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Notorious poster

Movies that feel likeNotorious (1946)

In order to help bring Nazis to justice, U.S. government agent T.R. Devlin recruits Alicia Huberman, the American daughter of a convicted German war criminal, as a spy. As they begin to fall for one another, Alicia is instructed to win the affections of Alexander Sebastian, a Nazi hiding out in Brazil. When Sebastian becomes serious about his relationship with Alicia, the stakes get higher, and Devlin must watch her slip further undercover.

If you loved Notorious, the closest films we have are Spellbound (1945), Great Expectations (1946) and Brief Encounter (1945). All three share Notorious' contemplative and romantic feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Make Way for Tomorrow (1937).

🍅 96% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.9 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Alfred Hitchcockcontemplativeromantictendertense
10 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Amazon Prime Video · Criterion Channel

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If Notorious hit the spot, these will too

Spellbound poster
Spellbound
1945 · dir. Alfred Hitchcock
🍅 86%★ 7.5drama · crime · mystery

The same hand behind both of them: Alfred Hitchcock

The difference: Sits closer to crime than Notorious does

When Dr. Anthony Edwardes arrives at a Vermont mental hospital to replace the outgoing hospital director, Dr. Constance Peterson, a psychoanalyst, discovers Edwardes is actually an impostor. The man confesses that the real Dr. Edwardes is dead and fears he may have killed him, but cannot recall anything. Dr. Peterson, however is convinced his impostor is innocent of the man's murder, and joins him on a quest to unravel his amnesia through psychoanalysis.

Great Expectations poster
Great Expectations
1946 · dir. David Lean
🍅 100%★ 7.8drama · romanceMax

Both land stillness and romance at once

The difference: Trades the tension of Notorious for an angle of its own

In this Dickens adaptation, orphan Pip discovers through lawyer Mr. Jaggers that a mysterious benefactor wishes to ensure that he becomes a gentleman. Reunited with his childhood patron, Miss Havisham, and his first love, the beautiful but emotionally cold Estella, he discovers that the elderly spinster has gone mad from having been left at the altar as a young woman, and has made her charge into a warped, unfeeling heartbreaker.

Brief Encounter poster
Brief Encounter
1945 · dir. David Lean
🍅 95%★ 8drama · romanceMax

Tender drama, and it commits to that

Returning home from a shopping trip to a nearby town, bored suburban housewife Laura Jesson is thrown by happenstance into an acquaintance with virtuous doctor Alec Harvey. Their casual friendship soon develops during their weekly visits into something more emotionally fulfilling than either expected, and they must wrestle with the potential havoc their deepening relationship would have on their lives and the lives of those they love.

Letter from an Unknown Woman poster
Letter from an Unknown Woman
1948 · dir. Max Ophüls
🍅 100%★ 7.8drama · romance

Romance with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

A pianist about to flee from a duel receives a letter from a woman he cannot remember. As she tells the story of her lifelong love for him, he is forced to reinterpret his own past.

The Red Shoes poster
The Red Shoes
1948 · dir. Michael Powell
🍅 98%★ 8.1drama · romanceMax

Both lean on romance more than on thriller

A fledgling ballerina falls in love with a brilliant composer, but the jealous head of the ballet company plots to drive them apart.

Children of Paradise poster
Children of Paradise
1945 · dir. Marcel Carné
🍅 98%★ 8.3drama · romance

Tender drama in both cases

In a chaotic 19th-century Paris teeming with aristocrats, thieves, psychics, and courtesans, theater mime Baptiste is in love with the mysterious actress Garance. But Garance, in turn, is loved by three other men: pretentious actor Frederick, conniving thief Lacenaire, and Count Edouard of Montray.

Casablanca poster
Casablanca
1943 · dir. Michael Curtiz
🍅 99%★ 8.5drama · romanceMax

The same two preoccupations: nazi, and spy

In Casablanca, Morocco in December 1941, a cynical American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.

Black Orpheus poster
Black Orpheus
1959 · dir. Marcel Camus
🍅 88%★ 7.4drama · romanceMax

Common ground: rio de janeiro

Young lovers Orfeu and Eurydice run through the favelas of Rio during Carnaval, on the lam from a hitman dressed like Death and Orfeu's vengeful fiancée Mira and passing between moments of fantasy and stark reality. This impressionistic retelling of the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice introduced bossa nova to the world with its soundtrack by young Brazilian composers Luiz Bonfá and Antonio Carlos Jobim.

The Earrings of Madame de... poster
The Earrings of Madame de...
1953 · dir. Max Ophüls
🍅 97%★ 7.8drama · romanceMax

Romance built on stillness, twice over

In late 19th century France, the Countess Louise, wife of a wealthy general, sells the earrings her husband gave her on their wedding day to pay off her secret debts, then claims to have lost them. Her husband quickly learns of the deceit, which is the beginning of many tragic misunderstandings, all involving the earrings, the general, the countess, and her new lover, the Italian Baron Donati.

Summer with Monika poster
Summer with Monika
1953 · dir. Ingmar Bergman
🍅 100%★ 7.5drama · romance

Romantic thriller in both cases

One summer day, two teens begin a reckless affair and abandon their families to be with one another.

Wuthering Heights poster
Wuthering Heights
1939 · dir. William Wyler
🍅 92%★ 7.5drama · romancePrime VideoMax

Same instincts, 7 years apart

Young orphan Heathcliff is adopted by the wealthy Earnshaw family and moves into their estate, Wuthering Heights. Soon, the new resident falls for his compassionate foster sister, Cathy. The two share a remarkable bond that seems unbreakable until Cathy, feeling the pressure of social convention, suppresses her feelings and marries Edgar Linton, a man of means who befits her stature. Heathcliff vows to win her back.

Make Way for Tomorrow poster
Make Way for Tomorrow
1937 · dir. Leo McCarey
🍅 100%★ 8.2drama · romance

Cut from the same romance cloth

An elderly couple are forced to separate themselves from each other after their children refuse to take both into one house.

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