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The Shape of Water poster

Movies that feel likeThe Shape of Water (2017)

An other-worldly story, set against the backdrop of Cold War era America circa 1962, where a mute janitor working at a lab falls in love with an amphibious man being held captive there and devises a plan to help him escape.

If you loved The Shape of Water, the closest films we have are The Age of Adaline (2015), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and About Time (2013). All three share The Shape of Water's contemplative and dreamlike feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Before Midnight (2013).

🍅 92% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.3 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Guillermo del Torocontemplativedreamlikeromantictender
10 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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If The Shape of Water hit the spot, these will too

The Age of Adaline poster
The Age of Adaline
2015 · dir. Lee Toland Krieger
🍅 54%★ 7.2romance · fantasy · dramaMax

A love shaped by a secret that can't be spoken aloud

The difference: Polished and safe — glossy romance, nothing strange or feral

After 29-year-old Adaline recovers from a nearly lethal accident, she inexplicably stops growing older. As the years stretch on and on, Adaline keeps her secret to herself until she meets a man who changes her life.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button poster
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2008 · dir. David Fincher
🍅 72%★ 7.8drama · fantasy · romance

A tender impossible romance framed as a hushed modern fable

The difference: Sprawling and elegiac — decades of drift, not a tight rescue

Born under unusual circumstances, Benjamin Button springs into being as an elderly man in a New Orleans nursing home and ages in reverse. Twelve years after his birth, he meets Daisy, a child who flits in and out of his life as she grows up to be a dancer. Though he has all sorts of unusual adventures over the course of his life, it is his relationship with Daisy, and the hope that they will come together at the right time, that drives Benjamin forward.

About Time poster
About Time
2013 · dir. Richard Curtis
🍅 70%★ 7.8drama · romance · fantasyNetflix

Magic used gently, in service of ordinary devotion

The difference: Cozy British comfort — no danger, no darkness at the edges

The night after another unsatisfactory New Year's party, Tim's father reveals to him that the men in their family have the ability to travel through time. They can't change history, but they can change what happens and has happened in their own lives. Thus begins the start of a lesson in learning to appreciate life itself as it is, as it comes, and most importantly, the people living alongside us.

The Time Traveler's Wife poster
The Time Traveler's Wife
2009 · dir. Robert Schwentke
🍅 38%★ 7.1drama · romance · fantasyParamount+

Devotion that persists despite an impossible condition

The difference: A conventional weepie — glossy, no strangeness in its veins

Due to a genetic disorder, handsome librarian Henry DeTamble involuntarily zips through time, appearing at various moments in the life of his true love, the beautiful artist Clare Abshire.

Before Midnight poster
Before Midnight
2013 · dir. Richard Linklater
🍅 98%★ 7.9romance · dramaRent or buy

A love story told with patience and deep tenderness

The difference: Pure realism — two people talking, not a drop of magic

It has been nine years since we last met Jesse and Celine, the French-American couple who once met on a train in Vienna. They now live in Paris with twin daughters but have spent a summer in Greece at the invitation of an author colleague of Jesse's. When the vacation is over and Jesse must send his teenage son off to the States, he begins to question his life decisions, and his relationship with Celine is at risk.

The Lake House poster
The Lake House
2006 · dir. Alejandro Agresti
🍅 36%★ 6.8romance · drama · fantasy

Contemplative where it counts, dreamlike underneath

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

When architect Alex Wyler moves into an unusual glass house on stilts over a lake, he discovers a note from the previous tenant in the mailbox--but no one's lived in the house for years. He replies and soon discovers that he's corresponding with a doctor named Kate Forster. Their correspondence, only through the 'magical' mailbox, turns romantic and their paths cross in unexpected ways, but when they try to truly connect, danger looms. They must try to unravel the mystery behind their extraordinary romance before it's too late.

Sapphire Blue poster
Sapphire Blue
2014 · dir. Felix Fuchssteiner
★ 6.2fantasy · romance · drama

A love story tangled up in secret, uncanny forces

The difference: Teen franchise fare — a middle chapter with modest craft

Gwen has just discovered, that she's the final member of the secret time-traveling Circle of Twelve. Now she has to juggle with constant trips to the past, her relationships with Gideon and figuring out dark secrets surrounding the Circle.

Beautiful Creatures poster
Beautiful Creatures
2013 · dir. Richard LaGravenese
🍅 47%★ 6.1fantasy · drama · romance

Both land romance and tenderness at once

Ethan Wate just wants to get to know Lena Duchannes better, but unbeknownst to him, Lena has strange powers. As Lena's 16th birthday approaches she might decide her fate, to be good or evil. A choice which will impact her relationship forever.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 poster
🍅 49%★ 5.6fantasy · drama · romanceNetflix

Love across a line the world insists shouldn't be crossed

The difference: Teen-melodrama register — none of the craft or the eroticism

After the birth of Renesmee, the Cullens gather other vampire clans in order to protect the child from a false allegation that puts the family in front of the Volturi.

Beastly poster
Beastly
2011 · dir. Daniel Barnz
🍅 20%★ 5.5romance · fantasy · dramaParamount+

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

A modern-day take on the "Beauty and the Beast" tale where a New York teen is transformed into a hideous monster in order to find true love.

Meet Joe Black poster
Meet Joe Black
1998 · dir. Martin Brest
🍅 48%★ 7.2fantasy · drama · romancePrime Video

A strange visitor learning human feeling, slowly and quietly

The difference: Long, plush and talky — drawing-room drama, not a fairy tale

Bill Parrish has it all - success, wealth and power. Days before his 65th birthday, he receives a visit from a mysterious stranger, Joe Black, who soon reveals himself as Death. In exchange for extra time, Bill agrees to serve as Joe's earthly guide. But will he regret his choice when Joe unexpectedly falls in love with Bill's beautiful daughter Susan?

Wicked poster
Wicked
2024 · dir. Jon M. Chu
🍅 88%★ 7.3drama · romance · fantasyHulu

Both keep coming back to the same thing: fairy tale

In the land of Oz, ostracized and misunderstood green-skinned Elphaba is forced to share a room with the popular aristocrat Glinda at Shiz University, and the two's unlikely friendship is tested as they begin to fulfill their respective destinies as Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Shape of Water’s defining feeling.