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Home/Passing/Similar Movies

Passing

Movies Like Passing (2021)

Passing is a 2021 drama film from Rebecca Hall with a MovieMagicScore of 6.3/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with The World, the Flesh and the Devil and Lady Sings the Blues.

The World, the Flesh and the Devil poster

The World, the Flesh and the Devil

1959

Ralph Burton is a miner who is trapped for several days as a result of a cave-in. When he finally manages to dig himself out, he realizes that all of mankind seems to have been destroyed in a nuclear holocaust. He travels to New York City only to find it deserted. Making a life for himself there, he is flabbergasted to eventually find Sarah Crandall, who also managed to survive. Together, they form a close friendship until the arrival of Benson Thacker who has managed to pilot his small boat into the city's harbor. At this point, tensions rise between the three, particularly between Thacker, who is white, and Burton, who is black.

Lady Sings the Blues poster

Lady Sings the Blues

1972

Chronicles the rise and fall of legendary blues singer Billie Holiday, beginning with her traumatic youth. The story depicts her early attempts at a singing career and her eventual rise to stardom, as well as her difficult relationship with Louis McKay, her boyfriend and manager. Casting a shadow over even Holiday's brightest moments is the vocalist's severe drug addiction, which threatens to end both her career and her life.

The Cool World poster

The Cool World

1963

A fifteen-year-old boy wants to buy a gun from an adult racketeer named Priest, in order to become president of the gang to which he belongs, and to return them to active "bopping" (gang fighting) which has declined in Harlem.

Their Eyes Were Watching God poster

Their Eyes Were Watching God

2005

A drama set in the 1920s, where free-spirited Janie Crawford's search for happiness leads her through several different marriages, challenging the morals of her small town. Based on the novel by Zora Neale Hurston.

West Side Story poster

West Side Story

2021

Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.

If Beale Street Could Talk poster

If Beale Street Could Talk

2018

After her fiance is falsely imprisoned, a pregnant African-American woman sets out to clear his name and prove his innocence.

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman poster

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

1974

In February, 1962, as the civil rights movement reaches Bayonne, Louisiana, a New York journalist arrives to interview Jane Pittman, who has just turned 110. She tells him her story dating back to her earliest memories before slavery ended. In between the chapters of her life, the present-day struggles of Blacks in Bayonne, urged on by Jimmy, are dramatized.

Mississippi Masala poster

Mississippi Masala

1991

Years after her Indian family was forced to flee their home in Uganda, twentysomething Mina finds herself helping to run a motel in the faraway land of Mississippi. It's there that a passionate romance with the charming Black carpet cleaner Demetrius challenges the prejudices of their conservative families and exposes the rifts between the region's Indian and African American communities.

Pinky poster

Pinky

1949

Pinky, a light skinned black woman, returns to her grandmother's house in the South after graduating from a Northern nursing school. Pinky tells her grandmother that she has been "passing" for white while at school in the North. In addition, she has fallen in love with a young white doctor, who knows nothing about her black heritage.

Paris Is Burning poster

Paris Is Burning

1991

Where does voguing come from, and what, exactly, is throwing shade? This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City's African American and Latinx Harlem drag-ball scene. Made over seven years, PARIS IS BURNING offers an intimate portrait of rival fashion "houses," from fierce contests for trophies to house mothers offering sustenance in a world rampant with homophobia, transphobia, racism, AIDS, and poverty. Featuring legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women — including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza.

Killers of the Flower Moon poster

Killers of the Flower Moon

2023

When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one—until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.

The Color Purple poster

The Color Purple

2023

A decades-spanning tale of love and resilience and of one woman's journey to independence. Celie faces many hardships in her life, but ultimately finds extraordinary strength and hope in the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood.

The Cotton Club poster

The Cotton Club

1984

Harlem's legendary Cotton Club becomes a hotbed of passion and violence as the lives and loves of entertainers and gangsters collide.

Harlem Nights poster

Harlem Nights

1989

'Sugar' Ray is the owner of an illegal casino and must contend with the pressure of vicious gangsters and corrupt police who want to see him go out of business. In the world of organised crime and police corruption in the 1920s, any dastardly trick is fair.

Raging Bull poster

Raging Bull

1980

The life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it.

Once Upon a Time in America poster

Once Upon a Time in America

1984

A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.

Ragtime poster

Ragtime

1981

A young black pianist becomes embroiled in the lives of an upper-class white family set among the racial tensions, infidelity, violence, and other nostalgic events in early 1900s New York City.

Nickel Boys poster

Nickel Boys

2024

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

Sophie and the Rising Sun poster

Sophie and the Rising Sun

2016

In a small Southern town in the autumn of 1941, Sophie’s lonely life is transformed when an Asian man arrives under mysterious circumstances. Their love affair becomes the lightning rod for long-buried conflicts that erupt in bigotry and violence with the outbreak of World War ll.

Honey poster

Honey

2003

Honey Daniels dreams of making a name for herself as a hip-hop choreographer. When she's not busy hitting downtown clubs with her friends, she teaches dance classes at a nearby community center in Harlem, N.Y., as a way to keep kids off the streets. Honey thinks she's hit the jackpot when she meets a hotshot director casts her in one of his music videos. But, when he starts demanding sexual favors from her, Honey makes a decision that will change her life.

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Passing?

The top films similar to Passing by MovieMagicScore are The World, the Flesh and the Devil (6.3), Lady Sings the Blues (6.9), The Cool World (5.4). Each shares drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Passing worth watching?

Passing holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.3/10 from 326 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Passing?

Passing (2021) is a drama film directed by Rebecca Hall, starring Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, André Holland.

Where can I find more recommendations like Passing?

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 World, the Flesh and the Devil Movies like Lady Sings the Blues Movies like The Cool World Movies like Their Eyes Were Watching God Movies like West Side Story Movies like If Beale Street Could Talk

About movies like Passing

This ranked list pairs Passing (2021), a drama film from Rebecca Hall, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Tessa Thompson 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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