Movies like Shine (1996)
The best movies like Shine (1996) are TÁR (2022), Last Ride (2009) and What's Love Got to Do with It (1993). If Shine hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDead Poets Society (1989)8.3/10 from 13,152 votes
- NewestMaria (2024)Released 2024
TÁR (2022)
As celebrated conductor Lydia Tár starts rehearsals for a career-defining symphony, the consequences of her past choices begin to echo in the present.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLast Ride (2009)
A young boy travels across Australia with his father, who's wanted by the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisPeople Like Us (2012)
After flying home to L.A. for the funeral of his estranged record-producer father, a struggling man discovers that the will stipulates that he must deliver $150,000 in cash to a 30-year-old alcoholic sister he never knew existed, and her troubled 12-year-old son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat Maisie Knew (2013)
In New York City, six-year-old Maisie is caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle between her self-absorbed parents—an aging rock singer mother and a distracted art dealer father. As both quickly marry new partners to strengthen their legal standing, Maisie is shuttled back and forth in an endless game of emotional point-scoring. Yet amid the chaos and upheaval, Maisie begins to find true comfort and affection in her new step-parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPay It Forward (2000)
Like some other kids, 12-year-old Trevor McKinney believed in the goodness of human nature. Like many other kids, he was determined to change the world for the better. Unlike most other kids, he succeeded.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDoubt (2008)
In 1964 Bronx, two Catholic school nuns question the new priest's ambiguous relationship with a troubled African-American student.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDead Poets Society (1989)
At an elite, old-fashioned boarding school in New England, a passionate English teacher inspires his students to rebel against convention and seize the potential of every day, courting the disdain of the stern headmaster.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisI Never Sang for My Father (1970)
A man living in the towering shadow of his aging father finds it difficult to start a new chapter in his life by marrying his girlfriend and moving to California.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaria (2024)
Maria Callas, the world's greatest opera singer, lives the last days of her life in 1970s Paris, as she confronts her identity and life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSearching for Bobby Fischer (1993)
A seven-year-old chess prodigy refuses to harden himself in order to become a champion like the famous but unlikable Bobby Fischer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMr. Holland's Opus (1995)
In 1965, passionate musician Glenn Holland takes a day job as a high school music teacher, convinced it's just a small obstacle on the road to his true calling: writing a historic opus. As the decades roll by with the composition unwritten but generations of students inspired through his teaching, Holland must redefine his life's purpose.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Hurricane (1999)
The story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBoyhood (2014)
The film tells a story of a divorced couple trying to raise their young son. The story follows the boy for twelve years, from first grade at age 6 through 12th grade at age 17-18, and examines his relationship with his parents as he grows.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Map of the World (1999)
School nurse Alice Goodwin lives with her husband and two daughters on a dairy farm in a small Wisconsin community. After an accident on her property involving a friend's child, the town turns against her and Alice finds herself fighting charges of child abuse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOut of My Mind (2024)
Melody Brooks, a sixth grader with cerebral palsy, has a quick wit and a sharp mind, but because she is non-verbal and uses a wheelchair, she is not given the same opportunities as her classmates. When a young educator notices her student's untapped potential and Melody starts to participate in mainstream education, Melody shows that what she has to say is more important than how she says it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Program (2015)
An Irish sports journalist becomes convinced that Lance Armstrong's performances during the Tour de France victories are fueled by banned substances. With this conviction, he starts hunting for evidence that will expose Armstrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDad (1989)
A busy executive learns during a meeting that his mother may be dying and rushes home to her side. He ends up being his father's caretaker and becomes closer to him than ever before. Estranged from his own son, the executive comes to realize what has been missing in his own life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this'night, Mother (1986)
A mother and daughter spend a night together after the daughter reveals that she will kill herself by the end of it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWake in Fright (1971)
A young schoolteacher descends into personal moral degradation after finding himself stranded in a brutal, menacing town in outback Australia.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLabyrinth of Lies (2014)
A young prosecutor in postwar West Germany investigates a massive conspiracy to cover up the Nazi pasts of prominent public figures.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Italian Alphabet (2015)
Seven students from different countries come to Rome to a school for foreigners. The diverse age group joins in the classroom. Everyone is very excited, talking to each other, socialising, and laughing and found in a very cheerful atmosphere. Then comes the teacher begins to ask questions about them, asking where they come from, what they do in life, and what reasons are for coming to Italy. Everyone answers the questions. When everyone talks about their experience, all the other laughing and joking, suddenly the phone of one of the students start ringing, and the teacher turns to him and asks the same questions. But, the cheerful atmosphere changes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
My One and Only (2009)
A mother takes her two sons on an unusual road trip from New York to Pittsburgh, St. Louis and eventually Hollywood in her quest to find a man to take care of them all.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSweet Pain (2019)
Carlo, a young music composer from a wealthy family, is going through an emotional crisis. When he moves to a new house he recalls the events and factors that led to his condition: the moment he met Maria, his first marriage, his obsession with music, his marriage, infidelity and the consequences of it. While the past returns in the form of memories, Carlo fights to recover his life and desire to compose music. Dolorosa Gioia tells the story of the tragic life of Renaissance music composer Carlo Gesualdo, although the story is set in the present.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
UnAuthorized (2010)
"Des-authorized" is the combination of three stories, three realities that coexist and feed. The journey begins in the imagination of Elia K, the principal, who imagines Elijah, a character who is a poor playwright facing the crossroads to be true to his art, or succumb to the pressures of the producers must decide his work between surrender or pay the price of his freedom. On another level, we have Nina and Frederick, the protagonists of the work that Elijah is writing. They only seek to love, they are forced to leave the paper and press the Elijah to them the end that his story deserves, this is the starting point of "Des-authorized" a film set in an imaginary city , colorful and delusional. In the line of "Amelie" and "Stranger Than Fiction", brings a reflection on art, creativity, love and heartbreak.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Liberty Heights (1999)
This semi-autobiographical film by Barry Levinson follows various members of the Kurtzman clan, a Jewish family living in suburban Baltimore during the 1950s. As teenaged Ben completes high school, he falls for Sylvia, a black classmate, creating inevitable tensions. Meanwhile, Ben's brother, Van, attends college and becomes smitten with a mysterious woman while their father tries to maintain his burlesque business.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCedar Boys (2009)
Things go terribly wrong for three Lebanese-Australian friends who try to get ahead by selling stolen drugs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (2005)
A Midwestern housewife supports her large family by entering contests for ad slogans sponsored by consumer product companies, while dealing with abuse from her alcoholic husband. Based on a true story.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like Shine and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Shine?
The closest matches to Shine are TÁR (2022), Last Ride (2009) and What's Love Got to Do with It (1993). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Shine?
Start with TÁR (2022), the closest match to Shine.
What is the highest-rated movie like Shine?
Dead Poets Society (1989), rated 8.3/10 by 13,152 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Shine?
Maria (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Shine?
Yes: TÁR (2022), Last Ride (2009) and What's Love Got to Do with It (1993).
How are movies similar to Shine chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Shine, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.