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Pain and Glory poster

Movies that feel likePain and Glory (2019)

Salvador Mallo, a filmmaker in the twilight of his career, remembers his life: his mother, his lovers, the actors he worked with. The sixties in a small village in Valencia, the eighties in Madrid, the present, when he feels an immeasurable emptiness, facing his mortality, the incapability of continuing filming, the impossibility of separating creation from his own life. The need of narrating his past can be his salvation.

If you loved Pain and Glory, the closest films we have are Parallel Mothers (2021), It's Only the End of the World (2016) and Invisible Life (2019). All three share Pain and Glory's contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Clergy (2018).

🍅 96% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.5 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Pedro Almodóvarcontemplative
6 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video

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See it on the Mood Map

If Pain and Glory hit the spot, these will too

Parallel Mothers poster
Parallel Mothers
2021 · dir. Pedro Almodóvar
🍅 96%★ 7.1dramaStarz

The same hand behind both of them: Pedro Almodóvar

Two unmarried women who have become pregnant by accident and are about to give birth meet in a hospital room: Janis, in her late-thirties, unrepentant and happy; Ana, a teenager, remorseful and frightened.

It's Only the End of the World poster
It's Only the End of the World
2016 · dir. Xavier Dolan
🍅 44%★ 6.8dramaRent or buy

The same two preoccupations: lgbt, and gay theme

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

Louis, a terminally ill writer, returns home after a long absence to tell his family that he is dying.

Invisible Life poster
Invisible Life
2019 · dir. Karim Aïnouz
🍅 94%★ 7.7dramaPrime Video

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1950. In the conservative home of the Gusmão family, Eurídice and Guida are two inseparable sisters who support each other. While Guida can share with her younger sister the details of her romantic adventures, Eurídice finds in her older sister the encouragement she needs to pursue her dream of becoming a professional pianist.

A Hero poster
A Hero
2021 · dir. Asghar Farhadi
🍅 97%★ 7.5dramaPrime Video

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

Rahim is in prison because of a debt he was unable to repay. During a two-day leave, he tries to convince his creditor to withdraw his complaint against the payment of part of the sum. But things don't go as planned. Is he truly a hero?

On My Skin poster
On My Skin
2018 · dir. Alessio Cremonini
★ 7.3dramaNetflix

Contemplative drama in both cases

The incredible true story behind the most controversial Italian court cases in recent years. Stefano Cucchi was arrested for a minor crime and mysteriously found dead during his detention. In one week's time, a family is changed forever.

Clergy poster
Clergy
2018 · dir. Wojtek Smarzowski
★ 7.3drama

Both working the same drama territory

The fate of three Catholic priests were linked together through tragic events a few years back. Every year, on the anniversary of the catastrophe, they gather to celebrate their survival of the tragedy. Lisowski works at a curia in a big city, building his career while dreaming of the Vatican. Standing in his way, Mordowicz, the archbishop, a luxurious church dignitary who is making use of his political connections to build the largest sanctuary in Poland. Trybus, is a parish priest and often submits to human weaknesses. Kukuła also is not doing well. Despite his passion for faith, he is losing the trust of his flock. Soon, through new tragic events, the paths of the three priests will cross again.

Minari poster
Minari
2021 · dir. Lee Isaac Chung
🍅 98%★ 7.4dramaRent or buy

Both know what they want from drama

A Korean American family moves to an Arkansas farm in search of its own American dream. Amidst the challenges of this new life in the strange and rugged Ozarks, they discover the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.

Loveless poster
Loveless
2017 · dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev
🍅 95%★ 7.6drama

The same drama instincts

Zhenya and Boris are going through a vicious divorce marked by resentment, frustration and recriminations. Already embarking on new lives, each with a new partner, they are impatient to start again, to turn the page – even if it means threatening to abandon their 12-year-old son Alyosha. Until, after witnessing one of their fights, Alyosha disappears.

Queen of Hearts poster
Queen of Hearts
2019 · dir. May el-Toukhy
🍅 97%★ 7drama

Drama approached the same way

Anne, a brilliant and dedicated advocacy lawyer specialising in society’s most vulnerable, children and young adults, lives what appears to be the picture-perfect life with her doctor-husband, Peter, and their twin daughters. When her estranged teenage stepson, Gustav, moves in with them, Anne’s escalating desire leads her down a dangerous rabbit hole which, once exposed, unleashes a sequence of events destined to destroy her world.

Aquarius poster
Aquarius
2016 · dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho
🍅 97%★ 7.4drama

Cut from the same drama cloth

Clara, a vibrant former music critic and widow with flowing tresses is the only remaining apartment owner in a beautiful older building targeted for demolition by ruthless luxury high-rise developers. Clara proves to be a force to be reckoned with as she thwarts the builders plans to kick her out of the apartment.

The Teachers' Lounge poster
The Teachers' Lounge
2023 · dir. İlker Çatak
🍅 95%★ 7.4dramaRent or buy

Both are drama through and through

When one of her students is suspected of theft, teacher Carla Nowak decides to get to the bottom of the matter. Caught between her ideals and the school system, the consequences of her actions threaten to break her.

Our Little Sister poster
Our Little Sister
2015 · dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda
🍅 93%★ 7.6drama

Both play drama straight

After the death of their estranged father, 3 adult sisters invite their teenaged half-sister to live with them.

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The best-reviewed films that share Pain and Glory’s defining feeling.