15 Movies Like Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool
Loved Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool? Based on its unique Cinema DNA—including its pacing, themes, and emotional tone—we've curated the ultimate list of what you should watch next.

American Swing
Chronicles the rise and fall of 1970s New York City nightclub Plato's Retreat.
💡Why it's a match: A fantastic follow-up watch to Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool.

The Crash
A teen slams her car into a building, killing her boyfriend and his friend. What seems like a tragic accident becomes a murder case.
💡Why it's a match: A fantastic follow-up watch to Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool.

Maternal Instinct
Police pull over a woman who claims she just gave birth. But the baby — and the blood — aren't hers. Twisted lies unravel in this true-crime documentary.
💡Why it's a match: A fantastic follow-up watch to Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool.

Jackass: Best and Last
The fifth and final installment to Jackass franchise where the crew go on one last insane crusade.
💡Why it's a match: A fantastic follow-up watch to Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool.

1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story
Adult content creator Bonnie Blue announced that she’d slept with 1057 men in 12 hours. Exploring the polarising debate around Bonnie and the pornification of our society, the film follows her over the most eye-opening six months of her life.
💡Why it's a match: A fantastic follow-up watch to Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool.

Inequality for All
Based on Reich's 2010 book Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future, the film examines widening income inequality in the United States. U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich tries to raise awareness of the country's widening economic gap. He publicly argued about the issue for decades, and producing a film of his viewpoints was a "final frontier" for him. In addition to being a social issue documentary, Inequality for All is also partially a biopic regarding Reich's early life and his time as Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton's presidency. Warren Buffett and Nick Hanauer, two entrepreneurs and investors in the top 1%, are interviewed in the film, supporting Reich's belief in an economy that benefits all citizens, including those of the middle and lower classes.
💡Why it's a match: A fantastic follow-up watch to Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool.

Girl in the Basement
Sara is a teen girl who is looking forward to her 18th birthday to move away from her controlling father Don. But before she could even blow out the candles, Don imprisons her in the basement of their home.
💡Why it's a match: A fantastic follow-up watch to Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool.

Blue Lagoon: The Awakening
Two high school students become stranded on a tropical island and must rely on each other for survival. They learn more about themselves and each other while falling in love.
💡Why it's a match: A fantastic follow-up watch to Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool.

From Straight A's to XXX
When a change of circumstances leaves Miriam unable to pay her college tuition, she makes a surprising decision: to start performing in adult films, using the pseudonym Belle Knox. Miriam lies to her family and her friends at school, keeping her double life a secret. But soon rumours spread and Miriam becomes the subject of vicious online attacks and unwanted attention. Miriam fights back: she talks to the media, saying her new line of work empowers her as a feminist. But her confident stand has unintended consequences. Miriam is shunned by her conservative family and her colleagues in the adult film world. One impulsive decision has quickly spiralled out of control - and Miriam's problems are just beginning.
💡Why it's a match: A fantastic follow-up watch to Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool.

Wicked Minds
Holden returns home from college and is surprised to find his overpowering competitive father married to a much younger woman Lana. Holden quickly falls for the beauty and charisma of his step mother. A passionate affair begins between son and stepmother.
💡Why it's a match: A fantastic follow-up watch to Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool.

180
When an unexpected road rage incident puts his son in critical condition, an enraged father spirals down a dark path of emotional turmoil and vengeance.
💡Why it's a match: A fantastic follow-up watch to Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool.

Bowling for Columbine
This is not a film about gun control. It is a film about the fearful heart and soul of the United States, and the 280 million Americans lucky enough to have the right to a constitutionally protected Uzi. From a look at the Columbine High School security camera tapes to the home of Oscar-winning NRA President Charlton Heston, from a young man who makes homemade napalm with The Anarchist's Cookbook to the murder of a six-year-old girl by another six-year-old. Bowling for Columbine is a journey through the US, through our past, hoping to discover why our pursuit of happiness is so riddled with violence.
💡Why it's a match: A fantastic follow-up watch to Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool.

Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition
With unprecedented access to the official archives and intimate recollections from the band, both current and past, Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition invites fans to experience one of the most iconic journeys in music history. Spanning five decades, this electrifying documentary charts the band’s rise from the pubs of East London to the world’s biggest stadiums. Featuring exclusive interviews with band members and contributors such as Javier Bardem, Lars Ulrich and Chuck D, as well as all-new animated sequences of the band's legendary mascot, Eddie, the film offers a rare and intimate look at Iron Maiden’s uncompromising vision and unwavering connection with their truly global army of fans.
💡Why it's a match: A fantastic follow-up watch to Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool.

Bad Sister
As a top student at St. Adeline's Catholic Boarding School, Zoe senses that something is not quite right about the school's new nun-- a sense proven to be true when it is revealed the "good' nun is an imposter with a fatal attraction to Zoe's brother.
💡Why it's a match: A fantastic follow-up watch to Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool.

Descendants
A present-day idyllic kingdom where the benevolent teenage son of King Adam and Queen Belle offers a chance of redemption for the troublemaking offspring of Disney's classic villains: Cruella De Vil (Carlos), Maleficent (Mal), the Evil Queen (Evie) and Jafar (Jay).
💡Why it's a match: A fantastic follow-up watch to Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool.