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Movies that feel like The Butler (2013)

If you loved The Butler, the closest films we have are The Commune (2016), Manderlay (2005) and Il Divo (2008). All three share The Butler's contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 9 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and MUBI and others, checked against today's data.

Cecil Gaines was a sharecropper's son who grew up in the 1920s as a domestic servant for the white family who casually destroyed his. Eventually striking out on his own, Cecil becomes a hotel valet of such efficiency and discreteness in the 1950s that he becomes a butler in the White House itself. There, Cecil would serve numerous US Presidents over the decades as a passive witness of history with the American Civil Rights Movement gaining momentum even as his family has troubles of its own. As his wife, Gloria, struggles with alcoholism and his defiant eldest son, Louis, strives for a just world, Cecil must decide whether he should take action in his own way.

πŸ… 72% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.2 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Lee Danielscontemplative

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If The Butler hit the spot, these will too

The Commune poster
The Commune
2016 Β· dir. Thomas Vinterberg
πŸ… 71%β˜… 6.4drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: 1970s

A funny and moving story of family and free love set in a freewheeling 1970s commune. When Anna and Erik inherit a huge house, they gather a motley crew of cohabitants to reinvigorate their lives, forcing them to reconcile their new values with old habits.

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Manderlay poster
Manderlay
2005 Β· dir. Lars von Trier
πŸ… 50%β˜… 7.2drama

Common ground: slavery

In 1933, a young woman and her father discover an Alabama plantation whose inhabitants live as if slavery had never been abolished. Feeling a sense of duty to those behind the heavy gates, she stays to liberate the people and see them through their first harvest. With four of her father's colleagues and a lawyer, she faces the daunting task of resurrecting the place known as Manderlay.

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Il Divo poster
Il Divo
2008 Β· dir. Paolo Sorrentino
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7.2drama

One thread runs through both: 1970s

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.

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3096 Days poster
3096 Days
2013 Β· dir. Sherry Hormann
β˜… 6.5drama

Both are built on the same subject: a true story

A young Austrian girl is kidnapped and held in captivity for eight years. Based on the real-life case of Natascha Kampusch.

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Big Eyes poster
Big Eyes
2014 Β· dir. Tim Burton
πŸ… 71%β˜… 7drama

The same preoccupation in both: a true story

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.

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Silenced poster
Silenced
2011 Β· dir. Hwang Dong-hyuk
πŸ… 100%β˜… 8drama

Drama built on stillness, twice over

The difference: Reviewed even better

Based on actual events that took place at Gwangju Inhwa School for the hearing-impaired, where young deaf students were the victims of repeated sexual assaults by faculty members over a period of five years in the early 2000s.

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Confessions of a Brazilian Call Girl poster
Confessions of a Brazilian Call Girl
2011 Β· dir. Marcus Baldini
β˜… 6.2drama

Contemplative drama in both cases

Rachel is a girl, adopted by an upper middle class family, who rebelled at 17 and left her family and studies at a traditional college in Sao Paulo to become a sexy call girl. Shortly after starting work, she decided to write a blog about her experiences. Since some clients thought she looked like a surfer she adopted the name "Surfistinha" which means little surfer girl.

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Roma poster
Roma
2018 Β· dir. Alfonso CuarΓ³n
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.6drama

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

In 1970s Mexico City, two domestic workers help a mother of four while her husband is away for an extended period of time.

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Ida poster
Ida
2013 Β· dir. PaweΕ‚ Pawlikowski
πŸ… 95%β˜… 7.4drama

Drama in the same key

In 1960s Poland, young novitiate Anna is on the verge of taking her vows when she discovers a family secret dating back to the years of the German occupation.

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Silent Heart poster
Silent Heart
2014 Β· dir. Bille August
β˜… 7.1drama

The same drama instincts

Three generations of a family gather over a weekend. The sisters Sanne and Heidi have accepted their terminally-ill mother’s desire to die before her disease worsens; but, as the weekend progresses, their mother's decision becomes harder and harder to deal with, and old conflicts come to the surface.

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Rams poster
Rams
2015 Β· dir. GrΓ­mur HΓ‘konarson
πŸ… 95%β˜… 7.2drama

Both working the same drama territory

In a secluded valley in Iceland, Gummi and Kiddi live side by side, tending to their sheep. Their ancestral sheep-stock is considered one of the country’s best and the two brothers are repeatedly awarded for their prized rams who carry an ancient lineage. Although they share the land and a way of life, Gummi and Kiddi have not spoken to each other in four decades. When a lethal disease suddenly infects Kiddi’s sheep, the entire valley comes under threat. The authorities decide to cull all the animals in the area to contain the outbreak. But Gummi and Kiddi don’t give up so easily – and each brother tries to stave off the disaster in his own fashion: Kiddi by using his rifle and Gummi by using his wits.

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Joy poster
Joy
2015 Β· dir. David O. Russell
πŸ… 61%β˜… 6.6drama

Drama approached the same way

A story based on the life of a struggling Long Island single mom who became one of the country's most successful entrepreneurs.

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In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies β†’

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