feelsalike.com

Movies that feel like The Magician (1958)

If you loved The Magician, the closest films we have are The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Through a Glass Darkly (1961) and The Lost Weekend (1945). All three share The Magician's contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 9 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video and Criterion Channel and others, checked against today's data.

A traveling magician and his troupe arrive in a Swedish town in the 1840s, where their act is scrutinized by local authorities and a skeptical medical official. Their stay leads to a series of confrontations that test the boundaries between performance, belief, and deception.

πŸ… 100% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.5 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Ingmar Bergmancontemplativeparanoid
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If The Magician hit the spot, these will too

The Manchurian Candidate poster
The Manchurian Candidate
1962 Β· dir. John Frankenheimer
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.9thriller Β· drama

The same mix in both: stillness, then paranoia

The difference: Leans harder into thriller than The Magician does

Near the end of the Korean War, a platoon of U.S. soldiers is captured by communists and brainwashed. Following the war, the platoon is returned home, and Sergeant Raymond Shaw is lauded as a hero by the rest of his platoon. However, the platoon commander, Captain Bennett Marco, finds himself plagued by strange nightmares and soon races to uncover a terrible plot.

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Through a Glass Darkly poster
Through a Glass Darkly
1961 Β· dir. Ingmar Bergman
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.9drama

Ingmar Bergman working the same nerve twice

The difference: Missing the paranoia of The Magician

Karin hopes to recover from her recent stay at a mental hospital by spending the summer at her family's cottage on a tiny island. Her husband, Martin, cares for her but is frustrated by her physical withdrawal. Her younger brother, Minus, is confused by Karin's vulnerability and his own budding sexuality. Their father, David, cannot overcome his haughty remoteness. Beset by visions, Karin descends further into madness.

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The Lost Weekend poster
The Lost Weekend
1945 Β· dir. Billy Wilder
πŸ… 97%β˜… 7.9drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: paranoia

Longtime alcoholic Don Birnam has been sober for ten days and appears to be over the worst... but his craving has just become more insidious. Evading a country weekend planned by his brother and girlfriend, he begins a four-day bender that just might be his last – one way or another.

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Grey Gardens poster
Grey Gardens
1976 Β· dir. Muffie Meyer
πŸ… 95%β˜… 7.5documentary

Common ground: paranoia

The difference: Not nearly as contemplative as The Magician

Edie Bouvier Beale and her mother, Edith, two aging, eccentric relatives of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, are the sole inhabitants of a Long Island estate. The women reveal themselves to be misfits with outsized, engaging personalities. Much of the conversation is centered on their pasts, as mother and daughter now rarely leave home.

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The Man Who Knew Too Much poster
The Man Who Knew Too Much
1956 Β· dir. Alfred Hitchcock
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7.4thriller Β· mystery Β· drama

Drama built on stillness, twice over

An American doctor and his wife, a former singing star, witness a murder while vacationing in Morocco, and are drawn into a twisting plot of international intrigue when their young son is kidnapped.

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Cries and Whispers poster
Cries and Whispers
1972 Β· dir. Ingmar Bergman
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7.9drama

Ingmar Bergman directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

As Agnes slowly dies of cancer, her sisters are so immersed in their own psychic pains that they are unable to offer her the support she needs.

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The Last Wave poster
The Last Wave
1977 Β· dir. Peter Weir
πŸ… 78%β˜… 6.9drama Β· mystery Β· horror

Paranoid drama, and it commits to that

A Sydney lawyer defends five Aboriginal people in a ritualised taboo murder and in the process learns disturbing truths about himself and premonitions.

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The Parallax View poster
The Parallax View
1974 Β· dir. Alan J. Pakula
πŸ… 87%β˜… 7.1crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

An ambitious reporter gets in trouble while investigating a senator's assassination which leads to a vast conspiracy involving a multinational corporation behind every event in the world's headlines.

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Let's Scare Jessica to Death poster
Let's Scare Jessica to Death
1971 Β· dir. John D. Hancock
πŸ… 42%β˜… 6.4horror Β· mystery Β· drama

The shared currency is paranoia

The difference: Critics were much harder on this one

Newly released from a mental ward, Jessica hopes to return to life the way it was before her nervous breakdown. But when Jessica moves to a country house with her husband and a close friend, she finds a mysterious girl living in there. Jessica's terror and paranoia resurface as evil forces surround her.

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Room 237 poster
Room 237
2012 Β· dir. Rodney Ascher
πŸ… 94%β˜… 6.2documentary

A 2010s cousin in spirit

The difference: 54 years apart, and the 2010s show

A subjective documentary that explores various theories about hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick's classic film The Shining. Five very different points of view are illuminated through voice over, film clips, animation and dramatic reenactments.

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The Passion of Anna poster
The Passion of Anna
1969 Β· dir. Ingmar Bergman
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.6drama

Both are built on the same subject: dual identity

A recently divorced man and an emotionally devastated widow begin a love affair.

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Raging Bull poster
Raging Bull
1980 Β· dir. Martin Scorsese
πŸ… 92%β˜… 8.1drama Β· history

The drama is handled with the same confidence

The life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it.

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In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies β†’

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