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Movies that feel like Jacob's Ladder (1990)

If you loved Jacob's Ladder, the closest films we have are Midsommar (2019), Session 9 (2001) and The Devil's Advocate (1997). All three share Jacob's Ladder's contemplative and twisty feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 6 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max and Criterion Channel and others, checked against today's data.

After returning home from the Vietnam War, veteran Jacob Singer struggles to maintain his sanity. Plagued by hallucinations and flashbacks, Singer rapidly falls apart as the world and people around him morph and twist into disturbing images. His girlfriend, Jezzie, and ex-wife, Sarah, try to help, but to little avail. Even Singer's chiropractor friend, Louis, fails to reach him as he descends into madness.

πŸ… 71% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.4 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Adrian Lynecontemplativetwistydreadunsettlingmelancholycerebral

When is Jacob's Ladder streaming? β†’

If Jacob's Ladder hit the spot, these will too

Midsommar poster
Midsommar
2019 Β· dir. Ari Aster
πŸ… 83%β˜… 7.1horror Β· drama Β· mystery

The same preoccupation in both: paranoia

The difference: None of the ideas that defines Jacob's Ladder

Several friends travel to Sweden to study as anthropologists a summer festival that is held every ninety years in the remote hometown of one of them. What begins as a dream vacation in a place where the sun never sets, gradually turns into a dark nightmare as the mysterious inhabitants invite them to participate in their disturbing festive activities.

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Session 9 poster
Session 9
2001 Β· dir. Brad Anderson
πŸ… 68%β˜… 6.4horror Β· mystery Β· drama

Contemplative and twisty in the same breath

The difference: Not nearly as melancholy as Jacob's Ladder

Tensions rise within an asbestos cleaning crew as they work in an abandoned mental hospital with a horrific past that seems to be coming back.

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The Devil's Advocate poster
The Devil's Advocate
1997 Β· dir. Taylor Hackford
πŸ… 65%β˜… 7.5horror Β· drama Β· mystery

Both built around hallucination

Aspiring Florida defense lawyer Kevin Lomax accepts a job at a New York law firm. With the stakes getting higher every case, Kevin quickly learns that his boss has something far more evil planned.

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The Last Wave poster
The Last Wave
1977 Β· dir. Peter Weir
πŸ… 78%β˜… 6.9drama Β· mystery Β· horror

Nightmare is the engine of both

A Sydney lawyer defends five Aboriginal people in a ritualised taboo murder and in the process learns disturbing truths about himself and premonitions.

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1408 poster
1408
2007 Β· dir. Mikael HΓ₯fstrΓΆm
πŸ… 80%β˜… 6.8horror Β· mystery

New York City shapes both of them

A man who specializes in debunking paranormal occurrences checks into the fabled room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel. Soon after settling in, he confronts genuine terror.

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The Babadook poster
The Babadook
2014 Β· dir. Jennifer Kent
πŸ… 98%β˜… 6.8drama Β· horror

Nightmare sits at the heart of each

The difference: Reviewed even better

A grieving single mother and her child fall into a deep well of paranoia when an eerie children's book manifests in their home.

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Contact poster
Contact
1997 Β· dir. Robert Zemeckis
πŸ… 69%β˜… 7.5drama Β· science fiction Β· mystery

Both land dread and ideas at once

The difference: Leans science fiction where Jacob's Ladder does not

A radio astronomer receives the first extraterrestrial radio signal ever picked up on Earth. As the world powers scramble to decipher the message and decide upon a course of action, she must make some difficult decisions between her beliefs, the truth, and reality.

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Let's Scare Jessica to Death poster
Let's Scare Jessica to Death
1971 Β· dir. John D. Hancock
πŸ… 42%β˜… 6.4horror Β· mystery Β· drama

Both keep circling back to paranoia

Newly released from a mental ward, Jessica hopes to return to life the way it was before her nervous breakdown. But when Jessica moves to a country house with her husband and a close friend, she finds a mysterious girl living in there. Jessica's terror and paranoia resurface as evil forces surround her.

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Absentia poster
Absentia
2011 Β· dir. Mike Flanagan
πŸ… 87%β˜… 5.8horror Β· mystery

Grief sits at the heart of each

The difference: A 2010s film, from a different era of filmmaking

Tricia's husband has been missing for seven years. Her younger sister Callie comes to live with her as the pressure mounts to finally declare him 'dead in absentia'. Tricia is reluctant, always holding out hope, but Callie is practical and wants her to move on. As Tricia sifts through the wreckage and tries to move on with her life, Callie finds herself drawn to an ominous tunnel near the house.

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Life poster
Life
2017 Β· dir. Daniel Espinosa
πŸ… 67%β˜… 6.6horror Β· science fiction Β· mystery

The same mix in both: unease, then melancholy

The six-member crew of the International Space Station is tasked with studying a sample from Mars that may be the first proof of extra-terrestrial life, which proves more intelligent than ever expected.

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The Eyes of My Mother poster
The Eyes of My Mother
2016 Β· dir. Nicolas Pesce
πŸ… 78%β˜… 6.2drama Β· horror

Drama built on stillness, twice over

A young, lonely woman is consumed by her deepest and darkest desires after tragedy strikes her quiet country life.

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Mulholland Drive poster
Mulholland Drive
2001 Β· dir. David Lynch
πŸ… 83%β˜… 7.9thriller Β· drama Β· mystery

Twisty mystery, and it commits to that

Blonde Betty Elms has only just arrived in Hollywood to become a movie star when she meets an enigmatic brunette with amnesia. Meanwhile, as the two set off to solve the second woman's identity, filmmaker Adam Kesher runs into ominous trouble while casting his latest project.

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In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share Jacob's Ladder's defining feeling.