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Movies that feel like Return (2008)

If you loved Return, the closest films we have are Summer Wars (2009), The Congress (2013) and LFO (2013). All three share Return's cerebral feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 10 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video and others, checked against today's data.

Polish animator Anna Błaszczyk’s humorous short—a collage of drawing, cut-out, and computer animation—was inspired by Stanisław Lem’s 1961 novel Return from the Stars, a time-paradox tale of an astronaut who returns to Earth after many years away.

6.7 IMDbTMDB ↗dir. Anna Błaszczykcerebral

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If Return hit the spot, these will too

Summer Wars poster
Summer Wars
2009 · dir. Mamoru Hosoda
🍅 81%7.4animation · science fiction

Both lean on ideas more than on animation

Teenage math whiz Kenji Koiso agrees to take a summer job at the Nagano hometown of his crush, Natsuki. When he arrives, he finds that her family have reunited to celebrate the 90th birthday of their matriarch. His job: pretend to be Natsuki's fiancé. Meanwhile, his attempt to solve a mathematical equation causes a parallel world's collision with Earth.

Feels alike?
The Congress poster
The Congress
2013 · dir. Ari Folman
🍅 71%6.4drama · science fiction · animation

Science fiction with a pulse of ideas, in both cases

The difference: Leans harder into drama than Return does

An aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job, though the consequences of her decision affect her in ways she didn't consider.

Feels alike?
LFO poster
LFO
2013 · dir. Antonio Tublén
🍅 100%6.6drama · science fiction

Science fiction built on ideas, twice over

LFO is a dark comedy/drama/Sci-Fi about a man who realizes that he can hypnotise with sound. He starts experimenting on his neighbors, where the abuse of power takes over and, eventually, severe consequences for mankind are at stake.

Feels alike?
Little Joe poster
Little Joe
2019 · dir. Jessica Hausner
🍅 66%5.8drama · science fiction

Science fiction of the same temperament

Alice, a single mother who is more dedicated to her work as a genetic engineer than to her teenage son Joe, develops a new variety of flower that is supposed to have the ability to make its owner happy thanks to its special chemical properties.

Feels alike?
Krrish poster
Krrish
2006 · dir. Rakesh Roshan
🍅 88%6.5action · science fiction

Both are science fiction through and through

In Singapore, Krishna is forced by circumstances to use his superpowers and become a masked superhero named Krrish, before getting drawn towards his lost legacy.

Feels alike?
Another Earth poster
Another Earth
2011 · dir. Mike Cahill
🍅 66%6.9drama · science fiction

The science fiction is handled with the same confidence

On the night a duplicate Earth is discovered in the solar system, the lives of a young woman and an accomplished composer become tragically connected after a fatal accident.

Feels alike?
Born in Flames poster
Born in Flames
1983 · dir. Lizzie Borden
🍅 89%6.5drama · science fiction

Both know what they want from science fiction

The difference: 25 years apart, and the 1980s show

In near-future New York, ten years after the “social-democratic war of liberation,” diverse groups of women organize a feminist uprising as equality remains unfulfilled.

Feels alike?
Parallel Mothers poster
Parallel Mothers
2021 · dir. Pedro Almodóvar
🍅 96%7.1drama

Reaching back to the 2020s for it

Two unmarried women who have become pregnant by accident and are about to give birth meet in a hospital room: Janis, in her late-thirties, unrepentant and happy; Ana, a teenager, remorseful and frightened.

Feels alike?
Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods poster
Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods
2013 · dir. Masahiro Hosoda
🍅 89%7.1animation · action · science fiction

Both working the same animation territory

After the defeat of Majin Buu, a powerful God of Destruction known as Beerus searches for the Saiyan warrior who defeated Frieza. Realizing the threat Beerus poses to Earth, the Z-fighters must stop him. Only Goku, humanity’s last hope, can ascend to the level of a legendary Super Saiyan God and save the planet, and possibly the entire universe!

Feels alike?
The Trip to Bountiful poster
The Trip to Bountiful
1985 · dir. Peter Masterson
🍅 100%7.4drama

A 1980s answer to the same itch

Carrie Watts is living the twilight of her life trapped in an apartment in 1940s Houston, Texas with a controlling daughter-in-law and a hen-pecked son. Her fondest wish – just once before she dies – is to revisit Bountiful, the small Texas town of her youth which she still refers to as "home."

Feels alike?
Paradise poster
Paradise
2023 · dir. Boris Kunz
🍅 100%6.3science fiction · thriller

Science fiction in the same key

A man sees the dark side of the time-manipulating biotech company he works for when a crushing debt forces his wife to give up 40 years of her own life.

Feels alike?
The Man from Earth poster
The Man from Earth
2007 · dir. Richard Schenkman
🍅 100%7.8science fiction · drama

Both play science fiction straight

A departing professor gathers his closest colleagues for an intimate farewell, but the night takes an unexpected turn when he shares a stunning secret about his past. As the conversation unfolds, skepticism and curiosity collide, challenging everything they thought they knew about history, science, and belief.

Feels alike?

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