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Movies that feel like Barton Fink (1991)

If you loved Barton Fink, the closest films we have are After Hours (1985), Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019) and The Cable Guy (1996). All three share Barton Fink's witty and playful feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 8 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Criterion Channel, Howdy Amazon Channel and Hulu and others, checked against today's data.

A renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.

🍅 90% Rotten Tomatoes7.6 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Joel Coenwittyplayfulcontemplativetenseatmospheric

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If Barton Fink hit the spot, these will too

After Hours poster
After Hours
1985 · dir. Martin Scorsese
🍅 90%7.6comedy · thriller · drama

Witty and playful in the same breath

The difference: Not nearly as atmospheric as Barton Fink

Desperate to escape his mind-numbing routine, uptown Manhattan office worker Paul Hackett ventures downtown for a hookup with a mystery woman.

Feels alike?
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood poster
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
2019 · dir. Quentin Tarantino
🍅 86%7.6comedy · drama · thriller

Both rooted in Los Angeles

The difference: Missing the atmosphere of Barton Fink

Los Angeles, 1969. TV star Rick Dalton, a struggling actor specializing in westerns, and stuntman Cliff Booth, his best friend, try to survive in a constantly changing movie industry. Dalton is the neighbor of the young and promising actress and model Sharon Tate, who has just married the prestigious Polish director Roman Polanski…

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The Cable Guy poster
The Cable Guy
1996 · dir. Ben Stiller
🍅 56%6.1comedy · drama · thriller

Contemplative where it counts, tense underneath

The difference: Reviewed a good deal more coolly

When recently single Steven moves into his new apartment, cable guy Chip comes to hook him up—and doesn't let go. Initially, Chip is just overzealous in his desire to be Steven's pal, but when Steven tries to end the 'friendship', Chip shows his dark side. He begins stalking Steven, who's left to fend for himself because no one else can believe Chip's capable of such behaviour.

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Jackie Brown poster
Jackie Brown
1997 · dir. Quentin Tarantino
🍅 88%7.5crime · drama · thriller

Both built around neo-noir

The difference: None of the wit that defines Barton Fink

Jackie Brown is a flight attendant who gets caught in the middle of smuggling cash into the country for her gunrunner boss. When the cops try to use Jackie to get to her boss, she hatches a plan — with help from a bail bondsman — to keep the money for herself.

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Mr. & Mrs. Smith poster
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
2005 · dir. Doug Liman
🍅 60%6.5action · comedy · drama

Comedy built on wit, twice over

The difference: Leans action where Barton Fink does not

A husband and wife struggle to keep their marriage alive until they realize they are both secretly working as assassins. Now, their respective assignments require them to kill each other.

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Rosebush Pruning poster
Rosebush Pruning
2026 · dir. Karim Aïnouz
6.3comedy · drama · thriller

Playful drama, and it commits to that

The difference: A 2020s film, from a different era of filmmaking

In a Spanish villa, American siblings Jack, Ed, Anna and Robert wallow in isolation and their inherited fortune. When Jack wants to move in with his girlfriend and Ed uncovers the truth about their mother’s death, the fabric of the family begins to unravel.

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Wild Tales poster
Wild Tales
2014 · dir. Damián Szifron
🍅 94%8.1drama · thriller · comedy

Thriller with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

Injustice and the demands of the world can cause stress for many people. Some of them, however, explode. This includes a waitress serving a grouchy loan shark, an altercation between two motorists, an ill-fated wedding reception, and a wealthy businessman who tries to buy his family out of trouble.

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Parasite poster
Parasite
2019 · dir. Bong Joon Ho
🍅 99%8.5comedy · thriller · drama

Both trade on tension more than on being comedy

All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.

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Following poster
Following
1999 · dir. Christopher Nolan
🍅 87%7.4drama · thriller

Neo-noir sits at the heart of each

Bill, an idle, unemployed aspiring writer, walks the crowded streets of London following randomly chosen strangers, a seemingly innocent entertainment that becomes dangerous when he crosses paths with a mysterious character.

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Smoke poster
Smoke
1995 · dir. Wayne Wang
🍅 89%7.4comedy · drama

Witty drama in both cases

Writer Paul Benjamin is nearly hit by a bus when he leaves Auggie Wren's smoke shop. Stranger Rashid Cole saves his life, and soon middle-aged Paul tells homeless Rashid that he wouldn't mind a short-term housemate. Still grieving over his wife's murder, Paul is moved by both Rashid's quest to reconnect with his father and Auggie's discovery that a woman who might be his daughter is about to give birth.

Feels alike?
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs poster
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
2018 · dir. Joel Coen
🍅 90%7.2western · comedy · drama

Joel Coen working the same nerve twice

Vignettes weaving together the stories of six individuals in the old West at the end of the Civil War. Following the tales of a sharp-shooting songster, a wannabe bank robber, two weary traveling performers, a lone gold prospector, a woman traveling the West to an uncertain future, and a motley crew of strangers undertaking a carriage ride.

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Sexy Beast poster
Sexy Beast
2001 · dir. Jonathan Glazer
🍅 87%7.3crime · thriller · drama

Atmospheric thriller, and it commits to that

Ex-safecracker Gal Dove has served his time behind bars and is blissfully retired to a Spanish villa paradise with a wife he adores. The idyll is shattered by the arrival of his nemesis Don Logan, intent on persuading Gal to return to London for one last big job.

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The best-reviewed films that share Barton Fink's defining feeling.