10 Movies Like La La Land to Celebrate Its 10th Anniversary

Inarguably the most similar film to La La Land you can ever find is Jacques Demy’s superb French musical, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. From its candy-colored aesthetic – brought to life by stunning Eastmancolor film (to mimic the Technicolor musicals of old) – to its tale of lovers who are fated to drift apart, this 1964 masterpiece is without a doubt the key influence on Chazelle’s work.

I actually watched La La Land first, before my grandmother told me to watch The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and see the similarities for myself. It’s uncanny, frankly, but sometimes, replicating something magical only leads to more magic, and it’s a blessing that we have both of these films in the world. You’ll have to pay for the pleasure of watching this one, but it’s only £2.49 to rent on Prime Video, which is a ridiculous bargain.

12 years before Demy made Umbrellas, Gene Kelly changed the musical genre forever with the glorious Singin’ in the Rain, and it certainly made its mark on Chazelle. The music is quite literally legendary, as is Kelly’s choreography, which has been copied time and time again, while the story is an enthralling love letter to Hollywood that feels truly timeless.

If you’re someone looking to really educate yourself on the landmarks of cinema, Singin’ in the Rain is absolutely a must-watch, and at just over 100 minutes, it’s a breezy watch, too. Catch it on HBO Max or NOW Cinema.

The key narrative throughline of La La Land is the love story between Mia and Seb, and how it ultimately ends up in a very bittersweet place, as they go their separate ways to achieve their own dreams. In Robert Wise’s West Side Story, Maria and Tony can never be together either, but they meet a far more tragic end as the racial tensions around them tear them apart.

While Steven Spielberg’s version of this story feels a little too glossy and theatrical, the 1961 original has so much heart and sincerity, and still looks absolutely stunning to this day. Just like Singin’ in the Rain, you should consider West Side Story a staple of any film education.

We are often so caught up with the touching love story between Mia and Seb that we can easily forget they actually start the movie at odds. If that enemies to lovers trope is something you enjoy, then you’ll find a lot to love about Pride & Prejudice, with Keira Knightley’s Elizabeth Bennet and Matthew Macfadyen’s Mr. Darcy delivering a tantalising romance story with electrifying chemistry.

Thankfully, Joe Wright’s period drama offers a more happy ending, so if the pain of La La Land just proves too much, Pride & Prejudice would be the way to go. Also like Chazelle’s film, with this one you’ll get sumptuous set design and costuming, just to embellish that emotional core.

Thinking about La La Land’s ending sometimes makes me wish I could forget all about it. Perhaps, then, I should go in for the radical memory-wiping surgery we see in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind… but now I’m thinking about that movie and I’m sad all over again. Let’s just say, if you’re a sucker for a good, old, cathartic heartbreak, Michael Gondry’s 2004 flick is the ultimate gut-wrenching experience.

Starring Jim Carrey as you’ve never seen him before and Kate Winslet at the peak of her powers, Eternal Sunshine sees the pair break up and erase their memories of one another, before realising that forgetting the love they shared is far more painful than living with those aching feelings. It’s bleak, but utterly beautiful.

Much like West Side Story, the lovers in If Beale Street Could Talk are kept apart not by a mutual acceptance that it’s for the best, but by a cruel miscarriage of justice. After finding out she is pregnant, Tish sees her blossoming relationship with Alonzo cut short when he’s wrongly imprisoned, and she never gives up fighting to free her fiance.

Barry Jenkins, coming off the back of his famous Oscar win at the expense of La La Land, adapts the classic James Baldwin novel with so much style and sincerity, and I’m not ashamed to admit it left me in bits when I first watched it. You can watch If Beale Street Could Talk with a Lionsgate+ subscription.

Relationships are messy and complicated, even more so when neither person quite wants the same thing. However, relationships become absolutely impossible when communication breaks down. Thankfully, Mia and Seb talk through their feelings quite plainly, but that’s not the case for Tom and Summer in 500 Days of Summer.

This film has sparked so much debate over the years since its release. Was Tom right to feel aggrieved when Summer didn’t want to take their relationship seriously? Or maybe Summer had always been more than clear about what she wanted, and Tom just didn’t listen? Watch it on Disney Plus and decide for yourself.

If La La Land is a glitzy and vivacious glamorisation of Hollywood, then Damien Chazelle’s 2022 film, Babylon, is the grimy and visceral (and absolutely wild) depiction of Old Hollywood that offers a fascinating companion piece to his earlier work. Instead of shooting for the stars like Seb and Mia, Margot Robbie’s Nellie LaRoy and the rest of the ensemble in Babylon are simply trying to avoid being washed away into the gutter.

The fact that this film was met with scathing reviews and recorded a miserable box-office result is baffling to me. Yes, it’s provocative and a little bit weird at times, but it’s so much fun and is a story told on such an epic tale that you really do just have to sit back and appreciate the boldness of Chazelle to swing at this.

An aspiring performer feeling held back by her partner is the crux of both La La Land and A Star Is Born, so it’s an obvious comparison to make. However, it’s a little bit unfair to tar Seb with the same brush as Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper), as Lady Gaga’s Ally definitely puts up with far more destructive behaviour than Mia does.

There are a few versions of this story, but none are quite as emotionally stirring or as technically impressive as Cooper’s effort in 2018. Come for the powerful song, ‘Shallow’, stay for the teary ending – and enjoy the bonus of Sam Elliott’s masterful supporting turn as Jackson’s older brother.

We round out this list with a movie that, although it is not a musical and is set in Tokyo rather than LA, is a near-perfect match for La La Land when it comes to aesthetic and general vibes. Lost In Translation has that daydream feel to it, and features two wandering souls who just feel connected to one another on a deep, spiritual level. They can’t be together, but they clearly share something special.

Sofia Coppola’s film, starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, is truly exquisite, both technically and thematically. By the end of the two films, we’re left wondering what could have been, and with lingering questions about the poetic final moments… What did Bob whisper to Charlotte? Are Seb and Mia really happy with the lives they chose? Will the pain ever end for us, the viewer? Probably not, but it’s worth it to watch movies as sublime as these.