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The Beach poster

Movies that feel likeThe Beach (2000)

Twenty-something Richard travels to Thailand and finds himself in possession of a strange map. Rumours state that it leads to a solitary beach paradise, a tropical bliss - excited and intrigued, he sets out to find it.

If you loved The Beach, the closest films we have are Slumdog Millionaire (2008), Match Point (2005) and 127 Hours (2010). All three share The Beach's contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Jodhaa Akbar (2008).

🍅 21% Rotten Tomatoes★ 6.6 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Danny Boylecontemplativeepicromantictendertense
6 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Paramount Plus Premium

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See it on the Mood Map

If The Beach hit the spot, these will too

Slumdog Millionaire poster
Slumdog Millionaire
2008 · dir. Danny Boyle
🍅 92%★ 8drama · romance

Both are Danny Boyle's work, and they rhyme

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

A teenager reflects on his life after being accused of cheating on the Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?".

Match Point poster
Match Point
2005 · dir. Woody Allen
🍅 77%★ 7.6drama · romance · thrillerPrime VideoParamount+

The same mix in both: stillness, then romance

The difference: Takes it somewhere less epic than The Beach does

Chris, a former tennis pro, takes a job as an instructor and befriends his wealthy young student, Tom. After being introduced to his family, Chris is soon engaged to Tom's sister, Chloe. Despite the professional and financial advantages that this relationship affords him, Chris becomes obsessed with Tom's fiancee, American actress Nola.

127 Hours poster
127 Hours
2010 · dir. Danny Boyle
🍅 93%★ 7.5adventure · drama · thriller

Danny Boyle directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

The true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston's remarkable adventure to save himself after a fallen boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah.

Brooklyn poster
Brooklyn
2015 · dir. John Crowley
🍅 97%★ 7.5drama · history · romance

The same preoccupation in both: community

The difference: Leans harder into history than The Beach does

In 1950s Ireland and New York, young Eilis Lacey has to choose between two men and two countries.

Anna Karenina poster
Anna Karenina
2012 · dir. Joe Wright
🍅 63%★ 6.6drama · romance · historyParamount+

Epic and tender in the same breath

In Imperial Russia, Anna, wife of the officer Karenin, goes to Moscow to visit her brother. On the way, she meets charming cavalry officer Vronsky, to whom she's immediately attracted. But in St. Petersburg’s high society, a relationship like this could destroy a woman’s reputation.

Memoirs of a Geisha poster
Memoirs of a Geisha
2005 · dir. Rob Marshall
🍅 35%★ 7.3drama · romance · history

Drama built on stillness, twice over

In the years before World War II, a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.

Australia poster
Australia
2008 · dir. Baz Luhrmann
🍅 53%★ 6.6adventure · romance · drama

Both lean on scale more than on adventure

Set in northern Australia before World War II, an English aristocrat who inherits a sprawling ranch reluctantly pacts with a stock-man in order to protect her new property from a takeover plot. As the pair drive 2,000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape, they experience the bombing of Darwin by Japanese forces firsthand.

The Mountain Between Us poster
The Mountain Between Us
2017 · dir. Hany Abu-Assad
🍅 39%★ 6.4drama · adventure · romance

Romantic romance in both cases

Stranded on a mountain after a tragic plane crash, two strangers must work together to endure the extreme elements of the remote, snow-covered terrain. When they realize help is not coming, they embark on a perilous journey across hundreds of miles of wilderness, pushing each other to survive and discovering their inner strength.

Jodhaa Akbar poster
Jodhaa Akbar
2008 · dir. Ashutosh Gowariker
🍅 81%★ 7.5romance · history · drama

Thriller with a pulse of tenderness, in both cases

A sixteenth century love story about a marriage of alliance that gave birth to true love between a Mughal emperor and a Rajput princess.

Cinderella Man poster
Cinderella Man
2005 · dir. Ron Howard
🍅 80%★ 8romance · drama · historyNetflix

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

The true story of boxer Jim Braddock who, following his retirement in the 1930s, makes a surprise comeback in order to lift his family out of poverty.

Arn: The Knight Templar poster
Arn: The Knight Templar
2007 · dir. Peter Flinth
★ 6.6action · adventure · drama

Epic adventure in both cases

Arn, the son of a high-ranking Swedish nobleman is educated in a monastery and sent to the Holy Land as a knight templar to do penance for a forbidden love.

A Knight's Tale poster
A Knight's Tale
2001 · dir. Brian Helgeland
🍅 60%★ 7adventure · drama · romanceParamount+

A 2000s answer to the same itch

William Thatcher, a knight's peasant apprentice, gets a chance at glory when the knight dies suddenly mid-tournament. Posing as a knight himself, William won't stop until he's crowned tournament champion—assuming matters of the heart don't get in the way.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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