feelsalike.com

Movies that feel like Solaris (1972)

If you loved Solaris, the closest films we have are Arrival (2016), Stalker (1979) and Alphaville (1965). All three share Solaris's contemplative and cerebral feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 8 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Apple TV, Paramount Plus Premium and Paramount Plus Essential and others, checked against today's data.

A psychologist is sent to a space station orbiting a planet called Solaris to investigate the death of a doctor and the mental problems of cosmonauts on the station. He soon discovers that the water on the planet is a type of brain which brings out repressed memories and obsessions.

πŸ… 92% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.9 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Andrei Tarkovskycontemplativecerebraltwistymelancholyawedreamlike

When is Solaris streaming? β†’

If Solaris hit the spot, these will too

Arrival poster
Arrival
2016 Β· dir. Denis Villeneuve
πŸ… 94%β˜… 7.9drama Β· science fiction Β· mystery

Extraterrestrial technology is the engine of both

The difference: Missing the dream logic of Solaris

Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.

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

Andrei Tarkovsky directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

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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Alphaville poster
Alphaville
1965 Β· dir. Jean-Luc Godard
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7drama Β· science fiction Β· mystery

Both land stillness and ideas at once

Lemmy Caution is on a mission to eliminate Professor Von Braun, the creator of a malevolent computer that rules the city of Alphaville. Befriended by the scientist’s daughter Natasha, Lemmy must unravel the mysteries of the strictly logical Alpha 60 and teach Natasha the meaning of the word β€œlove.”

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Contact poster
Contact
1997 Β· dir. Robert Zemeckis
πŸ… 69%β˜… 7.5drama Β· science fiction Β· mystery

Extraterrestrial technology sits at the heart of each

The difference: 25 years apart, and the 1990s show

A radio astronomer receives the first extraterrestrial radio signal ever picked up on Earth. As the world powers scramble to decipher the message and decide upon a course of action, she must make some difficult decisions between her beliefs, the truth, and reality.

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Donnie Darko poster
Donnie Darko
2001 Β· dir. Richard Kelly
πŸ… 88%β˜… 8fantasy Β· drama Β· mystery

The same mix in both: twists, then melancholy

The difference: Plays it as fantasy more than Solaris does

After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.

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The Prestige poster
The Prestige
2006 Β· dir. Christopher Nolan
πŸ… 77%β˜… 8.5drama Β· mystery Β· science fiction

Contemplative drama in both cases

The difference: A 2000s film, from a different era of filmmaking

A mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy -- full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences.

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2001: A Space Odyssey poster
2001: A Space Odyssey
1968 Β· dir. Stanley Kubrick
πŸ… 90%β˜… 8.3science fiction Β· mystery Β· adventure

Both circle space travel and astronaut

Humanity finds a mysterious object buried beneath the lunar surface and sets off to find its origins with the help of HAL 9000, the world's most advanced super computer.

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Marjorie Prime poster
Marjorie Prime
2017 Β· dir. Michael Almereyda
πŸ… 89%β˜… 6.3drama Β· mystery Β· science fiction

Science fiction built on ideas, twice over

A service which creates holographic projections of late family members allows an elderly woman to spend time with a younger version of her deceased husband.

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Mulholland Drive poster
Mulholland Drive
2001 Β· dir. David Lynch
πŸ… 83%β˜… 7.9thriller Β· drama Β· mystery

Both built around loss of sense of reality

Blonde Betty Elms has only just arrived in Hollywood to become a movie star when she meets an enigmatic brunette with amnesia. Meanwhile, as the two set off to solve the second woman's identity, filmmaker Adam Kesher runs into ominous trouble while casting his latest project.

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Jacob's Ladder poster
Jacob's Ladder
1990 Β· dir. Adrian Lyne
πŸ… 71%β˜… 7.4drama Β· mystery Β· horror

1970s runs into hallucination in each of them

After returning home from the Vietnam War, veteran Jacob Singer struggles to maintain his sanity. Plagued by hallucinations and flashbacks, Singer rapidly falls apart as the world and people around him morph and twist into disturbing images. His girlfriend, Jezzie, and ex-wife, Sarah, try to help, but to little avail. Even Singer's chiropractor friend, Louis, fails to reach him as he descends into madness.

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Citizen Kane poster
Citizen Kane
1941 Β· dir. Orson Welles
πŸ… 99%β˜… 8.2mystery Β· drama

Both trade on dream logic more than on being mystery

Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event.

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Ugetsu poster
Ugetsu
1953 Β· dir. Kenji Mizoguchi
πŸ… 100%β˜… 8.1fantasy Β· drama Β· mystery

Twisty drama, and it commits to that

In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.

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In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share Solaris's defining feeling.