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On the Waterfront poster

Movies that feel likeOn the Waterfront (1954)

A prizefighter-turned-longshoreman with a conscience goes up against labor leaders to expose corruption, extortion, and murder among the union ranks.

If you loved On the Waterfront, the closest films we have are Splendor in the Grass (1961), Pierrot le Fou (1965) and West Side Story (1961). All three share On the Waterfront's contemplative and romantic feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Earrings of Madame de... (1953).

🍅 99% Rotten Tomatoes★ 8.1 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Elia Kazangrittycontemplativeromantictender
10 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Criterion Channel · FlixFling

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If On the Waterfront hit the spot, these will too

Splendor in the Grass poster
Splendor in the Grass
1961 · dir. Elia Kazan
🍅 75%★ 7.7drama · romance

Elia Kazan directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

The difference: Trades the grit of On the Waterfront for an angle of its own

A fragile Kansas girl's unrequited and forbidden love for a handsome young man from the town's most powerful family drives her to heartbreak and madness.

Pierrot le Fou poster
Pierrot le Fou
1965 · dir. Jean-Luc Godard
🍅 88%★ 7.4drama · romance · crimeMax

The same preoccupation in both: dock

Pierrot escapes his boring society and travels from Paris to the Mediterranean Sea with Marianne, a girl chased by hit-men from Algeria. They lead an unorthodox life, always on the run.

West Side Story poster
West Side Story
1961 · dir. Jerome Robbins
🍅 92%★ 7.6crime · drama · romance

Gritty where it counts, contemplative underneath

In Manhattan’s Upper West Side, rival gangs of Polish-Americans and newly arrived Puerto Ricans clash for control of the neighborhood, even as two young members from opposite sides fall dangerously in love.

Port of Shadows poster
Port of Shadows
1938 · dir. Marcel Carné
🍅 97%★ 7.7romance · drama · crime

Both land romance and tenderness at once

Down a foggy, desolate road to the port city of Le Havre travels Jean, an army deserter looking for another chance to make good on life. Fate, however, has a different plan for him, as acts of both revenge and kindness render him front-page news.

Badlands poster
Badlands
1973 · dir. Terrence Malick
🍅 97%★ 7.7drama · romance · crime

Both lean on grit more than on crime

An impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town and her older greaser boyfriend embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota badlands.

The Earrings of Madame de... poster
The Earrings of Madame de...
1953 · dir. Max Ophüls
🍅 97%★ 7.8drama · romanceMax

Both are built on the same subject: black and white

In late 19th century France, the Countess Louise, wife of a wealthy general, sells the earrings her husband gave her on their wedding day to pay off her secret debts, then claims to have lost them. Her husband quickly learns of the deceit, which is the beginning of many tragic misunderstandings, all involving the earrings, the general, the countess, and her new lover, the Italian Baron Donati.

Summer with Monika poster
Summer with Monika
1953 · dir. Ingmar Bergman
🍅 100%★ 7.5drama · romance

Both keep coming back to the same thing: black and white

One summer day, two teens begin a reckless affair and abandon their families to be with one another.

Children of Paradise poster
Children of Paradise
1945 · dir. Marcel Carné
🍅 98%★ 8.3drama · romance

Common ground: murder

In a chaotic 19th-century Paris teeming with aristocrats, thieves, psychics, and courtesans, theater mime Baptiste is in love with the mysterious actress Garance. But Garance, in turn, is loved by three other men: pretentious actor Frederick, conniving thief Lacenaire, and Count Edouard of Montray.

Days of Being Wild poster
Days of Being Wild
1990 · dir. Wong Kar-Wai
🍅 91%★ 7.4crime · drama · romanceMax

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

The difference: Made in the 1990s, in a different era of the craft

Yuddy, a Hong Kong playboy known for breaking girls' hearts, tries to find solace and truth after discovering the woman who raised him isn't his mother.

Brief Encounter poster
Brief Encounter
1945 · dir. David Lean
🍅 95%★ 8drama · romanceMax

Romantic romance in both cases

Returning home from a shopping trip to a nearby town, bored suburban housewife Laura Jesson is thrown by happenstance into an acquaintance with virtuous doctor Alec Harvey. Their casual friendship soon develops during their weekly visits into something more emotionally fulfilling than either expected, and they must wrestle with the potential havoc their deepening relationship would have on their lives and the lives of those they love.

As Tears Go By poster
As Tears Go By
1988 · dir. Wong Kar-Wai
🍅 85%★ 7drama · crime · romanceMax

Crime built on tenderness, twice over

Mid-level gangster Wah falls in love with his beautiful cousin, but must also continue to protect his volatile partner-in-crime and friend, Fly.

3-Iron poster
3-Iron
2004 · dir. Kim Ki-duk
🍅 87%★ 7.9drama · romance · crime

Gritty drama, and it commits to that

A drifter lives in people's houses while they are away and repays them by doing chores for them. His life changes when he meets a beautiful woman who wants to escape her unhappy marriage.

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The best-reviewed films that share On the Waterfront’s defining feeling.