feelsalike.com

Movies that feel like (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.

Guido Anselmi, a film director, finds himself creatively barren at the peak of his career. Urged by his doctors to rest, Anselmi heads for a luxurious resort, but a sorry group gathers—his producer, staff, actors, wife, mistress, and relatives—each one begging him to get on with the show. In retreat from their dependency, he fantasizes about past women and dreams of his childhood.

🍅 97% Rotten Tomatoes8 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Federico Fellinicontemplativewistfuldread
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If hit the spot, these will too

Rebel Without a Cause poster
Rebel Without a Cause
1955 · dir. Nicholas Ray
🍅 91%7.6drama

Common ground in both: individual and unsociability

The difference: Not nearly as dread-soaked as 8½

After moving to a new town, troublemaking teen Jim Stark is supposed to have a clean slate, although being the new kid in town brings its own problems. While searching for some stability, Stark forms a bond with a disturbed classmate, Plato, and falls for local girl Judy. However, Judy is the girlfriend of neighborhood tough, Buzz. When Buzz violently confronts Jim and challenges him to a drag race, the new kid's real troubles begin.

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Pather Panchali poster
Pather Panchali
1955 · dir. Satyajit Ray
🍅 98%8.2drama · history

Both keep coming back to the same thing: difficult childhood

The difference: Leans harder into history than 8½ does

Impoverished priest Harihar Ray, dreaming of a better life for himself and his family, leaves his rural Bengal village in search of work. Alone, his wife, Sarbojaya, looks after her rebellious daughter, Durga, and her young son, Apu, as well as Harihar's elderly aunt Indir. The children enjoy the small pleasures of their difficult life, while their parents suffer the daily indignities heaped upon them.

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The 400 Blows poster
The 400 Blows
1959 · dir. François Truffaut
🍅 99%8drama

Contemplative where it counts, wistful underneath

For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel, life is one difficult situation after another. Surrounded by inconsiderate adults, including his neglectful parents, Antoine spends his days with his best friend, Rene, trying to plan for a better life. When one of their schemes goes awry, Antoine ends up in trouble with the law, leading to even more conflicts with unsympathetic authority figures.

Feels alike?
Amarcord poster
Amarcord
1973 · dir. Federico Fellini
🍅 88%7.8comedy · drama

Both are Federico Fellini's work, and they rhyme

The difference: Sits closer to comedy than 8½ does

In an Italian seaside town, young Titta gets into trouble with his friends and watches various local eccentrics as they engage in often absurd behavior. Frequently clashing with his stern father and defended by his doting mother, Titta witnesses the actions of a wide range of characters, from his extended family to Fascist loyalists to sensual women, with certain moments shifting into fantastical scenarios.

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How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies poster
How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies
2024 · dir. Pat Boonnitipat
🍅 98%7.9drama

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

The difference: 61 years apart, and the 2020s show

M, a university dropout low on money and luck, volunteers to take care of his terminally ill grandmother, in the hope of pocketing an inheritance.

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Cat on a Hot Tin Roof poster
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
1958 · dir. Richard Brooks
🍅 97%7.9drama

Both are working the same pair: mortality, depression

An alcoholic ex-football player drinks his days away, having failed to come to terms with his sexuality and his real feelings for his football buddy who died after an ambiguous accident. His wife is crucified by her desperation to make him desire her: but he resists the affections of his wife. His reunion with his father—who is dying of cancer—jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.

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Like Father, Like Son poster
Like Father, Like Son
2013 · dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda
🍅 86%7.8drama

Wistful drama, and it commits to that

Ryota Nonomiya is a successful businessman driven by money. He learns that his biological son was switched with another child after birth. He must make a life-changing decision and choose his true son or the boy he raised as his own.

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Malena poster
Malena
2000 · dir. Giuseppe Tornatore
🍅 54%7.4drama

Contemplative drama in both cases

The difference: Reviewed a good deal more coolly

12-year-old Renato experiences three significant events on the same day: the beginning of the Second World War, getting a bike, and witnessing the arrival of the gorgeous Malèna. Through his eyes, we see the curse of beauty and loneliness of Malena, whose husband is presumed dead, and, through his soul, we see his love for her.

Feels alike?
La Strada poster
La Strada
1954 · dir. Federico Fellini
🍅 97%8drama

The same hand behind both of them: Federico Fellini

When Gelsomina, a naïve young woman, is purchased from her impoverished mother by brutish circus strongman Zampanò to be his wife and partner, she loyally endures her husband's coldness and abuse as they travel the Italian countryside performing together. Soon Zampanò must deal with his jealousy and conflicted feelings about Gelsomina when she finds a kindred spirit in Il Matto, the carefree circus fool, and contemplates leaving Zampanò.

Feels alike?
Biutiful poster
Biutiful
2010 · dir. Alejandro G. Iñárritu
🍅 66%7.4drama

Both run wistful where it counts

This is a story of a man in free fall. On the road to redemption, darkness lights his way. Connected with the afterlife, Uxbal is a tragic hero and father of two who's sensing the danger of death. He struggles with a tainted reality and a fate that works against him in order to forgive, for love, and forever.

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Leave No Trace poster
Leave No Trace
2018 · dir. Debra Granik
🍅 100%7.1drama

Both working the same drama territory

A father and daughter live a perfect but mysterious existence in Forest Park, a beautiful nature reserve near Portland, Oregon, rarely making contact with the world. But when a small mistake tips them off to authorities, they are sent on an increasingly erratic journey in search of a place to call their own.

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La Dolce Vita poster
La Dolce Vita
1960 · dir. Federico Fellini
🍅 95%8comedy · drama

One thread runs through both: mortality

Episodic journey of journalist Marcello who struggles to find his place in the world, torn between the allure of Rome's elite social scene and the stifling domesticity offered by his girlfriend, all the while searching for a way to become a serious writer.

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In the mood for more contemplative?

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The best-reviewed films that share 8½’s defining feeling.