feelsalike.com

Movies that feel like Elle (2016)

If you loved Elle, the closest films we have are The Salesman (2016), Cold in July (2014) and Ballerina (2023). All three share Elle's tense and relentless feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 10 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Peacock Premium and others, checked against today's data.

When Michèle, the CEO of a gaming software company, is attacked in her home by an unknown assailant, she refuses to let it alter her precisely ordered life. She manages crises involving family, all the while becoming engaged in a game of cat and mouse with her stalker.

🍅 91% Rotten Tomatoes7.1 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Paul Verhoevencontemplativetensemelancholyrelentless

Not on subscription streaming right now. Rent or buy below.

See it on the map

When is Elle streaming? →

If Elle hit the spot, these will too

The Salesman poster
The Salesman
2016 · dir. Asghar Farhadi
🍅 96%7.7drama · thriller

Common ground in both: rape and assault

Forced out of their apartment due to dangerous works on a neighboring building, Emad and Rana move into a new flat in the center of Tehran. An incident linked to the previous tenant will dramatically change the young couple’s life.

Feels alike?
Cold in July poster
Cold in July
2014 · dir. Jim Mickle
🍅 84%6.7drama · thriller

Contemplative where it counts, tense underneath

The difference: Missing the melancholy of Elle

While investigating noises in his house one balmy Texas night in 1989, Richard Dane puts a bullet in the brain of a low-life burglar. Although he’s hailed as a small-town hero, Dane soon finds himself fearing for his family’s safety when Freddy’s ex-con father rolls into town, hell-bent on revenge.

Feels alike?
Ballerina poster
Ballerina
2023 · dir. Lee Chung-hyun
🍅 91%6.3action · thriller

Melancholy and relentless in the same breath

The difference: Not nearly as contemplative as Elle

Grieving the loss of a best friend she couldn't protect, an ex-bodyguard sets out to fulfill her dear friend's last wish: sweet revenge.

Feels alike?
Lady Vengeance poster
Lady Vengeance
2005 · dir. Park Chan-wook
🍅 76%7.5drama · thriller

Contemplative drama in both cases

Released after being wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for 13 years, a woman begins executing her elaborate plan of retribution.

Feels alike?
The Eyes of My Mother poster
The Eyes of My Mother
2016 · dir. Nicolas Pesce
🍅 78%6.2drama · horror

Two things both keep coming back to: death of father and death of mother

The difference: Sits closer to horror than Elle does

A young, lonely woman is consumed by her deepest and darkest desires after tragedy strikes her quiet country life.

Feels alike?
Dogman poster
Dogman
2018 · dir. Matteo Garrone
🍅 84%7.2crime · drama · thriller

Thriller with a pulse of tension, in both cases

The difference: Leans harder into crime than Elle does

Marcello, a small and gentle dog groomer, finds himself involved in a dangerous relationship of subjugation with Simone, a former violent boxer who terrorizes the entire neighborhood. In an effort to reaffirm his dignity, Marcello will submit to an unexpected act of vengeance.

Feels alike?
Wanted poster
Wanted
2008 · dir. Timur Bekmambetov
🍅 71%6.7action · thriller · crime

Common ground: death of father

Doormat Wesley Gibson is an office worker whose life is going nowhere. He meets an attractive woman named Fox and discovers that his recently murdered father - whom Wesley never knew - belonged to the Fraternity, a secret society of assassins which takes its orders from Fate itself. Fox and Sloan, the Fraternity's leader, teach Wesley, through intense training, to tap into dormant powers and hone his innate killing skills. Though he enjoys his newfound abilities, he begins to suspect that there is more to the Fraternity than meets the eye.

Feels alike?
Nocturnal Animals poster
Nocturnal Animals
2016 · dir. Tom Ford
🍅 74%7.4drama · thriller

Drama built on relentlessness, twice over

Susan Morrow receives a book manuscript from her ex-husband – a man she left 20 years earlier – asking for her opinion of his writing. As she reads, she is drawn into the fictional life of Tony Hastings, a mathematics professor whose family vacation turns violent.

Feels alike?
Kingdom: Ashin of the North poster
Kingdom: Ashin of the North
2021 · dir. Kim Seong-hun
6.9drama · fantasy · thriller

Contemplative thriller, and it commits to that

Tragedy, betrayal and a mysterious discovery fuel a woman's vengeance for the loss of her tribe and family.

Feels alike?
The Square poster
The Square
2008 · dir. Nash Edgerton
🍅 86%6.7crime · drama · thriller

Both lean on tension more than on drama

Ray, a construction worker trapped in an unhappy marriage, pursues an affair with his neighbor, Carla. Carla's husband, Greg, is a mobster who keeps large sums of drug money in their home. With this in mind, Carla comes up with a plan: She and Ray will steal Greg's money, burn down her house, convince Greg the money was lost in the fire and then run away together. Carla's scheme, however, doesn't go off as planned.

Feels alike?
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance poster
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
2002 · dir. Park Chan-wook
🍅 53%7.5action · drama · thriller

Relentless thriller in both cases

The difference: Reviewed a good deal more coolly

A deaf man and his girlfriend resort to desperate measures in order to fund a kidney transplant for his sister. Things go horribly wrong, and the situation spirals rapidly into a cycle of violence and revenge.

Feels alike?
The Villainess poster
The Villainess
2017 · dir. Jung Byung-gil
🍅 85%6.6action · thriller

Both are thriller through and through

Honed from childhood into a merciless killing machine by a criminal organization, assassin Sook-hee is recruited with the promise of freedom after ten years of service. However, secrets from her past destroy everything she’s worked for and now she embarks on a roaring rampage of revenge.

Feels alike?

In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies →

The best-reviewed films that share Elle’s defining feeling.