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Step Up poster

Movies that feel likeStep Up (2006)

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.

If you loved Step Up, the closest films we have are Once (2007), Cold War (2018) and Tender Mercies (1983). All three share Step Up's stylish and contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Leto (2018).

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See it on the Mood Map

If Step Up hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: Step Up 2: The Streets (2008)

Once poster
Once
2007 · dir. John Carney
🍅 97%★ 7.8drama · music · romance

The same mix in both: style, then stillness

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

A vacuum repairman moonlights as a street musician and hopes for his big break. One day a Czech immigrant, who earns a living selling flowers, approaches him with the news that she is also an aspiring singer-songwriter. The pair decide to collaborate, and the songs that they compose reflect the story of their blossoming love.

Cold War poster
Cold War
2018 · dir. Paweł Pawlikowski
🍅 92%★ 7.5romance · music · dramaPrime Video

Romantic where it counts, tender underneath

The difference: Easier on the grit than Step Up

A man and a woman meet in the ruins of post-war Poland. With vastly different backgrounds and temperaments, they are fatally mismatched and yet drawn to each other.

Tender Mercies poster
Tender Mercies
1983 · dir. Bruce Beresford
🍅 83%★ 7.3drama · music · romancePrime Video

Music with a pulse of style, in both cases

The difference: 23 years apart, and the 1980s show

Alcoholic former country singer Mac Sledge makes friends with a young widow and her son. The friendship enables him to find inspiration to resume his career.

As Tears Go By poster
As Tears Go By
1988 · dir. Wong Kar-Wai
🍅 85%★ 7drama · crime · romanceMax

The same preoccupation in both: romantic

Mid-level gangster Wah falls in love with his beautiful cousin, but must also continue to protect his volatile partner-in-crime and friend, Fly.

Walk the Line poster
Walk the Line
2005 · dir. James Mangold
🍅 83%★ 7.8drama · music · romanceMax

Drama built on stillness, twice over

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 Carl Perkins.

A Star Is Born poster
A Star Is Born
2018 · dir. Bradley Cooper
🍅 90%★ 7.6music · drama · romanceRent or buy

Both lean on romance more than on romance

Seasoned musician Jackson Maine discovers — and falls in love with — struggling artist Ally. She has just about given up on her dream to make it big as a singer — until Jack coaxes her into the spotlight. But even as Ally's career takes off, the personal side of their relationship is breaking down, as Jack fights an ongoing battle with his own internal demons.

A Beautiful Life poster
A Beautiful Life
2023 · dir. Mehdi Avaz
🍅 33%★ 6.4drama · music · romanceNetflix

One thread runs through both: romantic

When a young fisherman with a hidden talent gets discovered by a music producer, he must decide if he's ready to open himself up to stardom — and love.

3-Iron poster
3-Iron
2004 · dir. Kim Ki-duk
🍅 87%★ 7.9drama · romance · crime

Gritty crime, and it commits to that

A drifter lives in people's houses while they are away and repays them by doing chores for them. His life changes when he meets a beautiful woman who wants to escape her unhappy marriage.

Moulin Rouge! poster
Moulin Rouge!
2001 · dir. Baz Luhrmann
🍅 75%★ 7.6drama · romance · music

Tender music in both cases

A celebration of love and creative inspiration takes place in the infamous, gaudy and glamorous Parisian nightclub, at the cusp of the 20th century. A young poet, who is plunged into the heady world of Moulin Rouge, begins a passionate affair with the club's most notorious and beautiful star.

Beyond the Universe poster
Beyond the Universe
2022 · dir. Diego Freitas
★ 6.6romance · drama · musicNetflix

Both lean on style more than on drama

While waiting for a kidney transplant, a young pianist finds an unexpected connection with her doctor — and the courage to fulfill her musical dreams.

The Best Offer poster
The Best Offer
2013 · dir. Giuseppe Tornatore
🍅 56%★ 7.7drama · romance · crime

Both lean on grit more than on romance

Virgil Oldman is a world renowned antiques expert and auctioneer. An eccentric genius, he leads a solitary life, going to extreme lengths to keep his distance from the messiness of human relationships. When appointed by the beautiful but emotionally damaged Claire to oversee the valuation and sale of her family’s priceless art collection, Virgil allows himself to form an attachment to her – and soon he is engulfed by a passion which will rock his bland existence to the core.

Leto poster
Leto
2018 · dir. Kirill Serebrennikov
🍅 78%★ 7.3music · drama

Crime with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

Leningrad, one summer in the early eighties. Smuggling LPs by Lou Reed and David Bowie, the underground rock scene is boiling ahead of the Perestroika. Mike and his beautiful wife Natasha meet with young Viktor Tsoi. Together with friends, they will change the destiny of rock’n’roll in the Soviet Union.

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The best-reviewed films that share Step Up’s defining feeling.