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The Aviator poster

Movies that feel likeThe Aviator (2004)

A biopic depicting the life of filmmaker and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes from 1927 to 1947, during which time he became a successful film producer and an aviation magnate, while simultaneously growing more unstable due to severe obsessive-compulsive disorder.

If you loved The Aviator, the closest films we have are On My Skin (2018), Erin Brockovich (2000) and Il Divo (2008). All three share The Aviator's contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Carandiru (2003).

🍅 86% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.5 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Martin Scorsesecontemplative
7 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Paramount Plus Premium

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If The Aviator hit the spot, these will too

On My Skin poster
On My Skin
2018 · dir. Alessio Cremonini
★ 7.3dramaNetflix

One thread runs through both: biography

The incredible true story behind the most controversial Italian court cases in recent years. Stefano Cucchi was arrested for a minor crime and mysteriously found dead during his detention. In one week's time, a family is changed forever.

Erin Brockovich poster
Erin Brockovich
2000 · dir. Steven Soderbergh
🍅 87%★ 7.5drama

The same preoccupation in both: a true story

A twice-divorced mother of three who sees an injustice, takes on the bad guy and wins -- with a little help from her push-up bra. Erin goes to work for an attorney and comes across medical records describing illnesses clustered in one nearby town. She starts investigating and soon exposes a monumental cover-up.

Il Divo poster
Il Divo
2008 · dir. Paolo Sorrentino
🍅 92%★ 7.2drama

Both are built on the same subject: biography

Italy, early '90s. Calm, clever and inscrutable, politician Giulio Andreotti has been synonymous with power for decades. He has survived everything: electoral battles, terrorist massacres, loss of friends, slanderous accusations; but now certain repentant mobsters implicate him in the crimes of Cosa Nostra.

The Passion of the Christ poster
The Passion of the Christ
2004 · dir. Mel Gibson
🍅 50%★ 7.3drama

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

A graphic portrayal of the last twelve hours of Jesus of Nazareth's life.

The Motorcycle Diaries poster
The Motorcycle Diaries
2004 · dir. Walter Salles
🍅 83%★ 7.7dramaPrime VideoPeacock

Contemplative drama in both cases

Based on the journals of Che Guevara, leader of the Cuban Revolution. In his memoirs, Guevara recounts adventures he and best friend Alberto Granado had while crossing South America by motorcycle in the early 1950s.

Carandiru poster
Carandiru
2003 · dir. Héctor Babenco
🍅 68%★ 7.6dramaRent or buy

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

When a doctor decides to carry out an AIDS prevention program inside Latin America’s largest prison: the Casa de Detenção de São Paulo – Carandiru, he meets the future victims of one of the darkest days in Brazilian history.

Wild poster
Wild
2014 · dir. Jean-Marc Vallée
🍅 88%★ 7.1drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: a true story

A woman with a tragic past decides to start her new life by hiking for one thousand miles on the Pacific Crest Trail.

Beautiful Boy poster
Beautiful Boy
2018 · dir. Felix van Groeningen
🍅 67%★ 7.4dramaPrime Video

Both working the same drama territory

After he and his first wife separate, journalist David Sheff struggles to help their teenage son, who goes from experimenting with drugs to becoming devastatingly addicted to methamphetamine.

Big Eyes poster
Big Eyes
2014 · dir. Tim Burton
🍅 72%★ 6.9dramaStarz

Both play drama straight

In the late 1950s and early '60s, artist Walter Keane achieves unbelievable fame and success with portraits of saucer-eyed waifs. However, no one realizes that his wife, Margaret, is the real painter behind the brush. Although Margaret is horrified to learn that Walter is passing off her work as his own, she is too meek to protest too loudly. It isn't until the Keanes' marriage comes to an end and a lawsuit follows that the truth finally comes to light.

The Fighter poster
The Fighter
2010 · dir. David O. Russell
🍅 91%★ 7.8dramaParamount+

Cut from the same drama cloth

Boxer "Irish" Micky Ward's unlikely road to the world light welterweight title. His Rocky-like rise was shepherded by half-brother Dicky, a boxer-turned-trainer who rebounded in life after nearly being KO'd by drugs and crime.

Crash poster
Crash
2005 · dir. Paul Haggis
🍅 73%★ 7.7drama

Drama approached the same way

In post-Sept. 11 Los Angeles, tensions erupt when the lives of a Brentwood housewife, her district attorney husband, a Persian shopkeeper, two cops, a pair of carjackers and a Korean couple converge during a 36-hour period.

Main Hoon Na poster
Main Hoon Na
2004 · dir. Farah Khan
★ 7.1dramaNetflix

The drama is handled with the same confidence

An army major goes undercover as a college student. His mission is both professional and personal: to protect his general's daughter from a radical militant, and to find his estranged half-brother.

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