feelsalike.comSign in
Punishment Park poster

Movies that feel likePunishment Park (1971)

In this fictional documentary, U.S. prisons are at capacity, and President Nixon declares a state of emergency. All new prisoners, most of whom are connected to the antiwar movement, are now given the choice of jail time or spending three days in Punishment Park, where they will be hunted for sport by federal authorities. The prisoners invariably choose the latter option, but learn that, between the desert heat and the brutal police officers, their chances of survival are slim.

If you loved Punishment Park, the closest films we have are Fail Safe (1964), Shame (1968) and Paisan (1946). All three share Punishment Park's contemplative and bleak feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is In Darkness (2011).

πŸ… 92% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.7 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Peter Watkinscontemplativetensebleak
10 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max Β· Amazon Prime Video Β· Criterion Channel

Can't choose? Answer three questions and get one movie for tonight.

See it on the Mood Map

When is Punishment Park streaming? β†’

If Punishment Park hit the spot, these will too

Fail Safe poster
Fail Safe
1964 Β· dir. Sidney Lumet
πŸ… 93%β˜… 8thriller Β· drama Β· war

The same mix in both: stillness, then tension

The difference: Sits closer to war than Punishment Park does

Because of a technical defect an American bomber team mistakenly orders the destruction of Moscow. The President of the United States has but little time to prevent an atomic catastrophe from occurring.

Shame poster
Shame
1968 Β· dir. Ingmar Bergman
πŸ… 67%β˜… 8war Β· drama

Both lean on bleakness more than on drama

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

In the midst of a civil war, a pair of former violinists in a tempestuous marriage oversee a farm on a rural island. In spite of their best efforts to escape their homeland, the war impinges on every aspect of their lives.

Paisan poster
Paisan
1946 Β· dir. Roberto Rossellini
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.6drama Β· warMax

Thriller built on stillness, twice over

The difference: Easier on the tension than Punishment Park

Six stories unfold in various regions, from Sicily to the northern Po Valley as American military personnel interact with a variety of Italian locals over eighteen months in the push north during the Italian Campaign of WWII as German forces retreat.

The Quiet Earth poster
The Quiet Earth
1985 Β· dir. Geoff Murphy
πŸ… 75%β˜… 6.7drama Β· science fiction Β· thriller

Drama with a pulse of tension, in both cases

After a top-secret experiment misfires, a scientist may be the only man left alive in the world.

The Omega Man poster
The Omega Man
1971 Β· dir. Boris Sagal
πŸ… 65%β˜… 6.4science fiction Β· action Β· drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: dystopia

Due to an experimental vaccine, Dr. Robert Neville is the only human survivor of an apocalyptic war waged with biological weapons. Besides him, only a few hundred deformed, nocturnal people remain; sensitive to light, and homicidally psychotic.

In Darkness poster
In Darkness
2011 Β· dir. Agnieszka Holland
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.3drama Β· war

Bleak thriller, and it commits to that

The difference: Made in the 2010s, in a different era of the craft

A dramatization of one man's rescue of Jewish refugees in the Nazi-occupied city of Lviv. In Darkness tells the true story of Leopold Soha who risks his own life to save a dozen people from certain death. Initially only interested in his own good, the thief and burglar hides Jewish refugees for 14 months in the sewers of the Nazi-occupied town of Lviv (formerly Poland).

Code 46 poster
Code 46
2003 Β· dir. Michael Winterbottom
πŸ… 52%β˜… 6.1drama Β· science fiction Β· thriller

One thread runs through both: dystopia

In a dystopian future, insurance fraud investigator William Gold arrives in Shanghai to investigate a forgery ring for "papelles", futuristic passports that record people's identities and genetics. Gold falls for Maria Gonzalez, the woman in charge of the forgeries. After a passionate affair, Gold returns home, having named a coworker as the culprit. But when one of Gonzalez's customers is found dead, Gold is sent back to Shanghai to complete the investigation.

Lifeboat poster
Lifeboat
1944 Β· dir. Alfred Hitchcock
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7.6war Β· drama

Contemplative drama in both cases

During World War II, a small group of survivors is stranded in a lifeboat together after the ship they were traveling on is destroyed by a German U-boat.

A War poster
A War
2015 Β· dir. Tobias Lindholm
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7drama Β· war

A 2010s answer to the same itch

Company commander Claus Michael Pedersen and his men are stationed in Helmand, Afghanistan. Meanwhile back in Denmark, with a husband at war and three children missing their father, everyday life is a struggle for Claus' wife Maria. During a routine mission, the soldiers are caught in heavy Taliban crossfire. In order to save his men, Claus makes a decision that ultimately sees him return to Denmark accused of a war crime.

Slaughterhouse-Five poster
Slaughterhouse-Five
1972 Β· dir. George Roy Hill
πŸ… 82%β˜… 6.8drama Β· science fiction Β· warPrime Video

Both are drama through and through

Billy Pilgrim, a veteran of the Second World War, finds himself mysteriously detached from time, so that he is able to travel, without being able to help it, from the days of his childhood to those of his peculiar life on a distant planet called Tralfamadore, passing through his bitter experience as a prisoner of war in the German city of Dresden, over which looms the inevitable shadow of an unspeakable tragedy.

Beanpole poster
Beanpole
2019 Β· dir. Kantemir Balagov
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.2drama Β· warRent or buy

Drama in the same key

1945, Leningrad. World War II has devastated the city, demolishing its buildings and leaving its citizens in tatters, physically and mentally. Two young women, Iya and Masha, search for meaning and hope in the struggle to rebuild their lives amongst the ruins.

Sobibor poster
Sobibor
2018 Β· dir. Konstantin Khabenskiy
πŸ… 73%β˜… 6.4war Β· dramaPrime Video

Both working the same drama territory

The film is based on a real story that happened in 1943 in the Sobibor concentration camp in German-occupied Poland. The main character of the movie is the Soviet-Jewish soldier Alexander Pechersky, who at that time was serving in the Red Army as a lieutenant. In October 1943, he was captured by the Nazis and deported to the Sobibor concentration camp, where Jews were being exterminated in gas chambers. But, in just 3 weeks, Alexander was able to plan an international uprising of prisoners from Poland and Western Europe. This uprising resulted in being the only successful one throughout the war, which led to the largest escape of prisoners from a Nazi concentration camp.

In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies β†’

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