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The English Patient poster

Movies that feel likeThe English Patient (1996)

In the 1930s, Count Almásy is a Hungarian map maker employed by the Royal Geographical Society to chart the vast expanses of the Sahara Desert along with several other prominent explorers. As World War II unfolds, Almásy enters into a world of love, betrayal, and politics.

If you loved The English Patient, the closest films we have are Never Let Me Go (2010), Battle for Sevastopol (2015) and La Jetée (1962). All three share The English Patient'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 Ashes and Diamonds (1958).

🍅 86% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.4 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Anthony Minghellacontemplativeromantictenderbleakcerebral
10 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Amazon Prime Video · Paramount Plus Premium

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If The English Patient hit the spot, these will too

Never Let Me Go poster
Never Let Me Go
2010 · dir. Mark Romanek
🍅 71%★ 7.1drama · romance · science fictionPrime Video

Contemplative and romantic in the same breath

The difference: Sits closer to science fiction than The English Patient does

As children, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy spend their childhood at an idyllic and secluded English boarding school. As they grow into adults, they must come to terms with the complexity and strength of their love for one another while also preparing for the haunting reality awaiting them.

Battle for Sevastopol poster
Battle for Sevastopol
2015 · dir. Sergey Mokritsky
★ 7war · drama · romancePrime Video

Common ground: world war ii

The difference: Takes it somewhere less cerebral than The English Patient does

The story of Lyudmila Pavlichenko, the most successful female sniper in history.

La Jetée poster
La Jetée
1962 · dir. Chris Marker
🍅 90%★ 8.2drama · romance · science fiction

The same mix in both: tenderness, then bleakness

The difference: Made in the 1960s, in a different era of the craft

A man confronts his past during an experiment that attempts to find a solution to the problems of a post-apocalyptic world caused by a world war.

To Live poster
To Live
1994 · dir. Zhang Yimou
🍅 87%★ 8.3drama · romance · war

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

The difference: Trades the ideas of The English Patient for an angle of its own

Married couple Fugui and Jiazhen endure tumultuous events in mid-20th century mainland China as their personal fortunes move from wealthy landownership to peasantry.

Legends of the Fall poster
Legends of the Fall
1994 · dir. Edward Zwick
★ 7.5drama · western · romance

Romance built on romance, twice over

In early 20th-century Montana, Col. William Ludlow lives on a ranch in the wilderness with his sons, Alfred, Tristan, and Samuel. Eventually, the unconventional but close-knit family are bound by loyalty, tested by war, and torn apart by love, as told over the course of several decades in this epic saga.

Ashes and Diamonds poster
Ashes and Diamonds
1958 · dir. Andrzej Wajda
🍅 96%★ 7.7drama · war · romanceMax

Both are built on the same subject: world war ii

A young academy soldier, Maciek Chelmicki, is ordered to shoot the secretary of the KW PPR. A coincidence causes him to kill someone else. Meeting face to face with his victim, he gets a shock. He faces the necessity of repeating the assassination. He meets Krystyna, a girl working as a barmaid in the restaurant of the "Monopol" hotel. His affection for her makes him even more aware of the senselessness of killing at the end of the war. Loyalty to the oath he took, and thus the obligation to obey the order, tips the scales.

Dear John poster
Dear John
2010 · dir. Lasse Hallström
🍅 28%★ 6.3drama · romance · warParamount+

War with a pulse of tenderness, in both cases

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

While Sergeant John Tyree is home on two weeks leave from Germany, he meets Savannah after he dives into the ocean to retrieve Savannah's purse that had fallen off a pier. John eventually falls in love with Savannah, who promises to write to him until he returns from overseas.

Mrs. Miniver poster
Mrs. Miniver
1942 · dir. William Wyler
🍅 93%★ 7.6drama · romance · war

Both lean on bleakness more than on drama

Middle-class housewife Kay Miniver deals with petty problems. She and her husband Clem watch her Oxford-educated son Vin court Carol Beldon, the charming granddaughter of the local nobility as represented by Lady Beldon. Then the war comes and Vin joins the RAF.

From Here to Eternity poster
From Here to Eternity
1953 · dir. Fred Zinnemann
🍅 88%★ 7.6war · romance · dramaPrime Video

Contemplative romance in both cases

In 1941 Hawaii, a private is cruelly punished for not boxing on his unit's team, while his captain's wife and second in command are falling in love.

The Vow poster
The Vow
2012 · dir. Michael Sucsy
🍅 30%★ 6.8drama · romanceStarz

The same preoccupation in both: amnesia

Happy young married couple Paige and Leo are, well, happy. Then a car accident puts Paige into a life-threatening coma. Upon awakening she has lost the previous five years of memories, including those of her beloved Leo, her wedding, a confusing relationship with her parents, or the ending of her relationship with her ex-fiance. Despite these complications, Leo endeavors to win her heart again and rebuild their marriage.

Bicentennial Man poster
Bicentennial Man
1999 · dir. Chris Columbus
🍅 38%★ 6.9drama · romance · science fictionPrime Video

Cerebral war in both cases

Richard Martin buys a gift, a new NDR-114 robot. The product is named Andrew by the youngest of the family's children. "Bicentennial Man" follows the life and times of Andrew, a robot purchased as a household appliance programmed to perform menial tasks. As Andrew begins to experience emotions and creative thought, the Martin family soon discovers they don't have an ordinary robot.

The Best Years of Our Lives poster
The Best Years of Our Lives
1946 · dir. William Wyler
🍅 97%★ 8.1drama · romance · warPrime Video

Romantic drama in both cases

It's the hope that sustains the spirit of every GI: the dream of the day when he will finally return home. For three WWII veterans, the day has arrived. But for each man, the dream is about to become a nightmare.

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