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Breaking the Waves poster

Movies that feel likeBreaking the Waves (1996)

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.

If you loved Breaking the Waves, the closest films we have are Mohabbatein (2000), A Short Film About Love (1988) and Beauty and the Beast (1946). All three share Breaking the Waves' contemplative and romantic feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

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

🍅 84% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.8 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Lars von Triercontemplativeromantictenderhopeful
8 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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If Breaking the Waves hit the spot, these will too

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

The same preoccupation in both: tradition

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.

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

Both land stillness and romance at once

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...

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

Both are built on the same subject: underdog

The difference: Sits closer to fantasy than Breaking the Waves 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.

The Theory of Everything poster
The Theory of Everything
2014 · dir. James Marsh
🍅 81%★ 7.7drama · romance

Tender where it counts, hopeful underneath

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.

Happy Together poster
Happy Together
1997 · dir. Wong Kar-Wai
🍅 85%★ 7.6drama · romanceMax

Contemplative drama in both cases

The difference: Takes it somewhere less hopeful than Breaking the Waves does

A couple travels from Hong Kong to Argentina to revive their relationship but experience turbulence when both men's lives drift in separate directions.

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

One thread runs through both: mortality

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.

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

Both keep coming back to the same thing: underdog

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

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.

Dil Chahta Hai poster
Dil Chahta Hai
2001 · dir. Farhan Akhtar
🍅 100%★ 8.1drama · romanceNetflix

Romance built on romance, twice over

Three inseparable childhood friends are just out of college. Nothing comes between them - until they each fall in love, and their wildly different approaches to relationships creates tension.

In America poster
In America
2003 · dir. Jim Sheridan
🍅 90%★ 7.7drama

Both lean on hope more than on drama

A family of Irish immigrants adjusts to life on the mean streets of Hell's Kitchen while also grieving the death of a child.

Veer-Zaara poster
Veer-Zaara
2004 · dir. Yash Chopra
🍅 94%★ 7.8drama · romanceNetflix

Tender romance, and it commits to that

Squadron Leader Veer Pratap Singh, a pilot in the Indian Air Force, rescues the stranded Zaara, a woman from Pakistan, following a bus accident, and their lives are forever bound.

The Age of Innocence poster
The Age of Innocence
1993 · dir. Martin Scorsese
🍅 88%★ 7.2drama · romancePrime Video

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

In 19th century New York high society, a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, while he is engaged to the woman's cousin.

Head-On poster
Head-On
2004 · dir. Fatih Akin
★ 7.9drama · romance

Romantic romance in both cases

With the intention to break free from the strict familial restrictions, a suicidal young woman sets up a marriage of convenience with a forty-year-old addict, an act that will lead to an outburst of envious love.

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The best-reviewed films that share Breaking the Waves’ defining feeling.