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Inherent Vice poster

Movies that feel likeInherent Vice (2014)

In Los Angeles at the turn of the 1970s, drug-fueled detective Larry "Doc" Sportello investigates the disappearance of an ex-girlfriend.

If you loved Inherent Vice, the closest films we have are Hail, Caesar! (2016), The Brand New Testament (2015) and Zero Effect (1998). All three share Inherent Vice's witty and playful feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Estômago: A Gastronomic Story (2008).

🍅 73% Rotten Tomatoes★ 6.6 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Paul Thomas Andersoncontemplativetwistywittyplayfuldreamlike
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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If Inherent Vice hit the spot, these will too

Hail, Caesar! poster
Hail, Caesar!
2016 · dir. Joel Coen
🍅 86%★ 6.3comedy · mystery

Twisty where it counts, witty underneath

The difference: Easier on the stillness than Inherent Vice

When a Hollywood star mysteriously disappears in the middle of filming, the studio sends their fixer to get him back.

The Brand New Testament poster
The Brand New Testament
2015 · dir. Jaco Van Dormael
🍅 82%★ 7.1comedy · fantasy

Both are built on the same subject: surreal

The difference: Leans harder into fantasy than Inherent Vice does

God lives in Brussels. On Earth though, God is a coward, morally pathetic and odious to his family. His daughter, Ea, is bored at home and can't stand being locked up in a small apartment in ordinary Brussels, until the day she decides to revolt against her dad...

Zero Effect poster
Zero Effect
1998 · dir. Jake Kasdan
🍅 66%★ 6.9mystery · crime · comedy

One thread runs through both: detective

The difference: Sits closer to crime than Inherent Vice does

Daryl Zero is a private investigator and—along with his assistant, Steve Arlo—he solves impossible crimes and puzzles. Although Daryl's a master investigator, he doesn't know what to do with himself when he's not working; he has no social skills, writes bad music and drives Steve crazy.

Mirage poster
Mirage
2018 · dir. Oriol Paulo
★ 7.4thriller · drama · mysteryNetflix

The same mix in both: stillness, then dream logic

During a mysterious thunderstorm, Vera, a young mother, manages to save a life in danger, but her good deed causes a disturbing chain of unexpected consequences.

Winter's Bone poster
Winter's Bone
2010 · dir. Debra Granik
🍅 94%★ 7.1drama · mysteryPrime Video

Drama built on stillness, twice over

After discovering her father put their house up for his bail bond and then disappeared, 17-year-old Ree Dolly must confront the local criminal underworld and the harsh Ozark wilderness in order to to track down her father and save her family.

The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe poster
🍅 67%★ 7.2comedy · mystery

Mystery with a pulse of play, in both cases

The difference: 42 years apart, and the 1970s show

A hapless orchestra player becomes an unwitting pawn of rival factions within the French secret service after he is chosen as a decoy by being identified as a super secret agent.

Inheritance poster
Inheritance
2024 · dir. Sylwester Jakimow
★ 5.1comedy · mysteryNetflix

Twisty comedy, and it commits to that

When their rich uncle passes, his mansion of intricate puzzles becomes the backdrop for his estranged family's quest to secure a portion of his wealth.

Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed poster
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
2004 · dir. Raja Gosnell
🍅 22%★ 5.4mystery · adventure · comedyMax

Both keep coming back to the same thing: detective

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

A masked villain wreaks mayhem on the city of Coolsville with a monster machine that creates real-life versions of Mystery Inc.'s former foes like The 10,000 Volt Ghost, The Cotton Candy Glob, The Skelemen and The Pterodactyl Ghost. Fred, Daphne, Shaggy, Velma and Scooby-Doo launch an investigation into the monster outbreak that leaves Shaggy and Scooby questioning their roles in Mystery Inc. Eager to prove their detective skills, the ever-ravenous duo comes up with a secret plan to solve the mystery all by themselves. Can the gang unravel their most challenging case?

In for a Murder poster
In for a Murder
2021 · dir. Piotr Mularuk
★ 5.5crime · comedy · mysteryNetflix

Both lean on wit more than on mystery

A stay-at-home mom and avid reader of crime stories discovers the deepest secrets of a small town's residents while investigating a woman's murder.

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence poster
🍅 90%★ 6.9drama · comedy · fantasy

Playful drama in both cases

An absurdist, surrealistic and shocking pitch-black comedy, which moves freely from nightmare to fantasy to hilariously deadpan humour as it muses on man’s perpetual inhumanity to man.

Estômago: A Gastronomic Story poster
Estômago: A Gastronomic Story
2008 · dir. Marcos Jorge
★ 7.8drama · comedy · mystery

Comedy built on stillness, twice over

In a dog-eat-dog world, Raimundo Nonato has found an alternative way to move ahead: he cooks. No matter what social strata this deceptively innocent young man inhabits, he hones his skills and sharpens his knives—and then he falls in love. Jorge's nimble comic fable provides a smartly constructed gastronomic allegory for ambition and survival.

Ugetsu poster
Ugetsu
1953 · dir. Kenji Mizoguchi
🍅 100%★ 8.1fantasy · drama · mysteryMax

Dreamlike drama, and it commits to that

In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.

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