feelsalike.com

Movies that feel like In a Better World (2010)

If you loved In a Better World, the closest films we have are Wendy and Lucy (2008), The Illusionist (2010) and Pleasure (2021). All three share In a Better World's contemplative and warm feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 9 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Amazon Prime Video, Hulu and Criterion Channel and others, checked against today's data.

The lives of two Danish families cross each other, and an extraordinary but risky friendship comes into bud. But loneliness, frailty and sorrow lie in wait.

πŸ… 77% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.6 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Susanne Biercontemplativewarm

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

When is In a Better World streaming? β†’

If In a Better World hit the spot, these will too

Wendy and Lucy poster
Wendy and Lucy
2008 Β· dir. Kelly Reichardt
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.1drama

Both are built on the same subject: friendship

A near-penniless drifter's journey to Alaska in search of work is interrupted when she loses her dog while attempting to shoplift food for it.

Feels alike?
The Illusionist poster
The Illusionist
2010 Β· dir. Sylvain Chomet
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7.4animation Β· drama

The same mix in both: stillness, then warmth

The difference: Sits closer to animation than In a Better World does

A French illusionist travels to Scotland to work. He meets a young woman in a small village. Their ensuing adventure in Edinburgh changes both their lives forever.

Feels alike?
Pleasure poster
Pleasure
2021 Β· dir. Ninja Thyberg
πŸ… 88%β˜… 6.3drama

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

19 year old LinnΓ©a leaves her small town in Sweden and heads for Los Angeles with the aim of becoming the world's next big porn star, but the road to her goal turns out to be bumpier than she imagined.

Feels alike?
Remember the Titans poster
Remember the Titans
2000 Β· dir. Boaz Yakin
πŸ… 72%β˜… 7.8drama

One thread runs through both: friendship

After leading his football team to 15 winning seasons, coach Bill Yoast is demoted and replaced by Herman Boone – tough, opinionated and as different from the beloved Yoast as he could be. The two men learn to overcome their differences and turn a group of hostile young men into champions.

Feels alike?
Treeless Mountain poster
Treeless Mountain
2009 Β· dir. So Yong Kim
πŸ… 86%β˜… 7drama

Contemplative drama in both cases

The difference: Not nearly as warm as In a Better World

A Korean woman leaves her two young daughters with her sister-in-law to search for their estranged father.

Feels alike?
Faces Places poster
Faces Places
2017 · dir. Agnès Varda
πŸ… 99%β˜… 7.8documentary

Drama built on warmth, twice over

Director Agnès Varda and photographer/muralist JR journey through rural France and form an unlikely friendship.

Feels alike?
Girl, Interrupted poster
Girl, Interrupted
1999 Β· dir. James Mangold
πŸ… 53%β˜… 7.3drama

A streak of warmth through both

Set in the changing world of the late 1960s, Susanna Kaysen's prescribed "short rest" from a psychiatrist she had met only once becomes a strange, unknown journey into Alice's Wonderland, where she struggles with the thin line between normal and crazy. Susanna soon realizes how hard it is to get out once she has been committed, and she ultimately has to choose between the world of people who belong inside or the difficult world of reality outside.

Feels alike?
Midnight Cowboy poster
Midnight Cowboy
1969 Β· dir. John Schlesinger
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7.8drama

Both know what they want from drama

The difference: 41 years apart, and the 1960s show

Joe Buck is a wide-eyed hustler from Texas hoping to score big with wealthy New York City women; he finds a companion in Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo, an ailing swindler with a bum leg and a quixotic fantasy of escaping to Florida.

Feels alike?
After the Wedding poster
After the Wedding
2006 Β· dir. Susanne Bier
πŸ… 87%β˜… 7.7drama

Susanne Bier working the same nerve twice

A manager of an orphanage in India is sent to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he discovers a life-altering family secret.

Feels alike?
Bad Education poster
Bad Education
2004 Β· dir. Pedro AlmodΓ³var
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.4drama Β· crime

Drama in the same key

When an old friend brings filmmaker Enrique Goded a semi-autobiographical script chronicling their adolescence, Enrique is forced to relive his youth spent at a Catholic boarding school. Weaving through past and present, the script follows a transvestite performer who reconnects with a grade school sweetheart. Spurred on by this chance encounter, the character reflects on her childhood sexual victimization and the trauma of closeting her sexual orientation.

Feels alike?
Mud poster
Mud
2013 Β· dir. Jeff Nichols
πŸ… 97%β˜… 7.3drama

Common ground in both: killing and murder

Two teenage boys find a fugitive hiding out on an island in the Mississippi River and help him reunite with his lover and escape an avenging family and their armed posse.

Feels alike?
La Haine poster
La Haine
1995 Β· dir. Mathieu Kassovitz
πŸ… 96%β˜… 8.1drama

The drama is handled with the same confidence

After a chaotic night of rioting in a marginal suburb of Paris, three young friends, Vinz, Hubert and SaΓ―d, wander around unoccupied waiting for news about the state of health of a mutual friend who has been seriously injured when confronting the police.

Feels alike?

In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share In a Better World’s defining feeling.