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Movies that feel like K-PAX (2001)

If you loved K-PAX, the closest films we have are The Skeleton Key (2005), Vanilla Sky (2001) and Marjorie Prime (2017). All three share K-PAX's twisty feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 10 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Paramount Plus Premium and others, checked against today's data.

Prot is a patient at a mental hospital who claims to be from a far away planet. His psychiatrist tries to help him, only to begin to doubt his own explanations.

πŸ… 41% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.4 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Iain Softleycerebralcontemplativetwistydreamlike

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If K-PAX hit the spot, these will too

The Skeleton Key poster
The Skeleton Key
2005 Β· dir. Iain Softley
πŸ… 38%β˜… 6.5drama Β· horror Β· mystery

Iain Softley directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

The difference: Not nearly as cerebral as K-PAX

A hospice nurse working at a spooky New Orleans plantation home finds herself entangled in a mystery involving the house's dark past.

Vanilla Sky poster
Vanilla Sky
2001 Β· dir. Cameron Crowe
πŸ… 41%β˜… 6.9mystery Β· romance Β· science fiction

One thread runs through both: dreams

The difference: None of the stillness K-PAX is built on

David Aames has it all: wealth, good looks and gorgeous women on his arm. But just as he begins falling for the warmhearted Sofia, his face is horribly disfigured in a car accident. That's just the beginning of his troubles as the lines between illusion and reality, between life and death, are blurred.

Marjorie Prime poster
Marjorie Prime
2017 Β· dir. Michael Almereyda
πŸ… 89%β˜… 6.3drama Β· mystery Β· science fiction

Both land ideas and stillness at once

The difference: Reviewed even better

A service which creates holographic projections of late family members allows an elderly woman to spend time with a younger version of her deceased husband.

After Life poster
After Life
1999 Β· dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.6fantasy Β· drama

Drama with a pulse of dream logic, in both cases

The difference: Sits closer to fantasy than K-PAX does

On a cold Monday morning, a group of counselors clock in at an old-fashioned social services office. Their task is to interview the recently deceased, record their personal details, then, over the course of the week, assist them in choosing a single memory to keep for eternity.

Source Code poster
Source Code
2011 Β· dir. Duncan Jones
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7.5thriller Β· science fiction Β· mystery

Common ground: the investigation

The difference: Leans harder into thriller than K-PAX does

When decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens wakes up in the body of an unknown man, he discovers he's part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.

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

Both lean on twists more than on science fiction

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.

The Return poster
The Return
2003 Β· dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev
β˜… 7.9drama Β· mystery

Contemplative mystery in both cases

Two young brothers in contemporary Russia are reunited with a father they know only from an old photograph after his sudden return from a long absence. With their mother’s reluctant consent, they set out on a remote trip that quickly becomes an uneasy test of authority, trust, and masculinity. As the journey moves deeper into the wilderness, the fragile bonds between father and sons are pushed to their limits.

Burning poster
Burning
2018 Β· dir. Lee Chang-dong
πŸ… 95%β˜… 7.4mystery Β· drama Β· thriller

Both are built on the same subject: dreams

Deliveryman Jong-su is out on a job when he runs into Hae-mi, a girl who once lived in his neighborhood. She asks if he'd mind looking after her cat while she's away on a trip to Africa. On her return, she introduces to Jong-su an enigmatic young man named Ben, who she met during her trip. One day Ben tells Jong-su about his most unusual hobby.

Meshes of the Afternoon poster
Meshes of the Afternoon
1943 Β· dir. Maya Deren
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.8mystery Β· fantasy

Mystery built on twists, twice over

The difference: 58 years apart, and the 1940s show

A woman returning home falls asleep and has vivid dreams that may or may not be happening in reality. Through repetitive images and complete mismatching of the objective view of time and space, her dark inner desires play out on-screen.

Another Earth poster
Another Earth
2011 Β· dir. Mike Cahill
πŸ… 66%β˜… 6.9drama Β· science fiction

The same preoccupation in both: planet

On the night a duplicate Earth is discovered in the solar system, the lives of a young woman and an accomplished composer become tragically connected after a fatal accident.

Mirage poster
Mirage
2018 Β· dir. Oriol Paulo
β˜… 7.4thriller Β· drama Β· mystery

Dreamlike drama, and it commits to that

During a mysterious thunderstorm, Vera, a young mother, manages to save a life in danger, but her good deed causes a disturbing chain of unexpected consequences.

Lost Highway poster
Lost Highway
1997 Β· dir. David Lynch
πŸ… 70%β˜… 7.6drama Β· thriller Β· mystery

Science fiction with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

A tormented jazz musician finds himself lost in an enigmatic story involving murder, surveillance, gangsters, doppelgΓ€ngers, and an impossible transformation inside a prison cell.

In the mood for more cerebral?

all cerebral movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share K-PAX’s defining feeling.