feelsalike.comSign in
Requiem for a Dream poster

Movies that feel likeRequiem for a Dream (2000)

The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island residents are shattered when their addictions run deep.

If you loved Requiem for a Dream, the closest films we have are Bronson (2009), Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003) and The Lighthouse (2019). All three share Requiem for a Dream's contemplative and lonely feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Passion of Anna (1969).

πŸ… 80% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 8.3 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Darren Aronofskygrittycontemplativedreamlikelonely
7 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max Β· Hulu Β· Disney Plus

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

See it on the Mood Map

When is Requiem for a Dream streaming? β†’

If Requiem for a Dream hit the spot, these will too

Bronson poster
Bronson
2009 Β· dir. Nicolas Winding Refn
πŸ… 75%β˜… 7drama Β· action Β· crime

A mind unraveling in isolation, told with the same unflinching intensity

The difference: A true-crime prison saga, not addiction's hallucinatory spiral

A young man who was sentenced to 7 years in prison for robbing a post office ends up spending 30 years in solitary confinement. During this time, his own personality is supplanted by his alter ego, Charles Bronson.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring poster
πŸ… 94%β˜… 8drama

A meditative, isolated life observed with the same patient intensity

The difference: Buddhist stillness and years passing, opposite Requiem's frantic dread

An isolated lake, where an old monk lives in a small floating temple. The monk has a young boy living with him, learning to become a monk. We watch as seasons and years pass by.

The Lighthouse poster
The Lighthouse
2019 Β· dir. Robert Eggers
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7.4drama Β· fantasy Β· thrillerMax

Two people's sanity dissolving in claustrophobic, hallucinatory isolation

The difference: Supernatural maritime dread replaces addiction's grinding collapse

Two lighthouse keepers try to maintain their sanity while living on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.

To Kill a Mockingbird poster
To Kill a Mockingbird
1962 Β· dir. Robert Mulligan
πŸ… 93%β˜… 8.2drama

Common ground: isolation

The difference: Trades the dream logic of Requiem for a Dream for an angle of its own

Scout Finch, 6, and her older brother Jem live in sleepy Maycomb, Alabama, spending much of their time with their friend Dill and spying on their reclusive and mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. When Atticus, their widowed father and a respected lawyer, defends a black man named Tom Robinson against fabricated rape charges, the trial and tangent events expose the children to evils of racism and stereotyping.

The Passion of Anna poster
The Passion of Anna
1969 Β· dir. Ingmar Bergman
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.6drama

Gritty where it counts, contemplative underneath

The difference: Made in the 1960s, in a different era of the craft

A recently divorced man and an emotionally devastated widow begin a love affair.

The Green Mile poster
The Green Mile
1999 Β· dir. Frank Darabont
πŸ… 78%β˜… 8.6fantasy Β· drama Β· crime

Crime built on dream logic, twice over

The difference: Sits closer to fantasy than Requiem for a Dream does

A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the cell block's head guard, Paul Edgecomb, recognizes Coffey's miraculous gift, he tries desperately to help stave off the condemned man's execution.

Perfect Days poster
Perfect Days
2023 Β· dir. Wim Wenders
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.9dramaRent or buy

Lonely drama in both cases

Hirayama is content with his life as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo. Outside of his structured routine, he cherishes music on cassette tapes, books, and taking photos of trees. Through unexpected encounters, he reflects on finding beauty in the world.

Room poster
Room
2015 Β· dir. Lenny Abrahamson
πŸ… 93%β˜… 8.1drama Β· thrillerMax

Both are built on the same subject: isolation

The difference: Leans harder into thriller than Requiem for a Dream does

Held captive for 7 years in an enclosed space, a woman and her young son finally gain their freedom, allowing the boy to experience the outside world for the first time.

Border poster
Border
2018 Β· dir. Ali Abbasi
πŸ… 97%β˜… 7fantasy Β· drama Β· crime

Gritty crime, and it commits to that

When a border guard with a sixth sense for identifying smugglers encounters the first person she cannot prove is guilty, she is forced to confront terrifying revelations about herself and humankind.

A Short Film About Killing poster
A Short Film About Killing
1988 Β· dir. Krzysztof KieΕ›lowski
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7.9crime Β· drama

A bleak psychological portrait shot with unflinching, clinical detachment

The difference: One senseless murder's aftermath, not a spiral of addiction

Jacek climbs into the taxi driven by Waldemar, tells him to drive to a remote location, then brutally strangles him, seemingly without motive.

Blow poster
Blow
2001 Β· dir. Ted Demme
πŸ… 56%β˜… 7.5crime Β· drama

The same preoccupation in both: drug addiction

The story of how George Jung, together with the MedellΓ­n Cartel led by Pablo Escobar, established the billion-dollar cocaine empire in the United States in the 1970s.

Edward Scissorhands poster
Edward Scissorhands
1990 Β· dir. Tim Burton
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7.8fantasy Β· drama Β· romanceHuluDisney+

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

A small suburban town receives a visit from a castaway unfinished science experiment named Edward.

In the mood for more gritty?

all gritty movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share Requiem for a Dream’s defining feeling.