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Gran Torino poster

Movies that feel likeGran Torino (2008)

Disgruntled Korean War veteran Walt Kowalski sets out to reform his neighbor, Thao Lor, a Hmong teenager who tried to steal Kowalski's prized possession: a 1972 Gran Torino.

If you loved Gran Torino, the closest films we have are 21 (2008), Bad Education (2004) and Trainspotting (1996). All three share Gran Torino's contemplative and warm feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

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

🍅 81% Rotten Tomatoes★ 8.1 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Clint Eastwoodcontemplativewarmgritty
7 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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See it on the Mood Map

If Gran Torino hit the spot, these will too

21 poster
21
2008 · dir. Robert Luketic
🍅 36%★ 6.8drama · crime

Both land stillness and warmth at once

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

Ben Campbell is a young, highly intelligent student at M.I.T. who strives to succeed. Wanting a scholarship to transfer to Harvard School of Medicine to become a doctor, Ben learns that he cannot afford the $300,000 tuition as he comes from a poor, working-class background. But one evening, Ben is introduced by his unorthodox math professor to a small but secretive club of five students, Jill, Choi, Kianna, and Fisher, who are being trained by Professor Rosa to count cards at blackjack.

Bad Education poster
Bad Education
2004 · dir. Pedro Almodóvar
🍅 88%★ 7.4drama · crime

Gritty drama, and it commits to that

The difference: Sits closer to crime than Gran Torino does

When an old friend brings filmmaker Enrique Goded a semi-autobiographical script chronicling their adolescence, Enrique is forced to relive his youth spent at a Catholic boarding school. Weaving through past and present, the script follows a transvestite performer who reconnects with a grade school sweetheart. Spurred on by this chance encounter, the character reflects on her childhood sexual victimization and the trauma of closeting her sexual orientation.

Trainspotting poster
Trainspotting
1996 · dir. Danny Boyle
🍅 93%★ 8.1drama · crime

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

Heroin addict Mark Renton stumbles through bad ideas and sobriety attempts with his unreliable friends --Sick Boy, Begbie, Spud and Tommy. He also has an underage girlfriend, Diane, along for the ride. After cleaning up and moving from Edinburgh to London, Mark finds he can't escape the life he left behind as Begbie and Sick Boy come knocking.

The Mule poster
The Mule
2018 · dir. Clint Eastwood
🍅 69%★ 7crime · drama

Clint Eastwood directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

The difference: Trades the warmth of Gran Torino for an angle of its own

Earl Stone, a man in his eighties, is broke, alone, and facing foreclosure of his business when he is offered a job that simply requires him to drive. Easy enough, but, unbeknownst to Earl, he's just signed on as a drug courier for a Mexican cartel. He does so well that his cargo increases exponentially, and Earl hit the radar of hard-charging DEA agent Colin Bates.

Pleasure poster
Pleasure
2021 · dir. Ninja Thyberg
🍅 88%★ 6.3dramaRent or buy

An outsider learning a world's brutal rules the hard way

The difference: Explicit industry exposé — transgressive, not redemptive

Bella Cherry arrives in Los Angeles with dreams of becoming an adult film star, but she soon learns that fame won't come easy as she harnesses her ambition and cunning to rise to the top of this mesmerizing and singular world.

Spring Breakers poster
Spring Breakers
2013 · dir. Harmony Korine
🍅 67%★ 5.3drama · crimeMax

Common ground: gangster

After four college girls rob a restaurant to fund their spring break in Florida, they get entangled with a weird dude with his own criminal agenda.

Thelma & Louise poster
Thelma & Louise
1991 · dir. Ridley Scott
🍅 87%★ 7.6drama · crimePrime VideoHulu

Drama with a pulse of warmth, in both cases

Taking a break from their dreary lives, close friends Thelma and Louise embark on a short weekend trip that ends in unforeseen incriminating circumstances. As fugitives, both women rediscover the strength of their bond and their newfound resilience.

Dogville poster
Dogville
2003 · dir. Lars von Trier
🍅 70%★ 8crime · drama · thriller

The same preoccupation in both: rape

A woman on the run from the mob is reluctantly accepted in a small Colorado community in exchange for labor, but when a search visits the town, she learns that their support has a price.

Midnight Cowboy poster
Midnight Cowboy
1969 · dir. John Schlesinger
🍅 89%★ 7.8drama

Two mismatched loners becoming each other's only family

The difference: Seedy 60s New York despair — friendship without rescue

Joe Buck is a wide-eyed hustler from Texas hoping to score big with wealthy New York City women; he finds a companion in Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo, an ailing swindler with a bum leg and a quixotic fantasy of escaping to Florida.

The Irishman poster
The Irishman
2019 · dir. Martin Scorsese
🍅 95%★ 7.8crime · drama · historyNetflix

Both keep coming back to the same thing: war veteran

Pennsylvania, 1956. Frank Sheeran, a war veteran of Irish origin who works as a truck driver, accidentally meets mobster Russell Bufalino. Once Frank becomes his trusted man, Bufalino sends him to Chicago with the task of helping Jimmy Hoffa, a powerful union leader related to organized crime, with whom Frank will maintain a close friendship for nearly twenty years.

End of Watch poster
End of Watch
2012 · dir. David Ayer
🍅 85%★ 7.6crime · drama · thriller

Both run gritty where it counts

Two young officers are marked for death after confiscating a small cache of money and firearms from the members of a notorious cartel during a routine traffic stop.

The Last Duel poster
The Last Duel
2021 · dir. Ridley Scott
🍅 85%★ 7.3drama · historyRent or buy

One thread runs through both: rape

King Charles VI declares that Knight Jean de Carrouges settle his dispute with his squire, Jacques Le Gris, by challenging him to a duel.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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