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My Life as a Dog poster

Movies that feel likeMy Life as a Dog (1985)

A boy, obsessed with comparing himself with those less fortunate, experiences a different life at the home of his aunt and uncle in 1959 Sweden.

If you loved My Life as a Dog, the closest films we have are The Castle (1997), Together (2000) and Minnie and Moskowitz (1971). All three share My Life as a Dog's contemplative and witty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is American Movie (1999).

🍅 100% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.6 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Lasse Hallströmcontemplativewittyplayfullonelyhopeful
6 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Paramount Plus Premium · MUBI

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If My Life as a Dog hit the spot, these will too

The Castle poster
The Castle
1997 · dir. Rob Sitch
🍅 87%★ 7.6drama · comedy

Both keep coming back to the same thing: underdog

The difference: Takes it somewhere less lonely than My Life as a Dog does

The quirky Kerrigan family lives together in a makeshift home they built themselves – with great pride and a bizarre attention to detail – a few yards from the edge of Melbourne, Australia's busy Tullamarine Airport. When a building inspector condemns the building and reveals that the government plans to use their land for an airport expansion, Darryl Kerrigan and his brood recruit hack attorney Dennis Denuto and prepare themselves for the fight of their lives.

Together poster
Together
2000 · dir. Lukas Moodysson
🍅 90%★ 7.4drama · comedy · romance

Common ground in both: sweden and loneliness

The difference: Trades the hope of My Life as a Dog for an angle of its own

Elisabeth leaves her abusive and drunken husband Rolf, and goes to live with her brother, Göran. The year is 1975 and Göran lives in a commune called Together. Living in this leftist commune Elisabeth learns that the world can be viewed from different perspectives.

Minnie and Moskowitz poster
Minnie and Moskowitz
1971 · dir. John Cassavetes
🍅 82%★ 7.2romance · drama · comedy

Common ground: loneliness

The difference: Sits closer to romance than My Life as a Dog does

Depressed and jaded after being dumped by her married boyfriend, aging beauty Minnie Moore wonders if she'll ever find love. After shaggy-haired parking lot attendant Seymour Moskowitz comes to her defense from an angry and rebuffed blind date, he falls hopelessly in love with her despite their myriad differences. Minnie reluctantly agrees to a date with Moskowitz, and, slowly but surely, an unlikely romance blossoms between the two.

American Movie poster
American Movie
1999 · dir. Chris Smith
🍅 94%★ 7.8documentary · comedy

Both are built on the same subject: underdog

American Movie documents the story of filmmaker Mark Borchardt, his mission, and his dream. Spanning over two years of intense struggle with his film, his family, financial decline, and spiritual crisis, American Movie is a portrayal of ambition, obsession, excess, and one man's quest for the American Dream.

In America poster
In America
2003 · dir. Jim Sheridan
🍅 90%★ 7.7drama

Contemplative where it counts, hopeful underneath

A family of Irish immigrants adjusts to life on the mean streets of Hell's Kitchen while also grieving the death of a child.

Swades poster
Swades
2004 · dir. Ashutosh Gowariker
🍅 90%★ 8.2dramaNetflix

Drama built on stillness, twice over

A successful Indian scientist returns home to his village to take his nanny back to America with him, and in the process rediscovers his roots.

Astral City: A Spiritual Journey poster
Astral City: A Spiritual Journey
2010 · dir. Wagner de Assis
★ 6.5drama

Hopeful comedy, and it commits to that

The difference: 25 years apart, and the 2010s show

The selfish Dr. André Luiz dies and awakes in the limbo called "Umbral". After a painful period in the gruesome swamp, he is rescued and brought in a white light to "Nosso Lar" (meaning "Our Home"). He finds a place of harmony, where people live in peace awaiting

Frances Ha poster
Frances Ha
2013 · dir. Noah Baumbach
🍅 92%★ 7.4comedy · dramaNetflix

The same mix in both: wit, then play

An aspiring dancer moves to New York City and becomes caught up in a whirlwind of flighty fair-weather friends, diminishing fortunes and career setbacks.

Castaway on the Moon poster
Castaway on the Moon
2009 · dir. Lee Hae-jun
★ 7.9drama · comedy · romance

Drama with a pulse of loneliness, in both cases

Mr. Kim is jobless, lost in debt and has been dumped by his girlfriend. He decides to end it all by jumping into the Han River – only to find himself washed up on a small, mid-river island. He soon abandons thoughts of suicide or rescue and begins a new life as a castaway. His antics catch the attention of a young woman whose apartment overlooks the river. Her discovery changes both their lives.

Awakenings poster
Awakenings
1990 · dir. Penny Marshall
🍅 81%★ 7.8drama

Both lean on stillness more than on comedy

Dr. Malcolm Sayer, a shy research physician, uses an experimental drug to "awaken" the catatonic victims of a rare disease. Leonard is the first patient to receive the controversial treatment. His awakening, filled with awe and enthusiasm, proves a rebirth for Sayer too, as the exuberant patient reveals life's simple but unutterably sweet pleasures to the introverted doctor.

Certain Women poster
Certain Women
2016 · dir. Kelly Reichardt
🍅 92%★ 6.4dramaParamount+

The same preoccupation in both: rural area

Three strong-willed women strive to forge their own paths amidst the wide-open plains of the American Northwest: a lawyer forced to subdue a troubled client; a wife and mother whose plans to construct her dream home reveal fissures in her marriage; and a lonely ranch hand who forms an ambiguous bond with a young law student.

Departures poster
Departures
2008 · dir. Yojiro Takita
🍅 80%★ 8drama

Hopeful drama in both cases

Daigo, a cellist, is laid off from his orchestra and moves with his wife back to his small hometown where the living is cheaper. Thinking he’s applying for a job at a travel agency he finds he’s being interviewed for work with departures of a more permanent nature – as an undertaker’s assistant.

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