Music backdrop

Music movies

Stories where rhythm and melody take center stage, including biographies of legends and dance-filled spectacles.

Subgenres include: Narrative Musical, Jukebox Musical, Concert Film.

Linda Linda Linda

531. Linda Linda Linda

Comedy Music Drama
7.5

20051h 54min

Japan

Director: Nobuhiro Yamashita

Only three days before their high school festival, guitarist Kei, drummer Kyoko, and bassist Nozomi are forced to recruit a new lead vocalist for their band. They choose Korean exchange student Son, though her comprehension of Japanese is a bit rough! It's a race against time as the group struggles to learn three songs for the festival's rock concert—including a classic '80s song by the Japanese punk rock band The Blue Hearts called "Linda Linda".


Hustle & Flow

532. Hustle & Flow

Crime Drama Music Entertainment Industry Drama Organized Crime
7.3

20051h 56min

United States

Director: Craig Brewer

With help from his friends, a Memphis pimp in a mid-life crisis attempts to become a successful hip-hop emcee.

Themes

Midlife crisis drives ambition, Drug dealer impulses, Hip-hop aspiration grows, Rap music push, Prostitution risk rises, Pimp dynamics emerge

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
fuboTV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Beyond the Sea

533. Beyond the Sea

Drama Music Entertainment Industry Drama Music Biopic
6.7

20041h 58min

Germany, United Kingdom

Director: Kevin Spacey

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.

Themes

Pressures of fame, Family secrecy and lineage, Artistic reinvention, Public life vs private life, Romantic strain with fame, Class-bound ascent

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Ray

534. Ray

Drama Music Music Biopic Historical Drama
7.7

20042h 32min

United States

Director: Taylor Hackford

Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mom who insisted he make his own way, He found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered coupling gospel and country together.

Themes

Trauma shaping artistry, Poverty to stardom, Addiction vs genius, Civil rights pressure, Gospel and secular fusion, Fame under exploitation

Available on

Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Video
Apple TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

It's All Gone Pete Tong

535. It's All Gone Pete Tong

Drama Comedy Music Entertainment Industry Drama Parody
7.2

20041h 30min

Canada, United Kingdom

Director: Michael Dowse

A comedy following the tragic life of the legendary Frankie Wilde. The story takes us through Frankie's life from being one of the best DJs alive, through a subsequent battle with a hearing disorder, culminating in his mysterious disappearance from the scene.

Themes

Creativity under constraint, Disability through adaptation, Identity via performance perception, Industry exploitation through marketing, Trust and deception in teams, Social reception shaping artistry

Available on

fuboTV
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Swing Girls

536. Swing Girls

Comedy Music Ensemble Comedy Narrative Musical
7.6

20041h 45min

Japan

Director: Shinobu Yaguchi

A tale of delinquent and lazy school girls. In their efforts to cut remedial summer math class, they end up poisoning and replacing the school's brass band.

Themes

Belonging through group work, Deception and improvisation, Peer pressure and coercion, Pursuit of skill under constraint, Identity formed by performance, Collective resilience and adaptation


As It Is in Heaven

537. As It Is in Heaven

Romance Drama Comedy Music Passionate Romance
7.5

20042h 12min

Denmark, Sweden

Director: Kay Pollak

A musical romantic tragedy about a famous composer who moves back to his small hometown after having had heart troubles. His search for a simple everyday life leads him into teaching the local church choir, which is not easily accepted by the town yet the choir builds a great love for their teacher.

Themes

Community pressure, Mentorship through music, Underdog resilience through art, Domestic violence and escape, Suppressed past, Simple life vs ambition

Available on

Amazon Video
Kanopy
Hoopla
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

De-Lovely

538. De-Lovely

Drama Music Entertainment Industry Drama Music Biopic
6.6

20042h 5min

United States

Director: Irwin Winkler

From Paris to Venice to Broadway to Hollywood, the lives of Cole Porter and his wife, Linda Lee Thomas were never less than glamorous and wildly unconventional. And though Cole's thirst for life strained their marriage, Linda never stopped being his muse, inspiring some of the greatest songs of the twentieth century.

Themes

Public vs private life, Blackmail pressure and control, Extramarital intimacy and secrecy, Creative life under scrutiny, Illness and aging, Muse and collaboration

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Cazuza: Time Doesn't Stop

539. Cazuza: Time Doesn't Stop

Drama Music History
6.9

20041h 38min

Brazil

Director: Walter Carvalho

Inspired by the moving book “Só as Mães São Felizes”, by Lucinha Araújo, Cazuza's mother, the film covers a little more than 10 years of the singer’s crazy and brief life – from the beginning of his career in the Circo Voador venue, in 1981, to the huge success and the apotheosis of his shows with the Barão Vermelho band, his solo career, his relations with his parents, friends, lovers and passions, and the courage he had to face his final years, with HIV, until his death, in 1990.


After bassist Jason Newsted quits the band in 2001, heavy metal superstars Metallica realize that they need an intervention. In this revealing documentary, filmmakers follow the three rock stars as they hire a group therapist and grapple with 20 years of repressed anger and aggression. Between searching for a replacement bass player, creating a new album and confronting their personal demons, the band learns to open up in ways they never thought possible.

Themes

Group therapy dynamics, Recording studio pressure, Fear of abandonment, Creative collaboration under constraint, Fan backlash influence, Bassist replacement tension

Available on

Apple TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.