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Movies that feel like Boogie Nights (1997)

If you loved Boogie Nights, the closest films we have are All About My Mother (1999), Patch Adams (1998) and Babylon (2022). All three share Boogie Nights' contemplative and witty feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 5 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, Paramount Plus Premium and MUBI and others, checked against today's data.

In 1977, an idealistic porn producer and his promising protege try to catch up with the end of an era before their never-ending party collides with cold, hard reality.

πŸ… 91% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.9 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Paul Thomas Andersoncontemplativewittyplayful
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If Boogie Nights hit the spot, these will too

All About My Mother poster
All About My Mother
1999 Β· dir. Pedro AlmodΓ³var
πŸ… 98%β˜… 7.8comedy Β· drama

Common ground: drug abuse

Following the tragic death of her teenage son, Manuela travels from Madrid to Barcelona in an attempt to contact the long-estranged father the boy never knew. She reunites with an old friend, an outspoken transgender sex worker, and befriends a troubled actress and a pregnant, HIV-positive nun.

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Patch Adams poster
Patch Adams
1998 Β· dir. Tom Shadyac
πŸ… 22%β˜… 6.9comedy Β· drama

Both are built on the same subject: 1970s

The difference: Reviewed a good deal more coolly

The true story of Dr. Hunter "Patch" Adams, who in the 1970s found that humor is the best medicine, and was willing to do just anything to make his patients laughβ€”even if it meant risking his own career.

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Babylon poster
Babylon
2022 Β· dir. Damien Chazelle
πŸ… 57%β˜… 7.1drama Β· comedy

Common ground in both: cocaine and melancholy

The difference: Made in the 2020s, in a different era of the craft

A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, tracing the rise and fall of multiple characters in an era of unbridled decadence and depravity during Hollywood's transition from silent films to sound films in the late 1920s.

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Smoke poster
Smoke
1995 Β· dir. Wayne Wang
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7.4comedy Β· drama

The same mix in both: stillness, then wit

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.

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Day of the Wacko poster
Day of the Wacko
2002 Β· dir. Marek Koterski
β˜… 8.1comedy Β· drama

Playful drama in both cases

It is a bitter story about a middle-aged man, who hates his life and other people, including himself. Adam Miauczynski, the character known from director Marek Koterski's previous films, is a 49 year-old teacher, who reads poetry during school lessons and later goes home swearing and calling his neighbours' names. The worst pain for him is the next 5 minutes of living. He doesn't accept himself and even everyday contacts with others cause his aggression. Though constantly dreaming of a romantic love, he is not bold enough to make his dreams come true. The desperate Miauczynski personalizes our own fears and obsessions, which have become so visible recently.

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Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. poster
Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.
2003 Β· dir. Rajkumar Hirani
β˜… 8.1comedy Β· drama

Comedy built on stillness, twice over

A gangster sets out to fulfill his father's dream of becoming a doctor.

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The Idiots poster
The Idiots
1998 Β· dir. Lars von Trier
πŸ… 73%β˜… 6.7comedy Β· drama

Witty drama, and it commits to that

A group of people gather at a Copenhagen suburban home to break all the limitations and to bring out the 'inner idiot' in themselves.

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Big Daddy poster
Big Daddy
1999 Β· dir. Dennis Dugan
πŸ… 39%β˜… 6.5comedy Β· drama

Both lean on play more than on comedy

A lazy law school grad adopts a kid to impress his girlfriend, but everything doesn't go as planned. Now he's forced to grow up while navigating the challenges of fatherhood.

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Tokyo Godfathers poster
Tokyo Godfathers
2003 Β· dir. Satoshi Kon
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7.8animation Β· drama Β· comedy

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

The difference: Sits closer to animation than Boogie Nights does

On Christmas Eve, three homeless people living on the streets of Tokyo discover a newborn baby among the trash and set out to find its parents.

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Pieces of April poster
Pieces of April
2003 Β· dir. Peter Hedges
πŸ… 83%β˜… 7comedy Β· drama

Witty comedy in both cases

Quirky and rebellious April Burns lives with her boyfriend in a low-rent New York City apartment miles away from her emotionally distant family. But when she discovers that her mother has a fatal form of breast cancer, she invites the clan to her place for Thanksgiving. While her father struggles to drive her family into the city, April -- an inexperienced cook -- runs into kitchen trouble and must ask a neighbor for help.

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Whisky poster
Whisky
2004 Β· dir. Juan Pablo Rebella
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.1comedy Β· drama

Both work the same play

When his long-lost brother resurfaces, Jacobo, desperate to prove his life has added up to something, looks to scrounge up a wife. He turns to Marta, an employee at his sock factory, with whom he has a prickly relationship.

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Little Miss Sunshine poster
Little Miss Sunshine
2006 Β· dir. Valerie Faris
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7.8comedy Β· drama

The same preoccupation in both: husband wife relationship

A family loaded with quirky, colorful characters piles into an old van and road trips to California for little Olive to compete in a beauty pageant.

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In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share Boogie Nights’ defining feeling.