If you fell in love with the enchanting musical romance of La La Land, you’re in luck. The critically acclaimed film sparked a renewed interest in the movie musical genre, blending classic Hollywood nostalgia with contemporary storytelling. For those craving more cinematic experiences that capture that magical mix of music, romance, and dreams, we’ve compiled a list of the 15 best movies like La La Land. From golden age classics to modern indie gems, these films share La La Land’s spirit of artistic passion, bittersweet love stories, and show-stopping musical numbers. So dim the lights, grab some popcorn, and get ready to be swept away by these dazzling, toe-tapping alternatives to Damien Chazelle’s beloved musical masterpiece.
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Widely considered one of the greatest movie musicals of all time, Singin’ in the Rain shares La La Land’s love for the magic of classic Hollywood. The film follows a silent film production company and cast making the difficult transition to sound in the late 1920s. Like La La Land, it features dazzling musical numbers, gorgeous Technicolor cinematography, and a charming romance between the two leads played by Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds. The upbeat tone, witty comedy, and iconic song and dance sequences make Singin’ in the Rain an essential watch for any fan of movie musicals.
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
This classic French musical drama directed by Jacques Demy was a major influence on La La Land. The film is entirely sung-through and features a romantic, melancholy story about young lovers separated by circumstance and time, similar to the bittersweet romance in La La Land. With its bold color palette and poetic sensibility, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg captures the beauty and heartbreak of young love against the backdrop of a French coastal town in the 1950s. The film’s haunting musical themes composed by Michel Legrand add to its dreamlike, operatic quality.
The Artist (2011)
Set in Hollywood during the transition from silent films to talkies, this charming French comedy-drama pays loving homage to the style and storytelling of the silent era, filmed in black-and-white with minimal dialogue. Like La La Land, The Artist focuses on the romance between an aspiring actress and a fading movie star, exploring the challenges the characters face as they adapt to a rapidly changing industry. With its inventive visual style, delightful performances, and swoon-worthy musical score, The Artist captures the magic of classic cinema while telling a timeless story of love and ambition in Hollywood.
An American in Paris (1951)
Another Gene Kelly classic, An American in Paris follows an American expat painter living in post-war Paris who falls for a young French girl, despite being engaged to a wealthy American woman who sponsors his work. With its lush Gershwin score, captivating dance sequences, and romantic Parisian backdrop, the film is a visual feast that celebrates the beauty of falling in love in a foreign city. Like La La Land, An American in Paris explores the conflict between pursuing one’s artistic dreams and finding romantic fulfillment, all expressed through the language of music and dance.
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Baz Luhrmann’s dazzling jukebox musical tells the story of a young English poet who falls in love with the star courtesan of the Moulin Rouge cabaret in 1899 Paris. With its anachronistic pop soundtrack, dizzying visual style, and tragic romance, Moulin Rouge! shares La La Land’s love for heightened emotion and artistic expression through music. Both films also explore the bittersweet nature of pursuing one’s dreams in a world that doesn’t always understand or appreciate true artistic passion. Moulin Rouge!’s extravagant production design, colorful costumes, and show-stopping musical numbers create an intoxicating cinematic experience.
Chungking Express (1994)
This whimsical Hong Kong romantic comedy from director Wong Kar-wai tells two loosely connected stories of lovelorn police officers and the eccentric women who enter their lives. With its vibrant cinematography, dreamy atmosphere, and quirky characters, Chungking Express captures the exhilaration and loneliness of young love in a bustling city, similar to the Los Angeles-set La La Land. Both films share a free-wheeling, impressionistic visual style and a fascination with missed connections and chance encounters. The film’s playful tone, memorable pop soundtrack, and charming performances make it a delightful ode to the unpredictability of romance.
Once (2007)
Shot on a shoestring budget, this Irish indie musical follows the tentative romance between two struggling musicians in Dublin who bond over their shared passion for music. Like La La Land, Once uses music as a powerful form of emotional expression and connection between the two lead characters. With its naturalistic style, bittersweet tone, and tender folk-rock songs, the film captures the intimate joy of making music with someone you love. Once’s raw authenticity and heartfelt performances make it a moving portrait of the ways art can bring people together, even in the face of an uncertain future.
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
A major inspiration for La La Land, this French musical drama directed by Jacques Demy is entirely sung-through, featuring music by Michel Legrand. The film follows a young couple torn apart by circumstance, capturing the romantic yearning and melancholy that also characterizes the central relationship in La La Land. With its eye-popping color palette, poetic dialogue, and sweeping musical score, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg casts a hypnotic spell, evoking the intensity of young love and the bittersweetness of dashed dreams. Its stylized visual beauty and haunting musical themes make the film a one-of-a-kind experience.
