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The Fabelmans poster

Movies that feel likeThe Fabelmans (2022)

Growing up in post-World War II era Arizona, young Sammy Fabelman aspires to become a filmmaker as he reaches adolescence, but soon discovers a shattering family secret and explores how the power of films can help him see the truth.

If you loved The Fabelmans, the closest films we have are Mommy (2014), The Hand of God (2021) and How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies (2024). All three share The Fabelmans' contemplative and wistful feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is House of Hummingbird (2019).

🍅 92% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.5 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Steven Spielbergcontemplativedreamlikewistful
10 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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If The Fabelmans hit the spot, these will too

Mommy poster
Mommy
2014 · dir. Xavier Dolan
🍅 89%★ 8drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: growing up

A peculiar neighbor offers hope to a recent widow who is struggling to raise a teenager who is unpredictable and, sometimes, violent.

The Hand of God poster
The Hand of God
2021 · dir. Paolo Sorrentino
🍅 83%★ 7.3dramaNetflix

Common ground in both: family relationships and teenage boy

The difference: Easier on the dream logic than The Fabelmans

In 1980s Naples, an awkward teen struggling to find his place experiences heartbreak and liberation after he's inadvertently saved from a freak accident by football legend Diego Maradona.

How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies poster
How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies
2024 · dir. Pat Boonnitipat
🍅 98%★ 7.9dramaNetflix

Common ground: family relationships

M, a university dropout low on money and luck, volunteers to take care of his terminally ill grandmother, in the hope of pocketing an inheritance.

Leave No Trace poster
Leave No Trace
2018 · dir. Debra Granik
🍅 100%★ 7.1drama

One thread runs through both: growing up

A father and daughter live a perfect but mysterious existence in Forest Park, a beautiful nature reserve near Portland, Oregon, rarely making contact with the world. But when a small mistake tips them off to authorities, they are sent on an increasingly erratic journey in search of a place to call their own.

Biutiful poster
Biutiful
2010 · dir. Alejandro G. Iñárritu
🍅 66%★ 7.4dramaNetflix

Contemplative and wistful in the same breath

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

This is a story of a man in free fall. On the road to redemption, darkness lights his way. Connected with the afterlife, Uxbal is a tragic hero and father of two who's sensing the danger of death. He struggles with a tainted reality and a fate that works against him in order to forgive, for love, and forever.

Malena poster
Malena
2000 · dir. Giuseppe Tornatore
🍅 54%★ 7.4drama

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

The difference: 22 years apart, and the 2000s show

12-year-old Renato experiences three significant events on the same day: the beginning of the Second World War, getting a bike, and witnessing the arrival of the gorgeous Malèna. Through his eyes, we see the curse of beauty and loneliness of Malena, whose husband is presumed dead, and, through his soul, we see his love for her.

The Straight Story poster
The Straight Story
1999 · dir. David Lynch
🍅 95%★ 8dramaDisney+

Both lean on wistfulness more than on drama

Retired farmer and widower Alvin Straight learns one day that his estranged brother Lyle has suffered a severe stroke. Alvin is determined to make things right with Lyle while he still can, but his brother lives in Wisconsin, while Alvin is stuck in Iowa with no car and no driver's license. He then has the idea of making the trip on his old lawnmower, thus beginning a picturesque and at times deeply spiritual odyssey.

The Boy and the Heron poster
The Boy and the Heron
2023 · dir. Hayao Miyazaki
🍅 96%★ 7.3animation · fantasy · dramaMax

Both are built on the same subject: semi autobiographical

The difference: Sits closer to animation than The Fabelmans does

While the Second World War rages, the teenage Mahito, haunted by his mother's tragic death, is relocated from Tokyo to the serene rural home of his new stepmother Natsuko, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to the boy's mother. As he tries to adjust, this strange new world grows even stranger following the appearance of a persistent gray heron, who perplexes and bedevils Mahito, dubbing him the "long-awaited one."

House of Hummingbird poster
House of Hummingbird
2019 · dir. Kim Bora
🍅 98%★ 7.4dramaPrime Video

Drama built on stillness, twice over

14-year-old Eun-hee moves through life like a hummingbird searching for a taste of sweetness wherever she may find it. Ignored by her parents and abused by her brother, she finds her escape by roaming the neighborhood with her best friend, going on adventures, and exploring young love.

The 400 Blows poster
The 400 Blows
1959 · dir. François Truffaut
🍅 99%★ 8dramaMax

The same preoccupation in both: semi autobiographical

For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel, life is one difficult situation after another. Surrounded by inconsiderate adults, including his neglectful parents, Antoine spends his days with his best friend, Rene, trying to plan for a better life. When one of their schemes goes awry, Antoine ends up in trouble with the law, leading to even more conflicts with unsympathetic authority figures.

The Florida Project poster
The Florida Project
2017 · dir. Sean Baker
🍅 96%★ 7.6drama

Both work the same wistfulness

The story of a precocious six year-old and her ragtag group of friends whose summer break is filled with childhood wonder, possibility and a sense of adventure while the adults around them struggle with hard times.

Rebel Without a Cause poster
Rebel Without a Cause
1955 · dir. Nicholas Ray
🍅 91%★ 7.6drama

Both play drama straight

After moving to a new town, troublemaking teen Jim Stark is supposed to have a clean slate, although being the new kid in town brings its own problems. While searching for some stability, Stark forms a bond with a disturbed classmate, Plato, and falls for local girl Judy. However, Judy is the girlfriend of neighborhood tough, Buzz. When Buzz violently confronts Jim and challenges him to a drag race, the new kid's real troubles begin.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Fabelmans’ defining feeling.