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Lilya 4-ever poster

Movies that feel likeLilya 4-ever (2002)

In a struggling post-Soviet community, Lilya a teenage girl is abandoned when her mother moves to the United States with her boyfriend. Facing neglect and poverty, she meets Andrei, who offers her a job in Sweden, giving her hope for a better life β€” and a journey that will change everything.

If you loved Lilya 4-ever, the closest films we have are The Celebration (1998), Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008) and Short Term 12 (2013). All three share Lilya 4-ever's contemplative and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Lantana (2001).

πŸ… 84% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.8 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Lukas Moodyssoncontemplativegrittymelancholy
8 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max Β· Amazon Prime Video Β· Paramount Plus Essential

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If Lilya 4-ever hit the spot, these will too

The Celebration poster
The Celebration
1998 Β· dir. Thomas Vinterberg
πŸ… 91%β˜… 8drama

Common ground: suicide

The family of a wealthy businessman gather to celebrate his 60th birthday. During the course of the party, his eldest son presents a speech that reveals a devastating secret that turns the night into a battle of truth and denial.

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father poster
πŸ… 94%β˜… 8.5documentary Β· crimePrime Video

The same mix in both: stillness, then grit

The difference: Sits closer to documentary than Lilya 4-ever does

In 2001, Andrew Bagby, a medical resident, is murdered not long after breaking up with his girlfriend. Soon after, when she announces she's pregnant, one of Andrew's many close friends, Kurt Kuenne, begins this film, a gift to the child.

Short Term 12 poster
Short Term 12
2013 Β· dir. Destin Daniel Cretton
πŸ… 98%β˜… 7.9dramaPrime Video

Both lean on melancholy more than on drama

Grace, a compassionate young supervisor at a foster care facility, helps at-risk teens. But when a new charge dredges up memories of her own troubled past, Grace's tough exterior begins eroding.

Cool Hand Luke poster
Cool Hand Luke
1967 Β· dir. Stuart Rosenberg
πŸ… 100%β˜… 8drama Β· crime

The same preoccupation in both: escape

The difference: 35 years apart, and the 1960s show

When petty criminal Luke Jackson is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison farm, he doesn't play by the rules of either the sadistic warden or the yard's resident heavy, Dragline, who ends up admiring the new guy's unbreakable will. Luke's bravado, even in the face of repeated stints in the prison's dreaded solitary confinement cell, "the box," make him a rebel hero to his fellow convicts and a thorn in the side of the prison officers.

Taste of Cherry poster
Taste of Cherry
1997 Β· dir. Abbas Kiarostami
πŸ… 82%β˜… 7.7dramaMax

One thread runs through both: suicide

The difference: Trades the grit of Lilya 4-ever for an angle of its own

A middle-aged Tehranian man, Mr. Badii is intent on killing himself and seeks someone to bury him after his demise. Driving around the city, the seemingly well-to-do Badii meets with numerous people, including a Muslim student, asking them to take on the job, but initially he has little luck. Eventually, Badii finds a man who is up for the task because he needs the money, but his new associate soon tries to talk him out of committing suicide.

Lantana poster
Lantana
2001 Β· dir. Ray Lawrence
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7.2crime Β· drama Β· mystery

Contemplative crime, and it commits to that

Plagued with grief over the murder of her daughter, Valerie Somers suspects that her husband John is cheating on her. When Valerie disappears, Detective Leon Zat attempts to solve the mystery of her absence. A complex web of love, sex and deceit emerges -- drawing in four related couples whose various partners are distrustful and suspicious about each other's involvement.

Nobody Knows poster
Nobody Knows
2004 Β· dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda
πŸ… 92%β˜… 8drama

Drama built on melancholy, twice over

In a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.

Charley Varrick poster
Charley Varrick
1973 Β· dir. Don Siegel
πŸ… 82%β˜… 7.5crime Β· thriller Β· drama

Gritty crime in both cases

Charley Varrick robs a bank in a small town with his friends, but instead of obtaining a small amount of money, they discover they stole a very large amount of money belonging to the mob. Charley must now come up with a plan to not only evade the police but the mob as well.

Thief poster
Thief
1981 Β· dir. Michael Mann
πŸ… 80%β˜… 7.4crime Β· thriller Β· dramaPrime Video

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

Frank is an expert professional safecracker, specialized in high-profile diamond heists. He plans to use his ill-gotten income to retire from crime and build a nice life for himself complete with a home, wife and kids. To accelerate the process, he signs on with a top gangster for a big score.

City of Men poster
City of Men
2007 Β· dir. Paulo Morelli
πŸ… 74%β˜… 7.2dramaParamount+

Crime built on melancholy, twice over

Best buddies Acerola and Laranjinha, about to turn 18, discover things about their missing fathers' pasts which will shatter their solid friendship, in the middle of a war between rival drug gangs from Rio's favelas.

21 Grams poster
21 Grams
2003 Β· dir. Alejandro G. IΓ±Γ‘rritu
πŸ… 80%β˜… 7.6drama Β· crime Β· thriller

The shared currency is grit

Paul Rivers, an ailing mathematician lovelessly married to an English Γ©migrΓ©; Christina Peck, an upper-middle-class suburban housewife and mother of two girls; and Jack Jordan, a born-again ex-con, are brought together by a terrible accident that changes their lives.

Central Station poster
Central Station
1998 Β· dir. Walter Salles
πŸ… 94%β˜… 8drama

Cut from the same drama cloth

An emotional journey of a former school teacher, who writes letters for illiterate people, and a young boy, whose mother has just died, as they search for the father he never knew.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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The best-reviewed films that share Lilya 4-ever’s defining feeling.