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Captain Fantastic poster

Movies that feel likeCaptain Fantastic (2016)

Deep in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a father devoted to raising his six kids with a rigorous physical and intellectual education is forced to leave his paradise and enter the world, beginning a journey that challenges his idea of what it means to be a parent.

If you loved Captain Fantastic, the closest films we have are Toni Erdmann (2016), The Holdovers (2023) and Good Bye, Lenin! (2003). All three share Captain Fantastic's contemplative and witty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Drive My Car (2021).

7 of 12 streaming nowAmazon Prime Video · Hulu · Disney Plus

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See it on the Mood Map

If Captain Fantastic hit the spot, these will too

Toni Erdmann poster
Toni Erdmann
2016 · dir. Maren Ade
🍅 93%★ 7.3comedy · drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: death of mother

Convinced that his daughter has forgotten how to laugh, a father shows up unannounced while she's living abroad and bombards her with outrageous jokes.

The Holdovers poster
The Holdovers
2023 · dir. Alexander Payne
🍅 97%★ 7.9drama · comedyPeacock

The same preoccupation in both: mental illness

A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam.

Good Bye, Lenin! poster
Good Bye, Lenin!
2003 · dir. Wolfgang Becker
🍅 91%★ 7.7comedy · drama

One thread runs through both: socialism

Alex Kerner's mother was in a coma while the Berlin wall fell. When she wakes up he must try to keep her from learning what happened (as she was an avid communist supporter) to avoid shocking her which could lead to another heart attack.

Sunshine Cleaning poster
Sunshine Cleaning
2009 · dir. Christine Jeffs
🍅 74%★ 6.8comedy · dramaMax

Both are built on the same subject: new mexico

A single mother and her slacker sister find an unexpected way to turn their lives around in this off-beat dramatic comedy. In order to raise the tuition to send her young son to private school the mom starts an unusual business – a biohazard removal/crime scene clean-up service.

August: Osage County poster
August: Osage County
2013 · dir. John Wells
🍅 67%★ 7.2comedy · dramaPrime Video

Both land stillness and wit at once

An intense look at the lives of the strong-willed daughters of the Weston family, whose paths have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Midwest house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional mother who raised them.

Asteroid City poster
Asteroid City
2023 · dir. Wes Anderson
🍅 76%★ 6.4comedy · dramaPeacock

Playful where it counts, melancholy underneath

In an American desert town circa 1955, the itinerary of a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention is spectacularly disrupted by world-changing events.

Patch Adams poster
Patch Adams
1998 · dir. Tom Shadyac
🍅 22%★ 6.9comedy · drama

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

The true story of Dr. Hunter "Patch" Adams, who in the 1970s found that humor is the best medicine, and was willing to do just anything to make his patients laugh—even if it meant risking his own career.

Saving Mr. Banks poster
Saving Mr. Banks
2013 · dir. John Lee Hancock
🍅 79%★ 7.5comedy · drama · historyDisney+

Comedy with a pulse of wit, in both cases

The difference: Sits closer to history than Captain Fantastic does

Author P.L. Travers looks back on her childhood while reluctantly meeting with Walt Disney, who seeks to adapt her Mary Poppins books for the big screen.

A Man Called Otto poster
A Man Called Otto
2022 · dir. Marc Forster
🍅 70%★ 7.5comedy · dramaHulu

Both lean on play more than on drama

When a lively young family moves in next door, grumpy widower Otto Anderson meets his match in a quick-witted, pregnant woman named Marisol, leading to an unlikely friendship that turns his world upside down.

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

Melancholy comedy in both cases

The difference: Easier on the wit than Captain Fantastic

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.

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

Common ground: road trip

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

Both are built on the same subject: road trip

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.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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