Entertainment Industry Drama backdrop

Entertainment Industry Drama movies

Fame and career drama in film, TV, music, or theater: ambition, image, exploitation, and the cost of success.

Café Society

1. Café Society

Comedy Drama Romance Entertainment Industry Drama Romantic Comedy
6.6
20161h 37min

Overview

The story of a young man who arrives in Hollywood during the 1930s hoping to work in the film industry, falls in love, and finds himself swept up in the vibrant café society that defined the spirit of the age.

Themes

Deception within relationships, Public and private personas, Romance across status lines, Ambition versus loyalty, Social mobility and belonging, Glamour and moral costs

Available on

Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Video
Amazon Prime Video Free with Ads
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Florence Foster Jenkins

2. Florence Foster Jenkins

Comedy Drama Awkward Comedy Entertainment Industry Drama
6.8
20161h 50min

Overview

The story of Florence Foster Jenkins, a New York heiress, who dreamed of becoming an opera singer, despite having a terrible singing voice.

Themes

Appearance vs reality, Social pressure, Public ridicule, Ambition despite flaw, Performative generosity, Self delusion

Available on

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

Hail, Caesar!

3. Hail, Caesar!

Comedy Crime Drama Mystery History
6.3
20161h 46min

Overview

When a Hollywood star mysteriously disappears in the middle of filming, the studio sends their fixer to get him back.

Themes

Deception as leverage, Public image management, Media manipulation and control, Studio power dynamics, Political pressure and conformity, Art versus commerce, Celebrity as commodity

Available on

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

The Escort

4. The Escort

Drama Comedy Romance Parody Romantic Comedy
6.0
20151h 28min

Overview

Desperate for a good story, a sex-addicted journalist throws himself into the world of high-class escorts when he starts following a Stanford-educated prostitute.

Themes

Prostitution stigma, Ambition versus legitimacy, Deception and appearances, Addiction and recovery, Protection within precarious work, Trust and vulnerability

Available on

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

Trumbo

5. Trumbo

Drama Entertainment Industry Drama
7.4
20152h 4min

Overview

The career of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo is halted by a witch hunt in the late 1940s when he defies the anti-communist HUAC committee and is blacklisted.

Themes

Family strain under crisis, Blacklist as social control, Principled resistance and survival, Political persecution in industry, Creativity under external pressure, Credit manipulation and secrecy

Available on

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

Marguerite

6. Marguerite

Comedy Drama Music Entertainment Industry Drama Narrative Musical
6.9
20152h 7min

Overview

Paris in the 1920s. Marguerite Dumont is a wealthy woman with a passion for music and the opera. For years, she has performed regularly for a circle of guests. But Marguerite sings tragically out of tune and no one has ever told her. Her husband and her close friends have always encouraged her in her illusions. Things become very complicated the day she gets it into her head to perform in front of a genuine public, at the Opera.

Themes

Artistic pretension and hypocrisy, Bourgeois expectations and performance, Deception and social image, Gendered artistry and expectations, Surrealism in performance, Teacher-student dynamic in singing

Available on

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

Born to Be Blue

7. Born to Be Blue

Drama Music Entertainment Industry Drama Music Biopic
6.8
20151h 37min

Overview

Jazz legend Chet Baker finds love and redemption when he stars in a movie about his own troubled life to mount a comeback.

Themes

Public image vs reality, Romance as disruption, Addiction and comeback, Institutional pressure and control, Self-discipline and practice, Technique erosion

Available on

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

Knight of Cups

8. Knight of Cups

Drama Romance Entertainment Industry Drama Bittersweet Romance
5.6
20151h 58min

Overview

Rick is a screenwriter living in Los Angeles. While successful in his career, his life feels empty. Haunted and confused, he finds temporary solace in the decadent Hollywood excess that defines his existence. Women provide a distraction to his daily pain, and every encounter brings him closer to finding his place in the world.

Themes

Public image versus intimacy, Midlife creative crisis, Temptation and decadence, Wealth and meaning clash, Memory versus distraction, Existential emptiness under glamour

Available on

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

Life

9. Life

Drama Entertainment Industry Drama
6.0
20151h 52min

Overview

In 1955, young photographer Dennis Stock develops a close bond with actor James Dean while shooting pictures of the rising Hollywood star.

Themes

Celebrity scrutiny, Magazine portrayal, Biography framing, Buddy dynamics, Gay interest tension, Public image pressure

Available on

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

We Are Your Friends

10. We Are Your Friends

Drama Music Romance Comedy Entertainment Industry Drama
6.2
20151h 36min

Overview

Young Cole Carter dreams of hitting the big time as a Hollywood disc jockey, spending his days and nights hanging with buddies and working on the one track that will set the world on fire. Opportunity comes knocking when he meets James Reed, a charismatic DJ who takes the 23-year-old under his wing. Soon, his seemingly clear path to success gets complicated when he starts falling for his mentor's girlfriend, jeopardizing his new friendship and the future he seems destined to fulfill.

Themes

Loyalty and betrayal, Ambition under mentorship, Risk of party culture, Work-life balance in art, Friendship fractures under pressure, Fame pursuit vs romance

Available on

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