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Network poster

Movies that feel likeNetwork (1976)

When veteran anchorman Howard Beale is forced to retire his 25-year post because of his age, he announces to viewers that he will kill himself during his farewell broadcast. Network executives rethink their decision when his fanatical tirade results in a spike in ratings.

If you loved Network, the closest films we have are The Holy Mountain (1973), The Square (2017) and The Great Beauty (2013). All three share Network's contemplative and darkly funny feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Ruling Class (1972).

🍅 90% Rotten Tomatoes★ 8 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Sidney Lumetcontemplativedarkly funny
8 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Amazon Prime Video · Paramount Plus Premium

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See it on the Mood Map

If Network hit the spot, these will too

The Holy Mountain poster
The Holy Mountain
1973 · dir. Alejandro Jodorowsky
🍅 85%★ 7.7drama

Common ground: satire

The Alchemist assembles together a group of people from all walks of life to represent the planets in the solar system. The occult adept's intention is to put his recruits through strange mystical rites and divest them of their worldly baggage before embarking on a trip to Lotus Island. There they ascend the Holy Mountain to displace the immortal gods who secretly rule the universe.

The Square poster
The Square
2017 · dir. Ruben Östlund
🍅 85%★ 7.1dramaPrime Video

Both are built on the same subject: satire

The difference: Made in the 2010s, in a different era of the craft

A prestigious Stockholm museum's chief art curator finds himself in times of both professional and personal crisis as he attempts to set up a controversial new exhibit.

The Great Beauty poster
The Great Beauty
2013 · dir. Paolo Sorrentino
🍅 91%★ 7.7dramaMax

Contemplative where it counts, darkly funny underneath

Jep Gambardella has seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades, but after his 65th birthday and a shock from the past, Jep looks past the nightclubs and parties to find a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty.

Force Majeure poster
Force Majeure
2014 · dir. Ruben Östlund
🍅 94%★ 7.2dramaRent or buy

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

While holidaying in the French Alps, a Swedish family deals with acts of cowardliness as an avalanche breaks out.

American Beauty poster
American Beauty
1999 · dir. Sam Mendes
🍅 87%★ 8.3drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: adultery

Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.

Ace in the Hole poster
Ace in the Hole
1951 · dir. Billy Wilder
🍅 88%★ 8drama

The same preoccupation in both: reporter

An arrogant reporter exploits a story about a man trapped in a cave to revitalize his career.

The Ruling Class poster
The Ruling Class
1972 · dir. Peter Medak
🍅 83%★ 7.2comedy · dramaMax

Darkly funny drama, and it commits to that

The difference: Leans harder into comedy than Network does

When the Earl of Gurney dies in a cross-dressing accident, his schizophrenic son, Jack, inherits the Gurney estate. Jack is not the average nobleman; he sings and dances across the estate and thinks he is Jesus reincarnated. Believing that Jack is mentally unfit to own the estate, the Gurney family plots to steal Jack's inheritance. As their outrageous schemes fail, the family strives to cure Jack of his bizarre behavior, with disastrous results.

Natural Born Killers poster
Natural Born Killers
1994 · dir. Oliver Stone
🍅 52%★ 7.2crime · thriller · drama

Drama built on stillness, twice over

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

Two victims of traumatized childhoods become lovers and serial murderers irresponsibly glorified by the mass media.

Withnail & I poster
Withnail & I
1987 · dir. Bruce Robinson
🍅 84%★ 7.5comedy · dramaMax

Both run darkly funny where it counts

Two out-of-work actors -- the anxious, luckless Marwood and his acerbic, alcoholic friend, Withnail -- spend their days drifting between their squalid flat, the unemployment office and the pub. When they take a holiday "by mistake" at the country house of Withnail's flamboyantly gay uncle, Monty, they encounter the unpleasant side of the English countryside: tedium, terrifying locals and torrential rain.

Election poster
Election
1999 · dir. Alexander Payne
🍅 92%★ 7.2comedy · dramaParamount+

The drama is handled with the same confidence

A high school teacher meets his match in an over-achieving student politician.

Fargo poster
Fargo
1996 · dir. Joel Coen
🍅 95%★ 8.1crime · drama · thriller

One thread runs through both: murder

Jerry Lundegaard is a small-town Minnesota car salesman deeply in debt and willing to do almost anything to get out. Police chief Marge Gunderson discovers a string of violent crimes as Jerry's schemes spiral out of control.

Digger poster
Digger
2026 · dir. Alejandro G. Iñárritu
🍅 52%★ 7.5comedy · drama

Both know what they want from drama

The most powerful man in the world embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity's savior before the disaster he's unleashed destroys everything.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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