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Kes poster

Movies that feel likeKes (1970)

Bullied at school and ignored and abused at home by his indifferent mother and older brother, Billy Casper, a 15-year-old working-class Yorkshire boy, tames and trains his pet kestrel falcon whom he names Kes. Helped and encouraged by his English teacher and his fellow students, Billy finally finds a positive purpose to his unhappy existence.

If you loved Kes, the closest films we have are Diary of a Country Priest (1951), How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies (2024) and Rebel Without a Cause (1955). All three share Kes' contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is House of Hummingbird (2019).

πŸ… 100% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.9 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Ken Loachcontemplativewistfulcozy
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix Β· HBO Max Β· Amazon Prime Video

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If Kes hit the spot, these will too

Diary of a Country Priest poster
Diary of a Country Priest
1951 Β· dir. Robert Bresson
πŸ… 95%β˜… 7.7drama

One thread runs through both: small town life

The difference: Easier on the wistfulness than Kes

An inexperienced, sickly priest shows up in the rural French community of Ambricourt, where he joins the community's clergy. But the locals don't take kindly to the priest, and his ascetic ways and unsociable demeanor make him an outcast. During Bible studies at the nearby girls school, he is continually mocked by his students. Then his attempt to intervene in a family feud backfires into a scandal. His failures, compounded with his declining health, begin to erode his faith.

How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies poster
How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies
2024 Β· dir. Pat Boonnitipat
πŸ… 98%β˜… 7.9dramaNetflix

Both keep coming back to the same thing: growing up

The difference: 54 years apart, and the 2020s show

M, a university dropout low on money and luck, volunteers to take care of his terminally ill grandmother, in the hope of pocketing an inheritance.

Rebel Without a Cause poster
Rebel Without a Cause
1955 Β· dir. Nicholas Ray
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7.6drama

Common ground: growing up

After moving to a new town, troublemaking teen Jim Stark is supposed to have a clean slate, although being the new kid in town brings its own problems. While searching for some stability, Stark forms a bond with a disturbed classmate, Plato, and falls for local girl Judy. However, Judy is the girlfriend of neighborhood tough, Buzz. When Buzz violently confronts Jim and challenges him to a drag race, the new kid's real troubles begin.

The 400 Blows poster
The 400 Blows
1959 Β· dir. FranΓ§ois Truffaut
πŸ… 99%β˜… 8dramaMax

The same mix in both: stillness, then wistfulness

For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel, life is one difficult situation after another. Surrounded by inconsiderate adults, including his neglectful parents, Antoine spends his days with his best friend, Rene, trying to plan for a better life. When one of their schemes goes awry, Antoine ends up in trouble with the law, leading to even more conflicts with unsympathetic authority figures.

The Straight Story poster
The Straight Story
1999 Β· dir. David Lynch
πŸ… 95%β˜… 8dramaDisney+

Both are built on the same subject: brothers and sisters

Retired farmer and widower Alvin Straight learns one day that his estranged brother Lyle has suffered a severe stroke. Alvin is determined to make things right with Lyle while he still can, but his brother lives in Wisconsin, while Alvin is stuck in Iowa with no car and no driver's license. He then has the idea of making the trip on his old lawnmower, thus beginning a picturesque and at times deeply spiritual odyssey.

The Wind Will Carry Us poster
The Wind Will Carry Us
1999 Β· dir. Abbas Kiarostami
πŸ… 97%β˜… 7.4drama

The same preoccupation in both: small town life

Irreverent city engineer Behzad comes to a rural Kurdish village in Iran to keep vigil for a dying relative. In the meanwhile the film follows his efforts to fit in with the local community and how he changes his own attitudes as a result.

Amarcord poster
Amarcord
1973 Β· dir. Federico Fellini
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.8comedy Β· dramaMax

Cozy drama, and it commits to that

The difference: Sits closer to comedy than Kes does

In an Italian seaside town, young Titta gets into trouble with his friends and watches various local eccentrics as they engage in often absurd behavior. Frequently clashing with his stern father and defended by his doting mother, Titta witnesses the actions of a wide range of characters, from his extended family to Fascist loyalists to sensual women, with certain moments shifting into fantastical scenarios.

Leave No Trace poster
Leave No Trace
2018 Β· dir. Debra Granik
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.1drama

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

A father and daughter live a perfect but mysterious existence in Forest Park, a beautiful nature reserve near Portland, Oregon, rarely making contact with the world. But when a small mistake tips them off to authorities, they are sent on an increasingly erratic journey in search of a place to call their own.

Malena poster
Malena
2000 Β· dir. Giuseppe Tornatore
πŸ… 54%β˜… 7.4drama

Drama with a pulse of wistfulness, in both cases

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

12-year-old Renato experiences three significant events on the same day: the beginning of the Second World War, getting a bike, and witnessing the arrival of the gorgeous Malèna. Through his eyes, we see the curse of beauty and loneliness of Malena, whose husband is presumed dead, and, through his soul, we see his love for her.

Biutiful poster
Biutiful
2010 Β· dir. Alejandro G. IΓ±Γ‘rritu
πŸ… 66%β˜… 7.4dramaNetflix

A streak of stillness through both

This is a story of a man in free fall. On the road to redemption, darkness lights his way. Connected with the afterlife, Uxbal is a tragic hero and father of two who's sensing the danger of death. He struggles with a tainted reality and a fate that works against him in order to forgive, for love, and forever.

The Hand of God poster
The Hand of God
2021 Β· dir. Paolo Sorrentino
πŸ… 83%β˜… 7.3dramaNetflix

The shared currency is wistfulness

In 1980s Naples, an awkward teen struggling to find his place experiences heartbreak and liberation after he's inadvertently saved from a freak accident by football legend Diego Maradona.

House of Hummingbird poster
House of Hummingbird
2019 Β· dir. Kim Bora
πŸ… 98%β˜… 7.4dramaPrime Video

Both working the same drama territory

14-year-old Eun-hee moves through life like a hummingbird searching for a taste of sweetness wherever she may find it. Ignored by her parents and abused by her brother, she finds her escape by roaming the neighborhood with her best friend, going on adventures, and exploring young love.

In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share Kes’ defining feeling.