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Movies that feel likeMirror (1975)

A dying man in his forties recalls his childhood, his mother, the war and personal moments that tell of and juxtapose pivotal moments in Soviet history with daily life.

If you loved Mirror, the closest films we have are Aftersun (2022), I'm Still Here (2024) and Autumn Sonata (1978). All three share Mirror's contemplative and melancholy feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Places in the Heart (1984).

🍅 100% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.9 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Andrei Tarkovskycontemplativeepicdreamlikewistfulmelancholy
11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Criterion Channel

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See it on the Mood Map

If Mirror hit the spot, these will too

Aftersun poster
Aftersun
2022 · dir. Charlotte Wells
🍅 96%★ 7.6dramaRent or buy

Both land stillness and wistfulness at once

The difference: Takes it somewhere less epic than Mirror does

Sophie reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father twenty years earlier. Memories fill the gaps between camcorder footages as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the troubled man she didn't.

I'm Still Here poster
I'm Still Here
2024 · dir. Walter Salles
★ 8.1drama · historyNetflix

The same mix in both: scale, then melancholy

The difference: 49 years apart, and the 2020s show

A woman married to a former politician during the 1971 military dictatorship in Brazil is forced to reinvent herself and chart a new course for her family after a violent and arbitrary act.

Autumn Sonata poster
Autumn Sonata
1978 · dir. Ingmar Bergman
🍅 85%★ 8.1dramaMax

Contemplative drama in both cases

After a seven-year absence, Charlotte Andergast travels to Sweden to reunite with her daughter Eva. The pair have a troubled relationship: Charlotte sacrificed the responsibilities of motherhood for a career as a classical pianist. Over an emotional night, the pair reopen the wounds of the past. Charlotte gets another shock when she finds out that her mentally impaired daughter, Helena, is out of the asylum and living with Eva.

Ivan's Childhood poster
Ivan's Childhood
1962 · dir. Andrei Tarkovsky
🍅 100%★ 8drama · war

Both are Andrei Tarkovsky's work, and they rhyme

The difference: Leans harder into war than Mirror does

In WW2, twelve year old Soviet orphan Ivan Bondarev works for the Soviet army as a scout behind the German lines and strikes a friendship with three sympathetic Soviet officers.

The Tin Drum poster
The Tin Drum
1979 · dir. Volker Schlöndorff
🍅 84%★ 7.4drama · history · warMax

Epic history, and it commits to that

In 1924, Oskar Matzerath is born in the Free City of Danzig. At age three, he falls down a flight of stairs and stops growing. In 1939, World War II breaks out.

La Strada poster
La Strada
1954 · dir. Federico Fellini
🍅 97%★ 8dramaMax

Both lean on wistfulness more than on drama

The difference: Made in the 1950s, in a different era of the craft

When Gelsomina, a naïve young woman, is purchased from her impoverished mother by brutish circus strongman Zampanò to be his wife and partner, she loyally endures her husband's coldness and abuse as they travel the Italian countryside performing together. Soon Zampanò must deal with his jealousy and conflicted feelings about Gelsomina when she finds a kindred spirit in Il Matto, the carefree circus fool, and contemplates leaving Zampanò.

Places in the Heart poster
Places in the Heart
1984 · dir. Robert Benton
🍅 90%★ 7.4drama

History built on melancholy, twice over

In 1935 rural Texas, recently widowed Edna Spaulding struggles to survive with two small children, a farm to run, and very little money in the bank - not to mention a deadly tornado and the unwelcome presence of the Ku Klux Klan. Edna is aided by her beautician sister, Margaret; a blind boarder, Mr. Will; and a would-be thief, Moze, who decides to teach Edna how to plant and harvest cotton.

The Look of Silence poster
The Look of Silence
2014 · dir. Joshua Oppenheimer
🍅 96%★ 8.2history · documentary

History with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

An Indonesian man with a communist background named Ramli was brutally murdered when the "Communist" purge occurred in 1965. His remaining family members lived in fear and silence until the making of this documentary. Adi, a brother of his, decided to revisit the horrific incident and visited the men who were responsible for the killings and one survivor of the purge. These meetings uncovered sadistic details of the murders and exposed raw emotions and reactions of the killers' family members about what happened in the past - much to Adi's disappointment.

Winter Light poster
Winter Light
1963 · dir. Ingmar Bergman
🍅 77%★ 8drama

Drama built on melancholy, twice over

A Swedish pastor fails a loving woman, a suicidal fisherman and God.

The Boy and the Heron poster
The Boy and the Heron
2023 · dir. Hayao Miyazaki
🍅 96%★ 7.3animation · fantasy · dramaMax

One thread runs through both: world war ii

While the Second World War rages, the teenage Mahito, haunted by his mother's tragic death, is relocated from Tokyo to the serene rural home of his new stepmother Natsuko, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to the boy's mother. As he tries to adjust, this strange new world grows even stranger following the appearance of a persistent gray heron, who perplexes and bedevils Mahito, dubbing him the "long-awaited one."

Mommy poster
Mommy
2014 · dir. Xavier Dolan
🍅 89%★ 8drama

Both run dreamlike where it counts

A peculiar neighbor offers hope to a recent widow who is struggling to raise a teenager who is unpredictable and, sometimes, violent.

Andrei Rublev poster
Andrei Rublev
1966 · dir. Andrei Tarkovsky
🍅 96%★ 8drama · history

The same hand behind both of them: Andrei Tarkovsky

An expansive Russian drama, this film focuses on the life of revered religious icon painter Andrei Rublev. Drifting from place to place in a tumultuous era, the peace-seeking monk eventually gains a reputation for his art. But after Rublev witnesses a brutal battle and unintentionally becomes involved, he takes a vow of silence and spends time away from his work. As he begins to ease his troubled soul, he takes steps towards becoming a painter once again.

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