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Close Encounters of the Third Kind poster

Movies that feel likeClose Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

After an encounter with UFOs, an electricity linesman feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is about to happen.

If you loved Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the closest films we have are Tony Takitani (2004), Crumb (1995) and Nymphomaniac: Vol. I (2013). All three share Close Encounters of the Third Kind's contemplative and obsessive feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Born in Flames (1983).

πŸ… 91% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.6 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Steven Spielbergcerebralcontemplativeobsessive
10 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max Β· Apple TV Β· Criterion Channel

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If Close Encounters of the Third Kind hit the spot, these will too

Tony Takitani poster
Tony Takitani
2004 Β· dir. Jun Ichikawa
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.2drama

Common ground: obsession

The difference: Lighter on ideas

A reclusive illustrator falls in love with a young woman who addictively shops for clothing.

Crumb poster
Crumb
1995 Β· dir. Terry Zwigoff
πŸ… 95%β˜… 8documentary

The same preoccupation in both: obsession

The difference: Leans further into documentary

This movie chronicles the life and times of R. Crumb. Robert Crumb is the cartoonist/artist who drew Keep On Truckin', Fritz the Cat, and played a major pioneering role in the genesis of underground comix. Through interviews with his mother, two brothers, wife, ex-wife and ex-girlfriends, as well as selections from his vast quantity of graphic art, we are treated to a darkly comic ride through one man's subconscious mind.

Nymphomaniac: Vol. I poster
Nymphomaniac: Vol. I
2013 Β· dir. Lars von Trier
πŸ… 77%β˜… 6.9drama

The same mix in both: stillness, then obsession

The difference: Made in the 2010s, in a different era of the craft

A man named Seligman finds a fainted wounded woman in an alley and he brings her home. She tells him that her name is Joe and that she is nymphomaniac. Joe tells her life and sexual experiences with hundreds of men since she was a young teenager while Seligman tells about his hobbies, such as fly fishing, reading about Fibonacci numbers or listening to organ music.

Stalker poster
Stalker
1979 Β· dir. Andrei Tarkovsky
πŸ… 100%β˜… 8science fiction Β· dramaMax

Both keep coming back to the same thing: alien

Near a gray and unnamed city is the Zone, a place guarded by barbed wire and soldiers, and where the normal laws of physics are victim to frequent anomalies. A stalker guides two men into the Zone, specifically to an area in which deep-seated desires are granted.

Avalon poster
Avalon
2001 Β· dir. Mamoru Oshii
πŸ… 83%β˜… 6.4action Β· science fiction

Cerebral science fiction in both cases

The difference: Played as action first

In a future world, young people are increasingly becoming addicted to an illegal (and potentially deadly) battle simulation game called Avalon. When Ash, a star player, hears of rumors that a more advanced level of the game exists somewhere, she gives up her loner ways and joins a gang of explorers. Even if she finds the gateway to the next level, will she ever be able to come back to reality?

Taxi Driver poster
Taxi Driver
1976 Β· dir. Martin Scorsese
πŸ… 89%β˜… 8.2crime Β· dramaApple TV+

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

Suffering from insomnia, disturbed loner Travis Bickle takes a job as a New York City cabbie, haunting the streets nightly, growing increasingly detached from reality as he dreams of cleaning up the filthy city.

The Face of Another poster
The Face of Another
1966 Β· dir. Hiroshi Teshigahara
πŸ… 86%β˜… 7.8drama Β· science fiction

Science fiction built on ideas, twice over

A businessman with a disfigured face obtains a lifelike mask from his new doctor, but the mask starts altering his personality and causing him to question his identity.

Born in Flames poster
Born in Flames
1983 Β· dir. Lizzie Borden
πŸ… 89%β˜… 6.6drama Β· science fiction

Cerebral drama, and it commits to that

In near-future New York, ten years after the β€œsocial-democratic war of liberation,” diverse groups of women organize a feminist uprising as equality remains unfulfilled.

A Heart in Winter poster
A Heart in Winter
1992 Β· dir. Claude Sautet
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.5drama Β· romance

Drama with a pulse of obsession, in both cases

Beautiful violin virtuoso Camille has two obsessions: the music of Ravel, and a friend of her husband's who crafts violins. But his heart seems to be as cold as her playing is passionate.

Paris, Texas poster
Paris, Texas
1984 Β· dir. Wim Wenders
πŸ… 95%β˜… 8.1dramaMax

Science fiction built on stillness, twice over

A man wanders out of the desert not knowing who he is. His brother finds him, and helps to pull his memory back of the life he led before he walked out on his family and disappeared four years earlier.

Misery poster
Misery
1990 Β· dir. Rob Reiner
πŸ… 86%β˜… 7.8drama Β· thrillerMax

Both run obsessive where it counts

After an accident, acclaimed novelist Paul Sheldon is rescued by a nurse who claims to be his biggest fan. Her obsession takes a dark turn when she holds him captive in her remote Colorado home and forces him to write back to life the popular literary character he killed off.

The Blue Angel poster
The Blue Angel
1930 Β· dir. Josef von Sternberg
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.6drama

The same drama instincts

Prim professor Immanuel Rath finds some of his students ogling racy photos of cabaret performer Lola Lola and visits a local club, The Blue Angel, in an attempt to catch them there. Seeing Lola perform, the teacher is filled with lust, eventually resigning his position at the school to marry the young woman. However, his marriage to a coquette -- whose job is to entice men -- proves to be more difficult than Rath imagined.

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The best-reviewed films that share Close Encounters of the Third Kind’s defining feeling.