Movies Like Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988)

Distant Voices, Still Lives is a 1988 drama, music film from Terence Davies with a MovieMagicScore of 6.8/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with The Long Day Closes and The Time to Live and the Time to Die.

Drama Music

The Long Day Closes

1992

Bud is a lonely and quiet boy whose moments of solace occur when he sits in rapture at the local cinema, watching towering and iconic figures on the movie screen. The movies give Bud the strength to get through another day as he deals with his oppressive school environment and his burgeoning homosexuality.

7.2

MagicScore

The Time to Live and the Time to Die

1985

An autobiographical film based on Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien's memories of his youth growing up in Taiwan after emigrating from mainland China.

7.3

MagicScore

The Insect Woman

1963

A woman, Tome, is born to a lower class family in Japan in 1918. The title refers to an insect, repeating its mistakes, as in an infinite circle. Imamura, with this metaphor, introduces the life of Tome, who keeps trying to change her poor life.

7.2

MagicScore

Nowhere Boy

2009

A rebellious teenager, future Beatle John Lennon lives with his Aunt Mimi in working-class mid-1950s Liverpool, England. Mimi's husband suddenly dies, and John spies his mother Julia at the funeral. Despite Mimi's misgivings, John intends to have a real relationship with his mother. Julia introduces him to popular music and the banjo and, though a family conflict looms, young John is inspired to form his own band.

7.2

MagicScore

An Awfully Big Adventure

1995

Liverpool. 1947. Right after World War II, a star struck naive teenage girl joins a shabby theatre troupe in Liverpool. During a winter production of Peter Pan, the play quickly turns into a dark metaphor for youth as she becomes drawn into a web of sexual politics and intrigue and learns about the grown-up world of the theater.

6.5

MagicScore

Hear My Song

1991

Singer Josef Locke fled to Ireland 25 years ago to escape the clutches of the tax man and police Chief Jim Abbott. What he also left behind was the love of his life Cathleen Doyle. Now, Micky O’Neill is desperate to save both his ailing Liverpool nightclub ‘Heartly’s’ and his failing relationship with the beautiful Nancy, Cathleen’s daughter. The solution? Book the infamous Josef Locke.

5.8

MagicScore

Borstal Boy

2001

Brendan Behan, a sixteen year-old IRA foot soldier, is going on a bombing mission from Ireland to Liverpool during the second world war. His mission is thwarted when he is apprehended, charged and imprisoned in Borstal, a reform institution for young offenders in East Anglia, England.

6.1

MagicScore

Elvis

2022

The life story of Elvis Presley as seen through the complicated relationship with his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker.

7.5

MagicScore

The Buddy Holly Story

1978

A chronicle of the rise and brief career of rock 'n' roll star Buddy Holly, who aspires to play music the way he wants it to sound. Holly and his band, the Crickets, are first invited to record in Nashville, where they encounter creative differences with the producing staff. Later they play a major booking at the Apollo Theater, scheduled there under the mistaken assumption that they're a black band. Holly's career eventually goes solo -- until the tragic day the music dies.

7.2

MagicScore

#10

Get on Up

2014

A chronicle of James Brown's rise from extreme poverty to become one of the most influential musicians in history.

6.8

MagicScore

#11

Sweet Dreams

1985

The story of Patsy Cline, the velvet-voiced country music singer who died in a tragic plane crash at the height of her fame.

6.4

MagicScore

#12

Le Bal

1983

In a French nightclub, choreographed song and dance routines are performed, rather than a streamlined narrative. They tell the story of Parisian culture and politics from the 1920s—1980s. A disparate, anachronistic series of characters, including an ordinary waiter, a Nazi collaborator, resistance fighters, and 1960s student protestors gather to celebrate and satirize 20th century France's icons, demons, and social changes.

7.0

MagicScore

#13

The United States vs. Billie Holiday

2021

Billie Holiday spent much of her career being adored by fans. In the 1940s, the government targeted Holiday in a growing effort to racialize the war on drugs, ultimately aiming to stop her from singing her controversial ballad, "Strange Fruit."

6.5

MagicScore

#14

Tommy

1975

After a series of traumatic childhood events, a psychosomatically deaf, dumb and blind boy becomes a master pinball player and the object of a religious cult.

6.5

MagicScore

#15

Black Book

2006

In the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II, a Jewish singer infiltrates the regional Gestapo headquarters for the Dutch resistance.

7.4

MagicScore

#16

There's No Business Like Show Business

1954

Molly and Terry Donahue, plus their three children, are The Five Donahues. Youngest son Tim meets hat-check girl Vicky and the family act begins to fall apart.

6.1

MagicScore

#17

The Neon Bible

1995

During a train ride, a teenager recalls his upbringing in 1940s small-town Georgia and the events that have led to this point.

6.0

MagicScore

#18

Blitz

2024

In World War II London, nine-year-old George is evacuated to the countryside by his mother, Rita, to escape the bombings. Defiant and determined to return to his family, George embarks on an epic, perilous journey back home as Rita searches for him.

6.0

MagicScore

#19

Westfront 1918

1930

A group of German infantrymen of the First World War live out their lives in the trenches of France. They find brief entertainment and relief in a village behind the lines, but primarily terror fills their lives as the attacks on and from the French army ebb and flow. One of the men, Karl, goes home on leave only to discover the degradation forced on his family by wartime poverty. He returns to the lines in time to face an enormous attack by French tanks.

6.6

MagicScore

#20

The Godfather

1972

Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.

8.7

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Distant Voices, Still Lives?

The top films similar to Distant Voices, Still Lives by MovieMagicScore are The Long Day Closes (7.2), The Time to Live and the Time to Die (7.3), The Insect Woman (7.2). Each shares drama/music themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Distant Voices, Still Lives worth watching?

Distant Voices, Still Lives holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.8/10 from 129 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Distant Voices, Still Lives?

Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988) is a drama, music film directed by Terence Davies, starring Freda Dowie, Pete Postlethwaite, Angela Walsh.

Where can I find more recommendations like Distant Voices, Still Lives?

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 The Long Day Closes Movies like The Time to Live and the Time to Die Movies like The Insect Woman Movies like Nowhere Boy Movies like An Awfully Big Adventure Movies like Hear My Song

About movies like Distant Voices, Still Lives

This ranked list pairs Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988), a drama and music film from Terence Davies, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Freda Dowie 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.

← Back to Distant Voices, Still Lives