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First Cow poster

Movies that feel likeFirst Cow (2020)

In the 1820s, a taciturn loner and skilled cook travels west to Oregon Territory, where he meets a Chinese immigrant also seeking his fortune. Soon the two team up on a dangerous scheme to steal milk from the wealthy landowner’s prized Jersey cow—the first, and only, in the territory.

If you loved First Cow, the closest films we have are The Rider (2018), Fort Apache (1948) and 7 Prisoners (2021). All three share First Cow's gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Black Souls (2014).

🍅 95% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.1 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Kelly Reichardtcontemplativegritty
5 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Kino Film Collection

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If First Cow hit the spot, these will too

The Rider poster
The Rider
2018 · dir. Chloé Zhao
🍅 97%★ 7.4drama · westernRent or buy

Contemplative where it counts, gritty underneath

Once a rising star of the rodeo circuit, and a gifted horse trainer, young cowboy Brady is warned that his riding days are over after a horse crushed his skull at a rodeo. In an attempt to regain control of his own fate, Brady undertakes a search for a new identity and what it means to be a man in the heartland of the United States.

Fort Apache poster
Fort Apache
1948 · dir. John Ford
🍅 100%★ 7.4western

Gritty western, and it commits to that

The difference: Easier on the stillness than First Cow

Owen Thursday sees his new posting to the desolate Fort Apache as a chance to claim the military honour which he believes is rightfully his. Arrogant, obsessed with military form and ultimately self-destructive, he attempts to destroy the Apache chief Cochise after luring him across the border from Mexico, against the advice of his subordinates.

7 Prisoners poster
7 Prisoners
2021 · dir. Alexandre Moratto
🍅 98%★ 7.1drama · crimeNetflix

Drama built on stillness, twice over

The difference: Sits closer to crime than First Cow does

An impoverished teen seeking to escape the clutches of a human trafficker must weigh living up to his moral code against his struggle to survive.

The Ox-Bow Incident poster
The Ox-Bow Incident
1943 · dir. William A. Wellman
🍅 90%★ 8western

Both lean on grit more than on western

The difference: 77 years apart, and the 1940s show

A posse discovers a trio of men they suspect of murder and cow theft and are split between handing them over to the law or lynching them on the spot.

The Fool poster
The Fool
2014 · dir. Yury Bykov
🍅 93%★ 7.9drama

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

The Fool is a movie about a simple plumber. An honest man, he is up against an entire system of corrupted bureaucrats. At stake are the lives of 800 inhabitants of an old dorm that is at risk of collapsing within the span of the night.

A Touch of Sin poster
A Touch of Sin
2013 · dir. Jia Zhangke
🍅 95%★ 7.1crime · drama

Drama in the same key

Four people in different provinces are driven to violent ends: An angry miner is enraged by corruption in his village. A migrant discovers the possibilities of owning a firearm. A receptionist is pushed beyond her limits by an abusive client. A young factory worker goes from one job to the next.

Black Souls poster
Black Souls
2014 · dir. Francesco Munzi
🍅 89%★ 6.8crime · drama

Both know what they want from drama

A former narcotics smuggler, now living peaceably in the Calabrian hills, is drawn back into his family’s drug-trade dynasty by his impetuous teenage son.

R poster
R
2010 · dir. Tobias Lindholm
🍅 91%★ 7.1crime · drama

Drama of the same temperament

Imprisoned for violent assault, Rune is placed in the hardcore ward, where his survival depends on quickly learning the prison's parallel world of rules, honor, and obligations.

Frozen River poster
Frozen River
2008 · dir. Courtney Hunt
🍅 88%★ 7.1drama · crime

The same drama instincts

A financially strapped mother joins a Mohawk woman to smuggle illegal immigrants into the United States.

Amanda Knox poster
Amanda Knox
2016 · dir. Rod Blackhurst
🍅 82%★ 6.9documentary · crimeNetflix

Same era, same wavelength

This gripping, atmospheric documentary recounts the infamous trial, conviction and eventual acquittal of Seattle native Amanda Knox for the 2007 murder of a British exchange student in Italy.

The Power of the Dog poster
The Power of the Dog
2021 · dir. Jane Campion
🍅 94%★ 6.8drama · westernNetflix

Both are western through and through

A domineering but charismatic rancher wages a war of intimidation on his brother's new wife and her teen son, until long-hidden secrets come to light.

My Name Ain't Johnny poster
My Name Ain't Johnny
2008 · dir. Mauro Lima
★ 7.2crime · drama

Cut from the same drama cloth

The true story of João Guilherme Estrella ("Johnny"), a young middle-class bon vivant who became a big-time cocaine dealer in Rio de Janeiro in the early 1990s.

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