Movies like This is the Music... (1981)
The best movies like This is the Music... (1981) are Carnival Night (1956), Emo: The Musical (2016) and Speedway (1968). If This is the Music... hooked you with its comedy and music, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest rated¿Quieres ser mi hijo? (2023)8.4/10 from 378 votes
- NewestThe Wave (2025)Released 2025
Carnival Night (1956)
It is the New Year's Eve and the employees of an Economics Institute are ready with their annual New Year's entertainment program. It includes a lot of dancing and singing, jazz band performance and even magic tricks. Suddenly, an announcement is made that a new director has been elected and that he is arriving shortly. Comrade Ogurtsov arrives in time to review and disapprove of the scheduled entertainment. To him, holiday fun has a different meaning. He imagines speakers reading annual reports to show the Institute's progress over the year, and, perhaps, a bit of serious music, something from the Classics, played by the Veterans' Orchestra. Obviously, no one wants to change the program a few hours before the show, much less to replace it with something so boring! Now everyone has to team up in order to prevent Ogurtsov from getting to the stage. As some of them trap Ogurtsov one way or another, others perform their scheduled pieces and celebrate New Year's Eve.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEmo: The Musical (2016)
Ethan, a sullen high-school student whose life is defined by what he hates, finds love with a blindly optimistic Christian girl Trinity, much to the annoyance of his angst-filled band mates and her evangelistic brethren.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpeedway (1968)
A race car driver tries to outrun the beautiful tax auditor out to settle his account.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisDames (1934)
A reformer's daughter wins the lead role in a scandalous Broadway show.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHollywood Stargirl (2022)
When Stargirl's mother is hired as the costume designer on a movie, they relocate to L.A., where Stargirl quickly becomes involved with an eclectic assortment of characters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Merry Widow (1934)
A prince from a small kingdom courts a wealthy widow to keep her money in the country.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fighting Temptations (2003)
Darrin Hill, a slick-talking but down-on- his-luck NYC advertising exec, returns to his hometown in Georgia to claim the inheritance his aunt left him. But before Darrin can collect the money, he must fulfill his aunt's final wish -- to create a local choir.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisLovestruck: The Musical (2013)
Harper was one of the best dancers to hit Broadway, but an injury caused her to leave the spotlight, become a choreographer, and raise her daughter Mirabella. When Mirabella decides to quit the show to get married, her mother is determined to put a stop to the wedding and show Mirabella that she cannot give up her career for love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Man from the Boulevard des Capucines (1987)
Mr. Johnny First goes to the Wild West to present the art of the Cinematograph, and the lives of everyone in the frontier town of Santa Carolina change as a result of this.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisG.I. Blues (1960)
Stationed in West Germany, soldier Tulsa McLean hopes to open a nightclub once he's discharged. Although he may lack the capital for such a venture, a chance to raise the cash comes his way through a friendly wager. Local dancer Lili is a notorious ice queen, and Tulsa bets everything he has that a friend of his can earn her affections. But when the friend is dispatched to Alaska, it's up to Tulsa to melt Lili's heart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRomance & Cigarettes (2006)
Ironworker Nick lives with his wife, Kitty, and three daughters. When he meets a significantly younger woman, Tula, he starts an affair with her, much to the chagrin of his wife, and his life is thrown into upheaval. Kitty kicks Nick out of the house, and he is forced to make some difficult decisions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoliday Harmony (2022)
A likeable and talented underdog gets momentarily sidelined from chasing her musical dreams when her van breaks down in a welcoming small town just before Christmas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLet's Make Love (1960)
When billionaire Jean-Marc Clement learns that he is to be satirized in an off-Broadway revue, he passes himself off as an actor playing him in order to get closer to the beautiful star of the show, Amanda Dell.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Big Store (1941)
A detective is hired to protect the life of a singer, who has recently inherited a department store, from the store's crooked manager.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSilk Stockings (1957)
After three bumbling Soviet agents fail in their mission to retrieve a straying Soviet composer from Paris, the beautiful, ultra-serious Ninotchka is sent to complete their mission and to retrieve them. She starts out condemning the decadent West, but gradually falls under its spell—with the help of an American movie producer. A remake of Ninotchka (1939).
