Movies Like Selma (2014)

Selma is a 2014 drama, history film from Ava DuVernay with a MovieMagicScore of 7.4/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Malcolm X and Nickel Boys.

Drama History

Malcolm X

1992

A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.

7.5

MagicScore

Nickel Boys

2024

Chronicles the powerful friendship between two young Black teenagers navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida.

6.6

MagicScore

Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

2021

During the same summer as Woodstock, over 300,000 people attended the Harlem Cultural Festival, celebrating African American music and culture, and promoting Black pride and unity. The footage from the festival sat in a basement, unseen for over 50 years, keeping this incredible event in America's history lost — until now.

7.6

MagicScore

The Butler

2013

A look at the life of Cecil Gaines, who served eight presidents as the White House's head butler from 1952 to 1986, and had a unique front-row seat as political and racial history was made.

7.3

MagicScore

The Watsons Go to Birmingham

2013

In the Summer of 1963, Flint, Michigan is home to the Watsons, a close knit family. When 15 year-old Byron’s antics go over the top, his parents realize enough is enough and they decide the family needs a dose of Grandma Sands' no nonsense approach in Birmingham, Alabama. So the Watsons load up their 1948 Plymouth Brown Bomber and head South. When they finally make it to Birmingham, they meet Grandma Sands and her friend, Mr. Robert and discover that life is very different there than in Flint. During that historic summer, the Watsons find themselves caught up in something far bigger than Byron’s antics; something that will change their lives and country forever.

7.0

MagicScore

Ginger & Rosa

2012

A look at the lives of two teenage girls - inseparable friends Ginger and Rosa -- growing up in 1960s London as the Cuban Missile Crisis looms, and the pivotal event the comes to redefine their relationship.

6.0

MagicScore

The Long Walk Home

1990

Two women, black and white, in 1955 Montgomery Alabama, must decide what they are going to do in response to the famous bus boycott led by Martin Luther King.

7.6

MagicScore

Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment

1963

During a two-day period before and after the University of Alabama integration crisis, the film uses five camera crews to follow President John F. Kennedy, attorney general Robert F. Kennedy, Alabama governor George Wallace, deputy attorney general Nicholas Katzenbach and the students Vivian Malone and James Hood. As Wallace has promised to personally block the two black students from enrolling in the university, the JFK administration discusses the best way to react to it, without rousing the crowd or making Wallace a martyr for the segregationist cause. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 1999.

6.9

MagicScore

I Am Not Your Negro

2017

Working from the text of James Baldwin’s unfinished final novel, director Raoul Peck creates a meditation on what it means to be Black in the United States.

7.7

MagicScore

#10

MLK/FBI

2020

Based on newly declassified files, the film explores the US government’s surveillance and harassment of Martin Luther King, Jr.

6.9

MagicScore

#11

Hidden Figures

2016

The untold story of Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson – brilliant African-American women working at NASA and serving as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history – the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big.

8.1

MagicScore

#12

Judas and the Black Messiah

2021

Bill O'Neal infiltrates the Black Panthers on the orders of FBI Agent Mitchell and J. Edgar Hoover. As Black Panther Chairman Fred Hampton ascends—falling for a fellow revolutionary en route—a battle wages for O’Neal’s soul.

7.3

MagicScore

#13

The Banker

2020

In the 1960s, two entrepreneurs hatch an ingenious business plan to fight for housing integration—and equal access to the American Dream.

7.6

MagicScore

#14

Forrest Gump

1994

A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.

8.5

MagicScore

#15

Son of the South

2021

In civil rights era Montgomery, Alabama, Klansman's grandson Bob Zellner must choose which side of history to be on during the Movement. Defying his family and white Southern norms, he fought against social injustice, repression and violence to change the world around him

6.5

MagicScore

#16

LBJ

2017

The story of U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson from his young days in West Texas to the White House.

6.4

MagicScore

#17

JFK

1991

Follows the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy led by New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison.

7.6

MagicScore

#18

Driving Miss Daisy

1989

The story of an old Jewish widow named Daisy Werthan and her relationship with her black chauffeur, Hoke. From an initial mere work relationship grew in 25 years a strong friendship between the two very different characters, in a time when those types of relationships were shunned.

7.2

MagicScore

#19

The '60s

1999

The Herlihys are a working class family from Chicago whose three children take wildly divergent paths: Brian joins the Marines right out of High School and goes to Vietnam, Michael becomes involved in the civil rights movement and after campaigning for Bobby Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy becomes involved in radical politics, and Katie gets pregnant, moves to San Francisco and joins a hippie commune. Meanwhile, the Taylors are an African-American family living in the deep South. When Willie Taylor, a minister and civil rights organizer, is shot to death, his son Emmet moves to the city and eventually joins the Black Panthers, serving as a bodyguard for Fred Hampton.

6.0

MagicScore

#20

Seberg

2019

An ambitious young FBI agent is assigned to investigate iconic actress Jean Seberg when she becomes embroiled in the tumultuous civil rights movement in late 1960s Los Angeles.

5.9

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Selma?

The top films similar to Selma by MovieMagicScore are Malcolm X (7.5), Nickel Boys (6.6), Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (7.6). Each shares drama/history themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Selma worth watching?

Selma holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.4/10 from 2,268 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is Selma?

Selma (2014) is a drama, history film directed by Ava DuVernay, starring David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Tom Wilkinson.

Where can I find more recommendations like Selma?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more drama recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Malcolm X Movies like Nickel Boys Movies like Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)Movies like The Butler Movies like The Watsons Go to Birmingham Movies like Ginger & Rosa

About movies like Selma

This ranked list pairs Selma (2014), a drama and history film from Ava DuVernay, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of David Oyelowo take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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