Movies like Life (2014)
The best movies like Life (2014) are Battle of the Year (2013), Grace Unplugged (2013) and Too Late Blues (1961). If Life hooked you with its drama and music, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Life
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAll Too Well: The Short Film (2021)8.0/10 from 303 votes
- NewestSan San Jo Gak (2026)Released 2026
Battle of the Year (2013)
A down-on-his-luck coach is hired to prepare a team of the best American dancers for an international tournament that attracts all the best crews from around the world, but the Americans haven't won in fifteen years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGrace Unplugged (2013)
A talented young singer and aspiring songwriter’s Christian faith and family ties are tested when she defies her worship-pastor father and pursues pop-music stardom in GRACE UNPLUGGED, a moving and inspiring new film that explores the true meaning of success.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisToo Late Blues (1961)
Ghost is an ideological musician and leader of a jazz band who would rather play his blues in the park to the birds than compromise himself. His peripatetic performances lead him to cross paths with a singer, while his masculinity is thrown into question following a violent brawl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTaurus (2022)
A rising but troubled musician searches for the inspiration to record one last song, pushing himself deep into the void.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisClika (2026)
Aspiring small-town musician Chito is determined to make it big. When a clip of him performing one of his songs goes viral, he seizes the opportunity and pushes to carve out a place for himself in the new wave of Mexican-American music... and ultimately gets caught in a game more dangerous than anticipated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisTeen Spirit (2019)
A shy teenager living on the Isle of Wight dreams of pop stardom. With the help of an unlikely mentor, she enters a singing competition that will test her integrity, talent, and ambition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Too Well: The Short Film (2021)
Short film featuring the extended version of the song “All Too Well” by Taylor Swift. A troubled couple's romance blossoms before it eventually falls apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisA (2017)
A young alcoholic ambient musician locks himself in his apartment on a dangerous seven day bender as he attempts to finish his upcoming album.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Mambo Kings (1992)
The Mambo Kings tells the story of César and Nestor Castillo, brothers and aspiring musicians who flee from Cuba to America in search of the American Dream.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMo' Better Blues (1990)
Talented but self-centered trumpeter Bleek Gilliam is obsessed with his music and indecisiveness about his girlfriends Indigo and Clarke. But when he is forced to come to the aid of his manager and childhood friend, Bleek finds his world more fragile than he ever imagined.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCoda (2020)
A famous pianist at the twilight of his career meets a free-spirited music critic who soon becomes his rock as his mental state deteriorates.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScenes from the Suburbs (2011)
A resident of a suburban dystopia tries to reassemble his fragmented memories of life as a teen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeyond the Sea (2004)
Based on the life and career of legendary entertainer, Bobby Darin, the biopic moves back and forth between his childhood and adulthood, to tell the tale of his life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMake Mine Music (1946)
In the tradition of Fantasia, Make Mine Music is a glorious collection of musically charged animated shorts featuring such fun-filled favorites as "Peter and the Wolf", narrated by the beloved voice behind Winnie the Pooh. In addition you'll enjoy such classic cartoon hits as "Casey at the Bat," "The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met" and "Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
SnoozefestMovies like thisMichael Jackson: Dangerous - The Short Films (1993)
Michael Jackson's Dangerous album once again rocketed the global superstar to mega-platinum success! "Dangerous - The Short Films" captures the visual and musical highlights of his most recent string of hit singles. As well as extensive behind the scenes profiles of the making of Michael's state of the art short films.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisUnder the Sea: A Descendants Story (2018)
Mal emerges from the shadows of a mystical forest onto a dark coastline where she crosses paths with Dizzy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAnima (2019)
In a short musical film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, Thom Yorke of Radiohead stars in a mind-bending visual piece. Best played loud.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLet It Shine (2012)
