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In America poster

Movies that feel likeIn America (2003)

A family of Irish immigrants adjusts to life on the mean streets of Hell's Kitchen while also grieving the death of a child.

If you loved In America, the closest films we have are Swades (2004), Departures (2008) and Like Stars on Earth (2007). All three share In America's contemplative and hopeful feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Castle (1997).

🍅 90% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Jim Sheridancontemplativehopeful
7 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Hulu

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See it on the Mood Map

If In America hit the spot, these will too

Swades poster
Swades
2004 · dir. Ashutosh Gowariker
🍅 90%★ 8.2dramaNetflix

Common ground: inspirational

A successful Indian scientist returns home to his village to take his nanny back to America with him, and in the process rediscovers his roots.

Departures poster
Departures
2008 · dir. Yojiro Takita
🍅 80%★ 8drama

Contemplative and hopeful in the same breath

Daigo, a cellist, is laid off from his orchestra and moves with his wife back to his small hometown where the living is cheaper. Thinking he’s applying for a job at a travel agency he finds he’s being interviewed for work with departures of a more permanent nature – as an undertaker’s assistant.

Like Stars on Earth poster
Like Stars on Earth
2007 · dir. Aamir Khan
🍅 93%★ 8.3drama

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

Ishaan Awasthi is an eight-year-old whose world is filled with wonders that no one else seems to appreciate. Colours, fish, dogs, and kites don't seem important to the adults, who are much more interested in things like homework, marks, and neatness. Ishaan cannot seem to get anything right in class; he is then sent to boarding school, where his life changes forever.

Awakenings poster
Awakenings
1990 · dir. Penny Marshall
🍅 81%★ 7.8drama

Both lean on hope more than on drama

Dr. Malcolm Sayer, a shy research physician, uses an experimental drug to "awaken" the catatonic victims of a rare disease. Leonard is the first patient to receive the controversial treatment. His awakening, filled with awe and enthusiasm, proves a rebirth for Sayer too, as the exuberant patient reveals life's simple but unutterably sweet pleasures to the introverted doctor.

The Blind Side poster
The Blind Side
2009 · dir. John Lee Hancock
🍅 65%★ 7.6drama

Both are built on the same subject: inspirational

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

The story of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family.

Hope poster
Hope
2013 · dir. Lee Joon-ik
★ 8.2drama

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

After 8-year-old So-won narrowly survives a brutal sexual assault, her family labors to help her heal while coping with their own rage and grief.

Astral City: A Spiritual Journey poster
Astral City: A Spiritual Journey
2010 · dir. Wagner de Assis
★ 6.5drama

Both work the same hope

The selfish Dr. André Luiz dies and awakes in the limbo called "Umbral". After a painful period in the gruesome swamp, he is rescued and brought in a white light to "Nosso Lar" (meaning "Our Home"). He finds a place of harmony, where people live in peace awaiting

Moneyball poster
Moneyball
2011 · dir. Bennett Miller
🍅 94%★ 7.6dramaHulu

Both play drama straight

The story of Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to put together a baseball team on a budget, by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players.

Creed poster
Creed
2015 · dir. Ryan Coogler
🍅 95%★ 7.6dramaPrime VideoHulu

The same drama instincts

The former World Heavyweight Champion Rocky Balboa serves as a trainer and mentor to Adonis Johnson, the son of his late friend and former rival Apollo Creed.

Mohabbatein poster
Mohabbatein
2000 · dir. Aditya Chopra
★ 7.1drama · romanceNetflix

Both know what they want from drama

The difference: Sits closer to romance than In America does

At a prestigious all-male university, three friends seek love outside of the school grounds; at the same time, a newly-hired music teacher seeks to befriend and loosen up the militantly strict headmaster.

The Castle poster
The Castle
1997 · dir. Rob Sitch
🍅 87%★ 7.6drama · comedy

Cut from the same drama cloth

The difference: Leans harder into comedy than In America does

The quirky Kerrigan family lives together in a makeshift home they built themselves – with great pride and a bizarre attention to detail – a few yards from the edge of Melbourne, Australia's busy Tullamarine Airport. When a building inspector condemns the building and reveals that the government plans to use their land for an airport expansion, Darryl Kerrigan and his brood recruit hack attorney Dennis Denuto and prepare themselves for the fight of their lives.

A Short Film About Love poster
A Short Film About Love
1988 · dir. Krzysztof Kieślowski
🍅 95%★ 8.1drama · romance

Both working the same drama territory

19-year-old Tomek whiles away his lonely life by spying on his opposite neighbour Magda through binoculars. She's an artist in her mid-thirties, and appears to have everything - not least a constant stream of men at her beck and call. But when the two finally meet, they discover that they have a lot more in common than appeared at first sight...

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