Best movies like Rustin
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Activist Bayard Rustin faces racism and homophobia as he helps change the course of Civil Rights history by orchestrating the 1963 March on Washington.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: political, gay cinema, political drama
Best tv shows and movies like Rustin (2023):
Similar in 87%
Beautiful Something (2015)
Plot Summary:
Four diverse gay men navigate art, sex and love in one sublime night.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: sexy, psychological, light, sincere, touching, unusual plot structure, melancholic, independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 81%
Mapplethorpe (2018)
Plot Summary:
A look at the life of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe from his rise to fame in the 1970s to his untimely death in 1989.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: costume drama, queer cinema
Similar in 81%
8 (2012)
Plot Summary:
"8"—a new play by Academy-award winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk, J. Edgar)—demystifies the debate around marriage equality by chronicling the landmark trial of Perry v. Schwarzenegger. A one time show was done live on youtube with a superstar cast.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 597
Genere: Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: cult classic, powerful, factual, queer cinema
Similar in 79%
Tom of Finland (2017)
Plot Summary:
Touko Laaksonen, a decorated officer, returns home after a harrowing and heroic experience serving his country in World War II, but life in Finland during peacetime proves equally distressing. He finds peace-time Helsinki rampant with persecution of the homosexual and men around him even being pressured to marry women and have children. Touko finds refuge in his liberating art, specialising in homoerotic drawings of muscular men, free of inhibitions. His work – made famous by his signature ‘Tom of Finland’ – became the emblem of a generation of men and fanned the flames of a gay revolution.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: homoerotic, romantic, serious, realistic, compassionate, social, surreal, novela, queer cinema, banned
Similar in 85%
Dance of the 41 (2020)
Plot Summary:
Mexico City, November 1901. The police raid a private home where a secret party is being held. Among those attending is the son-in-law of President Porfirio Díaz.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Mexico
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: tense, unusual plot structure, suspense, suspenseful, sweet, dark, crying, queer cinema, period drama
Similar in 87%
Holding the Man (2015)
Plot Summary:
In the 1970s, a young Australian boy, Timothy, finds himself confused. He falls for the captain of the football team. What follows shows all aspects of a relationship, regardless of gender or sexual preference. Conflict, temptation, and a huge burden which will affect every aspect of their lives.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Romance
Country: Australia
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: touching, psychological, suspense, sincere, sexy, unusual plot structure, contemplative, romantic, lgbt cinema, sad
Similar in 89%
An Englishman in New York (2009)
Plot Summary:
Biographical drama based on the last 20 years of Crisp's life. The literary figure and gay iconoclast emigrated to New York in 1981 and lived there until his death. The film observes Crisp in both his public and private lives, from his seemingly cavalier response to the outbreak of AIDS to his tender relationship with his friend Patrick Angus and his own response to growing old.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 75 min
Plot tags: sincere, realistic, touching, humorous, witty, semi serious, queer cinema, flamboyance, iconic
Similar in 80%
Benediction (2021)
Plot Summary:
The story of soldier and poet Siegfried Sassoon (1886–1967), who was decorated for bravery on the Western Front, and is best remembered for his angry and compassionate poems about the First World War, which brought him public and critical acclaim. Avoiding the sentimentality and jingoism of many war poets, Sassoon wrote of the horror and brutality of trench warfare and contemptuously satirised generals, politicians, and churchmen for their incompetence and blind support of the war.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 137 min
Plot tags: emotional, captivating, disturbing, crying, gay cinema, queer cinema
Similar in 83%
The Einstein of Sex (1999)
Plot Summary:
The life story of Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, a German Jew, who as a physician established the field of sexology, and fought militantly against German anti-sodomy laws in the late 19th century. The script reveals main characters in Hirschfeld's life including impossible love interest Baron von Teschenberg, and Hirschfeld's aids- young Karl Giese and guardian angel, the transvestite Dorchen, as they establish the First Institute of Sexual Sciences in Berlin in 1920, and follows their struggles to keep it open, up to the rise of the Third Reich in the mid 1930s.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 723
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Germany, Netherlands
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: offbeat, serious, realistic, witty, biting, sexual, sexy, sex comedy, suspense, hot
Similar in 90%
Respect (2021)
Plot Summary:
The rise of Aretha Franklin’s career from a child singing in her father’s church’s choir to her international superstardom.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: captivating, uplifting, factual, emotional, disturbing, period piece, deep, anamorphic, historical drama, touching
Similar in 79%
Thornwell (1981)
Plot Summary:
True story about James Thornwell, who was serving the Army in Europe when some military documents went missing.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 58
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 80%
When We Rise (2017)
Plot Summary:
The personal and political struggles, setbacks and triumphs of a diverse family of LGBT men and women who helped pioneer one of the last legs of the U.S. Civil Rights movement from its turbulent infancy in the 20th century to the once unfathomable successes of today. The period piece tells the history of the gay rights movement, starting with the Stonewall Riots in 1969.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 341 min
Plot tags: tense, unusual plot structure, suspense, lgbt cinema, suspenseful, political, queer cinema
Similar in 85%
J. Edgar (2011)
Plot Summary:
As the face of law enforcement in America for almost 50 years, J. Edgar Hoover was feared and admired, reviled and revered. But behind closed doors, he held secrets that would have destroyed his image, his career and his life.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 133000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 137 min
Plot tags: political, factual, melancholic, compassionate, thought provoking, realistic, informative, bleak, serious, historical drama
Similar in 78%
Stonewall (2015)
Plot Summary:
"Stonewall" is a drama about a young man in New York caught up during the 1969 Stonewall Riots, a pivotal event widely considered the starting point for the modern gay civil rights movement.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, serious, realistic, political, lgbt cinema, social, controversial, queer cinema
Similar in 80%
Boy Erased (2018)
Plot Summary:
The son of a Baptist preacher is forced to participate in a church supported gay conversion program.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 42000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Australia, USA, China
