Movies like The Brilliant Dance (1999)
The best movies like The Brilliant Dance (1999) are Step Up: Year of the Dance (2019), Sidelined: The QB and Me (2025) and Summer Palace (2007). If The Brilliant Dance hooked you, these 20 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
- NewestSidelined 2: Intercepted (2025)Released 2025
- In ChineseStep Up: Year of the Dance (2019)Also in Chinese
Step Up: Year of the Dance (2019)
Two young people from different social classes put aside their differences and come together to form a dance group and win a championship in China.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSidelined: The QB and Me (2025)
Dallas, a burdened but headstrong dancer, is determined to get into the best dance school in the country—her late mother’s alma mater. However, that dream is suddenly derailed when the cheeky yet secretly grieving football star, Drayton, crashes into her life with a unique story of his own. Will the two of them be able to grow into their dreams together, or will their dreams be sidelined?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSummer Palace (2007)
Yu Hong leaves her home village and starts university in Beijing, where she develops a consuming and compulsive relationship with another student. The student riots from 1989 then ensue and take a toll on their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMean Girls (2004)
Cady Heron is a hit with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school, until she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWork It (2020)
A brilliant but clumsy high school senior vows to get into her late father's alma mater by transforming herself and a misfit squad into dance champions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFootloose (1984)
When teenager Ren and his family move from big-city Chicago to a small town in the West, he's in for a real case of culture shock after discovering he's living in a place where music and dancing are illegal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSidelined 2: Intercepted (2025)
Freshman star quarterback Drayton struggles with the weight of expectations after a devastating setback, while dancer Dallas begins to question the future she thought she wanted. As their high school relationship begins to unravel under the pressures of distance and self-discovery, they’ll learn that the bravest versions of themselves emerge when they let life redirect them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYou Are the Apple of My Eye (2011)
A group of close friends who attend a private school all have a debilitating crush on the sunny star pupil, Shen Chia-yi. The only member of the group who claims not to is Ko Ching-teng, but he ends up loving her as well.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHoney: Rise Up and Dance (2018)
Street dancer Skyler comes out of the shadow of her trained dancer sister, Tosha, & joins a dance competition with the Honey dance studio; the prize is a college scholarship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Spectacular Now (2013)
Sutter, a popular party animal, unexpectedly meets the introverted Aimee after waking up on a stranger's lawn. As Sutter deals with the problems in his life and Aimee plans for her future beyond school, an unexpected romance blossoms between them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this1 Chance 2 Dance (2014)
When a 17-year old aspiring dancer is uprooted in her high school senior year, she finds herself divided between two boys, and she will have one last shot at making her dream a reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisThe Longest Ride (2015)
The lives of a young couple intertwine with a much older man as he reflects back on a lost love while he's trapped in an automobile crash.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOur Times (2015)
Office worker Truly Lin goes on a journey through her memories. 20 years ago, she had a crush on the most popular guy in school. Taiyu, a ruffian and a bully, is in love with the campus belle. Truly teams up with Taiyu to tear the golden couple apart and help each other to get the ones they love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMr. Tree (2011)
Teased by hallucinations, Shu, a slacker living in a rural village, struggles with an ever-loosening grip on reality. Yet when one of his visions manifests as real, his fellow villagers come to regard him as a clairvoyant. Can Shu genuinely see into the future? Is he actually just a basket case? Or is he perhaps more lucid than he seems, and pulling a fast one on everyone?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies 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
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Best of Me (2014)
A pair of former high school sweethearts reunite after many years when they return to visit their small hometown.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHibiscus Town (1987)
Based on a novel by the same name written by Gu Hua, a melodrama about the life and travails of a young woman who lives through the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisGoodbye Mr. Loser (2015)
A middle-aged loser travels back in time to his high school years to put his life on the right track.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisB for Busy (2021)
A divorced, retired painting teacher from Shanghai falls in love with a woman who is also divorced. The involvement of his ex-wife and a student of his makes the whole thing complicated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Brilliant Dance?
The closest matches to The Brilliant Dance are Step Up: Year of the Dance (2019), Sidelined: The QB and Me (2025) and Summer Palace (2007). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Brilliant Dance?
Start with Step Up: Year of the Dance (2019), the closest match to The Brilliant Dance.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Brilliant Dance?
¿Quieres ser mi hijo? (2023), rated 8.4/10 by 378 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Brilliant Dance?
Sidelined 2: Intercepted (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like The Brilliant Dance?
Yes: Step Up: Year of the Dance (2019), Summer Palace (2007) and You Are the Apple of My Eye (2011).
How are movies similar to The Brilliant Dance chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Brilliant Dance, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.