feelsalike.com

Movies that feel like Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)

If you loved Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father, the closest films we have are Batman Begins (2005), Into the Abyss (2011) and The Thin Blue Line (1988). All three share Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father's gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 9 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on HBO Max Amazon Channel, YouTube TV and HBO Max and others, checked against today's data.

In 2001, Andrew Bagby, a medical resident, is murdered not long after breaking up with his girlfriend. Soon after, when she announces she's pregnant, one of Andrew's many close friends, Kurt Kuenne, begins this film, a gift to the child.

🍅 94% Rotten Tomatoes8.5 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Kurt Kuennegrittymelancholyromantic
Stream it:Prime Video

When is Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father streaming? →

If Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father hit the spot, these will too

Batman Begins poster
Batman Begins
2005 · dir. Christopher Nolan
🍅 85%8.2drama · crime · action

Both built around grief

The difference: Played as drama first

Driven by tragedy, billionaire Bruce Wayne dedicates his life to uncovering and defeating the corruption that plagues his home, Gotham City. Unable to work within the system, he instead creates a new identity, a symbol of fear for the criminal underworld - The Batman.

Feels alike?
Into the Abyss poster
Into the Abyss
2011 · dir. Werner Herzog
🍅 92%7.3documentary · crime

Documentary built on grit, twice over

The difference: Without the same melancholy

We do not know when and how we will die. Death Row inmates do. Werner Herzog embarks on a dialogue with Death Row inmates, asks questions about life and death and looks deep into these individuals, their stories, their crimes.

Feels alike?
The Thin Blue Line poster
The Thin Blue Line
1988 · dir. Errol Morris
🍅 100%7.9crime · documentary

The same preoccupation in both: murder

The difference: 20 years apart, and the 1980s show

An unorthodox investigation into the wrongful conviction of Randall Dale Adams for the 1976 murder of Dallas police officer Robert Wood. Using stylized reenactments and interviews with key figures, conflicting testimonies and evidence are presented to argue that Adams was framed by a corrupt justice system, ultimately leading to his exoneration.

Feels alike?
Lantana poster
Lantana
2001 · dir. Ray Lawrence
🍅 90%7.2crime · drama · mystery

Both keep circling back to husband wife relationship

Plagued with grief over the murder of her daughter, Valerie Somers suspects that her husband John is cheating on her. When Valerie disappears, Detective Leon Zat attempts to solve the mystery of her absence. A complex web of love, sex and deceit emerges -- drawing in four related couples whose various partners are distrustful and suspicious about each other's involvement.

Feels alike?
Scarface poster
Scarface
1983 · dir. Brian De Palma
🍅 77%8.3action · crime · drama

Grief is the engine of both

The difference: A 1980s film, from a different era of filmmaking

After getting a green card in exchange for assassinating a Cuban government official, Tony Montana stakes a claim on the drug trade in Miami. Viciously murdering anyone who stands in his way, Tony eventually becomes the biggest drug lord in the state, controlling nearly all the cocaine that comes through Miami. But increased pressure from the police, wars with Colombian drug cartels and his own drug-fueled paranoia serve to fuel the flames of his eventual downfall.

Feels alike?
The Look of Silence poster
The Look of Silence
2014 · dir. Joshua Oppenheimer
🍅 96%8.2history · documentary

Both land melancholy and romance at once

An Indonesian man with a communist background named Ramli was brutally murdered when the "Communist" purge occurred in 1965. His remaining family members lived in fear and silence until the making of this documentary. Adi, a brother of his, decided to revisit the horrific incident and visited the men who were responsible for the killings and one survivor of the purge. These meetings uncovered sadistic details of the murders and exposed raw emotions and reactions of the killers' family members about what happened in the past - much to Adi's disappointment.

Feels alike?
The Godfather poster
The Godfather
1972 · dir. Francis Ford Coppola
🍅 97%9.2drama · crime

Gritty crime, and it commits to that

Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.

Feels alike?
Lethal Weapon 2 poster
Lethal Weapon 2
1989 · dir. Richard Donner
🍅 82%7.3action · thriller · crime

Both trade on melancholy more than on being crime

Riggs and Murtaugh are on the trail of South African diplomats using their immunity to engage in criminal activities.

Feels alike?
Léon: The Professional poster
Léon: The Professional
1994 · dir. Luc Besson
🍅 76%8.5crime · drama · action

Romantic documentary in both cases

Léon, the top hit man in New York, has earned a rep as an effective "cleaner". But when his next-door neighbors are wiped out by a loose-cannon DEA agent, he becomes the unwilling custodian of 12-year-old Mathilda. Before long, Mathilda's thoughts turn to revenge, and she considers following in Léon's footsteps.

Feels alike?
True Grit poster
True Grit
2010 · dir. Ethan Coen
🍅 95%7.6drama · adventure · western

Documentary with a pulse of grit, in both cases

Following the murder of her father by a hired hand, a 14-year-old farm girl sets out to capture the killer. To aid her, she hires the toughest U.S. Marshal she can find—a man with 'true grit'—Reuben J. 'Rooster' Cogburn.

Feels alike?
Mystic River poster
Mystic River
2003 · dir. Clint Eastwood
🍅 89%7.9thriller · drama · mystery

Melancholy crime in both cases

The lives of three men who were childhood friends are shattered when one of them suffers a family tragedy.

Feels alike?
Thief poster
Thief
1981 · dir. Michael Mann
🍅 80%7.4crime · thriller · drama

Romance is the shared currency

Frank is an expert professional safecracker, specialized in high-profile diamond heists. He plans to use his ill-gotten income to retire from crime and build a nice life for himself complete with a home, wife and kids. To accelerate the process, he signs on with a top gangster for a big score.

Feels alike?

In the mood for more gritty?

all gritty movies →

The best-reviewed films that share Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father's defining feeling.