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, psychological, sentimental, captivating, intellectual, depressing, serious, lgbt cinema, sad, cult classic
Similar in 84%
The Normal Heart (2014)
Plot Summary:
The story of the onset of the HIV-AIDS crisis in New York City in the early 1980s, taking an unflinching look at the nation's sexual politics as gay activists and their allies in the medical community fight to expose the truth about the burgeoning epidemic to a city and nation in denial.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 37000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: sad, touching, emotional, sincere, compassionate, depressing, serious, thought provoking, realistic, talky
Similar in 79%
Burden (2018)
Plot Summary:
Burden, an orphan raised within the Ku Klux Klan, attempts to break away when the girl he falls in love with urges him to leave for a better life together. When the Klan seeks Mike out for vengeance, a black congregation led by the benevolent, Reverend Kennedy, takes Mike, his girlfriend and her son in, protects them and accepts them into their community.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: rough, suspenseful, emotional, political
Similar in 90%
Harriet (2019)
Plot Summary:
The story of Harriet Tubman, who helped free hundreds of slaves from the South after escaping from slavery herself in 1849.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Action, Biography, Drama, History
Country: China, USA
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, costume drama, tense, enigmatic, psychological, political, historical drama, exciting, inspirational, road movie
Similar in 81%
Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
Plot Summary:
Bill O'Neal infiltrates the Black Panthers per FBI Agent Mitchell and J. Edgar Hoover. As Black Panther Chairman Fred Hampton ascends, falling for a fellow revolutionary en route, a battle wages for O’Neal’s soul.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 89000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: political, inspirational, philosophical, social, suspenseful, disturbing, suspense, thought provoking, bloody, dramatic
Similar in 82%
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013)
Plot Summary:
A chronicle of Nelson Mandela's life journey from his childhood in a rural village through to his inauguration as the first democratically elected president of South Africa.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 29000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK, France, South Africa
Duration: 141 min
Plot tags: emotional, serious, realistic, political, inspirational, educational, social, novela, cult classic, informative
Similar in 76%
Cry Freedom (1987)
Plot Summary:
A dramatic story, based on actual events, about the friendship between two men struggling against apartheid in South Africa in the 1970s. Donald Woods is a white liberal journalist in South Africa who begins to follow the activities of Stephen Biko, a courageous and outspoken black anti-apartheid activist.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK, Zimbabwe, USA
Duration: 157 min
Plot tags: inspirational, political, cult classic, political thriller, edutainment, tense, thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating
Similar in 78%
All the Way (2016)
Plot Summary:
Lyndon B. Johnson's amazing 11-month journey from taking office after JFK's assassination, through the fight to pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act and his own presidential campaign, culminating on the night LBJ is actually elected to the office – no longer the 'accidental President.'.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: tense, realistic, factual, talky, intense, political, historical drama, non fiction, cult classic, inspirational
Similar in 80%
Selma (2014)
Plot Summary:
"Selma," as in Alabama, the place where segregation in the South was at its worst, leading to a march that ended in violence, forcing a famous statement by President Lyndon B. Johnson that ultimately led to the signing of the Civil Rights Act.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 95000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK, France, USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: emotional, political, thought provoking, inspirational, sincere, uplifting, factual, serious, period piece, realistic
Similar in 83%
The Butler (2013)
Plot Summary:
A look at the life of Cecil Gaines who served eight presidents as the White House's head butler from 1952 to 1986, and had a unique front-row seat as political and racial history was made.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 119000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, inspirational, political, factual, uplifting, thought provoking, serious, disturbing, historical drama
Similar in 78%
The Best of Enemies (2019)
Plot Summary:
The story of the real-life unlikely relationship between an outspoken civil rights activist and a local Ku Klux Klan leader in 1971 North Carolina.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: rough, sincere, thought provoking, disturbing, motivational, inspirational, spiritual, political, social, period piece
Similar in 90%
Malcolm X (1992)
Plot Summary:
A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 100000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA, Japan
Duration: 202 min
Plot tags: inspirational, political, factual, intense, stylized, realistic, thought provoking, serious, captivating, emotional
Similar in 79%
Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)
Plot Summary:
The story of journalist, Edward R Murrow's stand against Senator McCarthy's anti-communist witch-hunts in the early 1950s.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 101000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK, France, Japan, USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: black and white, political, tense, melancholic, factual, period piece, disturbing, dramatic, sincere, clever
Similar in 76%
The Front Runner (2018)
Plot Summary:
Gary Hart, former Senator of Colorado, becomes the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1987. Hart's intelligence, charisma and idealism makes him popular with young voters, leaving him with a seemingly clear path to the White House. All that comes crashing down when allegations of an extramarital affair surface in the media, forcing the candidate to address a scandal that threatens to derail his campaign and personal life.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: political, psychological, sentimental, thought provoking, captivating, social, cult classic, political drama
Similar in 78%
Milk (2008)
Plot Summary:
The story of California's first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk, who became an outspoken agent for change, seeking equal rights and opportunities for all. His great love for the city and its people brought him backing from young and old, straight and gay, alike – at a time when prejudice and violence against gays was openly accepted as the norm.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 178000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, political, realistic, sincere, touching, sad, inspirational, serious, contemplative, emotional
Similar in 84%
LBJ (2016)
Plot Summary:
The story of U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson from his young days in West Texas to the White House.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: political, serious, emotional, suspense, realistic, historical drama, political drama