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The Fighter poster

Movies that feel likeThe Fighter (2010)

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.

If you loved The Fighter, the closest films we have are Joy (2015), On My Skin (2018) and Chak De! India (2007). All three share The Fighter's contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is About Elly (2009).

πŸ… 91% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.8 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. David O. Russellcontemplative
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix Β· Amazon Prime Video Β· Hulu

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If The Fighter hit the spot, these will too

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

Both are David O. Russell's work, and they rhyme

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

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

On My Skin poster
On My Skin
2018 Β· dir. Alessio Cremonini
β˜… 7.3dramaNetflix

Both are built on the same subject: 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.

Chak De! India poster
Chak De! India
2007 Β· dir. Shimit Amin
πŸ… 90%β˜… 8.1dramaNetflix

The same preoccupation in both: sports

A team of rag-tag girls with their own agenda form Team India competing for international fame in field hockey. Their coach, the ex-men's Indian National team captain, returns from a life of shame after being unjustly accused of match fixing in his last match. Can he give the girls the motivation required to win, while dealing with the shadows of his own past?

Loveless poster
Loveless
2017 Β· dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev
πŸ… 95%β˜… 7.6drama

One thread runs through both: dysfunctional family

Zhenya and Boris are going through a vicious divorce marked by resentment, frustration and recriminations. Already embarking on new lives, each with a new partner, they are impatient to start again, to turn the page – even if it means threatening to abandon their 12-year-old son Alyosha. Until, after witnessing one of their fights, Alyosha disappears.

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

Both keep coming back to the same thing: 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.

About Elly poster
About Elly
2009 Β· dir. Asghar Farhadi
πŸ… 99%β˜… 7.9drama

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

The mysterious disappearance of a kindergarten teacher during a picnic in the north of Iran is followed by a series of misadventures for her fellow travelers.

Wild poster
Wild
2014 Β· dir. Jean-Marc VallΓ©e
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.1drama

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

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

Like Father, Like Son poster
Like Father, Like Son
2013 Β· dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda
πŸ… 86%β˜… 7.8drama

Contemplative drama in both cases

Ryota Nonomiya is a successful businessman driven by money. He learns that his biological son was switched with another child after birth. He must make a life-changing decision and choose his true son or the boy he raised as his own.

Big Eyes poster
Big Eyes
2014 Β· dir. Tim Burton
πŸ… 72%β˜… 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.

Beautiful Boy poster
Beautiful Boy
2018 Β· dir. Felix van Groeningen
πŸ… 67%β˜… 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.

Concussion poster
Concussion
2015 Β· dir. Peter Landesman
πŸ… 58%β˜… 7.1dramaNetflix

Cut from the same drama cloth

A dramatic thriller based on the incredible true David vs. Goliath story of American immigrant Dr. Bennet Omalu, the brilliant forensic neuropathologist who made the first discovery of CTE, a football-related brain trauma, in a pro player and fought for the truth to be known. Omalu's emotional quest puts him at dangerous odds with one of the most powerful institutions in the world.

A Separation poster
A Separation
2011 Β· dir. Asghar Farhadi
πŸ… 99%β˜… 8.3dramaHulu

The drama is handled with the same confidence

A married couple are faced with a difficult decision – to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.

In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies β†’

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