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The Social Network poster

Movies that feel likeThe Social Network (2010)

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.

If you loved The Social Network, the closest films we have are On My Skin (2018), Lion (2016) and Beautiful Boy (2018). All three share The Social Network's contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Wild (2014).

🍅 96% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.8 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. David Finchercontemplative
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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If The Social Network hit the spot, these will too

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

A true story reconstructed with procedural precision and quiet anger

The difference: State violence, not startups — bleak and harrowing throughout

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.

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

A life reconstructed piece by piece by one unshakeable need

The difference: Emotionally open and searching, warm where Fincher stays cold

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.

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

Common ground in both: biography and a true story

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

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.

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

Talent, family loyalty and the deals people make to get ahead

The difference: Sweaty and blue-collar, driven by heart rather than intellect

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.

The Pursuit of Happyness poster
The Pursuit of Happyness
2006 · dir. Gabriele Muccino
🍅 67%★ 8drama

Relentless ambition treated as the whole shape of a life

The difference: Sincere and uplifting, with none of the acid or the arrogance

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

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

Genius and obsession scaling up until they isolate the man behind them

The difference: Sprawling and glamorous, decades wide instead of tightly wound

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.

Wild poster
Wild
2014 · dir. Jean-Marc Vallée
🍅 88%★ 7.1drama

Common ground: biography

A woman with a tragic past decides to start her new life by hiking for one thousand miles on the Pacific Crest Trail.

Big Eyes poster
Big Eyes
2014 · dir. Tim Burton
🍅 72%★ 6.9dramaStarz

Authorship, credit and a partnership that curdles into a courtroom

The difference: Softer and stranger — kitsch-art whimsy, less verbal velocity

In the late 1950s and early '60s, artist Walter Keane achieves unbelievable fame and success with portraits of saucer-eyed waifs. However, no one realizes that his wife, Margaret, is the real painter behind the brush. Although Margaret is horrified to learn that Walter is passing off her work as his own, she is too meek to protest too loudly. It isn't until the Keanes' marriage comes to an end and a lawsuit follows that the truth finally comes to light.

The Greatest Showman poster
The Greatest Showman
2017 · dir. Michael Gracey
🍅 56%★ 7.5dramaMax

Both are built on the same subject: a true story

The story of American showman P.T. Barnum, founder of the circus that became the famous traveling Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

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

A sharp-elbowed outsider takes on entrenched power via legal war

The difference: A warm crowd-pleaser — moral lines drawn clean and simple

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.

Concussion poster
Concussion
2015 · dir. Peter Landesman
🍅 58%★ 7.1dramaNetflix

One stubborn expert against an empire invested in not listening

The difference: Earnest issue-movie beats — none of Sorkin's crackle

A dramatic thriller based on the incredible true David vs. Goliath story of American immigrant Dr. Bennet Omalu, the brilliant forensic neuropathologist who made the first discovery of CTE, a football-related brain trauma, in a pro player and fought for the truth to be known. Omalu's emotional quest puts him at dangerous odds with one of the most powerful institutions in the world.

The Book Thief poster
The Book Thief
2013 · dir. Brian Percival
🍅 50%★ 7.5drama

A young mind finding real power in words inside a hostile world

The difference: Tender period storytelling — no ruthlessness, no boardrooms

While subjected to the horrors of WWII Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. Under the stairs in her home, a Jewish refugee is being sheltered by her adoptive parents.

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