Movies Like The “Volleyball Flower”

If you liked The “Volleyball Flower” (1980), a drama movie directed by Lu Jianhua, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Blue Chips (1994)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future are secretly being paid by boosters. This practice is forbidden in the…
2
Confirmation (2016)
★ 6.9/10Also drama
Judge Clarence Thomas' nomination to the United States' Supreme Court is called into question when former colleague, Anita Hill, testifies that he had sexually harassed her.
3
Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (2004)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
The story of golf icon and legend, Bobby Jones, who retired from competition at the tender age of 28.
4
Amateur (2018)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
14-year-old basketball phenom Terron Forte has to navigate the under-the-table world of amateur athletics when he is recruited to an elite NCAA prep school.
5
Eleanor the Great (2025)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
6
Giant (2026)
★ 6.9/10Also drama
Follows Prince Naseem Hamed from his humble beginnings on the tough working-class streets of Sheffield and his discovery by Ingle, himself a steel industry worker turned boxing trainer. Their unlikely partnership…
7
TalhotBlond (2012)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.
8
Hands of Stone (2016)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
9
Black Dog (2024)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
Released from jail, Lang returns to his hometown in Northwest China. As part of a dog patrol tasked with clearing stray dogs before the 2008 Olympics, he bonds with a black stray. The two lonely souls embark on a new…
10
Broke (2025)
★ 7/10Also drama
A bronc rider in denial about his fading rodeo career battles against brain injury and a sudden blizzard while reflecting on how it became so difficult to achieve his dreams.
11
Above the Rim (1994)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
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.
12
Salomé (2013)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
After the lewd and frenetic Dance of the Seven Veils, and with the solemn pledge from the very lips of Herod himself that she could have whatever her heart desires up to half his kingdom, wanton and proud young Salomé…
13
Rise of the Footsoldier 3 (2017)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
In the late 1980s, Pat Tate journeys from peddling pills in Marbella to his time in prison, where he solidifies his power before his release to reclaim his turf.
14
Beast (2026)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
MMA legend Patton James, now a commercial fisherman, is pulled back into the cage when his brother is in danger. Reuniting with his old coach Sammy, he commits to one final fight in one championship against the brutal…
15
The Firm (1989)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
A seemingly respectable estate agent leads a double life as the head of a vicious, well-organised gang of football hooligans. When 'The Firm' decide to confront a rival gang, it ends in tragedy.
16
White Bird in a Blizzard (2014)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
In 1988, a teenage girl's life is thrown into chaos when her mother disappears.
17
The Hummingbird Project (2019)
★ 6.2/10Also drama
A pair of high-frequency traders go up against their old boss in an effort to make millions in a fiber-optic cable deal.
18
Bastard Out of Carolina (1996)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as…
19
Jungleland (2020)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
Stanley manages his boxer brother Lion but when a devastating loss in the ring leaves the pair in debt, an opportunity to recoup the cash leads to a series of misadventures that threaten to break the bond between them.
20
Queen of the Ring (2025)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
In a time when pro wrestling for women was illegal all over the country, a small town single mother embraces the danger to change culture as she dominates America's most masculine sport to become the first million…