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Movies that feel like What Dreams May Come (1998)

If you loved What Dreams May Come, the closest films we have are City of Angels (1998), A Ghost Story (2017) and Closer (2004). All three share What Dreams May Come's contemplative and romantic feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 8 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on HBO Max, Paramount Plus Premium and MGM Plus and others, checked against today's data.

Chris Nielsen dies to find himself in a heaven more amazing than he could have ever dreamed of. There is one thing missing: his wife. After he died, his wife Annie killed herself and went to hell. Chris decides to risk eternity in Hades for the small chance that he will be able to bring her back to heaven.

πŸ… 51% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Vincent Wardcontemplativedreamlikeromantictendermelancholy

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If What Dreams May Come hit the spot, these will too

City of Angels poster
City of Angels
1998 Β· dir. Brad Silberling
β˜… 6.7drama Β· fantasy Β· romance

Common ground in both: afterlife and heaven

The difference: Not nearly as melancholy as What Dreams May Come

When a guardian angel – who invisibly watches over the citizens of Los Angeles – becomes captivated by a strong-willed heart surgeon, he ponders trading in his pure, otherworldly existence for a mortal life with his beloved. The couple embarks on a tender but forbidden romance spanning heaven and Earth.

A Ghost Story poster
A Ghost Story
2017 Β· dir. David Lowery
πŸ… 91%β˜… 6.8drama Β· fantasy Β· romance

Both keep coming back to the same thing: death

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

Recently deceased, a white-sheeted ghost returns to his suburban home to console his bereft wife, only to find that in his spectral state he has become unstuck in time, forced to watch passively as the life he knew and the woman he loves slowly slip away.

Closer poster
Closer
2004 Β· dir. Mike Nichols
πŸ… 67%β˜… 7.1drama Β· romance

Both are built on the same subject: husband wife relationship

The relationships of two couples become complicated and deceitful when the man from one couple meets the woman of the other.

Defending Your Life poster
Defending Your Life
1991 Β· dir. Albert Brooks
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7.2romance Β· fantasy Β· comedy

Common ground: afterlife

The difference: Leans harder into comedy than What Dreams May Come does

Is there love after death? After he dies suddenly, the hapless advertising executive Daniel Miller finds himself in Judgment City, a gleaming way station where the newly deceased must prove they lived a life of sufficient courage to advance in their journey through the universe. As the self-doubting Daniel struggles to make his case, a budding relationship with the uninhibited Julia offers him a chance to finally feel alive.

Truly Madly Deeply poster
Truly Madly Deeply
1991 Β· dir. Anthony Minghella
πŸ… 76%β˜… 7.2fantasy Β· drama Β· comedy

The same preoccupation in both: death

Nina is totally heartbroken at the death of her boyfriend Jamie, but is even more unprepared for his return as a ghost. At first it's almost as good as it used to be – hey, even the rats that infested her house have disappeared. But Jamie starts bringing ghostly friends home and behaving more and more oddly.

The Time Traveler's Wife poster
The Time Traveler's Wife
2009 Β· dir. Robert Schwentke
πŸ… 38%β˜… 7.1drama Β· romance Β· fantasy

One thread runs through both: husband wife relationship

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.

The Lovely Bones poster
The Lovely Bones
2009 Β· dir. Peter Jackson
πŸ… 31%β˜… 6.6fantasy Β· drama

Contemplative where it counts, dreamlike underneath

After being brutally murdered, 14-year-old Susie Salmon watches from heaven over her grief-stricken family -- and her killer. As she observes their daily lives, she must balance her thirst for revenge with her desire for her family to heal.

P.S. I Love You poster
P.S. I Love You
2007 Β· dir. Richard LaGravenese
β˜… 7drama Β· romance

Romantic and tender in the same breath

A young widow discovers that her late husband has left her 10 messages intended to help ease her pain and start a new life.

Ghost poster
Ghost
1990 Β· dir. Jerry Zucker
πŸ… 74%β˜… 7.1fantasy Β· romance Β· thriller

Both are working the same pair: soulmates, hell

After a young man is murdered, his spirit stays behind to warn his lover of impending danger, with the help of a reluctant psychic.

The Lake House poster
The Lake House
2006 Β· dir. Alejandro Agresti
πŸ… 35%β˜… 6.8romance Β· drama Β· fantasy

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

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.Β They must try to unravel the mystery behind their extraordinary romance before it's too late.

Revolutionary Road poster
Revolutionary Road
2008 Β· dir. Sam Mendes
πŸ… 67%β˜… 7.3drama Β· romance

Dreamlike romance, and it commits to that

A young couple living in a Connecticut suburb during the mid-1950s struggle to come to terms with their personal problems while trying to raise their two children. Based on a novel by Richard Yates.

Millennium Actress poster
Millennium Actress
2002 Β· dir. Satoshi Kon
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.8animation Β· drama Β· romance

Romantic fantasy in both cases

Documentary filmmaker Genya Tachibana has tracked down the legendary actress Chiyoko Fujiwara, who mysteriously vanished at the height of her career. When he presents her with a key she had lost and thought was gone forever, the filmmaker could not have imagined that it would not only unlock the long-held secrets of Chiyoko’s life... but also his own.

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