Best movies like Dakota

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Dakota Starring Phoebe Ryan, molly twyford, Jake Etheridge, David Cohen, and more. If you liked Dakota then you may also like: We'll Take Manhattan, Whiplash, Nice Girls Don't Explode, The Jazz Singer, Things Heard & Seen and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

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A talented young singer gives up on her dreams to pursue a more stable life, but when that life is blown apart due to excess drinking and toxic relationships, she decides to piece those dreams back together using the one tool she has: her music.

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We'll Take Manhattan

We’ll Take Manhattan explores the explosive love affair between sixties supermodel Jean Shrimpton and photographer David Bailey. Focusing on a wild and unpredictable 1962 Vogue photo shoot in New York, the drama brings to life the story of two young people falling in love, misbehaving and inadvertently defining the style of the Sixties along the way.

Whiplash

Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity.

Nice Girls Don't Explode

April has a problem. Whenever she gets anything like passionate with a guy all sorts of things seem to spontaneously combust. The only men she meets more then once are firefighters. Actually, it's Mom's way of trying to keep her little girl to herself, but new boyfriend Andy is having none of such nonsense. So the heat's on. Unfortunately it's Fluffy the cat who keeps getting caught in the middle.

The Jazz Singer

Jess Robin dreams of a career in popular music, but his father, Cantor Rabinovitch, forbids it, insisting Jess live as a traditional Jew and inherit his position at the synagogue. With the help of friend and professional musician Bubba, Jess gets a chance to go to Los Angeles and have famous singer Keith Lennox record one of his songs. Defying both his father and his wife, Jess leaves New York to pursue his dreams.

Things Heard & Seen

Catherine Clare reluctantly trades life in 1980 Manhattan for a remote home in the tiny hamlet of Chosen, New York, after her husband George lands a job teaching art history at a small Hudson Valley college. Even as she does her best to transform the old dairy farm into a place where young daughter Franny will be happy, Catherine increasingly finds herself isolated and alone. She soon comes to sense a sinister darkness lurking both in the walls of the ramshackle property—and in her marriage to George.

If I Stay

Mia Hall, a talented young cellist, thought the most difficult decision she would ever have to make would be whether to pursue her musical dreams at prestigious Juilliard or follow her heart to be with the love of her life, Adam, a rock singer/guitarist. However, a car wreck changes everything in an instant, and now Mia's life hangs in the balance. Suspended between life and death, Mia faces a choice that will decide her future.

Ladies in Lavender

Andrea, a gifted young Polish violinist from Krakow, is bound for America when he is swept overboard by a storm. When the Widdington sisters discover the handsome stranger on the beach below their house, they nurse him back to health. However, the presence of the musically talented young man disrupts the peaceful lives of Ursula and Janet and the community in which they live.

StreetDance 3D

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.

The Toxic Avenger: The Musical

Based on Lloyd Kaufman’s cult 1984 comedy film, The Toxic Avenger The Musical tells the story of the citizens of Tromaville who are crying out for a hero. Enter nerdy Melvin Ferd the Third, an aspiring earth scientist, determined to clean up the state’s major toxic waste problem. When a corrupt Mayor and her government goons get wind of his plans, they vow to stop this heroic feat. Melvin is attacked and tossed into a vat of toxic waste... transforming him instantly into The Toxic Avenger, New Jersey’s first superhero! Toxie is a 7-foot mutant freak with superhuman strength and a supersized heart to match. His aims are to save heavily polluted New Jersey, end global warming, win the heart of the prettiest (blindest) librarian in town - and get home in time for dinner!

Future Zone

John Tucker's son travels back in time 30 years to save his father from being killed by thugs he is currently pursuing back in 1990.

StreetDance 2

After suffering humiliation by the crew Invincible, street dancer Ash looks to gather the best dancers from around the world for a rematch.

It Happened in Brooklyn

Danny has been in the army for 4 years, yet all he thinks about is Brooklyn and how great it is. When he returns after the war, he soon finds that Brooklyn is not so nice after all. He is able to share a place with Nick, the janitor of his old High School, and get a job as a singer in a music store. He also meets Leo, a talented pianist and his teacher Anne, whose dream is to singing Opera. When Jamie arrives from England, Danny tries to show him the Brooklyn experience and help him compose modern swing music. Together, these four also try to help Leo get the Brooklyn Music scholarship.

Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!

Light-hearted, old-style romance about a farm-hand who arranges to buy a pair of mules from his employer. No one is able to handle the mules and he must train them. Adding to his dilemma, he pursues his boss's daughter who gets her kicks out of keeping him guessing about her true feelings. Of course, at the end he tames both the mules and the girl.

Preacher's Kid

Small-town girl Angie King leaves the church and her home to pursue a dream of singing stardom.

Song of Granite

The life story of traditional Irish folk singer Joe Heaney, who is estimated to have recorded in excess of 500 traditional Irish sean nós ('old style') songs. Heaney moved from Ireland to the UK, and then on to New York City, where he settled shortly after performing at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.

Days of Happiness

Emma, a lesbian conductor, is confronted with a toxic relationship with her father.

Here and There

Pedro returns home to a small mountain village in Guerrero, Mexico after years of working in the US. He finds his daughters older, and more distant than he imagined. His wife still has the same smile. Having saved some earnings from two trips to the US, he hopes to now finally make a better life with his family, and even to pursue his dreams on the side by starting a band: Copa Kings. He cherishes the everyday moments with his family. The villagers think this year's crop will be bountiful. There is also good work in a growing city an hour away. But the locals are wise to a life of insecurity, and their thoughts are often of family members or opportunities far away, north of the border. While working in the fields, Pedro meets and begins to mentor a teenager who dreams of the US. That place somehow always feels very present, practically knocking at the door. "Aquí y Allá" is a story about hope, and the memories and loss of what we leave behind.

The Suicide Shop

In a cold French city where suicide is a common urge, there is a colorful shop, managed for many years by the Tuvache family, where it is very easy to obtain the necessary tools to satisfy the sinister desires of so many depressed citizens.

Feel The Noise

After a run-in with local thugs, aspiring Harlem rapper Rob flees to a place and father he never knew, and finds his salvation in Reggaeton, a spicy blend of hip-hop, reggae and Latin beats. Puerto Rico, the spiritual home of Reggaeton, inspires Rob and his step-brother Javi to pursue their dream of becoming Reggaeton stars. Together with a dancer named C.C., they learn what it means to stay true to themselves and each other, while overcoming obstacles in love, greed and pride, all culminating in an explosive performance at New York’s Puerto Rican Day Parade.

The Guitar

The life of a woman is transformed after she is diagnosed with a terminal disease, fired from her job and abandoned by her boyfriend. Given two months to live, she throws caution to the wind to pursue her dreams.

Sironia

Inspired by the music of singer-songwriter Wes Cunningham, Sironia is the story of a talented musician who has been chewed up and spit out by the Hollywood music machine. Frustrated by his broken career, Thomas Fisher and his wife Molly impulsively pack up and move to small town Sironia, Texas to live a more authentic life and raise their first child near Molly's brother and his family. Despite the change of scenery, Thomas's deep resentment over his lost dreams gets the best of him as he struggles to find peace with his stalled career, until he remembers what he loved about music - and Molly - in the first place.

Backstreet Dreams

Backstreet Dreams is the story of a man, who has a disturbed child. He and his wife take their son to a clinic, where he is diagnosed by a talented psychologist (Stevie), as being autistic. After catching his unfaithful wife with another man, Dean tells Lucy to leave, and is faced with the task of raising Shane on his own. Stevie believes that she can improve Shane's condition, going back to Dean's apartment and later convincing him that he can provide a better world for his son. Angelo, who lives in the same apartment building and is like a father to Dean, urges on the relationship, sensing that Stevie is luring Dean away from backstreet dealings, and giving him courage to face life in a positive way. Together, they build a foundation for a better life outside of the violence and danger of the backstreets where they live.

