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Movies Like Smithereens

If you were moved by Smithereens, you will appreciate how these films questions the purpose and weight of our choices while grounding the story in targets the intellect with complex, multi-layered ideas. Carefully balances character depth with narrative flow makes this definitely worth a watch.

Mood Breakdown
Runtime Cluster

Standard feature-length experiences.

Viewer Fit

Best for fans of who appreciate concise storytelling.

Top Picks

Suburbia
6.7

Suburbia

1984

When household tensions and a sense of worthlessness overcome Evan, he finds escape when he clings with the orphans of a throw-away society. The runaways hold on to each other like a family until a tragedy tears them apart.

10,000 Saints
6.0

10,000 Saints

2015

A sweeping multigenerational story set against the backdrop of the raw, roaring New York City of the late 1980s; adoption, teen pregnancy, drugs, hardcore punk rock, the unbridled optimism and reckless stupidity of the young—and old—are all major elements in this heart-aching tale of the son of diehard hippies and his strange odyssey through the extremes of late 20th century youth culture.

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
6.1

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

1970

An all-girl rock band moves to Hollywood in the hope of achieving success, only to fall into a whirlpool of wickedness and decadence.

Groove
6.2

Groove

2000

An inside look into one night in the San Francisco underground rave scene.

CBGB
6.3

CBGB

2013

A look at New York's dynamic punk rock scene through the lens of the ground-breaking Lower East Side club started by eccentric Hilly Kristal in 1973 which launched thousands of bands.

Dinner in America
7.7

Dinner in America

2020

An on-the-lam punk rocker and a young woman obsessed with a local band go on an unexpected and epic journey together through the decaying suburbs of the American Midwest.

Coda
6.0

Coda

2020

A famous pianist at the twilight of his career meets a free-spirited music critic who soon becomes his rock as his mental state deteriorates.

Coyote Ugly
6.3

Coyote Ugly

2000

Graced with a velvet voice, 21-year-old Violet Sanford heads to New York to pursue her dream of becoming a songwriter only to find her aspirations sidelined by the accolades and notoriety she receives at her "day" job as a barmaid at Coyote Ugly. The "Coyotes" as they are affectionately called tantalize customers and the media alike with their outrageous antics, making Coyote Ugly the watering hole for guys on the prowl.

More Movies Like Smithereens

The Unforgivable
7.4

The Unforgivable

2021

A woman is released from prison after serving a sentence for a violent crime and re-enters a society that refuses to forgive her past.

A Star Is Born
6.0

A Star Is Born

1976

Drunken, has-been rock star John Norman Howard falls in love with unknown singer Esther Hoffman after seeing her perform at a club. He lets her sing a few songs at one of his shows and she becomes the talk of the music industry. Esther's star begins to rise, while John's continues to fall. She tries desperately to get John to sober up and focus on his music, but it may be too late to save him.

Grace of My Heart
6.1

Grace of My Heart

1996

Philadelphia teenager Edna Buxton wins a talent contest during the early rock 'n' roll era, changes her name to Denise Waverly and moves to New York City to make it big. Though she flops as a recording artist, fast-talking record producer Joel Millner recognizes her songwriting talent and teams her with struggling songsmith Howard Caszatt.

Times Square
6.4

Times Square

1980

When a 13-year-old girl befriends a defiant antisocial child of the streets, the mismatched runaways set off to the Big Apple to find their own adventure.

SLC Punk
7.1

SLC Punk

1998

Two former geeks become 1980s punks, then party and go to concerts while deciding what to do with their lives.

Better Start Running
5.9

Better Start Running

2018

An eclectic band of misfits becomes an unlikely family as they take a wild journey in the name of love while on the run from an overzealous FBI duo who want them dead or alive - preferably dead.

Rock 'n' Roll High School
6.3

Rock 'n' Roll High School

1979

A group of rock-music-loving students, with the help of the Ramones, take over their school to combat its newly installed oppressive administration.

Sweet and Lowdown
6.8

Sweet and Lowdown

1999

In the 1930s, jazz guitarist Emmet Ray idolizes Django Reinhardt, faces gangsters and falls in love with a mute woman.

Pure Country
7.0

Pure Country

1992

Dusty Chandler is a super star in the country music world, but his shows have the style of a '70s rock concert. One day he takes a walk - out of his overdone concerts to find his real country roots. He's helped and hindered by friends and staff, but pushes on in his search for a real music style as well as a real romance.

Daft Punk Unchained
7.2

Daft Punk Unchained

2015

Daft Punk Unchained is the first film about the pop culture phenomenon that is Daft Punk, the duo with 12 million albums sold worldwide and seven Grammy Awards. Throughout their career Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo have always resisted compromise and the established codes of show business. They have remained determined to maintain control of every link in the chain of their creative process. In the era of globalisation and social networks, they rarely speak in public and neither do they show their faces on TV. This documentary explores this unprecedented cultural revolution revealing a duo of artists on a permanent quest for creativity, independence and freedom.

We Are Your Friends
6.8

We Are Your Friends

2015

Young Cole Carter dreams of hitting the big time as a Hollywood disc jockey, spending his days and nights hanging with buddies and working on the one track that will set the world on fire. Opportunity comes knocking when he meets James Reed, a charismatic DJ who takes the 23-year-old under his wing. Soon, his seemingly clear path to success gets complicated when he starts falling for his mentor's girlfriend, jeopardizing his new friendship and the future he seems destined to fulfill.

Step Up
6.9

Step 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.

Why These Movies Are Similar

These recommendations share core qualities with Smithereens (1982): Drama and Music themes, similar narrative structure, and comparable emotional depth. NoBadPicks uses a combination of TMDB collaborative filtering, genre matching, and AI analysis to surface films most likely to resonate with fans of Smithereens.

See full details for Smithereens (1982)

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