Top Hat (1935)
One of the most beloved Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musicals, Top Hat features the iconic dancing duo as a American dancer and the woman he falls for in London and Venice. Full of Art Deco style, playful mistaken identity hijinks, and rapturous dance numbers set to songs by Irving Berlin, the film is a sterling example of the wit, romance and effortless cool that characterized the great musicals of the 1930s. Like La La Land, Top Hat is unabashedly in love with the transportive power of music and dance to create a heightened world of color and emotion.
A Star Is Born (1954)
The definitive Hollywood story of a young ingenue’s rise to stardom and her troubled romance with an established male star on the decline, this classic showbiz drama has been remade several times, but the 1954 version with Judy Garland and James Mason remains arguably the best. With its behind-the-scenes look at the movie industry, stellar musical numbers, and heartbreaking depiction of the cost of fame, A Star Is Born hits many of the same notes as La La Land’s more tragic moments. Garland’s powerhouse performance is not to be missed.
The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967)
Another delightful French musical from director Jacques Demy, this sunnily optimistic film follows twin sisters looking for love and success in the seaside town of Rochefort. Reuniting the luminous Catherine Deneuve and her real-life sister Françoise Dorléac, The Young Girls of Rochefort features a jazzy Michel Legrand score, pastel-pretty costumes and sets, and a lighter tone than Demy’s earlier The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. But like that film and La La Land, it’s a candy-colored daydream of a movie that uses music and dance to express the joys and frustrations of romantic yearning.
Swing Time (1936)
Arguably the greatest of the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers collaborations, Swing Time features some of the most virtuosic dancing ever captured on film, including the lovely “Never Gonna Dance” number. The film’s story of a gambler who falls for a dance instructor shares some of La La Land’s showbiz milieu and central romance between creative dreamers. With art direction and costumes that evoke the glamour of 1930s New York and a Jerome Kern-Dorothy Fields score that includes the classic “The Way You Look Tonight,” Swing Time is a peerless example of the magic of classic movie musicals.
New York, New York (1977)
Martin Scorsese’s underrated musical drama follows a tumultuous romance between a saxophonist and a pop singer in post-WWII New York. With its lush production design, vibrant musical numbers, and complex relationship at its center, the film in some ways anticipates La La Land’s mix of old-school Hollywood homage and more bittersweet romantic realism. Scorsese’s dynamic visual style and the magnetic pairing of Robert De Niro and Liza Minnelli make New York, New York a fascinating attempt to both celebrate and subvert the classic movie musical tradition.
Strictly Ballroom (1992)
Before he made Moulin Rouge! and The Great Gatsby, Baz Luhrmann burst onto the scene with this energetic, sweetly offbeat romantic comedy set in the world of competitive ballroom dancing. The story of a male dancer who teams up with an inexperienced partner to win the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix Dancing Championship, Strictly Ballroom shares La La Land’s affection for characters who dream big and the transformative power of dance. With its colorful costumes, exuberant dance sequences, and goofy humor, the film is an utterly charming celebration of being true to one’s artistic vision.
Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (2009)
An early film from La La Land writer-director Damien Chazelle, this scrappy, black-and-white indie musical follows a young jazz trumpeter and the woman he falls for and later loses touch with in Boston. Shot on 16mm and featuring a cast of mostly non-professional actors, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench has a loose, naturalistic feel that’s a far cry from the more polished La La Land. But Chazelle’s love for jazz and fascination with the challenges of sustaining a romance are already evident, as is his knack for staging intimate, emotionally expressive musical numbers. It’s a small, imperfect film, but one that offers a fascinating glimpse of the themes and sensibility Chazelle would develop more fully in his later work.
Conclusion
If you fell in love with La La Land’s intoxicating blend of old-school movie musical charm, romantic melancholy, and lush visuals and music, these 15 films offer a rich array of viewing options to further scratch that itch. From golden age Hollywood classics to more offbeat foreign and indie fare, all of these movies share La La Land’s fascination with the ways music, dance, and visual style can express the soaring joys and heartbreaking disappointments of pursuing one’s artistic ambitions and romantic desires. Whether you’re a fan of lavish song-and-dance spectacles or more intimate, naturalistic musicals, you’re sure to find something to love on this list.