A Haunting in Saginaw, Michigan

When a single mother and her two young daughters moved into their new home - adjacent to a cemetery - they had no idea they were making the biggest mistake of their lives. The family's "dream house" ultimately became their worst nightmare when they realized it was inhabited by an aggressive & territorial spirit. Desperate to drive them out, the entity repeatedly taunts the mother by terrorizing her young children and anyone who dares visit the residence.

Yellow Rose

Rose, a 17-year-old Filipino-American teenager from Texas, dreams of becoming a country music icon. She has to fend for herself when her mother is arrested by ICE, and must choose between following her dreams without her mother or leaving her passions behind.

Mister Sister

A suicidal man from Milwaukee is given a second chance at life in NYC, working as a drag MC while learning the courage from the caring LGBTQ+ community to pursue his dreams, including a relationship with a tap dancing single mom.

Young, Gifted and Classical: The Making of a Maestro

Sheku Kanneh-Mason made history in 2016 when he became the first black winner of the BBC Young Musician competition. Sheku has six musically gifted siblings and this film explores their extraordinary talents and issues of diversity in classical music. We follow Sheku and his brothers and sisters and examine the sacrifices that parents Stuart and Kadie make in order to support their children in pursuing their musical dreams. Told through the prism of family life we get an understanding of what it is that drives this family to be the best musicians they can be. At the heart of the story is 17-year-old Sheku, and we see him coming to terms with his Young Musician win and the pressures and opportunities it brings. His life is changing dramatically as he now has to learn to deal with the challenges of becoming a world-renowned cellist.

Grace Unplugged

A talented young singer and aspiring songwriter’s Christian faith and family ties are tested when she defies her worship-pastor father and pursues pop-music stardom in GRACE UNPLUGGED, a moving and inspiring new film that explores the true meaning of success.

Breaking Brooklyn

A 12 year old boy with a passion for dance and his brother are rescued from the streets by an old showman who takes them to live with his estranged former dancing partner/brother.

Pop Star

When talented young singer, Roxie Santos, meets music producer, Eddie Marz, he promises her an amazing new lifestyle and a future record deal. All he needs her to do is first lend her voice to a celebrity with no singing talent. However, when things go too far and it looks like she might lose her “voice” forever, she sets off to prove the truth.

Blessed and Cursed

When his father encounters insufferable hardship, Dwight Hawkins (real-life gospel singer Deitrick Haddon) is torn between Christian duty and his own desire to pursue his dreams as a gospel singer. But what does God really have planned for him? Sheryl Lee Ralph co-stars alongside gospel stars Karen Clark-Sheard, Kiki Sheard and Dr. Bobby Jones in this modern parable inspired by the biblical story of David and Saul.

Behind Closed Doors 2: Toxic Workplace

Joy is fresh out of college looking to start her career in the marketing field. She finally lands her dream job with Prime Marketing Agency only to find out it's not what it seems. Struggling to balance work and her marriage, Joy finds herself trying to put the pieces of her life back together before her new career ruins it forever.

Even in Dreams

Sam is an aspiring musician that just lost her older sister Amber. During the difficult grieving process, Sam finds comfort in singing and song writing - fulfilling the dreams that Amber would now never be able to pursue. Along with Amber's band, Sam moves to Nashville to pursue Amber's dream of making a career in the music industry. Upon arrival, they sign with a music manager who immediately provides them with success, but at a price. As the taste of fame draws near, tensions begin to rise within the band. Will the industry tear them apart and change forever who they are?

In God's Hands

Angela was once a talented writer and singer destined for success, but her dreams were replaced by her struggles as a single parent. She must face her past in order to find her future. Stars Cynthia Kaye McWilliams & Omar Gooding.

Sins of the Guilty

Vanessa Johnson has left her wealthy suburban family - and trust fund - behind, moving into the city to pursue her art. A talented dancer, she'd rather live on the gritty edge in the city than continue her old pampered existence. She thinks she knows what she's doing, but finds herself in over her head when a dangerous romance starts to dominate her life.

Viette

A young Vietnamese American teenager dreams of breaking free from her oppressive household to pursue her personal desires and forbidden love. Balancing life on the edge of two opposite worlds, will Viette ever follow her heart, or will the consequences be too overwhelming?

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