhood friend who's passing as white.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022)
The joyous, emotional, heartbreaking celebration of the life and music of Whitney Houston, the greatest female R&B pop vocalist of all time. Tracking her journey from obscurity to musical superstardom.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSparkle (1976)
Three sisters start out singing in their church choir in Harlem in the late 1950s and become a successful girl group in the 1960s.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
Singer Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bass guitarist John Deacon take the music world by storm when they form the rock 'n' roll band Queen in 1970. Hit songs become instant classics. When Mercury's increasingly wild lifestyle starts to spiral out of control, Queen soon faces its greatest challenge yet – finding a way to keep the band together amid the success and excess.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMo' Better Blues (1990)
Talented but self-centered trumpeter Bleek Gilliam is obsessed with his music and indecisiveness about his girlfriends Indigo and Clarke. But when he is forced to come to the aid of his manager and childhood friend, Bleek finds his world more fragile than he ever imagined.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJersey Boys (2014)
A musical biopic of the Four Seasons—the rise, the tough times and personal clashes, and the ultimate triumph of a group of friends whose music became symbolic of a generation. Far from a mere tribute concert, it gets to the heart of the relationships at the centre of the group, with a special focus on frontman Frankie Valli, the small kid with the big falsetto.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDreamgirls (2006)
A trio of female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLady Sings the Blues (1972)
Chronicles the rise and fall of legendary blues singer Billie Holiday, beginning with her traumatic youth. The story depicts her early attempts at a singing career and her eventual rise to stardom, as well as her difficult relationship with Louis McKay, her boyfriend and manager. Casting a shadow over even Holiday's brightest moments is the vocalist's severe drug addiction, which threatens to end both her career and her life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIntroducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999)
An acclaimed stage performer, Dorothy still struggled with the challenge of her color, in a time that wouldn't let some stars in by the front door. Yet against the odds she beat out many more famous rivals for the role of "Carmen Jones", becoming the first black woman ever nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award. Marriages and affairs would break her heart, but her heart was strong. Seductive and easily seduced, she was born to be a star - with all the glory and all the pain of being loved, abused, cheated, glorified, undermined and undefeated. Here was a woman who wouldn't wait in the wings. Halle Berry stars as Dorothy Dandrige.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFences (2016)
In 1950s Pittsburgh, a frustrated African-American father struggles with the constraints of poverty, racism, and his own inner demons as he tries to raise a family.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
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: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMudbound (2017)
In the post–World War II South, two families are pitted against a barbaric social hierarchy and an unrelenting landscape as they simultaneously fight the battle at home and the battle abroad.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIf Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
After her fiance is falsely imprisoned, a pregnant African-American woman sets out to clear his name and prove his innocence.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisElvis (2022)
The life story of Elvis Presley as seen through the complicated relationship with his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLatin Blood – The Ballad of Ney Matogrosso (2025)
From a repressive childhood to artistic revolution, Ney Matogrosso transforms Brazil's stages — and himself — through music, creativity and inner fire.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRespect (2021)
The rise of Aretha Franklin’s career from a child singing in her father’s church’s choir to her international superstardom.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBolden (2019)
A mythical account of the life of Buddy Bolden, the first Cornet King of New Orleans.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Honeydripper (2007)
In 1950s Alabama, the owner of the Honeydripper juke joint finds his business dropping off and against his better judgment, hires a young electric guitarist in a last ditch effort to draw crowds during harvest time.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisLackawanna Blues (2005)
In a story fueled by rhythm and blues, a young boy's life is shaped by love and the stories of a cast of characters in the boarding house where he lives in 1960s Lackawanna, New York.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
The Josephine Baker Story (1991)
Biography of the African-American who became a major performer in the Paris cabarets of the 1920s and 1930s. The film follows her life beginning as a struggling performer in 1917 St. Louis, her frustrations leading to her move to France, and follows to her death in 1975. Written by John Sacksteder
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Ma Rainey's Black Bottom?
The closest matches to Ma Rainey's Black Bottom are Get On Up (2014), One Night in Miami... (2020) and Ray (2004). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Ma Rainey's Black Bottom?
People who watched Ma Rainey's Black Bottom most often go on to Get On Up (2014), One Night in Miami... (2020) and Ray (2004).
What is the highest-rated movie like Ma Rainey's Black Bottom?
Michael (2026), rated 8.6/10 by 4,721 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Ma Rainey's Black Bottom?
Michael (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Ma Rainey's Black Bottom?
Yes: Get On Up (2014), One Night in Miami... (2020) and Ray (2004).
How are movies similar to Ma Rainey's Black Bottom chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.