Movies like Rising Star (2019)
The best movies like Rising Star (2019) are The Congress (2013), Hounddog (2008) and Beast (2026). If Rising Star hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBeast (2026)7.5/10 from 227 votes
- NewestBeast (2026)Released 2026
- In KoreanBreathless (2009)Also in Korean
The Congress (2013)
An aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job, though the consequences of her decision affect her in ways she didn't consider.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeast (2026)
MMA legend Patton James, now a commercial fisherman, is pulled back into the cage when his brother is in danger. Reuniting with his old coach Sammy, he commits to one final fight in one championship against the brutal champion Xavier Grau.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBastard Out of Carolina (1996)
A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHardball (2001)
An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Safety of Objects (2002)
In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStarlet (2012)
An unlikely friendship forms between 21 year-old Jane and the elderly Sadie after Jane discovers a hidden stash of money inside an object at Sadie's yard sale.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Truth About Emanuel (2013)
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cut (2025)
A retired boxer intends to return to the ring for one last shot at the title, but first he must make the weight. Holed up in a room in Las Vegas with an unscrupulous trainer, he embarks on an intensive and illegal weight-cutting program.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisWon't Back Down (2012)
Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Girl in the Book (2015)
The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisEach Dawn I Die (1939)
A corrupt D.A. with governatorial ambitions is annoyed by an investigative reporter's criticism of his criminal activities and decides to frame the reporter for manslaughter in order to silence him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlood Ties (2013)
Two brothers, on either side of the law, face off over organized crime in Brooklyn during the 1970s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBreathless (2009)
Sang-hoon is a lowlife gangster, a debt collector exercising thuggish ways to collect his money. The recipient of nothing but anger since his childhood, he expresses himself through violence. When he finally encounters someone who can stand up to him, feisty school-girl Yoon-hee they become unlikely friends.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHands of Stone (2016)
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Novelist's Film (2022)
A novelist visits a bookstore run by a young colleague who's been out of touch, then takes a walk with a film director and his wife. She meets an actress and tries to convince her to make a film together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGracie (2007)
A teenager faces an uphill battle when she fights to give women the opportunity to play competitive soccer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe River (1984)
Tom and Mae Garvey are a Tennessee farming couple battling violent floods to save their land. In addition to natural disasters, the Garveys fight to stop a selfish land developer and a local corporation from foreclosing on their farm. While Mae stays at home to care for their children and tend to the crops, Tom finds work as a scab at a steel mill to preserve his family's property.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIdol Seungha's R-Rated Film Shooting (2021)
Film producer Na-eun and director Yeong-tae are on the verge of shelving out cash for an adult film production. They're too busy blaming each other for the messed-up filming. Before another filming begins, Na-eun suggests Yeong-tae to become an actor himself and practice filming. Na-eun leads the shy Yeong-tae very skillfully. How far will the practice go...?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFast Girls (2012)
A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNadador (2019)
Lucas discovers that his new student is an old schoolmate, the boy who put him through the worst time of his life. The time for revenge has arrived.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Freak (2017)
Ahead of the upcoming swimming competition, 11-year-old Ziggy discovers something that's happening to his body. A transformation that makes him want to hide.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Finale: Allegro (2026)
An old lady left alone seriously thinks about suicide, when a young woman suddenly bursts into her life and puts her into a vortex of suspicions, generosity, ambiguity, which will give her back a glimmer of life and joy, even if final.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Stand Up Straight, Delfina (1977)
A Macedonian girl is trying to swim the British Channel. During the ordeal, she remembers her troubled past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Lessons (TBA)
A powerful story about a swimming teacher dealing with the overwhelming effects of loss, grief, and guilt.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Drown (2015)
Len is a Surf Lifesaving champion, a legend in the cloistered surf club just like his father. When the younger, faster, and fitter Phil arrives at the club, Len’s legendary status starts to crumble. Then Len sees Phil arriving in the company of another man. Phil is gay.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Indian Summer (1993)
A group of childhood friends, now in their thirties, reunite at Camp Tamakwa. Only a few of the original campers show up, but they still have a good time reminiscing. The people share experiences and grow while at the camp. They are dismayed to discover that the camp's owner, Unca Lou, is going to close the camp down.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Thousand Year Fire (2004)
Having lost both his mother and father, an 11-year-old city boy is sent to live with his grandparents in a small seaside village. Feeling responsible for his father's accidental death, he becomes increasingly introverted and finds himself unable to make friends with the local kids. Then an eccentric elderly doctor takes him under his wing, and tells him of an ancient ceremony where a sacred flame must be brought back from a remote island by a lone swimmer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Blood and Water (2016)
An Olympic platform diver struggles to return to the pool after a horrific training accident.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Swimmers (2014)
After falling pregnant to her boyfriend's best friend, a young woman commits suicide. She returns to haunt her unborn child's father while her friend seeks revenge on the person who drove her to her fate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Rising Star?
The closest matches to Rising Star are The Congress (2013), Hounddog (2008) and Beast (2026). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Rising Star?
Start with The Congress (2013), the closest match to Rising Star.
What is the highest-rated movie like Rising Star?
Beast (2026), rated 7.5/10 by 227 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Rising Star?
Beast (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Korean movies like Rising Star?
Yes: Breathless (2009), The Novelist's Film (2022) and Idol Seungha's R-Rated Film Shooting (2021).
How are movies similar to Rising Star chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Rising Star, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.