Movies Like Mapplethorpe

If you liked Mapplethorpe (2019), a drama and history movie directed by Ondi Timoner, 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
Nightwatching (2007)
★ 6.2/10Also drama and history
An extravagant, exotic and moving look at Rembrandt's romantic and professional life, and the controversy he created by the identification of a murderer in the painting The Night Watch.
2
Nymphomaniac: Vol. II (2013)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
The continuation of Joe's sexually dictated life delves into the darker aspects of her adult life and what led to her being in Seligman's care.
3
King Cobra (2016)
★ 5.8/10Also drama
It’s 2006, YouTube is in its infancy, and internet porn is still behind a paywall. Taking the stage name Brent Corrigan, a fresh-faced, wannabe adult video performer is molded into a star by Stephen, a closeted gay…
4
A Mighty Heart (2007)
★ 6.4/10Also drama and history
Based on Mariane Pearl's account of the terrifying and unforgettable story of her husband, Wall Street Journal reporter Danny Pearl's life and death.
5
The Saint of Fort Washington (1993)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
Matthew, a young schizophrenic, finds himself out on the street when a slumlord tears down his apartment building. Soon, he finds himself in even more dire straits, when he is threatened by Little Leroy, a thug who is…
6
To Write Love on Her Arms (2015)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
The story follows 19-year-old Renee who has always loved fairy tales: the idea of a princess, a hero and a happily ever after. But Renee’s life is that of a darker tale: she’s a young woman battling addiction…
7
Lockdown (2000)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
Avery (Jones) returns to college as a competitive swimmer after getting his life back on track. But his life takes another unexpected turn when he and his two friends (Bonds, Casseus) are wrongly accused of murder and…
8
The Devil's Double (2011)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
A chilling vision of the House of Saddam Hussein comes to life through the eyes of the man who was forced to become the double of Hussein's sadistic son.
9
Crossroads (1986)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
A wanna-be blues guitar virtuoso seeks a long-lost song by legendary musician, Robert Johnson.
10
Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
Heavyweight Champ George "Iceman" Chambers is sent to a Russian jail on trumped-up drug charges. In order to win his freedom he must fight against the jailhouse fighting champ Uri Boyka in a battle to the death. This…
11
Jawbone (2017)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
A former youth boxing champion, Jimmy McCabe is a man in search of hope but looking in all the wrong places. When he hits rock bottom he turns to his childhood boxing club and the only family he has left: gym owner…
12
Prick Up Your Ears (1987)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
When the young, attractive Joe Orton meets the older, more introverted Kenneth Halliwell at drama school, he befriends the kindred spirit and they start an affair. As Orton becomes more comfortable with his sexuality…
13
Mysterious Skin (2005)
★ 7.7/10Also drama
A teenage hustler and a young man obsessed with alien abductions cross paths, together discovering a horrible, liberating truth.
14
Taxi Driver (1976)
★ 8.1/10Also drama
Suffering from insomnia, disturbed loner Travis Bickle takes a job as a New York City cabbie, haunting the streets nightly, growing increasingly detached from reality as he dreams of cleaning up the filthy city.
15
Attack on Darfur (2009)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
American journalists in Sudan are confronted with the dilemma of whether to return home to report on the atrocities they have seen, or to stay behind and help some of the victims they have encountered.
16
Miles Ahead (2016)
★ 6.4/10Also drama and history
An exploration of the life and music of Miles Davis.
17
Luckiest Girl Alive (2022)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
A successful woman in New York City finds her life upended when she is forced to confront a dark truth that threatens to unravel her meticulously crafted life.
18
Stonewall (2015)
★ 6/10Also drama and history
Kicked out by his parents, a gay teenager leaves small-town Indiana for New York's Greenwich Village, where growing discrimination against the gay community leads to riots on June 28, 1969.
19
Lost Highway (1997)
★ 7.6/10Also drama
A tormented jazz musician finds himself lost in an enigmatic story involving murder, surveillance, gangsters, doppelgängers, and an impossible transformation inside a prison cell.
20
The Doors (1991)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
The story of the famous and influential 1960s rock band and its lead singer and composer, Jim Morrison.