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The Pursuit of Happyness poster

Movies that feel likeThe Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.

If you loved The Pursuit of Happyness, the closest films we have are Seven Pounds (2008), On My Skin (2018) and The Aviator (2004). All three share The Pursuit of Happyness' contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Chak De! India (2007).

🍅 67% Rotten Tomatoes★ 8 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Gabriele Muccinocontemplative
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Hulu

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If The Pursuit of Happyness hit the spot, these will too

Seven Pounds poster
Seven Pounds
2008 · dir. Gabriele Muccino
🍅 26%★ 7.6dramaPrime VideoHulu

Softly devastating drama about sacrifice carried without asking for credit

The difference: Melancholy and secretive rather than a straight climb out of hardship

An IRS agent with a fateful secret embarks on an extraordinary journey of redemption by forever changing the lives of seven strangers.

On My Skin poster
On My Skin
2018 · dir. Alessio Cremonini
★ 7.3dramaNetflix

Another true story of one man ground down by a system that won't see him

The difference: Bleak with no rescue — this true story ends in a cell, not a career

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.

The Aviator poster
The Aviator
2004 · dir. Martin Scorsese
🍅 86%★ 7.5dramaParamount+

Watching a fixated man outwork everyone while his private life frays

The difference: Opulent period spectacle where the struggle is inner, not financial

A biopic depicting the life of filmmaker and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes from 1927 to 1947, during which time he became a successful film producer and an aviation magnate, while simultaneously growing more unstable due to severe obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Beautiful Boy poster
Beautiful Boy
2018 · dir. Felix van Groeningen
🍅 67%★ 7.4dramaPrime Video

Both are working the same pair: biography, 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.

Erin Brockovich poster
Erin Brockovich
2000 · dir. Steven Soderbergh
🍅 87%★ 7.5drama

A broke single parent grinding toward a break nobody thinks they deserve

The difference: Brassier and funnier — a crusade against a company, not a private climb

A twice-divorced mother of three who sees an injustice, takes on the bad guy and wins -- with a little help from her push-up bra. Erin goes to work for an attorney and comes across medical records describing illnesses clustered in one nearby town. She starts investigating and soon exposes a monumental cover-up.

The Social Network poster
The Social Network
2010 · dir. David Fincher
🍅 96%★ 7.8dramaApple TV+

Relentless drive to build something, and what the chase takes out of you

The difference: Cold and acidic — ambition with no warmth and nobody to protect

In 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programmer Mark Zuckerberg begins work on a new concept that eventually turns into the global social network known as Facebook. Six years later, Mark is one of the youngest billionaires ever, but his unprecedented success leads to both personal and legal complications when he ends up on the receiving end of two lawsuits, one involving his former friend.

Lion poster
Lion
2016 · dir. Garth Davis
🍅 84%★ 8dramaNetflix

A search powered by family love and the ache of being far from home

The difference: Two continents and decades of longing, not one desperate stretch

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.

The Fighter poster
The Fighter
2010 · dir. David O. Russell
🍅 91%★ 7.8dramaParamount+

Scraping upward while family and circumstance keep pulling you back

The difference: Loud, chaotic clan drama instead of one father's lonely grind

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.

Il Divo poster
Il Divo
2008 · dir. Paolo Sorrentino
🍅 92%★ 7.2drama

Another life story told with patience, weighing what a man's choices cost

The difference: Ornate Italian political portrait — dense allusions, zero warm uplift

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.

Chak De! India poster
Chak De! India
2007 · dir. Shimit Amin
🍅 90%★ 8.1dramaNetflix

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

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?

There Will Be Blood poster
There Will Be Blood
2007 · dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
🍅 91%★ 8.2dramaPrime VideoParamount+

Contemplative drama in both cases

Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview, moves to oil-rich California. Using his son to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday suspects Plainview's motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives.

The Last King of Scotland poster
The Last King of Scotland
2006 · dir. Kevin Macdonald
🍅 87%★ 7.6drama

Drama built on stillness, twice over

Young Scottish doctor, Nicholas Garrigan decides it's time for an adventure after he finishes his formal education, so he decides to try his luck in Uganda, and arrives during the downfall of President Obote. General Idi Amin comes to power and asks Garrigan to become his personal doctor.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Pursuit of Happyness’ defining feeling.