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Movies that feel like Nostalgia (1983)

If you loved Nostalgia, the closest films we have are Wings of Desire (1987), Belle de Jour (1967) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). All three share Nostalgia's contemplative and romantic feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 10 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on HBO Max, Criterion Channel and Retrocrush and others, checked against today's data.

Russian poet Andrei Gorchakov journeys through Italy with his interpreter Eugenia to research the life of an 18th-century Russian composer who once lived abroad. Isolated and consumed by an unrelenting longing for his homeland, Andrei becomes drawn to Domenico, a radical mystic obsessed with spiritual redemption. Through austere imagery and extended temporal rhythms, Tarkovsky examines exile, memory, and the profound melancholy of being unable to belong fully to either place or language.

πŸ… 88% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.9 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Andrei Tarkovskycontemplativeromantictendercerebraldreamlike
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When is Nostalgia streaming? β†’

If Nostalgia hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: Nostalgia for the Light (2010)

Wings of Desire poster
Wings of Desire
1987 Β· dir. Wim Wenders
πŸ… 95%β˜… 7.9drama Β· fantasy Β· romance

One thread runs through both: dreams

The difference: Missing the ideas of Nostalgia

Two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, glide through the streets of Berlin, observing the bustling population, providing invisible rays of hope to the distressed but never interacting with them. When Damiel falls in love with lonely trapeze artist Marion, the angel longs to experience life in the physical world, and finds β€” with some words of wisdom from actor Peter Falk β€” that it might be possible for him to take human form.

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Belle de Jour poster
Belle de Jour
1967 Β· dir. Luis BuΓ±uel
πŸ… 95%β˜… 7.6drama Β· romance

Both keep coming back to the same thing: dreams

Beautiful young housewife SΓ©verine Serizy cannot reconcile her masochistic fantasies with her everyday life alongside dutiful husband Pierre. When her lovestruck friend Henri mentions a secretive high-class brothel run by Madame Anais, SΓ©verine begins to work there during the day under the name Belle de Jour. But when one of her clients grows possessive, she must try to go back to her normal life.

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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind poster
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2004 Β· dir. Michel Gondry
πŸ… 93%β˜… 8.3science fiction Β· drama Β· romance

Both are built on the same subject: memory

The difference: Leans harder into science fiction than Nostalgia does

Joel Barish, heartbroken that his girlfriend underwent a procedure to erase him from her memory, decides to do the same. However, as he watches his memories of her fade away, he realises that he still loves her, and may be too late to correct his mistake.

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

The same preoccupation in both: memory

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.

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The Woman Next Door poster
The Woman Next Door
1981 Β· dir. FranΓ§ois Truffaut
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.2drama Β· romance

Both land stillness and romance at once

Two ex-lovers wind up living next door to each other with their respective spouses. Forbidden passions ensue.

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Millennium Actress poster
Millennium Actress
2002 Β· dir. Satoshi Kon
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.8animation Β· drama Β· romance

The same mix in both: tenderness, then dream logic

Documentary filmmaker Genya Tachibana has tracked down the legendary actress Chiyoko Fujiwara, who mysteriously vanished at the height of her career. When he presents her with a key she had lost and thought was gone forever, the filmmaker could not have imagined that it would not only unlock the long-held secrets of Chiyoko’s life... but also his own.

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Journey to Italy poster
Journey to Italy
1954 Β· dir. Roberto Rossellini
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.3drama Β· romance

Common ground: italy

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

Married for eight years with no children, Brits Katherine and Alex Joyce are driving to Italy, their ultimate destination just outside of Naples to sell the villa they have just inherited from his uncle, the villa where they will be staying during their time there. On the drive, they come to the realization that this trip marks the first time that they have truly been alone together, and as such don't really know one another in the true sense.

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Enchanted April poster
Enchanted April
1991 Β· dir. Mike Newell
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.3romance Β· drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: italy

When married British women Rose Arbuthnot and Lottie Wilkins decide to take a break from their respective spouses, they stay at a castle in Italy for a quiet holiday. Joining the ladies is Caroline Dester, a young socialite, and Mrs. Fisher, an older aristocrat. Liberated from their daily routines, the four women ease into life in rural Italy, and each finds herself transformed by the experience.

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Ali: Fear Eats the Soul poster
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
1974 Β· dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder
πŸ… 100%β˜… 8romance Β· drama

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

Emmi Kurowski, a cleaning lady, is lonely in her old age. Her husband died years ago, and her grown children offer little companionship. One night she goes to a bar frequented by Arab immigrants and strikes up a friendship with middle-aged mechanic Ali. Their relationship soon develops into something more, and Emmi's family and neighbors criticize their spontaneous marriage. Soon Emmi and Ali are forced to confront their own insecurities about their future.

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Contempt poster
Contempt
1963 Β· dir. Jean-Luc Godard
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7.4drama Β· romance

Romance with a pulse of romance, in both cases

Art film producer Jeremy Prokosch, unhappy with the work of his director, hires Fritz Lang (as himself) to direct an adaptation of The Odyssey, but when it seems that the legendary filmmaker is making a picture destined to bomb, he brings in a screenwriter to energise the script. The professional intersects with the personal when a rift develops between the writer and his wife.

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Stalker poster
Stalker
1979 Β· dir. Andrei Tarkovsky
πŸ… 100%β˜… 8science fiction Β· drama

Andrei Tarkovsky working the same nerve twice

Near a gray and unnamed city is the Zone, a place guarded by barbed wire and soldiers, and where the normal laws of physics are victim to frequent anomalies. A stalker guides two men into the Zone, specifically to an area in which deep-seated desires are granted.

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Through the Olive Trees poster
Through the Olive Trees
1995 Β· dir. Abbas Kiarostami
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7.7drama Β· romance

Both lean on tenderness more than on drama

When the actor in a scene for his film Life And Nothing More… has to quit, a film director casts another man for the part. However, complications arise since the man and the woman who was cast for the scene know each other.

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In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies β†’

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