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Movies that feel like The Hand of God (2021)

If you loved The Hand of God, the closest films we have are The Boy and the Heron (2023), Slums of Beverly Hills (1998) and How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies (2024). All three share The Hand of God's contemplative and wistful feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 10 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video and others, checked against today's data.

In 1980s Naples, an awkward teen struggling to find his place experiences heartbreak and liberation after he's inadvertently saved from a freak accident by football legend Diego Maradona.

πŸ… 83% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.3 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Paolo Sorrentinocontemplativemelancholywistful
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If The Hand of God hit the spot, these will too

The Boy and the Heron poster
The Boy and the Heron
2023 Β· dir. Hayao Miyazaki
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.3animation Β· fantasy Β· drama

Both are working the same pair: growing up, poverty

The difference: Sits closer to animation than The Hand of God does

While the Second World War rages, the teenage Mahito, haunted by his mother's tragic death, is relocated from Tokyo to the serene rural home of his new stepmother Natsuko, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to the boy's mother. As he tries to adjust, this strange new world grows even stranger following the appearance of a persistent gray heron, who perplexes and bedevils Mahito, dubbing him the "long-awaited one."

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Slums of Beverly Hills poster
Slums of Beverly Hills
1998 Β· dir. Tamara Jenkins
πŸ… 82%β˜… 6.7comedy Β· drama

The same two preoccupations: loss of virginity, and semi autobiographical

The difference: Leans harder into comedy than The Hand of God does

In 1976, a teenage girl struggles to cope while living with her neurotic lower-middle-class family of nomads on the outskirts of Beverly Hills.

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How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies poster
How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies
2024 Β· dir. Pat Boonnitipat
πŸ… 98%β˜… 7.9drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: family relationships

The difference: None of the melancholy The Hand of God is built on

M, a university dropout low on money and luck, volunteers to take care of his terminally ill grandmother, in the hope of pocketing an inheritance.

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Lady Bird poster
Lady Bird
2017 Β· dir. Greta Gerwig
πŸ… 99%β˜… 7.4drama Β· comedy

Common ground: loss of virginity

Lady Bird McPherson, a strong willed, deeply opinionated, artistic 17 year old comes of age in Sacramento. Her relationship with her mother and her upbringing are questioned and tested as she plans to head off to college.

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Leave No Trace poster
Leave No Trace
2018 Β· dir. Debra Granik
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.1drama

One thread runs through both: growing up

A father and daughter live a perfect but mysterious existence in Forest Park, a beautiful nature reserve near Portland, Oregon, rarely making contact with the world. But when a small mistake tips them off to authorities, they are sent on an increasingly erratic journey in search of a place to call their own.

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All the Bright Places poster
All the Bright Places
2020 Β· dir. Brett Haley
πŸ… 67%β˜… 6.6romance Β· drama

The same mix in both: stillness, then melancholy

Two teens facing personal struggles form a powerful bond as they embark on a cathartic journey chronicling the wonders of Indiana.

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

The same preoccupation in both: family relationships

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.

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

Paolo Sorrentino working the same nerve twice

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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Close to the Horizon poster
Close to the Horizon
2019 Β· dir. Tim Trachte
β˜… 6.6romance Β· drama

Wistful drama in both cases

Jessica knows exactly what her life is supposed to look like and where it takes her. But then she meets Danny. He has a complicated past and could confuse all their plans. Jessica has to decide.

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The Squid and the Whale poster
The Squid and the Whale
2005 Β· dir. Noah Baumbach
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7.3comedy Β· drama

Both are built on the same subject: 1980s

Based on the true childhood experiences of Noah Baumbach and his brother, The Squid and the Whale tells the touching story of two young boys dealing with their parents' divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980s.

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House of Hummingbird poster
House of Hummingbird
2019 Β· dir. Kim Bora
πŸ… 98%β˜… 7.4drama

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

14-year-old Eun-hee moves through life like a hummingbird searching for a taste of sweetness wherever she may find it. Ignored by her parents and abused by her brother, she finds her escape by roaming the neighborhood with her best friend, going on adventures, and exploring young love.

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Biutiful poster
Biutiful
2010 Β· dir. Alejandro G. IΓ±Γ‘rritu
πŸ… 66%β˜… 7.4drama

Drama built on wistfulness, twice over

This is a story of a man in free fall. On the road to redemption, darkness lights his way. Connected with the afterlife, Uxbal is a tragic hero and father of two who's sensing the danger of death. He struggles with a tainted reality and a fate that works against him in order to forgive, for love, and forever.

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In the mood for more contemplative?

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The best-reviewed films that share The Hand of God’s defining feeling.