Film
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
Tarantino's shaggiest, sweetest film: a hangout movie disguised as a thriller, following a washed-up TV cowboy and his stuntman best friend through the last golden summer of old Hollywood. It's gorgeous, digressive, deeply nostalgic, and builds real dread underneath its warmth. For people who don't mind plot taking a back seat to mood, texture, and a killer soundtrack.
If you liked this
Boogie Nights1997
Another sprawling ensemble piece about an industry (porn, this time) shifting under its performers' feet, told with the same affection for its losers and has-beens as Tarantino shows Rick and Cliff.
But Much rougher and sadder by the end — the comedown is real, not just implied.

La La Land2016
If it was the loving, saturated recreation of LA and old-Hollywood mythology that hooked you, this scratches the same itch with music instead of spaghetti westerns.
But Sincere where OUATIH is sly — no violence, no irony, just full-throated romance and jazz.

The Player1992
Altman's satire of studio Hollywood has the same insider texture and wandering, hangout camera, following industry people through their days with real menace lurking underneath.
But Colder and more cynical — there's no Cliff Booth here to root for.

The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Sunset Boulevard1950
OUATIH is Tarantino's answer to this: Rick Dalton is a direct descendant of Norma Desmond, and this is the film that invented the genre he's playing in, seventy years earlier.
The original Hollywood-decline story, and the film Rick Dalton is basically living inside — a faded star clinging to relevance, shot in gorgeous, merciless black-and-white noir.
But Bleaker and far more bitter — no warmth for its washed-up lead, just tragedy.

More like this (8)
Pulp Fiction1994
Tarantino's voice at its most concentrated — same dialogue rhythms, structural playfulness, and needle-drops, if you want more of exactly what made OUATIH sing.
But Faster, meaner, and far more violent than the leisurely charm of Rick and Cliff's world.

Ed Wood1994
Another affectionate portrait of a struggling, slightly ridiculous industry outsider clinging to relevance, shot in loving black-and-white period detail.
But Broader and goofier — this is comedy first, with none of OUATIH's simmering dread.

Almost Famous2000
Cameron Crowe's own love letter to a vanished era, all warmth and period soundtrack and characters you just want to keep hanging around with.
But Gentler and more earnest — rock tour bus instead of Hollywood soundstage, no violence at all.

Inglourious Basterds2009
Tarantino rewriting real historical horror into wish-fulfilment catharsis — the same trick OUATIH pulls, just with Nazis instead of the Manson Family.
But Bloodier, more overtly a war movie, and less interested in hangout charm.

Get Shorty1995
A funnier, punchier look at Hollywood's underbelly, with washed-up types and stuntmen figures scrambling for one more shot at relevance.
But Plays as a crime comedy first — much less interested in mood or nostalgia.

The Nice Guys2016
Same LA, same era, same shaggy buddy chemistry, but turned into a proper mystery-comedy with a faster engine.
But Broader jokes, more plot machinery — it wants to entertain more than it wants to linger.

The Kid Stays in the Picture2002
It's the nonfiction mirror of OUATIH's world — same era, same Hollywood Hills glamour, but the decline and dread are real, not staged for a happy ending.
A documentary told entirely in producer Robert Evans's own voice, gliding through the same late-60s/70s Hollywood — real parties, real paranoia, real collapse.
But No fiction, no safety net — this is the industry's actual ego and wreckage, narrated by the man who lived it.

Helter Skelter1976no page yet
This is the story OUATIH quietly rewrites — same murders, same houses, same names, played completely straight instead of as wish-fulfilment fantasy.
A sober, procedural TV dramatization of the actual Manson murders, made just seven years after the fact, when the horror was still fresh and unresolved.
But Plain, TV-movie filmmaking with none of Tarantino's style — it's grim, factual, and offers no revisionist comfort.
People
Cast
Leonardo DiCaprioRick Dalton
Brad PittCliff Booth
Margot RobbieSharon Tate
Emile HirschJay Sebring
Margaret Qualley'Pussycat'
Timothy OlyphantJim Stacy
Julia ButtersTrudi Fraser
Austin Butler'Tex'
Dakota Fanning'Squeaky'
Bruce DernGeorge Spahn
Mike MohBruce Lee
Luke PerryWayne Maunder
Directing
- Debbie ChungAdditional Second Assistant Director
- Katie PruittAdditional Second Assistant Director
- Quentin TarantinoDirector
- William Paul ClarkFirst Assistant Director
- Martin KitrosserScript Supervisor
- Christopher T. SadlerSecond Assistant Director
- Brendan LeeSecond Second Assistant Director
Writing
- Quentin TarantinoWriter
Production
- Daren MetropoulosAssociate Producer
- William Paul ClarkAssociate Producer
- Victoria ThomasCasting
- Leigh JonteCasting Assistant
- Jennifer YooCasting Associate
- Georgia KacandesExecutive Producer
- Jeffrey Chan Wing-HungExecutive Producer
- Yu DongExecutive Producer
- Carla LewisExtras Casting
- Maryellen AvianoExtras Casting Coordinator
- Brandon LinvilleFirst Assistant Accountant
- Christina BeaumontLocation Assistant
- Richard SchulerLocation Manager
- Stephen MapelLocation Manager
- Leah HolmesPost Production Accountant
- Tina AndersonPost Production Producer
- David HeymanProducer
- Quentin TarantinoProducer
- Shannon McIntoshProducer
- Jack PerryProduction Assistant
- Lauren BakerProduction Assistant
- Zoe GardnerProduction Assistant
- Michyl-Shannon QuiltyProduction Coordinator
- Jessica AdlerProduction Secretary
- Jason ZorigianProduction Supervisor
- Lance MalbonResearcher
- Georgia KacandesUnit Production Manager
- Nathan KellyUnit Production Manager
Recommended by
Boogie Nights, The Disaster Artist, Inherent Vice, 56 Up, The Farm: Angola, USA, The Movies That Made Us, The Work