Movies like Northern Ballet's 1984 (2015)
The best movies like Northern Ballet's 1984 (2015) are The White Crow (2018), The American (2023) and Billy Elliot (2000). If Northern Ballet's 1984 hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Red Shoes (1948)8.0/10 from 787 votes
- NewestThe American (2023)Released 2023
The White Crow (2018)
The story of Rudolf Nureyev, whose escape to the West stunned the world at the height of the Cold War. With his magnetic presence, Nureyev emerged as ballet’s most famous star, a wild and beautiful dancer limited by the world of 1950s Leningrad. His flirtation with Western artists and ideas led him into a high-stakes game of cat and mouse with the KGB.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe American (2023)
American ballet dancer Joy Womack is accepted into Moscow's infamously tough Bolshoi Ballet Academy, with the dream of becoming a great ballerina.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTake the Lead (2006)
A former professional dancer volunteers to teach dance in the New York public school system and, while his background first clashes with his students' tastes, together they create a completely new style of dance. Based on the story of ballroom dancer, Pierre Dulane.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSwing Time (1936)
Lucky is tricked into missing his own wedding to Margaret and has to make $25,000 so her father will allow him to marry her. He and business partner Pop go to New York where they run into dancing instructor Penny. She and Lucky form a successful dance partnership, but romance is blighted by his old attachment to Margaret and hers for Ricky.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShall We Dance (1937)
Ballet star Petrov arranges to cross the Atlantic aboard the same ship as the dancer and musical star he's fallen for but barely knows. By the time the ocean liner reaches New York, a little white lie has churned through the rumour mill and turned into a hot gossip item—that the two celebrities are secretly married.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMao’s Last Dancer (2009)
At the age of 11, Li was plucked from a poor Chinese village by Madame Mao's cultural delegates and taken to Beijing to study ballet. In 1979, during a cultural exchange to Texas, he falls in love with an American woman. Two years later, he managed to defect and went on to perform as a principal dancer for the Houston Ballet and as a principal artist with the Australian Ballet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStep Up (2006)
Delinquent Tyler Gage receives the opportunity of a lifetime after vandalizing a performing arts school, gaining him the chance to earn a scholarship and dance with up-and-coming dancer Nora.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBallet Shoes (2008)
An unusual explorer named Gum and his kindly niece adopt three orphans -- Pauline, Petrova and Posy -- and raise them as sisters in 1930s London. But the girls must fend for themselves when Gum doesn't return from one of his adventures. Together, they nurture their passions for acting, aviation and ballet in this charming TV adaptation of Noel Streatfield's novel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Band Wagon (1953)
A Broadway artiste turns a faded film star's comeback vehicle into an artsy flop.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRoyal Wedding (1951)
A brother and sister dance act encounter challenges and romance when booked in London during the Royal Wedding.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Red Shoes (1948)
A fledgling ballerina falls in love with a brilliant composer, but the jealous head of the ballet company plots to drive them apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Turning Point (1977)
As young dancers, they were best friends and fierce rivals. Deedee left the stage for marriage and motherhood, while Emma would become an international ballet icon. But when Deedee's teenage daughter is invited to join Emma's dance company and begins an affair with a young Russian star, the two women are forced to confront the choices they've made, the resentments they've hidden and the emotional truths they must face at the turning point.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStaying Alive (1983)
Five years later, Tony Manero's Saturday Night Fever still burns. Now he's struts toward his biggest challenger yet - making it as a dancer on the Broadway stage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisFeel the Beat (2020)
After failing to make it on Broadway, April returns to her hometown and reluctantly begins training a misfit group of young dancers for a competition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDance with Me (1998)
Young Cuban Rafael just buried his mother, and comes to Houston to meet his father John for the first time. The difficult part is that John doesn't know he is Rafael's father. John runs a dance studio, and everyone prepares for the World Open Dance championship in Las Vegas. It soon becomes clear Rafael is a very good dancer, and Ruby is the biggest hope for the studio at the championship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhite Nights (1985)
After his plane crashes in Siberia, a Russian dancer, who defected to the West, is held prisoner in the Soviet Union. The KGB keeps him under watch and tries to convince him to become a dancer for the Kirov Academy of Ballet again. Determined to escape, he befriends a black American expatriate and his pregnant Russian wife, who agree to help him escape to the American Embassy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBUtterfield 8 (1960)
Gloria Wandrous, a promiscuous fashion model, falls in love with Weston Liggett, the hard drinking son of a working class family who has married into money.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBilly Elliot: The Musical Live (2014)
In County Durham, England, 1984, a talented young dancer, Billy Elliot, stumbles out of the boxing ring and onto the ballet floor. He faces many trials and triumphs as he strives to conquer his family’s set ways, inner conflict, and standing on his toes in a musical that questions masculinity, gender norms and conformity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisA Chorus Line (1985)
A group of dancers congregate on the stage of a Broadway theatre to audition for a new musical production directed by Zach. After the initial eliminations, seventeen hopefuls remain, among them Cassie, who once had a tempestuous romantic relationship with Zach. She is desperate enough for work to humble herself and audition for him; whether he's willing to let professionalism overcome his personal feelings about their past remains to be seen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Northern Ballet's 1984?
The closest matches to Northern Ballet's 1984 are The White Crow (2018), The American (2023) and Billy Elliot (2000). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Northern Ballet's 1984?
Start with The White Crow (2018), the closest match to Northern Ballet's 1984.
What is the highest-rated movie like Northern Ballet's 1984?
The Red Shoes (1948), rated 8.0/10 by 787 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Northern Ballet's 1984?
The American (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Northern Ballet's 1984?
Yes: The White Crow (2018), The American (2023) and Billy Elliot (2000).
How are movies similar to Northern Ballet's 1984 chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Northern Ballet's 1984, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.



















