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The Giver poster

Movies that feel likeThe Giver (2014)

In a seemingly perfect community, without war, pain, suffering, differences or choice, a young boy is chosen to learn from an elderly man about the true pain and pleasure of the "real" world.

If you loved The Giver, the closest films we have are Advantageous (2015), Never Let Me Go (2010) and Cloud Atlas (2012). All three share The Giver's contemplative and cerebral feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Fahrenheit 451 (1966).

🍅 34% Rotten Tomatoes★ 6.4 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Phillip Noycecontemplativecerebralbleakromantic
8 of 12 streaming nowAmazon Prime Video · Apple TV · Paramount Plus Premium

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If The Giver hit the spot, these will too

Advantageous poster
Advantageous
2015 · dir. Jennifer Phang
🍅 87%★ 6science fiction · drama

Both are built on the same subject: dystopia

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

In a near-future city where soaring opulence overshadows economic hardship, Gwen and her daughter, Jules, do all they can to hold on to their joy, despite the instability surfacing in their world.

Never Let Me Go poster
Never Let Me Go
2010 · dir. Mark Romanek
🍅 71%★ 7.1drama · romance · science fictionPrime Video

Both keep coming back to the same thing: dystopia

The difference: Sits closer to romance than The Giver does

As children, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy spend their childhood at an idyllic and secluded English boarding school. As they grow into adults, they must come to terms with the complexity and strength of their love for one another while also preparing for the haunting reality awaiting them.

Cloud Atlas poster
Cloud Atlas
2012 · dir. Lilly Wachowski
🍅 65%★ 7.3drama · science fiction

Contemplative and cerebral in the same breath

The difference: Takes it somewhere less romantic than The Giver does

A set of six nested stories spanning time between the 19th century and a distant post-apocalyptic future. Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Action, mystery and romance weave through the story as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future. Based on the award winning novel by David Mitchell. Directed by Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis.

Fahrenheit 451 poster
Fahrenheit 451
1966 · dir. François Truffaut
🍅 82%★ 7.2drama · science fiction

Bleak drama in both cases

The difference: Made in the 1960s, in a different era of the craft

In the future, the government maintains control of public opinion by outlawing literature and maintaining a group of enforcers, known as “firemen,” to perform the necessary book burnings. Fireman Montag begins to question the morality of his vocation…

THX 1138 poster
THX 1138
1971 · dir. George Lucas
🍅 72%★ 6.6science fiction · drama

Science fiction built on stillness, twice over

People in the future live in a totalitarian society. A technician named THX 1138 lives a mundane life between work and taking a controlled consumption of drugs that the government uses to make puppets out of people. As THX is without drugs for the first time he has feelings for a woman and they start a secret relationship.

Finch poster
Finch
2021 · dir. Miguel Sapochnik
🍅 74%★ 6.9science fiction · drama · adventureApple TV+

Both lean on ideas more than on drama

The difference: Leans harder into adventure than The Giver does

On a post-apocalyptic Earth, a robot, built to protect the life of his dying creator's beloved dog, learns about life, love, friendship, and what it means to be human.

The Host poster
The Host
2013 · dir. Andrew Niccol
🍅 10%★ 5.8action · adventure · science fiction

Romantic science fiction, and it commits to that

A parasitic alien soul is injected into the body of Melanie Stryder. Instead of carrying out her race's mission of taking over the Earth, "Wanda" (as she comes to be called) forms a bond with her host and sets out to aid other free humans.

Code 46 poster
Code 46
2003 · dir. Michael Winterbottom
🍅 52%★ 6.1drama · science fiction · thriller

Drama with a pulse of bleakness, in both cases

In a dystopian future, insurance fraud investigator William Gold arrives in Shanghai to investigate a forgery ring for "papelles", futuristic passports that record people's identities and genetics. Gold falls for Maria Gonzalez, the woman in charge of the forgeries. After a passionate affair, Gold returns home, having named a coworker as the culprit. But when one of Gonzalez's customers is found dead, Gold is sent back to Shanghai to complete the investigation.

Rollerball poster
Rollerball
1975 · dir. Norman Jewison
🍅 55%★ 6.5science fiction · drama

Contemplative science fiction in both cases

In a corporate-controlled future, an ultra-violent sport known as Rollerball represents the world, and one of its powerful athletes is out to defy those who want him out of the game.

Ghost in the Shell poster
Ghost in the Shell
2017 · dir. Rupert Sanders
🍅 42%★ 6.3science fiction · drama · actionParamount+

Both sit in the same cerebral register

In the near future, Major is the first of her kind: a human saved from a terrible crash, then cyber-enhanced to be a perfect soldier devoted to stopping the world's most dangerous criminals.

Snowpiercer poster
Snowpiercer
2013 · dir. Bong Joon Ho
🍅 94%★ 7.1action · science fiction · drama

A streak of bleakness through both

In a future where a failed global-warming experiment kills off most life on the planet, a class system evolves aboard the Snowpiercer; a train that travels around the globe via a perpetual-motion engine.

Metropolis poster
Metropolis
1927 · dir. Fritz Lang
🍅 97%★ 8.2drama · science fiction

Drama of the same temperament

In a futuristic city sharply divided between the rich and the poor, the son of the city's mastermind meets a prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.

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