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20 Feet from Stardom poster

Movies that feel like20 Feet from Stardom (2013)

Backup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular music, but we've had no idea who these singers are or what lives they lead, until now.

If you loved 20 Feet from Stardom, the closest films we have are The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2006), We Are the Best! (2013) and The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988). All three share 20 Feet from Stardom's contemplative and stylish feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988).

🍅 99% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.4 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Morgan Nevillecontemplativestylish
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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If 20 Feet from Stardom hit the spot, these will too

The Devil and Daniel Johnston poster
The Devil and Daniel Johnston
2006 · dir. Jeff Feuerzeig
🍅 88%★ 7.9documentary · music

Contemplative where it counts, stylish underneath

This 2005 documentary film chronicles the life of Daniel Johnston, a manic-depressive genius singer/songwriter/artist, from childhood up to the present, with an emphasis on his mental illness and how it manifested itself in demonic self-obsession.

We Are the Best! poster
We Are the Best!
2013 · dir. Lukas Moodysson
🍅 97%★ 7.1drama · musicPrime Video

Music built on stillness, twice over

The difference: Leans harder into drama than 20 Feet from Stardom does

Three girls in 1980s Stockholm decide to form a punk band—despite not having any instruments, and being told by everyone that punk is dead.

The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years poster
🍅 76%★ 7.2documentary · music

Both lean on style more than on documentary

The difference: Made in the 1980s, in a different era of the craft

An exploration of the heavy metal scene in Los Angeles, with particular emphasis on glam metal. It features concert footage and interviews of legendary heavy metal and hard rock bands and artists such as Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Megadeth, Motörhead, Ozzy Osbourne and W.A.S.P..

Bajrangi Bhaijaan poster
Bajrangi Bhaijaan
2015 · dir. Kabir Khan
🍅 91%★ 8.1music · dramaNetflix

Contemplative music in both cases

A young mute girl from Pakistan loses herself in India with no way to head back. A devoted man with a magnanimous spirit undertakes the task to get her back to her motherland and unite her with her family.

Searching for Sugar Man poster
Searching for Sugar Man
2012 · dir. Malik Bendjelloul
🍅 95%★ 8.2music · documentaryHulu

Stylish documentary, and it commits to that

Two South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock 'n' roller, Rodriguez.

Distant Voices, Still Lives poster
Distant Voices, Still Lives
1988 · dir. Terence Davies
🍅 80%★ 7.4drama · music

Music of the same temperament

Siblings Maisie and Tony, along with their mother, gather for their sister Eileen's wedding. It is a joyous occasion, but through flashbacks, it becomes clear that the family was not always happy. Their father was physically abusive to his wife and left the children emotionally traumatized. As a result, the children have grown into unhappy adults, looking for love they didn't receive when they were young.

Gimme Shelter poster
Gimme Shelter
1970 · dir. Albert Maysles
🍅 93%★ 7.8documentary · musicMax

Both working the same documentary territory

A detailed chronicle of the famous 1969 tour of the United States by the British rock band The Rolling Stones, which culminated with the disastrous and tragic concert held on December 6 at the Altamont Speedway Free Festival, an event of historical significance, as it marked the end of an era: the generation of peace and love suddenly became the generation of disillusionment.

The Last Waltz poster
The Last Waltz
1978 · dir. Martin Scorsese
🍅 98%★ 8.1documentary · musicPrime Video

Both know what they want from documentary

Martin Scorsese's documentary intertwines footage from The Band's incredible farewell tour with probing backstage interviews and featured performances by Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, and other rock legends.

Stop Making Sense poster
Stop Making Sense
1984 · dir. Jonathan Demme
🍅 100%★ 8.7documentary · musicRent or buy

Music in the same key

A concert film documenting Talking Heads at the height of their popularity, on tour for their 1983 album "Speaking in Tongues." The band takes the stage one by one and is joined by a cadre of guest musicians for a career-spanning and cinematic performance that features creative choreography and visuals.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil poster
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
2008 · dir. Sacha Gervasi
🍅 98%★ 7.9documentary · musicPrime Video

Cut from the same documentary cloth

At 14, best friends Robb Reiner and Lips made a pact to rock together forever. Their band, Anvil, hailed as the "demi-gods of Canadian metal" influenced a musical generation that includes Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax. Following a calamitous European tour, Lips and Robb, now in their fifties, set off to record their 13th album in one last attempt to fulfill their boyhood dreams.

La Vie en Rose poster
La Vie en Rose
2007 · dir. Olivier Dahan
🍅 50%★ 7.5music · drama

Both are music through and through

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

From the mean streets of the Belleville district of Paris to the dazzling limelight of New York's most famous concert halls, Edith Piaf's life was a constant battle to sing and survive, to live and love. Raised in her grandmother's brothel, Piaf was discovered in 1935 by nightclub owner Louis Leplee, who persuaded her to sing despite her extreme nervousness. Piaf became one of France's immortal icons, her voice one of the indelible signatures of the 20th century.

Cazuza: Time Doesn't Stop poster
Cazuza: Time Doesn't Stop
2004 · dir. Walter Carvalho
★ 6.9drama · music · history

Both play music straight

Inspired by the moving book “Só as Mães São Felizes”, by Lucinha Araújo, Cazuza's mother, the film covers a little more than 10 years of the singer’s crazy and brief life – from the beginning of his career in the Circo Voador venue, in 1981, to the huge success and the apotheosis of his shows with the Barão Vermelho band, his solo career, his relations with his parents, friends, lovers and passions, and the courage he had to face his final years, with HIV, until his death, in 1990.

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The best-reviewed films that share 20 Feet from Stardom’s defining feeling.