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The Butler poster

Movies that feel likeThe Butler (2013)

Cecil Gaines was a sharecropper's son who grew up in the 1920s as a domestic servant for the white family who casually destroyed his. Eventually striking out on his own, Cecil becomes a hotel valet of such efficiency and discreteness in the 1950s that he becomes a butler in the White House itself. There, Cecil would serve numerous US Presidents over the decades as a passive witness of history with the American Civil Rights Movement gaining momentum even as his family has troubles of its own. As his wife, Gloria, struggles with alcoholism and his defiant eldest son, Louis, strives for a just world, Cecil must decide whether he should take action in his own way.

If you loved The Butler, the closest films we have are The Commune (2016), Wild (2014) and Richard Jewell (2019). All three share The Butler's contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Rams (2015).

🍅 72% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.2 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Lee Danielscontemplative
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Paramount Plus Essential

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If The Butler hit the spot, these will too

The Commune poster
The Commune
2016 · dir. Thomas Vinterberg
🍅 71%★ 6.4dramaNetflix

Contemplative drama in both cases

A funny and moving story of family and free love set in a freewheeling 1970s commune. When Anna and Erik inherit a huge house, they gather a motley crew of cohabitants to reinvigorate their lives, forcing them to reconcile their new values with old habits.

Wild poster
Wild
2014 · dir. Jean-Marc Vallée
🍅 88%★ 7.1drama

One thread runs through both: a true story

A woman with a tragic past decides to start her new life by hiking for one thousand miles on the Pacific Crest Trail.

Richard Jewell poster
Richard Jewell
2019 · dir. Clint Eastwood
🍅 77%★ 7.5drama

Both are built on the same subject: a true story

Richard Jewell thinks quick, works fast, and saves hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lives after a domestic terrorist plants several pipe bombs and they explode during a concert, only to be falsely suspected of the crime by sloppy FBI work and sensational media coverage.

Concussion poster
Concussion
2015 · dir. Peter Landesman
🍅 58%★ 7.1dramaNetflix

Drama built on stillness, twice over

A dramatic thriller based on the incredible true David vs. Goliath story of American immigrant Dr. Bennet Omalu, the brilliant forensic neuropathologist who made the first discovery of CTE, a football-related brain trauma, in a pro player and fought for the truth to be known. Omalu's emotional quest puts him at dangerous odds with one of the most powerful institutions in the world.

Manderlay poster
Manderlay
2005 · dir. Lars von Trier
🍅 50%★ 7.2drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: slavery

In 1933, a young woman and her father discover an Alabama plantation whose inhabitants live as if slavery had never been abolished. Feeling a sense of duty to those behind the heavy gates, she stays to liberate the people and see them through their first harvest. With four of her father's colleagues and a lawyer, she faces the daunting task of resurrecting the place known as Manderlay.

Il Divo poster
Il Divo
2008 · dir. Paolo Sorrentino
🍅 92%★ 7.2drama

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

Italy, early '90s. Calm, clever and inscrutable, politician Giulio Andreotti has been synonymous with power for decades. He has survived everything: electoral battles, terrorist massacres, loss of friends, slanderous accusations; but now certain repentant mobsters implicate him in the crimes of Cosa Nostra.

Beautiful Boy poster
Beautiful Boy
2018 · dir. Felix van Groeningen
🍅 67%★ 7.4dramaPrime Video

The same drama instincts

After he and his first wife separate, journalist David Sheff struggles to help their teenage son, who goes from experimenting with drugs to becoming devastatingly addicted to methamphetamine.

Big Eyes poster
Big Eyes
2014 · dir. Tim Burton
🍅 72%★ 6.9dramaStarz

Both play drama straight

In the late 1950s and early '60s, artist Walter Keane achieves unbelievable fame and success with portraits of saucer-eyed waifs. However, no one realizes that his wife, Margaret, is the real painter behind the brush. Although Margaret is horrified to learn that Walter is passing off her work as his own, she is too meek to protest too loudly. It isn't until the Keanes' marriage comes to an end and a lawsuit follows that the truth finally comes to light.

Ida poster
Ida
2013 · dir. Paweł Pawlikowski
🍅 95%★ 7.4dramaPrime Video

Drama in the same key

In 1960s Poland, young novitiate Anna is on the verge of taking her vows when she discovers a family secret dating back to the years of the German occupation.

Rams poster
Rams
2015 · dir. Grímur Hákonarson
🍅 95%★ 7.2drama

Both working the same drama territory

In a secluded valley in Iceland, Gummi and Kiddi live side by side, tending to their sheep. Their ancestral sheep-stock is considered one of the country’s best and the two brothers are repeatedly awarded for their prized rams who carry an ancient lineage. Although they share the land and a way of life, Gummi and Kiddi have not spoken to each other in four decades. When a lethal disease suddenly infects Kiddi’s sheep, the entire valley comes under threat. The authorities decide to cull all the animals in the area to contain the outbreak. But Gummi and Kiddi don’t give up so easily – and each brother tries to stave off the disaster in his own fashion: Kiddi by using his rifle and Gummi by using his wits.

The Ides of March poster
The Ides of March
2011 · dir. George Clooney
🍅 84%★ 7.1drama

Cut from the same drama cloth

Dirty tricks stand to soil an ambitious young press spokesman's idealism in a cutthroat presidential campaign where 'victory' is relative.

Fences poster
Fences
2016 · dir. Denzel Washington
🍅 92%★ 7.2dramaParamount+

Both know what they want from drama

In 1950s Pittsburgh, a frustrated African-American father struggles with the constraints of poverty, racism, and his own inner demons as he tries to raise a family.

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