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEasy Virtue (2008)
A young Englishman marries a glamorous American. When he brings her home to meet the parents, she arrives like a blast from the future - blowing their entrenched British stuffiness out the window.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat's Love Got to Do with It? (2023)
Two childhood friends now in their thirties must decide whether to follow their heads or their hearts once the man decides to follow his parents' advice and enter into an arranged marriage in Pakistan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Girls (1962)
A graduate of the culinary technical school of the cook, Tosya Kislitsyna, a naive and eccentric girl, came to the village lost in the northern forests. She sticks her nose in all affairs, seeks to help everyone. She met Ilya on the day of arrival: the "first guy in the village" fell upon her indignantly, and in the evening, to brighten up an unpleasant meeting, she decided to "make happy" with an invitation to a dance and was refused. Not accustomed to refusals, Ilya argues with Filya that during the week he will fall in love with Tosya...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLittle Italy (2018)
Former childhood pals Leo and Nikki are attracted to each other as adults—but will their feuding parents' rival pizzerias put a chill on their sizzling romance?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like this¿Quieres ser mi hijo? (2023)
Lu, a conformist woman in her forties, learns that her 15-year partner has been having extramarital affairs. Starting from scratch, she gets involved in an unexpected relationship with a young womanizer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Cloth Peddler (1965)
Set in Baku at the turn of the 20th century, a young successful businessman Asgar wishes to marry. He wants his bride to be the choice of his heart, however, Azerbaijani tradition restricted him from communicating with the lady as a lover before marriage. So Asgar decides to disguise himself as a mere cloth peddler and the young woman Gulchohra falls in love with him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & music
UglyDolls (2019)
In the adorably different town of Uglyville, weirdness is celebrated, strangeness is special and beauty is embraced as more than meets the eye. After traveling to the other side of a mountain, Moxy and her UglyDoll friends discover Perfection -- a town where more conventional dolls receive training before entering the real world to find the love of a child.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeißer Sommer (1968)
A group of girls are planning to take their summer vacation together on the Baltic coast. When a loud and obnoxious group of boys intrudes on their holiday, the girls are horrified to learn that the boys have the same vacations plans as them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & music
Golden Orchestra (2016)
When Chizuru joins as a teacher at Umega High School, she hears an amateur orchestra perform. Reminiscing her old days of playing the violin, she decides to enroll in one.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & music
Sheik to Sheik (1936)
A radio salesman gets knocked out by a golf ball and dreams he's in the desert where he sells radios to sheiks.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & music
I am from Austria (2017)
"I am from Austria" is a jukebox musical consisting of the songs by the Austrian songwriter Rainhard Fendrich. The musical premiered in September 2017 in Raimund Theater in Vienna. The plot circles around Emma Carter, a Hollywood star with Austrian roots, who who returns to her native country for the Vienna Opera Ball and to promote her new movie.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music & romance
The Wave (2025)
A music student’s testimony ignites a feminist uprising on her campus, where protest becomes performance and collective voice becomes an act of resistance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Mary Poppins (1964)
In turn of the century London, a magical nanny employs music and adventure to help two neglected children become closer to their father.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLili Marleen (1981)
The story of a German singer named Willie, who while working in Switzerland, falls in love with a Jewish composer named Robert, whose family is helping people to flee from the Nazis. Robert’s family is skeptical of Willie, thinking she could be a Nazi as she becomes famous for singing the song “Lili Marleen”.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPaganini (1973)
Operetta concerning the love affair of Niccolò Paganini, the violinist, and Élisa Bonaparte, the younger sister of Napoleon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Like This is the Music... and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like This is the Music...?
The closest matches to This is the Music... are Carnival Night (1956), Emo: The Musical (2016) and Speedway (1968). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after This is the Music...?
Start with Carnival Night (1956), the closest match to This is the Music....
What is the highest-rated movie like This is the Music...?
¿Quieres ser mi hijo? (2023), rated 8.4/10 by 378 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like This is the Music...?
The Wave (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to This is the Music... chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside This is the Music..., then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.