Movies Like Substance

If you liked Substance (2016), a movie directed by Chris Thiessen, 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
Bones Brigade: An Autobiography (2012)
★ 7.9/10
When six teenage boys came together as a skateboarding team in the 1980s, they reinvented not only their chosen sport but themselves too – as they evolved from insecure outsiders to the most influential athletes in the…
2
mid90s (2018)
★ 7.5/10
In 1990s Los Angeles, a 13-year-old spends his summer navigating between a troubled home life and a crew of new friends he meets at a skate shop.
3
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…
4
Thrashin' (1986)
★ 6.3/10
Corey and his band of skater buddies sometimes make mischief, but they're more interested in girls and having fun on their boards than in getting into any real trouble. Notorious enemy crew the Daggers, led by Tommy…
5
Airborne (1993)
★ 6.1/10
Good-natured teen surfer Mitchell Goosen finds himself staying with his aunt and uncle in Cincinnati, Ohio when his parents head to Australia for work. There he meets his cousin, Wiley, and together they try to…
6
Grind (2003)
★ 6/10
Four skaters follow their idol on his summer tour in an attempt to get noticed, get sponsored, and become stars themselves.
7
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
★ 7.5/10
As bass guitarist for a garage-rock band, Scott Pilgrim has never had trouble getting a girlfriend; usually, the problem is getting rid of them. But when Ramona Flowers skates into his heart, he finds she has the most…
8
The Art of Flight (2011)
★ 7.8/10
Iconic snowboarder Travis Rice and friends redefine what is possible in the mountains. Experience the highs, as new tricks are landed and new zones opened, alongside the lows, where avalanches, accidents, and…
9
Johnny Tsunami (1999)
★ 6.1/10
A Hawaiian teenage surfer shows off his skills when he takes to the snow slopes in Vermont.
10
Lords of Dogtown (2005)
★ 7.1/10
The radical true story behind three teenage surfers from Venice Beach, California, who took skateboarding to the extreme and changed the world of sports forever. Stacy Peralta, Tony Alva and Jay Adams are the Z-Boys, a…
11
Battle of the Year (2013)
★ 6.8/10
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.
12
The 355 (2022)
★ 6/10
A group of top female agents from American, British, Chinese, Colombian, and German government agencies are drawn together to try and stop an organization from acquiring a deadly weapon to send the world into chaos.
13
Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off (2022)
★ 7.7/10
A wide-ranging, definitive look at Hawk’s life and iconic career, and his relationship with the sport with which he’s been synonymous for decades, featuring unprecedented access, never-before-seen footage, and…
14
Border Hunters (2025)
★ 6.1/10
After his police officer brother is killed by a drug dealer who flees to the protection of his cartel-connected uncle in Mexico, an American man with a diverse law enforcement/military background goes south of the…
15
Fedora (1978)
★ 6.7/10
Down-on-his-luck Hollywood producer Barry 'Dutch' Detweiler attempts to lure Fedora, a famous but reclusive film actress, out of retirement, only to discover the horrifying truth behind her success.
16
Eleanor the Great (2025)
★ 6.8/10
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.
17
Above the Rim (1994)
★ 7.1/10
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.
18
LEGO DC: Shazam! Magic and Monsters (2020)
★ 7.1/10
It’s high time the Justice League took notice of Shazam, but joining the world’s greatest team of superheroes is a lot harder when they’ve all been turned into kids.
19
Judy & Punch (2019)
★ 6.1/10
In the anarchic town of Seaside, nowhere near the sea, puppeteers Judy and Punch are trying to resurrect their marionette show. The show is a hit due to Judy's superior puppeteering but Punch's driving ambition and…
20
Dìdi (弟弟) (2024)
★ 7.2/10
In 2008, during the last month of summer before high school begins, an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy learns what his family can't teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love your mom.