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Local Hero poster

Movies that feel likeLocal Hero (1983)

An American oil company sends a man to Scotland to buy up an entire village where they want to build a refinery. But things don't go as expected.

If you loved Local Hero, the closest films we have are Housekeeping (1987), The Wind Will Carry Us (1999) and Diary of a Country Priest (1951). All three share Local Hero's contemplative and cozy feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is My Favorite Year (1982).

🍅 100% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.3 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Bill Forsythwittyplayfulcontemplativecozy
6 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · MUBI · Kino Film Collection

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If Local Hero hit the spot, these will too

Housekeeping poster
Housekeeping
1987 · dir. Bill Forsyth
🍅 92%★ 7.2comedy · drama

Bill Forsyth working the same nerve twice

In the Pacific Northwest during the 1950s, two young sisters whose mother has abandoned them wind up living with their Aunt Sylvie, whose views of the world and its conventions don't quite live up to most people's expectations.

The Wind Will Carry Us poster
The Wind Will Carry Us
1999 · dir. Abbas Kiarostami
🍅 97%★ 7.4drama

Common ground: small town life

The difference: Takes it somewhere less witty than Local Hero does

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.

Diary of a Country Priest poster
Diary of a Country Priest
1951 · dir. Robert Bresson
🍅 95%★ 7.7drama

Both are built on the same subject: small town life

The difference: Made in the 1950s, in a different era of the craft

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.

Eat Drink Man Woman poster
Eat Drink Man Woman
1994 · dir. Ang Lee
🍅 88%★ 7.8comedy · drama · romance

Witty where it counts, playful underneath

The difference: Sits closer to romance than Local Hero does

Retired and widowed Chinese master chef Chu lives in modern day Taipei, with his three attractive daughters, all of whom are unattached. Soon, each daughter encounters a new man in their lives. When these new relationships blossom, stereotypes are broken and the living situation within the family changes.

The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun poster
🍅 75%★ 7.1drama · comedyRent or buy

Both land stillness and comfort at once

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

The staff of an American magazine based in France puts out its last issue, with stories featuring an artist sentenced to life imprisonment, student riots, and a kidnapping resolved by a chef.

Columbus poster
Columbus
2017 · dir. Kogonada
🍅 96%★ 7.2drama

Drama built on stillness, twice over

When a renowned architecture scholar falls suddenly ill during a speaking tour, his son Jin finds himself stranded in Columbus, Indiana - a small Midwestern city celebrated for its many significant modernist buildings. Jin strikes up a friendship with Casey, a young architecture enthusiast who works at the local library.

Gregory's Girl poster
Gregory's Girl
1980 · dir. Bill Forsyth
🍅 95%★ 7.1comedy · romance

Bill Forsyth directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

A teenager falls hard for the female soccer player who has replaced him on the team and attempts to pursue her.

Moonstruck poster
Moonstruck
1987 · dir. Norman Jewison
🍅 90%★ 7.2comedy · drama · romance

Both lean on wit more than on comedy

37-year-old Italian-American widow Loretta Castorini believes she is unlucky in love, and so accepts a marriage proposal from her boyfriend Johnny, even though she doesn't love him. When she meets his estranged younger brother Ronny, an emotional and passionate man, she finds herself drawn to him. She tries to resist, but Ronny, who blames his brother for the loss of his hand, has no scruples about aggressively pursuing her while Johnny is out of the country. As Loretta falls for Ronny, she learns that she's not the only one in her family with a secret romance.

Corpus Christi poster
Corpus Christi
2019 · dir. Jan Komasa
🍅 98%★ 7.7drama

Drama with a pulse of comfort, in both cases

A pious 20-year-old juvenile delinquent is sent to work at a sawmill in a small town; on arrival, he dresses up as a priest and accidentally takes over the local parish. The arrival of this young, charismatic preacher is an opportunity for the local community to begin the healing process after a tragedy that happened a year prior.

Sweet Bean poster
Sweet Bean
2015 · dir. Naomi Kawase
🍅 84%★ 7.4drama

Contemplative comedy in both cases

The master of a dorayaki pastry store hires a 76-year-old woman whose talents attract customers from all over. But she's hiding a troubling secret. Life's joys are found in the little details, and no matter what may be weighing you down, everyone loves a good pastry.

Amarcord poster
Amarcord
1973 · dir. Federico Fellini
🍅 88%★ 7.8comedy · dramaMax

Playful comedy, and it commits to that

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.

My Favorite Year poster
My Favorite Year
1982 · dir. Richard Benjamin
🍅 97%★ 7.3comedy · drama

Both lean on wit more than on drama

Fledgling comic Benjy Stone can't believe his luck when his childhood hero, the swashbuckling matinee idol Alan Swann, gets booked to appear on the variety show he writes for. But when Swann arrives, he fails to live up to his silver screen image. Instead, he's a drunken womanizer who suffers from stage fright. Benjy is assigned to look after him before the show, and it's all he can do to keep his former idol from going completely off the rails.

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