
Movies that feel like 8½ (1963)
If you loved 8½, the closest films we have are Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Pather Panchali (1955) and The 400 Blows (1959). All three share 8½'s contemplative and wistful feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 9 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, HBO Max and Criterion Channel and others, checked against today's data.
If 8½ hit the spot, these will too

Common ground in both: individual and unsociability
The difference: Not nearly as dread-soaked as 8½

Both keep coming back to the same thing: difficult childhood
The difference: Leans harder into history than 8½ does

Contemplative where it counts, wistful underneath

Both are Federico Fellini's work, and they rhyme
The difference: Sits closer to comedy than 8½ does

Both lean on stillness more than on drama
The difference: 61 years apart, and the 2020s show

Both are working the same pair: mortality, depression

Wistful drama, and it commits to that

Contemplative drama in both cases
The difference: Reviewed a good deal more coolly

The same hand behind both of them: Federico Fellini

Both run wistful where it counts

Both working the same drama territory

One thread runs through both: mortality
In the mood for more contemplative?
all contemplative movies →The best-reviewed films that share 8½’s defining feeling.









