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Midnight Cowboy poster

Movies that feel likeMidnight Cowboy (1969)

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.

If you loved Midnight Cowboy, the closest films we have are Shane (1953), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and Bad Education (2004). All three share Midnight Cowboy'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).

🍅 89% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.8 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. John Schlesingercontemplativewarmgritty
6 of 12 streaming nowAmazon Prime Video · Hulu · Paramount Plus Essential

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If Midnight Cowboy hit the spot, these will too

Shane poster
Shane
1953 · dir. George Stevens
🍅 97%★ 7.6drama · westernParamount+

Both are built on the same subject: friendship

The difference: Sits closer to western than Midnight Cowboy does

A weary gunfighter attempts to settle down with a homestead family, but a smouldering settler and rancher conflict forces him to act.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid poster
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
1969 · dir. George Roy Hill
🍅 89%★ 8western · crime · drama

The same mix in both: stillness, then warmth

As the west rapidly becomes civilized, a pair of outlaws in 1890s Wyoming find themselves pursued by a posse and decide to flee to South America in hopes of evading the law.

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

The same preoccupation in both: friendship

The difference: 35 years apart, and the 2000s show

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.

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

Both lean on grit more than on drama

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.

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

Contemplative drama 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.

A Simple Plan poster
A Simple Plan
1998 · dir. Sam Raimi
🍅 91%★ 7.5crime · drama · thrillerParamount+

Drama built on warmth, twice over

Captivated by the lure of sudden wealth, the quiet rural lives of two brothers erupt into conflicts of greed, paranoia and distrust when over $4 million in cash is discovered at the remote site of a downed small airplane. Their simple plan to retain the money while avoiding detection opens a Pandora's box when the fear of getting caught triggers panicked behavior and leads to virulent consequences.

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

Both work the same grit

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.

Gran Torino poster
Gran Torino
2008 · dir. Clint Eastwood
🍅 81%★ 8.1drama

One thread runs through both: rape

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.

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

Both keep coming back to the same thing: 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.

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

The shared currency is stillness

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

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.

Dances with Wolves poster
Dances with Wolves
1990 · dir. Kevin Costner
🍅 87%★ 8adventure · drama · westernPrime Video

Both sit in the same warm register

Wounded Civil War soldier John Dunbar tries to commit suicide—and becomes a hero instead. As a reward, he's assigned to his dream post, a remote junction on the Western frontier, and soon makes unlikely friends with the local Sioux tribe.

The Wild Bunch poster
The Wild Bunch
1969 · dir. Sam Peckinpah
🍅 91%★ 7.9western

Common ground: texas

The difference: Easier on the stillness than Midnight Cowboy

An aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the "traditional" American West is disappearing around them.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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