Movies Like They Shot the Piano Player (2023)

They Shot the Piano Player is a 2023 animation, drama, history film from Fernando Trueba with a MovieMagicScore of 6.4/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Soul and 'Round Midnight.

Animation Drama History

Soul

2020

Joe Gardner is a middle school teacher with a love for jazz music. After a successful audition at the Half Note Club, he suddenly gets into an accident that separates his soul from his body and is transported to the You Seminar, a center in which souls develop and gain passions before being transported to a newborn child. Joe must enlist help from the other souls-in-training, like 22, a soul who has spent eons in the You Seminar, in order to get back to Earth.

8.1

MagicScore

'Round Midnight

1986

Inside the Blue Note nightclub one night in 1959 Paris, an aged, ailing jazzman coaxes an eloquent wail from his tenor sax. Outside, a young Parisian too broke to buy a glass of wine strains to hear those notes. Soon they will form a friendship that sparks a final burst of genius.

7.1

MagicScore

Young Man with a Horn

1950

Taken in by the musical world as a young orphan, Rick Martin grows up with a desire to play pure jazz instead of the commercial gigs he lands, whilst also coping with the problems caused by his tempestuous marriage to an aloof heiress.

6.4

MagicScore

I'm Still Here

2024

A woman married to a former politician during the 1971 military dictatorship in Brazil is forced to reinvent herself and chart a new course for her family after a violent and arbitrary act.

8.0

MagicScore

I Can Only Imagine

2018

Growing up in Greenville, Texas, Bart Millard suffers physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his father, Arthur. When Arthur becomes terminally ill, he finds redemption by embracing his faith and rediscovering his love for his son. Years later, Bart's troubled childhood and mended relationship with his dad inspires him to write the hit song "I Can Only Imagine" as singer of the Christian band MercyMe.

7.5

MagicScore

The Color Purple

1985

An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. After Celie's abusive father marries her off to the equally debasing 'Mister' Albert Johnson, things go from bad to worse, leaving Celie to find companionship anywhere she can. She perseveres, holding on to her dream of one day being reunited with her sister in Africa.

7.7

MagicScore

Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool

2019

An immersive look at the eventful life and brilliant artistic career of visionary American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis (1926-1991).

7.2

MagicScore

Shoot the Piano Player

1960

Charlie is a former classical pianist who has changed his name and now plays jazz in a grimy Paris bar. When Charlie's brothers, Richard and Chico, surface and ask for Charlie's help while on the run from gangsters they have scammed, he aids their escape. Soon Charlie and Lena, a waitress at the same bar, face trouble when the gangsters arrive, looking for his brothers.

7.2

MagicScore

Sweet and Lowdown

1999

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

6.8

MagicScore

#10

New York, New York

1977

An egotistical saxophone player and a young singer meet on V-J Day and embark upon a strained and rocky romance, even as their careers begin a long uphill climb.

6.6

MagicScore

#11

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.

6.5

MagicScore

#12

Blues in the Night

1941

A struggling band find themselves attached to a fugitive and drawn into a series of old feuds and love affairs, as they try to stay together and find musical success.

6.2

MagicScore

#13

Pete Kelly's Blues

1955

In 1927, a Kansas City, Missouri cornet player and his band perform nightly at a seedy speakeasy until a racketeer tries to extort them in exchange for protection.

6.1

MagicScore

#14

Amy

2015

A documentary on the life of Amy Winehouse, the immensely talented yet doomed songstress. We see her from her teen years, where she already showed her singing abilities, to her finding success and then her downward spiral into alcoholism and drugs.

7.6

MagicScore

#15

Chasing Trane

2017

An account of the life of the brilliant jazz musician John Coltrane (1926-67), a gifted saxophonist, an extraordinarily talented thinker whose original, avant-garde work has impacted and influenced people all over the world. A story about music's ability to entertain, inspire and transform.

7.3

MagicScore

#16

Let's Get Lost

1988

Documentary about jazz great Chet Baker that intercuts footage from the 1950s, when he was part of West Coast Cool, and from his last years. We see the young Baker, he of the beautiful face, in California and in Italy, where he appeared in at least one movie and at least one jail cell (for drug possession). And, we see the aged Baker, detached, indifferent, his face a ruin. Includes interviews with his children and ex-wife, women companions, and musicians.

7.0

MagicScore

#17

Jammin' the Blues

1944

In this short film, prominent jazz musicians of the 1940s gather for a rare filming of a jam session. This highly stylized chronicle features tenor sax legend Lester Young.

6.9

MagicScore

#18

Jazzclub - Der frühe Vogel fängt den Wurm

2004

A musician tries to get by working several jobs.

5.7

MagicScore

#19

Blue Giant

2023

High school student Dai Miyamoto has his life is turned upside down the day he discovers jazz. Picking up a saxophone and leaving his sleepy hometown for the bustling nightclubs of Tokyo, Dai will find that the life of a professional musician isn’t for the faint of heart, as he must confront what it truly means to be great.

7.8

MagicScore

#20

American Pop

1981

The history of American popular music runs parallel with the history of a Russian Jewish immigrant family, with each male descendant possessing different musical abilities.

6.9

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like They Shot the Piano Player?

The top films similar to They Shot the Piano Player by MovieMagicScore are Soul (8.1), 'Round Midnight (7.1), Young Man with a Horn (6.4). Each shares animation/drama/history themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is They Shot the Piano Player worth watching?

They Shot the Piano Player holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.4/10 from 37 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is They Shot the Piano Player?

They Shot the Piano Player (2023) is a animation, drama, history film directed by Fernando Trueba, starring Jeff Goldblum, Tony Ramos, Abel Ayala.

Where can I find more recommendations like They Shot the Piano Player?

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

Keep exploring

Movies like Soul Movies like 'Round Midnight Movies like Young Man with a Horn Movies like I'm Still Here Movies like I Can Only Imagine Movies like The Color Purple

About movies like They Shot the Piano Player

This ranked list pairs They Shot the Piano Player (2023), a animation and drama and history film from Fernando Trueba, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Jeff Goldblum 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 They Shot the Piano Player