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Movies that feel like The Wave (2008)

If you loved The Wave, the closest films we have are We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011), The Experiment (2001) and A Wednesday! (2008). All three share The Wave's contemplative and tense 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 Apple TV and others, checked against today's data.

A school teacher discusses types of government with his class. His students find it too boring to repeatedly go over national socialism and believe that dictatorship cannot be established in modern Germany. He starts an experiment to show how easily the masses can become manipulated.

πŸ… 67% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.6 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Dennis Ganselcontemplativetense

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If The Wave hit the spot, these will too

We Need to Talk About Kevin poster
We Need to Talk About Kevin
2011 Β· dir. Lynne Ramsay
πŸ… 74%β˜… 7.4drama Β· thriller

Common ground: violence in schools

After her son Kevin commits a horrific act, troubled mother Eva reflects on her complicated relationship with her disturbed son as he grew from a toddler into a teenager.

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The Experiment poster
The Experiment
2001 Β· dir. Oliver Hirschbiegel
πŸ… 72%β˜… 7.7drama Β· thriller

One thread runs through both: experiment

20 volunteers agree to take part in a seemingly well-paid experiment advertised by the university. It is supposed to be about aggressive behavior in an artificial prison situation. A journalist senses a story behind the ad and smuggles himself in among the test subjects. They are randomly divided into prisoners and guards. What seems like a game at the beginning soon turns into bloody seriousness.

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A Wednesday! poster
A Wednesday!
2008 Β· dir. Neeraj Pandey
β˜… 8.1drama Β· thriller

Contemplative where it counts, tense underneath

Prakash Rathod, a retired police commissioner recounts the most memorable case of his career wherein he was informed about a bomb scare in Mumbai by an ordinary commoner.

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Hard Candy poster
Hard Candy
2006 Β· dir. David Slade
πŸ… 67%β˜… 7drama Β· thriller

Contemplative drama in both cases

Hayley’s a smart, charming teenage girl. Jeff’s a handsome, smooth fashion photographer. An Internet chat, a coffee shop meet-up, an impromptu fashion shoot back at Jeff’s place. Jeff thinks it’s his lucky night. He’s in for a surprise.

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A Hijacking poster
A Hijacking
2012 Β· dir. Tobias Lindholm
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.1thriller Β· drama

Thriller with a pulse of tension, in both cases

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

Tensions are high after a Danish freighter is captured and held for ransom by Somali pirates, leading to weeks of high-stakes negotiations – and an escalating potential for explosive violence.

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Locke poster
Locke
2014 Β· dir. Steven Knight
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7.1drama Β· thriller

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

Ivan Locke has worked hard to craft a good life for himself. Tonight, that life will collapse around him. On the eve of the biggest challenge of his career, Ivan receives a phone call that sets in motion a series of events that will unravel his family, job, and soul.

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The Lives of Others poster
The Lives of Others
2006 Β· dir. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
πŸ… 92%β˜… 8.4drama Β· thriller

Tense thriller, and it commits to that

In 1984 East Berlin, dedicated Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler begins spying on a famous playwright and his actress-lover Christa-Maria. Wiesler becomes unexpectedly sympathetic to the couple, and faces conflicting loyalties when his superior takes a liking to Christa-Maria.

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Zero Dark Thirty poster
Zero Dark Thirty
2012 Β· dir. Kathryn Bigelow
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7.4thriller Β· drama

Cut from the same drama cloth

A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L. Team 6 in May, 2011.

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The Place poster
The Place
2017 Β· dir. Paolo Genovese
β˜… 7drama Β· thriller

The thriller is handled with the same confidence

The fates of an apparently random group of strangers who each come into contact with a mysterious figure who they believe possesses the power to grant any wish, in return for which they must carry out a task he assigns them.

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Tunnel poster
Tunnel
2016 Β· dir. Kim Seong-hun
πŸ… 100%β˜… 6.8thriller Β· drama

Drama approached the same way

A man is on his way home when the poorly constructed tunnel he is driving through collapses, leaving him trapped leaving himself for the unexpected whilst emergency services struggle to help.

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To Kill a Man poster
To Kill a Man
2014 Β· dir. Alejandro FernΓ‘ndez Almendras
β˜… 6.3thriller Β· drama

Thriller of the same temperament

Jorge is a peaceful hard-working man who seeks a simple, quiet life for himself and his family. One day, he is mugged and humiliated by a gang of thugs led by Kalule, a delinquent from his neighborhood. This event infuriates his son as much for Jorge’s meek acceptance as for the act itself. The son, looking for retribution, ends up getting himself shot. Kalule is sent to jail and when he gets out 18 months later, begins a campaign of terror against Jorge and his family. The authorities do nothing, so Jorge decides to take matters into his own hands.

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The Machinist poster
The Machinist
2004 Β· dir. Brad Anderson
πŸ… 77%β˜… 7.6thriller Β· drama

The same drama instincts

Trevor, an insomniac lathe operator, experiences unusual occurrences at work and home. A strange man follows him everywhere, but no one else seems to notice him.

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In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies β†’

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