feelsalike.comSign in
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind poster

Movies that feel likeEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Joel Barish, heartbroken that his girlfriend underwent a procedure to erase him from her memory, decides to do the same. However, as he watches his memories of her fade away, he realises that he still loves her, and may be too late to correct his mistake.

If you loved Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the closest films we have are Mr. Nobody (2009), Nostalgia (1983) and The Time Traveler's Wife (2009). All three share Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind's contemplative and romantic feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Before Midnight (2013).

9 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Amazon Prime Video · Hulu

Can't choose? Answer three questions and get one movie for tonight.

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

See it on the Mood Map

If Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind hit the spot, these will too

Mr. Nobody poster
Mr. Nobody
2009 · dir. Jaco Van Dormael
🍅 64%★ 7.7science fiction · drama · romancePrime VideoHulu

Love refracted through memory and every road not taken

The difference: Sprawls across whole lifetimes — more puzzle than heartache

Nemo Nobody leads an ordinary existence with his wife and 3 children; one day, he wakes up as a mortal centenarian in the year 2092.

Nostalgia poster
Nostalgia
1983 · dir. Andrei Tarkovsky
🍅 89%★ 7.9drama · romance

Memory and longing dissolving the line between past and present

The difference: Austere Tarkovsky pacing — long takes that demand surrender

Russian poet Andrei Gorchakov journeys through Italy with his interpreter Eugenia to research the life of an 18th-century Russian composer who once lived abroad. Isolated and consumed by an unrelenting longing for his homeland, Andrei becomes drawn to Domenico, a radical mystic obsessed with spiritual redemption. Through austere imagery and extended temporal rhythms, Tarkovsky examines exile, memory, and the profound melancholy of being unable to belong fully to either place or language.

The Time Traveler's Wife poster
The Time Traveler's Wife
2009 · dir. Robert Schwentke
🍅 38%★ 7.1drama · romance · fantasyParamount+

A romance told out of order, where losing each other is built in

The difference: Straight tearjerker — the strangeness is premise, not texture

Due to a genetic disorder, handsome librarian Henry DeTamble involuntarily zips through time, appearing at various moments in the life of his true love, the beautiful artist Clare Abshire.

Before Midnight poster
Before Midnight
2013 · dir. Richard Linklater
🍅 98%★ 7.9romance · dramaRent or buy

A long love argued out in real time, tender and bruising at once

The difference: No sci-fi device — just two people talking, brilliantly

It has been nine years since we last met Jesse and Celine, the French-American couple who once met on a train in Vienna. They now live in Paris with twin daughters but have spent a summer in Greece at the invitation of an author colleague of Jesse's. When the vacation is over and Jesse must send his teenage son off to the States, he begins to question his life decisions, and his relationship with Celine is at risk.

The Vow poster
The Vow
2012 · dir. Michael Sucsy
🍅 30%★ 6.8drama · romanceStarz

Both are built on the same subject: amnesia

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

Happy young married couple Paige and Leo are, well, happy. Then a car accident puts Paige into a life-threatening coma. Upon awakening she has lost the previous five years of memories, including those of her beloved Leo, her wedding, a confusing relationship with her parents, or the ending of her relationship with her ex-fiance. Despite these complications, Leo endeavors to win her heart again and rebuild their marriage.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button poster
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2008 · dir. David Fincher
🍅 72%★ 7.8drama · fantasy · romance

A romance told as one long act of remembering, loss built into it

The difference: Stately and epic in scale, grand where this one is scrappy and close

Born under unusual circumstances, Benjamin Button springs into being as an elderly man in a New Orleans nursing home and ages in reverse. Twelve years after his birth, he meets Daisy, a child who flits in and out of his life as she grows up to be a dancer. Though he has all sorts of unusual adventures over the course of his life, it is his relationship with Daisy, and the hope that they will come together at the right time, that drives Benjamin forward.

Upside Down poster
Upside Down
2012 · dir. Juan Diego Solanas
🍅 29%★ 6.3romance · science fiction · dramaPrime Video

Lovers separated by literal physics, chasing each other anyway

The difference: High-concept gloss, thin script — the metaphor does all the work

In an alternate universe where twinned worlds have opposite gravities, a young man battles interplanetary prejudice and the laws of physics in his quest to reunite with the long-lost girl of his dreams in this visually stunning romantic adventure that poses the question: what if love was stronger than gravity?

Bicentennial Man poster
Bicentennial Man
1999 · dir. Chris Columbus
🍅 38%★ 6.9drama · romance · science fiction

A tender ache about what it costs to love inside a limited span

The difference: Gentle and linear, sentiment where Gondry gives you beautiful chaos

Richard Martin buys a gift, a new NDR-114 robot. The product is named Andrew by the youngest of the family's children. "Bicentennial Man" follows the life and times of Andrew, a robot purchased as a household appliance programmed to perform menial tasks. As Andrew begins to experience emotions and creative thought, the Martin family soon discovers they don't have an ordinary robot.

The Age of Adaline poster
The Age of Adaline
2015 · dir. Lee Toland Krieger
🍅 54%★ 7.2romance · fantasy · dramaMax

Wistful about how love and time keep refusing to line up

The difference: Smooth and conventional — no formal invention, no rough edges

After 29-year-old Adaline recovers from a nearly lethal accident, she inexplicably stops growing older. As the years stretch on and on, Adaline keeps her secret to herself until she meets a man who changes her life.

Beautiful Creatures poster
Beautiful Creatures
2013 · dir. Richard LaGravenese
🍅 47%★ 6.1fantasy · drama · romance

Small-town love shadowed by forces neither partner controls

The difference: YA supernatural romance — tropes where yours has invention

Ethan Wate just wants to get to know Lena Duchannes better, but unbeknownst to him, Lena has strange powers. As Lena's 16th birthday approaches she might decide her fate, to be good or evil. A choice which will impact her relationship forever.

The Fountain poster
The Fountain
2006 · dir. Darren Aronofsky
🍅 52%★ 7.1drama · adventure · science fiction

One thread runs through both: operation

The difference: Lighter on dream logic

Spanning over one thousand years, and three parallel stories, The Fountain is a story of love, death, spirituality, and the fragility of our existence in this world.

The Lake House poster
The Lake House
2006 · dir. Alejandro Agresti
🍅 36%★ 6.8romance · drama · fantasy

The same mix in both: stillness, then romance

The difference: Goes its own way on the ideas

When architect Alex Wyler moves into an unusual glass house on stilts over a lake, he discovers a note from the previous tenant in the mailbox--but no one's lived in the house for years. He replies and soon discovers that he's corresponding with a doctor named Kate Forster. Their correspondence, only through the 'magical' mailbox, turns romantic and their paths cross in unexpected ways, but when they try to truly connect, danger looms. They must try to unravel the mystery behind their extraordinary romance before it's too late.

In the mood for more cerebral?

all cerebral movies →

The best-reviewed films that share Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’s defining feeling.