A teenage rapper must use his musical talent to help a friend and win the girl of his dreams while overcoming self-doubt and the expectations of his strict religious parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDestino (2003)
Short film to a song of love lost and rediscovered, a woman sees and undergoes surreal transformations. Her lover's face melts off, she dons a dress from the shadow of a bell and becomes a dandelion, ants crawl out of a hand and become Frenchmen riding bicycles. Not to mention the turtles with faces on their backs that collide to form a ballerina, or the bizarre baseball game.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSan San Jo Gak (2026)
A silent film was created from a scenario inspired by a single poem, and a studio album later emerged from the imagery of the film. The groundbreaking production traces the world of three characters—White Kiha, Black Kiha, and Pillow Monster while delivering a story of loss, transformation, and the circle of life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music
Soliloquy (1967)
Featuring Joan Adler (who also appears in Chinese Checkers), Soliloquy is one of the four early Stephen Dwoskin films that were awarded the Solvey prize at the EXPRMNTL festival in Knokke, Belgium in 1967. “In Soliloquy a girl broods uncertainly over a failed love affair, while the camera roves over her fingers, her cigarette, her knuckles, her lips and the hand mirror in which she peers. In its dark reflection one isolated eye seems a dead thing, twitching; the split between her body and her spoken thoughts becomes a strange bilocation of consciousness; towards the end, an aeroplane drones overhead” (Raymond Durgnat)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Europe by Bidon (2022)
Biodun is Nigerian. In this animated documentary, he tells the story of his journey on foot from Lagos to Paris, how he survives with a container (un bidon) and thanks to his courage. With his amazing patter, he transforms the events into extraordinary adventures.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Star (2014)
Tender exploration of a disconnected relationship between a beautiful stage performer from China, who is trying to preserve her dignity, and a Malay motorcycle gangster, who clings on to their love hopelessly.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Apollo (2016)
Apollon is a teenager hung up by the social ideals of masculinity. He fantasizes about having the perfect body - complete with big beefy muscles and a big banana.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Why did I write the Bible (2017)
Francis, a man in his sixties, is found in a diving suit, swimming in a river in the city center. Even his children, accustomed to their father's escapades, are surprised: since Francis knows he is condemned, it seems really unmanageable. Samuel and his sister must therefore find a way to accompany him at any cost.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Corto Maltese: The Secret Court of the Arcane (2002)
At the end of 1918 while civil war is raging on in Russia, antagonism is slowly spreading to the East, between the Oral mountains and Shanghai. Stuck between a desire to save what's left of the great Imperial Russia, and starting from a clean slate, old generals, secret organizations, and mercenaries attracted by gold, struggle to take advantage of the events. As Corto Maltese returns to Shanghai, he barely gets time to cross paths with his old friend/nemesis Rasputin, and escape a murder attempt before being contacted by members of a Chinese secret organization called "The Red Lanterns". In the heart of violent Manchurian horizons, Corto and Rasputin launch themselves into a fabulous treasure hunt, following the tracks of the mysterious armor-plated train of Kolchak. A steel monster spiked with canons and machine guns, this trains protects the counter-revolutionaries gold...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStyx (2004)
Long-term partners Marc and Adrien live a seemingly perfect existence close to Lake Constance. Only whilst Marc is content to spend his days working for the local ferry service, Adrien yearns for the bright lights of Berlin and the clubs in which he hopes to realize his dream of becoming a musician. Yet life has a way of turning out not as you expect and here events culminate on a lengthy ferry crossing, one that sees Marc soon to spot Adrien onboard, complete with a one-way ticket and a car packed full of his belongings. Suffice to say that the stage is set for a traumatic farewell.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Tale of the Floating World (2004)
A surrealistic montage set in motion by a tidal wave and incorporating a samurai battle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Life?
The closest matches to Life are Battle of the Year (2013), Grace Unplugged (2013) and Too Late Blues (1961). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Life?
Start with Battle of the Year (2013), the closest match to Life.
What is the highest-rated movie like Life?
All Too Well: The Short Film (2021), rated 8.0/10 by 303 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Life?
San San Jo Gak (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Life chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Life, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.