Best movies like Idlewild
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A musical set in the Prohibition-era American South, where a speakeasy performer and club manager Rooster must contend with gangsters who have their eyes on the club while his piano player and partner Percival must choose between his love, Angel or his obligations to his father.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Musical, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: erotic, stylized, serious, realistic, black comedy, hood, cult classic, psychological, sexy, clever
Best tv shows and movies like Idlewild (2006):
Similar in 87%
Pennies from Heaven (1981)
Plot Summary:
A musical set in the great Busby Berkeley style. In Chicago during the depression, sheet music salesman, Arthur Parker, is trying to sell his products, but it's not easy to convince unwilling music store owners to buy them. Although he's already married to the somewhat drab Joan, when he meets school teacher Eileen in a music store, he falls in love with her.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Musical, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: surreal, stylized, sentimental, atmospheric, touching, serious, realistic, gloomy, road movie, light
Similar in 75%
Carmen: A Hip Hopera (2001)
Plot Summary:
Based on Verdi's (Bizet's not Verdi's) classic opera and its all African American musical counterpart Carmen Jones, Carmen a Hiphopera is a modern retelling of the story of the tragic gypsy Carmen. The setting has been taken from the hots streets of Barcelona and is now in scorching urban Philadelphia. This time Carmen Brown is an aspiring actress who in her own words 'leaves the whole town speechless.' Her sultry looks and carefree confidence attract the attention of everyone from crooked cop Luietenant Miller to famous rapper Blaze. However Carmen has eyes on the one man she can't have- Seargeant Derrick Hill who is engaged. Yet nothing stops Carmen Brown getting what she wants- except perhaps a trip to LA and an ominous tarot cards prophecy.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Musical
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: captivating, serious, realistic, stylized, black cinema
Similar in 83%
Moonlight Serenade (2009)
Plot Summary:
A jazz musician performs alongside a coat check girl with a beautiful voice in this musical drama from director Giancarlo Tallarico. By day Nate earns his living as a financial manager, but when night falls, he helps the girl with her singing career at the jazz club, where she performs one night a week. In time both realize they share something special other than the music.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 716
Genere: Drama, Musical, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: sexy, serious, sentimental, realistic, stylized, independent film
Similar in 75%
West Side Story (1961)
Plot Summary:
In the slums of the upper West Side of Manhattan, New York, a gang of Polish-American teenagers called the Jets compete with a rival gang of recently immigrated Puerto Ricans, the Sharks, to "own" the neighborhood streets. Tensions are high between the gangs but two kids, one from each rival gang, fall in love leading to tragedy.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 119000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Musical, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 153 min
Plot tags: stylized, tear jerker, motivational, retro, depressing, spiritual, bad ending, suspense, hood, technicolor
Similar in 81%
Prison Song (2001)
Plot Summary:
Elijah has been bounced from group home to group home throughout his turbulent young life. What has sustained him is his art. After a promised scholarship is taken away, Elijah ends up in a fight that result in the death of another boy. Now, sentenced to a minimum of fifteen years, the young man must find a way to keep his soul alive behind bars or turn into a hardened bitter criminal.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 683
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: sincere, rough, serious, captivating, hood, crime drama, realistic, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 89%
Jason's Lyric (1994)
Plot Summary:
The story of a young man who must confront his own fears about love as well as his relationships with family and friends.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: hood, sexy, romantic, erotic, tense, rough, serious, realistic, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 78%
Make Your Move (2013)
Plot Summary:
A pair of star-crossed dancers in New York find themselves at the center of a bitter rivalry between their brothers' underground dance clubs.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Musical, Romance
Country: South Korea, USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: sexy, serious, captivating, realistic, funny, touching, romantic drama, exciting
Similar in 78%
Leave It on the Floor (2011)
Plot Summary:
Our African-American hero , Brad is bullied by his dysfunctional mom; he flees his home and by chance tumbles down the rabbit-hole into the LA ball scene where he finds a ragtag new famiiy. With music by Beyonce music director, Kim Burse, screenplay and lyrics by Glenn Gaylord choreography by Beyonce dance master, Frank Gatson Jr. and eye-popping visuals and direction by Sheldon Larry, the film is an ode to the wild funky and heart-aching life of this amazing underground. Written by Sheldon Larry (IMDB.com).
