feelsalike.com

Movies that feel like The Reader (2008)

If you loved The Reader, the closest films we have are Flipped (2010), Never Look Away (2018) and Weekend (2011). All three share The Reader's contemplative and romantic feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 8 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Paramount Plus Premium and others, checked against today's data.

The story of Michael Berg, a German lawyer who, as a teenager in the late 1950s, had an affair with an older woman, Hanna, who then disappeared only to resurface years later as one of the defendants in a war crimes trial stemming from her actions as a concentration camp guard late in the war. He alone realizes that Hanna is illiterate and may be concealing that fact at the expense of her freedom.

πŸ… 63% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.6 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Stephen Daldrycontemplativeromantictender
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If The Reader hit the spot, these will too

Flipped poster
Flipped
2010 Β· dir. Rob Reiner
πŸ… 54%β˜… 7.7romance Β· drama

Contemplative and romantic in the same breath

When Juli meets Bryce in the second grade, she knows it's true love. After spending six years trying to convince Bryce the same, she's ready to give up - until he starts to reconsider.

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Never Look Away poster
Never Look Away
2018 Β· dir. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
πŸ… 77%β˜… 7.7drama Β· romance Β· history

Two things both keep coming back to: germany and world war ii

The difference: Sits closer to history than The Reader does

German artist Kurt Barnert has escaped East Germany and now lives in West Germany, but is tormented by his childhood under the Nazis and the GDR regime.

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Weekend poster
Weekend
2011 Β· dir. Andrew Haigh
πŸ… 95%β˜… 7.6drama Β· romance

Tender drama in both cases

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

After a drunken house party with his straight mates, Russell heads out to a gay club. Just before closing time he picks up Glen but what's expected to be just a one-night stand becomes something else, something special.

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Sidewalls poster
Sidewalls
2011 Β· dir. Gustavo Taretto
πŸ… 70%β˜… 7.5drama Β· romance

Contemplative romance, and it commits to that

Martin is a neurotic web designer taking baby steps out of the isolation of his one-room apartment and his virtual reality. Mariana is an artist fresh out of a long relationship. They are perfect for each other, live on the same street, in opposite buildings, but they never meet. Can the movement of a modern city of three million people bring them together?

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The Longest Ride poster
The Longest Ride
2015 Β· dir. George Tillman Jr.
πŸ… 31%β˜… 7drama Β· romance

Drama with a pulse of romance, in both cases

The lives of a young couple intertwine with a much older man as he reflects back on a lost love while he's trapped in an automobile crash.

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Two Lovers poster
Two Lovers
2008 Β· dir. James Gray
πŸ… 81%β˜… 7drama Β· romance

Both lean on tenderness more than on romance

A depressed man moves back in with his parents following a recent heartbreak and finds himself with two women.

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Certified Copy poster
Certified Copy
2010 Β· dir. Abbas Kiarostami
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7.2drama Β· romance

Drama built on stillness, twice over

In Tuscany to promote his latest book, a middle-aged English writer meets a French woman who leads him to the village of Lucignano.

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Blue Valentine poster
Blue Valentine
2010 Β· dir. Derek Cianfrance
πŸ… 87%β˜… 7.3drama Β· romance

Romance with a pulse of romance, in both cases

Dean and Cindy live a quiet life in a modest neighborhood. They appear to have the world at their feet at the outset of the relationship. However, his lack of ambition and her retreat into self-absorption cause potentially irreversible cracks in their marriage.

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The Wrestler poster
The Wrestler
2008 Β· dir. Darren Aronofsky
πŸ… 99%β˜… 7.9drama Β· romance

The shared currency is tenderness

Aging wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson is long past his prime but still ready and rarin' to go on the pro-wrestling circuit. After a particularly brutal beating, however, Randy hangs up his tights, pursues a serious relationship with a long-in-the-tooth stripper, and tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter. But he can't resist the lure of the ring and readies himself for a comeback.

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Veer-Zaara poster
Veer-Zaara
2004 Β· dir. Yash Chopra
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.8drama Β· romance

Both know what they want from drama

Squadron Leader Veer Pratap Singh, a pilot in the Indian Air Force, rescues the stranded Zaara, a woman from Pakistan, following a bus accident, and their lives are forever bound.

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Up in the Air poster
Up in the Air
2009 Β· dir. Jason Reitman
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7.4drama Β· romance

Romance approached the same way

Corporate downsizing expert Ryan Bingham spends his life in planes, airports, and hotels, but just as he’s about to reach a milestone of ten million frequent flyer miles, he meets a woman who causes him to rethink his transient life.

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One Day poster
One Day
2011 Β· dir. Lone Scherfig
πŸ… 36%β˜… 7drama Β· romance

Both play drama straight

After spending the night together on the eve of their college graduation, Dexter and Emma are shown each year on the same date to see where they are in their lives. They are sometimes together, and sometimes not.

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In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies β†’

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