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The Whale poster

Movies that feel likeThe Whale (2022)

A reclusive English teacher suffering from severe obesity attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter for one last chance at redemption.

If you loved The Whale, the closest films we have are Drive My Car (2021), Nomadland (2021) and Silent Heart (2014). All three share The Whale's contemplative and melancholy feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is City of Men (2007).

🍅 64% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.6 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Darren Aronofskycontemplativemelancholy
7 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Amazon Prime Video · Paramount Plus Premium

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If The Whale hit the spot, these will too

Drive My Car poster
Drive My Car
2021 · dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi
🍅 97%★ 7.5dramaRent or buy

Contemplative and melancholy in the same breath

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

Yusuke Kafuku, a stage actor and director, still unable, after two years, to cope with the loss of his beloved wife, accepts to direct Uncle Vanya at a theater festival in Hiroshima. There he meets Misaki, an introverted young woman, appointed to drive his car. In between rides, secrets from the past and heartfelt confessions will be unveiled.

Nomadland poster
Nomadland
2021 · dir. Chloé Zhao
🍅 93%★ 7.3dramaRent or buy

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

A woman in her sixties embarks on a journey through the western United States after losing everything in the Great Recession, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.

Silent Heart poster
Silent Heart
2014 · dir. Bille August
★ 7.1drama

Both lean on melancholy more than on drama

Three generations of a family gather over a weekend. The sisters Sanne and Heidi have accepted their terminally-ill mother’s desire to die before her disease worsens; but, as the weekend progresses, their mother's decision becomes harder and harder to deal with, and old conflicts come to the surface.

Jackie poster
Jackie
2016 · dir. Pablo Larraín
🍅 87%★ 6.6drama

Contemplative drama in both cases

An account of the days of First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, in the immediate aftermath of John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963.

Manchester by the Sea poster
Manchester by the Sea
2016 · dir. Kenneth Lonergan
🍅 96%★ 7.8dramaPrime Video

Both sit in the same melancholy register

After his older brother passes away, Lee Chandler is forced to return home to care for his 16-year-old nephew. There he is compelled to deal with a tragic past that separated him from his family and the community where he was born and raised.

The Danish Girl poster
The Danish Girl
2015 · dir. Tom Hooper
🍅 66%★ 7.1drama

Both know what they want from drama

When Gerda Wegener asks her husband Einar to fill in as a portrait model, Einar discovers the person she's meant to be and begins living her life as Lili Elbe. Having realized her true self and with Gerda's love and support, Lili embarks on a groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.

Babel poster
Babel
2006 · dir. Alejandro G. Iñárritu
🍅 68%★ 7.4dramaParamount+

Drama of the same temperament

Tragedy strikes a married couple vacationing in the Moroccan desert, which jumpstarts an interlocking story involving four different families.

City of Men poster
City of Men
2007 · dir. Paulo Morelli
🍅 74%★ 7.2dramaParamount+

Both play drama straight

Best buddies Acerola and Laranjinha, about to turn 18, discover things about their missing fathers' pasts which will shatter their solid friendship, in the middle of a war between rival drug gangs from Rio's favelas.

Taste of Cherry poster
Taste of Cherry
1997 · dir. Abbas Kiarostami
🍅 82%★ 7.7dramaMax

One thread runs through both: depression

The difference: Made in the 1990s, in a different era of the craft

A middle-aged Tehranian man, Mr. Badii is intent on killing himself and seeks someone to bury him after his demise. Driving around the city, the seemingly well-to-do Badii meets with numerous people, including a Muslim student, asking them to take on the job, but initially he has little luck. Eventually, Badii finds a man who is up for the task because he needs the money, but his new associate soon tries to talk him out of committing suicide.

Nobody Knows poster
Nobody Knows
2004 · dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda
🍅 92%★ 8drama

Both working the same drama territory

In a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.

Magnolia poster
Magnolia
1999 · dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
🍅 82%★ 8dramaMax

The same drama instincts

On one random day in the San Fernando Valley, a dying father, a young wife, a male caretaker, a famous lost son, a police officer in love, a boy genius, an ex-boy genius, a game show host and an estranged daughter will each become part of a dazzling multiplicity of plots, but one story.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof poster
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
1958 · dir. Richard Brooks
🍅 97%★ 7.9drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: depression

An alcoholic ex-football player drinks his days away, having failed to come to terms with his sexuality and his real feelings for his football buddy who died after an ambiguous accident. His wife is crucified by her desperation to make him desire her: but he resists the affections of his wife. His reunion with his father—who is dying of cancer—jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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