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Movies Like Polina (What to Watch After)

If you enjoyed Polina, are likely to find resonance in stories that questions the purpose and weight of our choices while maintaining targets the intellect with complex, multi-layered ideas. Carefully balances character depth with narrative flow makes this a solid addition to your watchlist.

Mood Breakdown
Runtime Cluster

Standard feature-length experiences.

Viewer Fit

Best for fans of who appreciate concise storytelling.

Top Picks

Take the Lead
6.9

Take the Lead

2006

A former professional dancer volunteers to teach dance in the New York public school system and, while his background first clashes with his students' tastes, together they create a completely new style of dance. Based on the story of ballroom dancer, Pierre Dulane.

Chaos
6.3

Chaos

2001

A bourgeois couple, modern yet conventional. One night by accident, a young prostitute barges into their lives. Hounded down, beaten up, threatened, she will continue to struggle, with the help of a well off lady, first for her survival-her resurrection-then for her dignity and freedom. Stormy encounters for everyone involved.

Bastard Out of Carolina
7.1

Bastard Out of Carolina

1996

A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance.

Sky
6.2

Sky

2015

A woman embarks on a journey alone across the United States after fleeing from her violent husband.

Houria
6.8

Houria

2023

A young woman who is passionate about ballet dancing and experiences a trauma, and then she meets other women who have experienced similar situations and they find a creative way to pursue their passion.

Lucky Them
6.0

Lucky Them

2013

More interested in partying and flirting with young musicians than work, veteran rock journalist Ellie Klug has one last chance to prove her value to her magazine’s editor: a no-stone-unturned search to discover what really happened to long lost rock god, Matt Smith, who also happens to be her ex-boyfriend. Teaming up with an eccentric amateur documentary filmmaker, Ellie hits the road in search of answers.

The Safety of Objects
6.4

The Safety of Objects

2002

In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.

The Girl in the Book
5.8

The Girl in the Book

2015

The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.

More Movies Like Polina

Heaven Will Wait
7.0

Heaven Will Wait

2016

Mélanie, 16 years old, lives with her mother. She likes going to school, her friends, playing the cello, and she wants to change the world. But when she meets a boy on the Internet and falls in love with him, her world changes as she is gradually recruited by Daesh. Sonia is 17 years old, and she almost did something irrevocable to “guarantee” her family a place in paradise. These teenage girls might be called Anaïs, Manon or Leila, and one day they all might go some way down the recruitment process. But can they ever come back from it?

Step Up All In
6.8

Step Up All In

2014

All-stars from previous installments convene in glittering Las Vegas, battling for a victory that could define their dreams and their careers.

Hounddog
6.4

Hounddog

2008

A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.

Once in a Lifetime
7.4

Once in a Lifetime

2014

At Léon Blum High School in Créteil, France, a history teacher decides to have her weakest 10th grade class participate in a national history competition.

The Trials of Cate McCall
6.4

The Trials of Cate McCall

2013

In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.

StreetDance 3D
6.5

StreetDance 3D

2010

In order to win the Street Dance Championships, a dance crew is forced to work with ballet dancers from the Royal Dance School in exchange for rehearsal space.

My Little Princess
6.5

My Little Princess

2011

Young Violetta and her mother Hannah are a peculiar couple. Ten-year-old Violetta lives a quiet life with her grandmother, while her mother Hannah is an unpredictable photographer who lives off of the generosity of others. When Hannah forces her daughter to pose as a model, Violetta finds her life with her loving grandmother turned upside down.The resulting pictures quickly become a sensation for the trendy 70's Paris art scene, and Violetta finds herself caught in between her new stature as an art muse and her dull childhood.

Bruised
6.8

Bruised

2021

Jackie Justice is a mixed martial arts fighter who leaves the sport in disgrace. Down on her luck and simmering with rage and regret years after the fight, she's coaxed into a brutal underground fight by her manager and boyfriend Desi and grabs the attention of a fight league promoter who promises Jackie a life back in the Octagon. But the road to redemption becomes unexpectedly personal when Manny - the son she gave up as an infant - shows up at her doorstep. A triumphant story of a fighter who reclaims her power, in and out of the ring, when everyone has counted her out

The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles
5.8

The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles

2014

Josephine and Iris, sisters with opposite personalities, have their relationship radically transformed while working on a book.

El Chicano
6.6

El Chicano

2019

A pair of twin brothers from East L.A. choose to live their lives differently and end up on opposite sides of the law.

Dance with Me
6.9

Dance with Me

1998

Young Cuban Rafael just buried his mother, and comes to Houston to meet his father John for the first time. The difficult part is that John doesn't know he is Rafael's father. John runs a dance studio, and everyone prepares for the World Open Dance championship in Las Vegas. It soon becomes clear Rafael is a very good dancer, and Ruby is the biggest hope for the studio at the championship.

Origin
6.4

Origin

2023

While investigating the global phenomenon of caste and its dark influence on society, a journalist faces unfathomable personal loss and uncovers the beauty of human resilience.

Why These Movies Are Similar

These recommendations share core qualities with Polina (2016): Drama 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 Polina.

See full details for Polina (2016)

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