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 451
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Musical, Romance
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: humorous, emotional, realistic, independent film, captivating, feel good, stylized, semi serious, queer cinema
Similar in 83%
House Party 2 (1991)
Plot Summary:
Kid'N'Play leave their neighborhood and enter the world of adulthood and higher education. Play attempts to get rich quick in the music business while Kid faces the challenges of college.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: hood, humorous, black comedy, independent film, realistic, not serious, semi serious, light, romantic, unusual plot structure
Similar in 77%
Just Another Day (2009)
Plot Summary:
Follows a day in the life of two men living at either end of the music game. A successful rapper, A-Maze, is dealing with the pitfalls and trappings of his success and facing new challenges in the music business to get a check while the other, Young Eastie, is a young man struggling in a harsh world that is threatening to destroy him.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 881
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, hood
Similar in 84%
Baby Boy (2001)
Plot Summary:
The story of Jody, a misguided, 20-year-old African-American who is really just a baby boy finally forced-kicking and screaming to face the commitments of real life. Streetwise and jobless, he has not only fathered two children by two different women-Yvette and Peanut but still lives with his own mother. He can't seem to strike a balance or find direction in his chaotic life.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: hood, light, emotional, melancholic, stylized, intense, sincere, serious, realistic, talky
Similar in 84%
ATL (2006)
Plot Summary:
As four friends prepare for life after high school, different challenges bring about turning points in each of their lives. The dramas unfold and resolve at their local rollerskating rink, Cascade.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: hood, talky, stylized, feel good, serious, rough, uplifting, touching, realistic, cult classic
Similar in 88%
Jungle Fever (1991)
Plot Summary:
A successful and married black man contemplates having an affair with a white girl from work. He's quite rightly worried that the racial difference would make an already taboo relationship even worse.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: sexy, serious, emotional, realistic, controversial, hood, sentimental, captivating, scary, touching
Similar in 80%
Dreamgirls (2006)
Plot Summary:
Three young women – Deena Jones, Effie White and Lorrell Robinson – dream of becoming pop stars and they get their wish when they're chosen to be backup singers for the legendary James 'Thunder' Early.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 76000
Genere: Drama, Music, Musical
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: stylized, emotional, lyrical, melancholic, sentimental, visually appealing, inspirational, uplifting, hood, serious
Similar in 80%
Mo' Better Blues (1990)
Plot Summary:
Opens with Bleek as a child learning to play the trumpet, his friends want him to come out and play but mother insists he finish his lessons. Bleek grows into adulthood and forms his own band - The Bleek Gilliam Quartet. The story of Bleek's and Shadow's friendly rivalry on stage which spills into their professional relationship and threatens to tear apart the quartet.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, psychological, serious, clever, stylized, hood, sentimental, romantic drama, controversial, cult classic
Similar in 76%
The Wanderers (1979)
Plot Summary:
The streets of the Bronx are owned by 60’s youth gangs where the joy and pain of adolescence is lived. Philip Kaufman tells his take on the novel by Richard Price about the history of the Italian-American gang ‘The Wanderers.’.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, cult classic, hood, sentimental, rough, serious, realistic, crying, inspirational, unusual plot structure
Similar in 77%
Brooklyn Rules (2007)
Plot Summary:
Brooklyn, 1985. With the mob world as a backdrop, three life-long friends struggle with questions of love, loss and loyalty.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: realistic, captivating, psychological, atmospheric, rough, touching, serious, suspenseful
Similar in 77%
Harlem Nights (1989)
Plot Summary:
"Sugar" Ray is the owner of an illegal casino, who contend with the pressures of vicious gangster and corrupt policemen who want to see him go out of business. In the world of organized crime and police corruption in the 1920s, any dastardly trick is fair!.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: hood, funny, black comedy, humorous, stylized, retro, action comedy, cult classic, action adventure, exciting
Similar in 80%
The Mack (1973)
Plot Summary:
Goldie returns from five years at the state pen and winds up king of the pimping game. Trouble comes in the form of two corrupt white cops and a crime lord who wants him to return to the small time.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, hood, funny, cult classic, independent film, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, stylized
