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Lion poster

Movies that feel likeLion (2016)

A five-year-old Indian boy gets lost on the streets of Calcutta, thousands of kilometers from home. He survives many challenges before being adopted by a couple in Australia; 25 years later, he sets out to find his lost family.

If you loved Lion, the closest films we have are On My Skin (2018), Loveless (2017) and Invisible Life (2019). All three share Lion's contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Wild (2014).

🍅 84% Rotten Tomatoes★ 8 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Garth Daviscontemplative
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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If Lion hit the spot, these will too

On My Skin poster
On My Skin
2018 · dir. Alessio Cremonini
★ 7.3dramaNetflix

One thread runs through both: biography

The incredible true story behind the most controversial Italian court cases in recent years. Stefano Cucchi was arrested for a minor crime and mysteriously found dead during his detention. In one week's time, a family is changed forever.

Loveless poster
Loveless
2017 · dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev
🍅 95%★ 7.6drama

Common ground: missing child

Zhenya and Boris are going through a vicious divorce marked by resentment, frustration and recriminations. Already embarking on new lives, each with a new partner, they are impatient to start again, to turn the page – even if it means threatening to abandon their 12-year-old son Alyosha. Until, after witnessing one of their fights, Alyosha disappears.

Invisible Life poster
Invisible Life
2019 · dir. Karim Aïnouz
🍅 94%★ 7.7dramaPrime Video

The same preoccupation in both: long lost relative

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1950. In the conservative home of the Gusmão family, Eurídice and Guida are two inseparable sisters who support each other. While Guida can share with her younger sister the details of her romantic adventures, Eurídice finds in her older sister the encouragement she needs to pursue her dream of becoming a professional pianist.

Beautiful Boy poster
Beautiful Boy
2018 · dir. Felix van Groeningen
🍅 67%★ 7.4dramaPrime Video

Both keep coming back to the same thing: a true story

After he and his first wife separate, journalist David Sheff struggles to help their teenage son, who goes from experimenting with drugs to becoming devastatingly addicted to methamphetamine.

Concussion poster
Concussion
2015 · dir. Peter Landesman
🍅 58%★ 7.1dramaNetflix

Both are built on the same subject: biography

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

A dramatic thriller based on the incredible true David vs. Goliath story of American immigrant Dr. Bennet Omalu, the brilliant forensic neuropathologist who made the first discovery of CTE, a football-related brain trauma, in a pro player and fought for the truth to be known. Omalu's emotional quest puts him at dangerous odds with one of the most powerful institutions in the world.

Wild poster
Wild
2014 · dir. Jean-Marc Vallée
🍅 88%★ 7.1drama

Common ground: a true story

A woman with a tragic past decides to start her new life by hiking for one thousand miles on the Pacific Crest Trail.

Big Eyes poster
Big Eyes
2014 · dir. Tim Burton
🍅 72%★ 6.9dramaStarz

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

In the late 1950s and early '60s, artist Walter Keane achieves unbelievable fame and success with portraits of saucer-eyed waifs. However, no one realizes that his wife, Margaret, is the real painter behind the brush. Although Margaret is horrified to learn that Walter is passing off her work as his own, she is too meek to protest too loudly. It isn't until the Keanes' marriage comes to an end and a lawsuit follows that the truth finally comes to light.

Bombshell poster
Bombshell
2019 · dir. Jay Roach
🍅 67%★ 6.8dramaPrime Video

Contemplative drama in both cases

Bombshell is a revealing look inside the most powerful and controversial media empire of all time; and the explosive story of the women who brought down the infamous man who created it.

Joy poster
Joy
2015 · dir. David O. Russell
🍅 61%★ 6.6dramaStarz

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

A story based on the life of a struggling Long Island single mom who became one of the country's most successful entrepreneurs.

The Greatest Showman poster
The Greatest Showman
2017 · dir. Michael Gracey
🍅 56%★ 7.5dramaMax

Both play drama straight

The story of American showman P.T. Barnum, founder of the circus that became the famous traveling Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

The Book Thief poster
The Book Thief
2013 · dir. Brian Percival
🍅 50%★ 7.5drama

Both are drama through and through

While subjected to the horrors of WWII Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. Under the stairs in her home, a Jewish refugee is being sheltered by her adoptive parents.

The Fighter poster
The Fighter
2010 · dir. David O. Russell
🍅 91%★ 7.8dramaParamount+

The same drama instincts

Boxer "Irish" Micky Ward's unlikely road to the world light welterweight title. His Rocky-like rise was shepherded by half-brother Dicky, a boxer-turned-trainer who rebounded in life after nearly being KO'd by drugs and crime.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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