Movies Like Los Angeles Canvas

If you liked Los Angeles Canvas (2025), a movie directed by Aot Rivera, 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
Lowriders (2017)
★ 6.7/10
A young street artist in East Los Angeles is caught between his father's obsession with lowrider car culture, his ex-felon brother and his need for self-expression.
2
Shelter (2007)
★ 7.7/10
Forced to give up his dreams of art school, Zach works dead-end jobs to support his sister and her son. Questioning his life, he paints, surfs and hangs out with his best friend, Gabe. When Gabe's older brother returns…
3
Boyz n the Hood (1991)
★ 7.6/10
Three friends growing up in South Central Los Angeles navigate a neighborhood plagued by violence, unemployment, and crime, each responding differently to the harsh realities of street life. As tragedy strikes close to…
4
In Dubious Battle (2016)
★ 5.8/10
In the California apple country, 900 migratory workers rise 'in dubious battle' against the landowners. The group takes on a life of its own—stronger than its individual members, and more frightening. Led by the doomed…
5
Crumb (1995)
★ 7.6/10
This movie chronicles the life and times of R. Crumb. Robert Crumb is the cartoonist/artist who drew Keep On Truckin', Fritz the Cat, and played a major pioneering role in the genesis of underground comix. Through…
6
1992 (2024)
★ 6.9/10
In 1992, Mercer is desperately trying to rebuild his life and his relationship with his son amidst the turbulent Los Angeles uprising following the Rodney King verdict. Across town, another father and son put their own…
7
Burlesque (2010)
★ 7.2/10
Ali leaves behind a troubled life and follows her dreams to Los Angeles, where she lands a job as a cocktail waitress at the Burlesque Lounge, a once-majestic theater that houses an inspired musical revue. Vowing to…
8
White Men Can't Jump (2023)
★ 6.4/10
Seemingly opposite street hoopers, Jeremy, an injury prone former star, and Kamal, a has-been prodigy, team up to take one final shot at living out their dreams.
9
Dangerous Minds (1995)
★ 7/10
Former Marine Louanne Johnson lands a gig teaching in a pilot program for bright but underachieving teens at a notorious inner-city high school. After having a terrible first day, she decides she must throw decorum to…
10
To Sleep with Anger (1990)
★ 6.8/10
An enigmatic drifter from the South comes to visit an old acquaintance who now lives in South-Central LA.
11
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019)
★ 7/10
Jimmie Fails dreams of reclaiming the Victorian home his grandfather built in the heart of San Francisco. Joined on his quest by his best friend Mont, Jimmie searches for belonging in a rapidly changing city that seems…
12
Passenger 57 (1992)
★ 6/10
Airline security specialist John Cutter, finally returning to the job after his wife's death, finds himself stuck on a flight being hijacked by notorious terrorist Charles Rane. Unfortunately for the terrorists…
13
White Men Can't Jump (1992)
★ 6.7/10
Two street basketball hustlers try to con each other, then team up for a bigger score.
14
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
★ 7.8/10
Tom Joad returns to his home after a jail sentence to find his family kicked out of their farm due to foreclosure. He catches up with them on his Uncle’s farm, and joins them the next day as they head for California…
15
I Want Your Sex (2026)
★ 6/10
When a naive young man becomes the sexual muse for a renowned and provocative artist, his dream job quickly turns dangerous as he is drawn into an obsessive world of power, betrayal, and murder.
16
Mona Lisa Smile (2003)
★ 6.9/10
Katherine Watson is a recent UCLA graduate hired to teach art history at the prestigious all-female Wellesley College, in 1953. Determined to confront the outdated mores of society and the institution that embraces…
17
Car Wash (1976)
★ 6/10
This day-in-the-life cult comedy focuses on a group of friends working at Sully Boyar's Car Wash in the Los Angeles ghetto. The team meets dozens of eccentric customers -- including a smooth-talking preacher, a wacky…
18
Chasing Mavericks (2012)
★ 7/10
Surfer Jay Moriarity sets out to ride the Northern California break known as Mavericks.
19
Gleaming the Cube (1989)
★ 6/10
An Orange County teenager's carefree life of ditching class and skateboarding abandoned pools comes to a screeching halt when someone close to him dies. The cops rule the death a suicide, but the bereaved skater…
20
Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021)
★ 7.6/10
During the same summer as Woodstock, over 300,000 people attended the Harlem Cultural Festival, celebrating African American music and culture, and promoting Black pride and unity. The footage from the festival sat in…