Similar in 86%
Love Jones (1997)
Plot Summary:
Darius Lovehall is a young black poet in Chicago who starts dating Nina Moseley, a beautiful and talented photographer. While trying to figure out if they've got a "love thing" or are just "kicking it," they hang out with their friends, talking about love and sex. Then Nina tests the strength of Darius' feelings and sets a chain of romantic complications into motion.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: romantic, sexy, light, sentimental, talky, hood, romantic drama, erotic, cult classic, independent film
Similar in 80%
Poetic Justice (1993)
Plot Summary:
In this film, we see the world through the eyes of main character Justice, a young African-American poet. A mail carrier invites a few friends along for a long overnight delivery run.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: road movie, hood, touching, realistic, sentimental, sincere, serious, emotional, compassionate, erotic
Similar in 85%
Summer of Sam (1999)
Plot Summary:
Spike Lee's take on the "Son of Sam" murders in New York City during the summer of 1977 centering on the residents of an Italian-American South Bronx neighborhood who live in fear and distrust of one another.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 41000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 142 min
Plot tags: psychological, disturbing, atmospheric, serious, captivating, realistic, tense, stylized, sexual, psychological thriller
Similar in 86%
Above the Rim (1994)
Plot Summary:
Story of a promising high school basketball star and his relationships with two brothers, one a drug dealer and the other a former basketball star fallen on hard times and now employed as a security guard.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Sport, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: hood, inspirational, independent film, tense, touching, serious, realistic, suspenseful, gloomy, light
Similar in 78%
Purple Rain (1984)
Plot Summary:
A young man with a talent for music meets an aspiring singer, Apollonia, and finds that talent alone isn't all that he needs.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: exciting, captivating, sentimental, realistic, cult classic, intellectual, entertaining, avant garde, hood, eros
Similar in 83%
Belly (1998)
Plot Summary:
Tommy Brown and Sincere are best friends as well as infamous and ruthless criminals and shot-callers in the hood. Respected by many but feared by all. As the police are closing in on them and new players are looking for a come up, will their reign last?.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: hood, independent film, stylized, crime drama, bleak, serious, realistic, gloomy, fairy tale, neorealism
Similar in 76%
Boyz n the Hood (1991)
Plot Summary:
Boyz n the Hood is the popular and successful film and social criticism from John Singleton about the conditions in South Central Los Angeles where teenagers are involved in gun fights and drug dealing on a daily basis.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 151000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: disturbing, tense, thought provoking, hood, cult classic, brutal, bleak, independent film, rough, suspenseful
Similar in 79%
Hustle & Flow (2005)
Plot Summary:
With help from his friends, a Memphis pimp in a mid-life crisis attempts to become a successful hip-hop emcee.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 43000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: touching, bleak, realistic, hood, emotional, intense, sincere, rough, uplifting, serious
Similar in 90%
The Cotton Club (1984)
Plot Summary:
The story of the people that frequented Harlem's famous nightclubs, 'The Cotton Club', and those that ran it.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: intense, atmospheric, captivating, realistic, entertaining, period piece, visually stunning, stylized, neo noir, cult classic
Similar in 85%
Hoodlum (1997)
Plot Summary:
In 1934, the second most lucrative business in New York City was running "the numbers". When, Madam Queen, the powerful woman who runs the scam in Harlem, is arrested. Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson takes over the business and must resist against the invasion from merciless mobster Dutch Shultz.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: hood, stylized, neo noir, black and white, crime drama, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, clever
Similar in 75%
Notorious (2009)
Plot Summary:
NOTORIOUS is the story of Christopher Wallace. Through raw talent and sheer determination, Wallace transforms himself from Brooklyn street hustler (once selling crack to pregnant women) to one of the greatest rappers of all time; THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. Follow his meteoric rise to fame and his refusal to succumb to expectations - redefining our notion of "The American Dream.".
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 46000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: hood, melancholic, factual, sincere, serious, epic, sad, sexual, sentimental, rough