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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button poster

Movies that feel likeThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Born under unusual circumstances, Benjamin Button springs into being as an elderly man in a New Orleans nursing home and ages in reverse. Twelve years after his birth, he meets Daisy, a child who flits in and out of his life as she grows up to be a dancer. Though he has all sorts of unusual adventures over the course of his life, it is his relationship with Daisy, and the hope that they will come together at the right time, that drives Benjamin forward.

If you loved The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the closest films we have are The Time Traveler's Wife (2009), The Shape of Water (2017) and About Time (2013). All three share The Curious Case of Benjamin Button's contemplative and dreamlike feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Wings of Desire (1987).

🍅 72% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.8 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. David Finchercontemplativedreamlikeromantictender
11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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If The Curious Case of Benjamin Button hit the spot, these will too

The Time Traveler's Wife poster
The Time Traveler's Wife
2009 · dir. Robert Schwentke
🍅 38%★ 7.1drama · romance · fantasyParamount+

Lovers forever out of sync, meeting across the years

The difference: Weepier and thinner — the concept outruns the craft

Due to a genetic disorder, handsome librarian Henry DeTamble involuntarily zips through time, appearing at various moments in the life of his true love, the beautiful artist Clare Abshire.

The Shape of Water poster
The Shape of Water
2017 · dir. Guillermo del Toro
🍅 92%★ 7.3drama · fantasy · romanceMax

An impossible love told like a lush adult fairy tale

The difference: Stranger and more political — Cold War menace laces the magic

An other-worldly story, set against the backdrop of Cold War era America circa 1962, where a mute janitor working at a lab falls in love with an amphibious man being held captive there and devises a plan to help him escape.

About Time poster
About Time
2013 · dir. Richard Curtis
🍅 70%★ 7.8drama · romance · fantasyNetflix

Time bending gently around love, family and loss

The difference: Warm British comedy — it comforts where Button aches

The night after another unsatisfactory New Year's party, Tim's father reveals to him that the men in their family have the ability to travel through time. They can't change history, but they can change what happens and has happened in their own lives. Thus begins the start of a lesson in learning to appreciate life itself as it is, as it comes, and most importantly, the people living alongside us.

The Lake House poster
The Lake House
2006 · dir. Alejandro Agresti
🍅 36%★ 6.8romance · drama · fantasy

Two people falling in love across a gap in time itself

The difference: A modest two-hander — the sweep and craft are smaller

When architect Alex Wyler moves into an unusual glass house on stilts over a lake, he discovers a note from the previous tenant in the mailbox--but no one's lived in the house for years. He replies and soon discovers that he's corresponding with a doctor named Kate Forster. Their correspondence, only through the 'magical' mailbox, turns romantic and their paths cross in unexpected ways, but when they try to truly connect, danger looms. They must try to unravel the mystery behind their extraordinary romance before it's too late.

The Age of Adaline poster
The Age of Adaline
2015 · dir. Lee Toland Krieger
🍅 54%★ 7.2romance · fantasy · dramaMax

Frozen in time while everyone you love keeps aging past you

The difference: Glossier and safer — it states feelings Button lets you feel

After 29-year-old Adaline recovers from a nearly lethal accident, she inexplicably stops growing older. As the years stretch on and on, Adaline keeps her secret to herself until she meets a man who changes her life.

Before Midnight poster
Before Midnight
2013 · dir. Richard Linklater
🍅 98%★ 7.9romance · dramaRent or buy

How love weathers time, told with unsparing honesty

The difference: All conversation — one Greek summer, no fantasy at all

It has been nine years since we last met Jesse and Celine, the French-American couple who once met on a train in Vienna. They now live in Paris with twin daughters but have spent a summer in Greece at the invitation of an author colleague of Jesse's. When the vacation is over and Jesse must send his teenage son off to the States, he begins to question his life decisions, and his relationship with Celine is at risk.

Meet Joe Black poster
Meet Joe Black
1998 · dir. Martin Brest
🍅 48%★ 7.2fantasy · drama · romancePrime Video

Death, love and borrowed time in a stately romantic fable

The difference: Three unhurried hours — even more deliberate than Button

Bill Parrish has it all - success, wealth and power. Days before his 65th birthday, he receives a visit from a mysterious stranger, Joe Black, who soon reveals himself as Death. In exchange for extra time, Bill agrees to serve as Joe's earthly guide. But will he regret his choice when Joe unexpectedly falls in love with Bill's beautiful daughter Susan?

Beautiful Creatures poster
Beautiful Creatures
2013 · dir. Richard LaGravenese
🍅 47%★ 6.1fantasy · drama · romance

Supernatural fate pressing on a small-town southern romance

The difference: Teen paranormal formula — the gothic trappings run shallow

Ethan Wate just wants to get to know Lena Duchannes better, but unbeknownst to him, Lena has strange powers. As Lena's 16th birthday approaches she might decide her fate, to be good or evil. A choice which will impact her relationship forever.

Twilight poster
Twilight
2008 · dir. Catherine Hardwicke
🍅 48%★ 5.4fantasy · drama · romanceNetflix

Both land stillness and dream logic at once

When Bella Swan moves to a small town in the Pacific Northwest, she falls in love with Edward Cullen, a mysterious classmate who reveals himself to be a 108-year-old vampire. Despite Edward's repeated cautions, Bella can't stay away from him, a fatal move that endangers her own life.

Sapphire Blue poster
Sapphire Blue
2014 · dir. Felix Fuchssteiner
★ 6.2fantasy · romance · drama

Romantic where it counts, tender underneath

Gwen has just discovered, that she's the final member of the secret time-traveling Circle of Twelve. Now she has to juggle with constant trips to the past, her relationships with Gideon and figuring out dark secrets surrounding the Circle.

Beastly poster
Beastly
2011 · dir. Daniel Barnz
🍅 20%★ 5.5romance · fantasy · dramaParamount+

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

A modern-day take on the "Beauty and the Beast" tale where a New York teen is transformed into a hideous monster in order to find true love.

Wings of Desire poster
Wings of Desire
1987 · dir. Wim Wenders
🍅 95%★ 7.9drama · fantasy · romanceMax

Fantasy with a pulse of dream logic, in both cases

The difference: 21 years apart, and the 1980s show

Two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, glide through the streets of Berlin, observing the bustling population, providing invisible rays of hope to the distressed but never interacting with them. When Damiel falls in love with lonely trapeze artist Marion, the angel longs to experience life in the physical world, and finds — with some words of wisdom from actor Peter Falk — that it might be possible for him to take human form.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’s defining feeling.