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Elle poster

Movies that feel likeElle (2016)

When Michèle, the CEO of a gaming software company, is attacked in her home by an unknown assailant, she refuses to let it alter her precisely ordered life. She manages crises involving family, all the while becoming engaged in a game of cat and mouse with her stalker.

If you loved Elle, the closest films we have are The Salesman (2016), Dogman (2018) and The Square (2008). All three share Elle's contemplative and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Cold in July (2014).

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If Elle hit the spot, these will too

The Salesman poster
The Salesman
2016 · dir. Asghar Farhadi
🍅 96%★ 7.7drama · thrillerPrime Video

Common ground in both: rape and assault

The difference: Easier on the melancholy than Elle

Forced out of their apartment due to dangerous works on a neighboring building, Emad and Rana move into a new flat in the center of Tehran. An incident linked to the previous tenant will dramatically change the young couple’s life.

Dogman poster
Dogman
2018 · dir. Matteo Garrone
🍅 84%★ 7.2crime · drama · thriller

The same mix in both: stillness, then tension

The difference: Leans harder into crime than Elle does

Marcello, a small and gentle dog groomer, finds himself involved in a dangerous relationship of subjugation with Simone, a former violent boxer who terrorizes the entire neighborhood. In an effort to reaffirm his dignity, Marcello will submit to an unexpected act of vengeance.

The Square poster
The Square
2008 · dir. Nash Edgerton
🍅 86%★ 6.7crime · drama · thriller

Relentless where it counts, gritty underneath

Ray, a construction worker trapped in an unhappy marriage, pursues an affair with his neighbor, Carla. Carla's husband, Greg, is a mobster who keeps large sums of drug money in their home. With this in mind, Carla comes up with a plan: She and Ray will steal Greg's money, burn down her house, convince Greg the money was lost in the fire and then run away together. Carla's scheme, however, doesn't go off as planned.

Hard Candy poster
Hard Candy
2006 · dir. David Slade
🍅 67%★ 7drama · thriller

Common ground: rape

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.

Blue Ruin poster
Blue Ruin
2014 · dir. Jeremy Saulnier
🍅 96%★ 7.1crime · thrillerPrime VideoPeacock

Tense thriller, and it commits to that

When the quiet life of a beach bum is upended by dreadful news, he sets off for his childhood home to carry out an act of vengeance. However, he proves an inept assassin and finds himself in a brutal fight to protect his estranged family.

You Were Never Really Here poster
You Were Never Really Here
2017 · dir. Lynne Ramsay
🍅 89%★ 6.7crime · drama · thrillerPrime Video

Both lean on melancholy more than on drama

A traumatized veteran, unafraid of violence, tracks down missing girls for a living. When a job spins out of control, Joe's nightmares overtake him as a conspiracy is uncovered—leading to what may be his death trip or his awakening.

Cold in July poster
Cold in July
2014 · dir. Jim Mickle
🍅 84%★ 6.7drama · thriller

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

While investigating noises in his house one balmy Texas night in 1989, Richard Dane puts a bullet in the brain of a low-life burglar. Although he’s hailed as a small-town hero, Dane soon finds himself fearing for his family’s safety when Freddy’s ex-con father rolls into town, hell-bent on revenge.

Side Effects poster
Side Effects
2013 · dir. Steven Soderbergh
🍅 82%★ 7thriller · crime · dramaPrime VideoParamount+

Melancholy thriller in both cases

A woman turns to prescription medication as a way of handling her anxiety concerning her husband's upcoming release from prison.

Nocturnal Animals poster
Nocturnal Animals
2016 · dir. Tom Ford
🍅 74%★ 7.4drama · thriller

Drama built on relentlessness, twice over

Susan Morrow receives a book manuscript from her ex-husband – a man she left 20 years earlier – asking for her opinion of his writing. As she reads, she is drawn into the fictional life of Tony Hastings, a mathematics professor whose family vacation turns violent.

The Devil All the Time poster
The Devil All the Time
2020 · dir. Antonio Campos
🍅 65%★ 7.1crime · drama · thrillerNetflix

Thriller with a pulse of grit, in both cases

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

In Knockemstiff, Ohio and its neighboring backwoods, sinister characters converge around young Arvin Russell as he fights the evil forces that threaten him and his family.

Wanted poster
Wanted
2008 · dir. Timur Bekmambetov
🍅 71%★ 6.7action · thriller · crimeStarz

Both are built on the same subject: death of father

Doormat Wesley Gibson is an office worker whose life is going nowhere. He meets an attractive woman named Fox and discovers that his recently murdered father - whom Wesley never knew - belonged to the Fraternity, a secret society of assassins which takes its orders from Fate itself. Fox and Sloan, the Fraternity's leader, teach Wesley, through intense training, to tap into dormant powers and hone his innate killing skills. Though he enjoys his newfound abilities, he begins to suspect that there is more to the Fraternity than meets the eye.

Wrath of Man poster
Wrath of Man
2021 · dir. Guy Ritchie
🍅 68%★ 7.1thriller · crime · dramaPrime Video

Both work the same stillness

A cold and mysterious new security guard for a Los Angeles cash truck company surprises his co-workers when he unleashes precision skills during a heist. The crew is left wondering who he is and where he came from. Soon, the marksman's ultimate motive becomes clear as he takes dramatic and irrevocable steps to settle a score.

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