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The Theory of Everything poster

Movies that feel likeThe Theory of Everything (2014)

Once a healthy, active young man, Hawking received an earth-shattering diagnosis at 21 years of age. With Jane fighting tirelessly by his side, Stephen embarks on his most ambitious scientific work, studying the very thing he now has precious little of – time.

If you loved The Theory of Everything, the closest films we have are Mohabbatein (2000), Breaking the Waves (1996) and A Short Film About Love (1988). All three share The Theory of Everything's contemplative and romantic feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Swades (2004).

🍅 81% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. James Marshcontemplativeromantictenderhopeful
8 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Hulu

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If The Theory of Everything hit the spot, these will too

Mohabbatein poster
Mohabbatein
2000 · dir. Aditya Chopra
★ 7.1drama · romanceNetflix

Tender, hopeful romance blooming against strict institutional rules

The difference: A Bollywood musical love triangle, no illness or true-story weight

At a prestigious all-male university, three friends seek love outside of the school grounds; at the same time, a newly-hired music teacher seeks to befriend and loosen up the militantly strict headmaster.

Breaking the Waves poster
Breaking the Waves
1996 · dir. Lars von Trier
🍅 84%★ 7.8drama · romance

A devoted wife's faith tested by her husband's physical decline

The difference: Von Trier's harrowing moral extremity, far darker than Hawking's story

In a small, conservative Scottish village, an oilman is paralyzed in an accident. His wife, who prayed for his return, feels guilty; even more, when he urges her to have sex with another.

A Short Film About Love poster
A Short Film About Love
1988 · dir. Krzysztof Kieślowski
🍅 95%★ 8.1drama · romance

A quiet, tender study of love as an act of pure devotion

The difference: An obsessive voyeur's crush, not a marriage tested by illness

19-year-old Tomek whiles away his lonely life by spying on his opposite neighbour Magda through binoculars. She's an artist in her mid-thirties, and appears to have everything - not least a constant stream of men at her beck and call. But when the two finally meet, they discover that they have a lot more in common than appeared at first sight...

The Great Gatsby poster
The Great Gatsby
2013 · dir. Baz Luhrmann
🍅 49%★ 7.2drama · romance

A lavish, tender romance chasing hope against impossible odds

The difference: Jazz-age excess and obsession, not scientific ambition or illness

Nick Carraway arrives in New York in 1922, an era of loose morals, glittering jazz and bootleg kings. Chasing his own American Dream, Nick encounters the mysterious millionaire Gatsby and his bewitching cousin Daisy. Soon, Nick is drawn into the captivating world of the super-rich, their illusions, loves and deceits. Bearing witness to this new world, Nick pens a tale of impossible love, incorruptible dreams and unforgettable tragedy -- mirroring our own times and struggles.​

Swades poster
Swades
2004 · dir. Ashutosh Gowariker
🍅 90%★ 8.2dramaNetflix

A brilliant mind's ambitions colliding with duty and identity

The difference: An NRI's homecoming journey, not a marriage strained by illness

A successful Indian scientist returns home to his village to take his nanny back to America with him, and in the process rediscovers his roots.

The Blind Side poster
The Blind Side
2009 · dir. John Lee Hancock
🍅 65%★ 7.6drama

A true story of overcoming long odds with one person's steady support

The difference: Football and adoption replace physics and a marriage under strain

The story of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family.

Step Up 2: The Streets poster
Step Up 2: The Streets
2008 · dir. Jon M. Chu
🍅 28%★ 6.2music · drama · romance

Contemplative and romantic in the same breath

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

When rebellious street dancer Andie West lands at the elite Maryland School of the Arts, she finds herself fighting to fit in while also trying to hold onto her old life. When she joins forces with the school's hottest dancer, Chase Collins, to form a crew of fellow outcasts to compete in Baltimore's underground dance battle The Streets.

Astral City: A Spiritual Journey poster
Astral City: A Spiritual Journey
2010 · dir. Wagner de Assis
★ 6.5drama

Two things both keep coming back to: inspirational and admiring

The difference: Trades the romance of The Theory of Everything for an angle of its own

The selfish Dr. André Luiz dies and awakes in the limbo called "Umbral". After a painful period in the gruesome swamp, he is rescued and brought in a white light to "Nosso Lar" (meaning "Our Home"). He finds a place of harmony, where people live in peace awaiting

Departures poster
Departures
2008 · dir. Yojiro Takita
🍅 80%★ 8drama

A gentle, hopeful drama about finding purpose within hardship

The difference: A career reinvention around death rituals, no illness or romance

Daigo, a cellist, is laid off from his orchestra and moves with his wife back to his small hometown where the living is cheaper. Thinking he’s applying for a job at a travel agency he finds he’s being interviewed for work with departures of a more permanent nature – as an undertaker’s assistant.

45 Years poster
45 Years
2015 · dir. Andrew Haigh
🍅 96%★ 7.1drama · romance

Tender drama in both cases

There is just one week until Kate Mercer's 45th wedding anniversary and the planning for the party is going well. But then a letter arrives for her husband. The body of his first love has been discovered, frozen and preserved in the icy glaciers of the Swiss Alps. By the time the party is upon them, five days later, there may not be a marriage left to celebrate.

Moneyball poster
Moneyball
2011 · dir. Bennett Miller
🍅 94%★ 7.6dramaHulu

Underdog brilliance overturning the odds through sheer persistence

The difference: Baseball statistics strategy, no illness or romantic devotion

The story of Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to put together a baseball team on a budget, by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players.

Beauty and the Beast poster
Beauty and the Beast
1946 · dir. Jean Cocteau
★ 7.9drama · fantasy · romanceMax

Both lean on hope more than on romance

The difference: Leans harder into fantasy than The Theory of Everything does

The story of a gentle-hearted beast in love with a simple and beautiful girl. She is drawn to the repellent but strangely fascinating Beast, who tests her fidelity by giving her a key, telling her that if she doesn't return it to him by a specific time, he will die of grief. She is unable to return the key on time, but it is revealed that the Beast is the genuinely handsome one. A simple tale of tragic love that turns into a surreal vision of death, desire, and beauty.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Theory of Everything’s defining feeling.