Movies Like Bright Lights

If you liked Bright Lights (1930), a music and drama movie directed by Michael Curtiz, 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
High Strung Free Dance (2018)
★ 7.3/10Also music and romance
Zander Raines, a dazzling and tempestuous young choreographer, gives the break of a lifetime to two hopeful artists when he casts a stunning contemporary dancer, Barlow, and innovative pianist, Charlie, in New York’s…
2
I Still Believe (2020)
★ 7.6/10Also music and drama
The true-life story of Christian music star Jeremy Camp and his journey of love and loss that looks to prove there is always hope.
3
Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)
★ 6.9/10Also music and romance
Johnny Brett and King Shaw are an unsuccessful dance team in New York. A producer discovers Brett as the new partner for Clare Bennett, but Brett, who thinks he is one of the people they lent money to, gives him the…
4
Center Stage: Turn It Up (2008)
★ 6.9/10Also drama and music
All self-taught dancer Kate Parker has ever wanted to do was perform with the American Academy of Ballet. But when she doesnt make it after auditioning, she learns that it takes more than precision and perfection to…
5
Battle of the Year (2013)
★ 6.8/10Also music and drama
A down-on-his-luck coach is hired to prepare a team of the best American dancers for an international tournament that attracts all the best crews from around the world, but the Americans haven't won in fifteen years.
6
Ruth & Boaz (2025)
★ 7.4/10Also romance and drama
A talented singer leaves the Atlanta music scene and starts over in small-town Tennessee, where she finds love and new purpose but can't escape the past.
7
Save the Last Dance (2001)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and romance
After the death of her mother, Sara moves to the South Side of Chicago to live with her father and gets transferred to a majority-black school. Her life takes a turn for the better when befriends Chenille and her…
8
Star! (1968)
★ 6.9/10Also drama and music
Gertrude Lawrence rises to stage stardom at the cost of happiness.
9
Step Up (2006)
★ 6.9/10Also music and drama
Delinquent Tyler Gage receives the opportunity of a lifetime after vandalizing a performing arts school, gaining him the chance to earn a scholarship and dance with up-and-coming dancer Nora.
10
Clika (2026)
★ 8.3/10Also music and drama
Aspiring small-town musician Chito is determined to make it big. When a clip of him performing one of his songs goes viral, he seizes the opportunity and pushes to carve out a place for himself in the new wave of…
11
Purple Hearts (2022)
★ 8/10Also romance and drama
An aspiring musician agrees to a marriage of convenience with a soon-to-deploy Marine, but a tragedy soon turns their fake relationship all too real.
12
Hounddog (2008)
★ 6.5/10Also drama and music
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
13
Newness (2017)
★ 6.1/10Also romance and drama
In contemporary Los Angeles, two millennials navigating a social media–driven hookup culture begin a relationship that pushes both emotional and physical boundaries.
14
Grace Unplugged (2013)
★ 6/10Also drama and music
A talented young singer and aspiring songwriter’s Christian faith and family ties are tested when she defies her worship-pastor father and pursues pop-music stardom in GRACE UNPLUGGED, a moving and inspiring new film…
15
West Side Story (1961)
★ 7.2/10Also crime and drama
In Manhattan’s Upper West Side, rival gangs of Polish-Americans and newly arrived Puerto Ricans clash for control of the neighborhood, even as two young members from opposite sides fall dangerously in love.
16
Jailhouse Rock (1957)
★ 6.3/10Also music and drama
Young convict Vince Everett, serving time for manslaughter, discovers his musical talent in prison and becomes a rock and roll star after his release, navigating fame and relationships.
17
High Strung (2016)
★ 7/10Also music and romance
When a hip hop violinist busking in the New York subway encounters a classical dancer on scholarship at the Manhattan Conservatory of the Arts, sparks fly. With the help of a hip hop dance crew they must find a common…
18
The Lost Husband (2020)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and romance
Trying to put her life back together after the death of her husband, Libby and her children move to her estranged Aunt's goat farm in central Texas.
19
Ziegfeld Girl (1941)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and music
Discovery by Flo Ziegfeld changes a girl's life but not necessarily for the better, as three beautiful women find out when they join the spectacle on Broadway: Susan, the singer who must leave behind her ageing…
20
Walk the Line (2005)
★ 7.5/10Also drama and music
A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and…