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The Greatest Showman poster

Movies that feel likeThe Greatest Showman (2017)

The story of American showman P.T. Barnum, founder of the circus that became the famous traveling Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

If you loved The Greatest Showman, the closest films we have are On My Skin (2018), Beautiful Boy (2018) and Lion (2016). All three share The Greatest Showman's contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Loveless (2017).

πŸ… 56% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.5 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Michael Graceycontemplative
10 of 12 streaming nowNetflix Β· Amazon Prime Video Β· Hulu

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If The Greatest Showman hit the spot, these will too

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

A true story told with unblinking, unsentimental conviction

The difference: A harrowing death-in-custody case β€” heavy where Barnum is bright

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.

Beautiful Boy poster
Beautiful Boy
2018 Β· dir. Felix van Groeningen
πŸ… 67%β˜… 7.4dramaPrime Video

The same two preoccupations: biography, and a true story

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.

Lion poster
Lion
2016 Β· dir. Garth Davis
πŸ… 84%β˜… 8dramaNetflix

Common ground: biography

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

A five-year-old Indian boy gets lost on the streets of Calcutta, thousands of kilometers from home. He survives many challenges before being adopted by a couple in Australia; 25 years later, he sets out to find his lost family.

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

The same preoccupation in both: a true story

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.

Bombshell poster
Bombshell
2019 Β· dir. Jay Roach
πŸ… 67%β˜… 6.8dramaPrime Video

Contemplative drama in both cases

Bombshell is a revealing look inside the most powerful and controversial media empire of all time; and the explosive story of the women who brought down the infamous man who created it.

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

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

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

Big Eyes poster
Big Eyes
2014 Β· dir. Tim Burton
πŸ… 72%β˜… 6.9dramaStarz

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

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.

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

Both working the same drama territory

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

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

The drama is handled with the same confidence

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.

The Butler poster
The Butler
2013 Β· dir. Lee Daniels
πŸ… 72%β˜… 7.2drama

Drama in the same key

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.

Moonlight poster
Moonlight
2016 Β· dir. Barry Jenkins
πŸ… 98%β˜… 7.4dramaNetflixHulu

The same drama instincts

The tender, heartbreaking story of a young man’s struggle to find himself, told across three defining chapters in his life as he experiences the ecstasy, pain, and beauty of falling in love, while grappling with his own sexuality.

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

Drama of the same temperament

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

In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies β†’

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