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Movies that feel like Diary of a Country Priest (1951)

If you loved Diary of a Country Priest, the closest films we have are The Judge (2014), Sweet Bean (2015) and Late Spring (1949). All three share Diary of a Country Priest's contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 10 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Kino Film Collection, HBO Max Amazon Channel and Criterion Channel and others, checked against today's data.

An inexperienced, sickly priest shows up in the rural French community of Ambricourt, where he joins the community's clergy. But the locals don't take kindly to the priest, and his ascetic ways and unsociable demeanor make him an outcast. During Bible studies at the nearby girls school, he is continually mocked by his students. Then his attempt to intervene in a family feud backfires into a scandal. His failures, compounded with his declining health, begin to erode his faith.

πŸ… 95% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.7 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Robert Bressoncontemplativecozy

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If Diary of a Country Priest hit the spot, these will too

The Judge poster
The Judge
2014 Β· dir. David Dobkin
πŸ… 49%β˜… 7.4drama

Small town life is the engine of both

The difference: Critics were much harder on this one

A successful lawyer returns to his hometown for his mother's funeral only to discover that his estranged father, the town's judge, is suspected of murder.

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Sweet Bean poster
Sweet Bean
2015 Β· dir. Naomi Kawase
πŸ… 84%β˜… 7.4drama

Both land stillness and comfort at once

The difference: 64 years apart, and the 2010s show

The master of a dorayaki pastry store hires a 76-year-old woman whose talents attract customers from all over. But she's hiding a troubling secret. Life's joys are found in the little details, and no matter what may be weighing you down, everyone loves a good pastry.

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Late Spring poster
Late Spring
1949 · dir. Yasujirō Ozu
πŸ… 100%β˜… 8.2drama

Black and white sits at the heart of each

The difference: Without the same comfort

Noriko is perfectly happy living at home with her widowed father, Shukichi, and has no plans to marry -- that is, until her aunt Masa convinces Shukichi that unless he marries off his 27-year-old daughter soon, she will likely remain alone for the rest of her life. When Noriko resists Masa's matchmaking, Shukichi is forced to deceive his daughter and sacrifice his own happiness to do what he believes is right.

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Umberto D. poster
Umberto D.
1952 Β· dir. Vittorio De Sica
πŸ… 98%β˜… 8.1drama

The same preoccupation in both: black and white

When elderly pensioner Umberto Domenico Ferrari returns to his boarding house from a protest calling for a hike in old-age pensions, his landlady demands her 15,000-lire rent by the end of the month or he and his small dog will be turned out onto the street. Unable to get the money in time, Umberto fakes illness to get sent to a hospital, giving his beloved dog to the landlady's pregnant and abandoned maid for temporary safekeeping.

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Bicycle Thieves poster
Bicycle Thieves
1948 Β· dir. Vittorio De Sica
πŸ… 99%β˜… 8.2drama

Drama built on stillness, twice over

Unemployed Antonio is elated when he finally finds work hanging posters around war-torn Rome. However on his first day, his bicycleβ€”essential to his workβ€”gets stolen. His job is doomed unless he can find the thief. With the help of his son, Antonio combs the city, becoming desperate for justice.

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Columbus poster
Columbus
2017 Β· dir. Kogonada
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.2drama

Both keep circling back to small town life

When a renowned architecture scholar falls suddenly ill during a speaking tour, his son Jin finds himself stranded in Columbus, Indiana - a small Midwestern city celebrated for its many significant modernist buildings. Jin strikes up a friendship with Casey, a young architecture enthusiast who works at the local library.

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Kes poster
Kes
1970 Β· dir. Ken Loach
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.9drama

Cozy drama in both cases

Bullied at school and ignored and abused at home by his indifferent mother and older brother, Billy Casper, a 15-year-old working-class Yorkshire boy, tames and trains his pet kestrel falcon whom he names Kes. Helped and encouraged by his English teacher and his fellow students, Billy finally finds a positive purpose to his unhappy existence.

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Sansho the Bailiff poster
Sansho the Bailiff
1954 Β· dir. Kenji Mizoguchi
πŸ… 100%β˜… 8.4drama

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

In 11th-century feudal Japan, following the exile of an idealistic governor, his wife and children are separated by slave traders; the children, Zushio and Anju, are sold into brutal servitude under the cruel bailiff Sansho.

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12 Angry Men poster
12 Angry Men
1957 Β· dir. Sidney Lumet
πŸ… 100%β˜… 9drama

Drama approached the same way

The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other.

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An Autumn Afternoon poster
An Autumn Afternoon
1962 · dir. Yasujirō Ozu
πŸ… 95%β˜… 8drama

Both are drama through and through

Widower Shuhei Hirayama's caretaker is his 24-year-old daughter, Michiko. Gradually, he comes to realize that Michiko should not be obliged to look after him for the rest of his life, so he arranges a marriage for her.

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The Social Network poster
The Social Network
2010 Β· dir. David Fincher
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.8drama

The same drama instincts

In 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programmer Mark Zuckerberg begins work on a new concept that eventually turns into the global social network known as Facebook. Six years later, Mark is one of the youngest billionaires ever, but his unprecedented success leads to both personal and legal complications when he ends up on the receiving end of two lawsuits, one involving his former friend.

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Pickpocket poster
Pickpocket
1959 Β· dir. Robert Bresson
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.5crime Β· drama

The same hand behind both of them: Robert Bresson

The difference: Leans further into crime

Michel takes up pickpocketing on a lark and is arrested soon after. His mother dies shortly after his release, and despite the objections of his only friend, Jacques, and his mother's neighbor Jeanne, Michel teams up with a couple of petty thieves in order to improve his craft. With a police inspector keeping an eye on him, Michel also tries to get a straight job, but the temptation to steal is hard to resist.

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The best-reviewed films that share Diary of a Country Priest's defining feeling.