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If I Stay poster

Movies that feel likeIf I Stay (2014)

Mia Hall, a talented young cellist, thought the most difficult decision she would ever have to make would be whether to pursue her musical dreams at prestigious Juilliard or follow her heart to be with the love of her life, Adam, a rock singer/guitarist. However, a car wreck changes everything in an instant, and now Mia's life hangs in the balance. Suspended between life and death, Mia faces a choice that will decide her future.

If you loved If I Stay, the closest films we have are The Book Thief (2013), Big Eyes (2014) and Joy (2015). All three share If I Stay's contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Rams (2015).

🍅 36% Rotten Tomatoes★ 6.7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. R.J. Cutlercontemplative
10 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Starz

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See it on the Mood Map

If If I Stay hit the spot, these will too

The Book Thief poster
The Book Thief
2013 · dir. Brian Percival
🍅 50%★ 7.5drama

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

While subjected to the horrors of WWII Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. Under the stairs in her home, a Jewish refugee is being sheltered by her adoptive parents.

Big Eyes poster
Big Eyes
2014 · dir. Tim Burton
🍅 72%★ 6.9dramaStarz

Drama built on stillness, twice over

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

In the late 1950s and early '60s, artist Walter Keane achieves unbelievable fame and success with portraits of saucer-eyed waifs. However, no one realizes that his wife, Margaret, is the real painter behind the brush. Although Margaret is horrified to learn that Walter is passing off her work as his own, she is too meek to protest too loudly. It isn't until the Keanes' marriage comes to an end and a lawsuit follows that the truth finally comes to light.

Joy poster
Joy
2015 · dir. David O. Russell
🍅 61%★ 6.6dramaStarz

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

A story based on the life of a struggling Long Island single mom who became one of the country's most successful entrepreneurs.

Wild poster
Wild
2014 · dir. Jean-Marc Vallée
🍅 88%★ 7.1drama

Both know what they want from drama

A woman with a tragic past decides to start her new life by hiking for one thousand miles on the Pacific Crest Trail.

It's Only the End of the World poster
It's Only the End of the World
2016 · dir. Xavier Dolan
🍅 44%★ 6.8dramaRent or buy

Drama approached the same way

Louis, a terminally ill writer, returns home after a long absence to tell his family that he is dying.

To the Bone poster
To the Bone
2017 · dir. Marti Noxon
🍅 69%★ 6.7dramaNetflix

The drama is handled with the same confidence

A young woman dealing with anorexia meets an unconventional doctor who challenges her to face her condition and embrace life.

Burnt poster
Burnt
2015 · dir. John Wells
🍅 29%★ 6.6drama

The same drama instincts

Adam Jones is a Chef who destroyed his career with drugs and diva behavior. He cleans up and returns to London, determined to redeem himself by spearheading a top restaurant that can gain three Michelin stars.

Concussion poster
Concussion
2015 · dir. Peter Landesman
🍅 58%★ 7.1dramaNetflix

Drama in the same key

A dramatic thriller based on the incredible true David vs. Goliath story of American immigrant Dr. Bennet Omalu, the brilliant forensic neuropathologist who made the first discovery of CTE, a football-related brain trauma, in a pro player and fought for the truth to be known. Omalu's emotional quest puts him at dangerous odds with one of the most powerful institutions in the world.

The Commune poster
The Commune
2016 · dir. Thomas Vinterberg
🍅 71%★ 6.4dramaNetflix

Drama of the same temperament

A funny and moving story of family and free love set in a freewheeling 1970s commune. When Anna and Erik inherit a huge house, they gather a motley crew of cohabitants to reinvigorate their lives, forcing them to reconcile their new values with old habits.

Beautiful Boy poster
Beautiful Boy
2018 · dir. Felix van Groeningen
🍅 67%★ 7.4dramaPrime Video

Both play drama straight

After he and his first wife separate, journalist David Sheff struggles to help their teenage son, who goes from experimenting with drugs to becoming devastatingly addicted to methamphetamine.

The Butler poster
The Butler
2013 · dir. Lee Daniels
🍅 72%★ 7.2drama

Cut from the same drama cloth

Cecil Gaines was a sharecropper's son who grew up in the 1920s as a domestic servant for the white family who casually destroyed his. Eventually striking out on his own, Cecil becomes a hotel valet of such efficiency and discreteness in the 1950s that he becomes a butler in the White House itself. There, Cecil would serve numerous US Presidents over the decades as a passive witness of history with the American Civil Rights Movement gaining momentum even as his family has troubles of its own. As his wife, Gloria, struggles with alcoholism and his defiant eldest son, Louis, strives for a just world, Cecil must decide whether he should take action in his own way.

Rams poster
Rams
2015 · dir. Grímur Hákonarson
🍅 95%★ 7.2drama

Both are drama through and through

In a secluded valley in Iceland, Gummi and Kiddi live side by side, tending to their sheep. Their ancestral sheep-stock is considered one of the country’s best and the two brothers are repeatedly awarded for their prized rams who carry an ancient lineage. Although they share the land and a way of life, Gummi and Kiddi have not spoken to each other in four decades. When a lethal disease suddenly infects Kiddi’s sheep, the entire valley comes under threat. The authorities decide to cull all the animals in the area to contain the outbreak. But Gummi and Kiddi don’t give up so easily – and each brother tries to stave off the disaster in his own fashion: Kiddi by using his rifle and Gummi by using his wits.

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The best-reviewed films that share If I Stay’s defining feeling.