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The Magician poster

Movies that feel likeThe Magician (1958)

A traveling magician and his troupe arrive in a Swedish town in the 1840s, where their act is scrutinized by local authorities and a skeptical medical official. Their stay leads to a series of confrontations that test the boundaries between performance, belief, and deception.

If you loved The Magician, the closest films we have are The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Dogtooth (2009) and Room 237 (2012). All three share The Magician's contemplative and paranoid feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Cutter's Way (1981).

πŸ… 100% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.5 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Ingmar Bergmancontemplativeparanoid
10 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max Β· Amazon Prime Video Β· Paramount Plus Premium

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If The Magician hit the spot, these will too

The Manchurian Candidate poster
The Manchurian Candidate
1962 Β· dir. John Frankenheimer
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.9thriller Β· drama

The same mix in both: stillness, then paranoia

The difference: Leans harder into thriller than The Magician does

Near the end of the Korean War, a platoon of U.S. soldiers is captured by communists and brainwashed. Following the war, the platoon is returned home, and Sergeant Raymond Shaw is lauded as a hero by the rest of his platoon. However, the platoon commander, Captain Bennett Marco, finds himself plagued by strange nightmares and soon races to uncover a terrible plot.

Dogtooth poster
Dogtooth
2009 Β· dir. Yorgos Lanthimos
πŸ… 94%β˜… 7.1drama

Both are built on the same subject: paranoia

The difference: 51 years apart, and the 2000s show

Three teenagers are confined to an isolated country estate that could very well be on another planet. The trio spend their days listening to endless homemade tapes that teach them a whole new vocabulary. Any word that comes from beyond their family abode is instantly assigned a new meaning. Hence 'the sea' refers to a large armchair and 'zombies' are little yellow flowers. Having invented a brother whom they claim to have ostracized for his disobedience, the uber-controlling parents terrorize their offspring into submission.

Room 237 poster
Room 237
2012 Β· dir. Rodney Ascher
πŸ… 94%β˜… 6.2documentary

Drama built on stillness, twice over

A subjective documentary that explores various theories about hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick's classic film The Shining. Five very different points of view are illuminated through voice over, film clips, animation and dramatic reenactments.

Grey Gardens poster
Grey Gardens
1976 Β· dir. Ellen Giffard
πŸ… 95%β˜… 7.5documentaryMax

Common ground: paranoia

Edie Bouvier Beale and her mother, Edith, two aging, eccentric relatives of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, are the sole inhabitants of a Long Island estate. The women reveal themselves to be misfits with outsized, engaging personalities. Much of the conversation is centered on their pasts, as mother and daughter now rarely leave home.

The Last Wave poster
The Last Wave
1977 Β· dir. Peter Weir
πŸ… 78%β˜… 6.9drama Β· mystery Β· fantasyMax

Paranoid drama, and it commits to that

A Sydney lawyer defends five Aboriginal people in a ritualised taboo murder and in the process learns disturbing truths about himself and premonitions.

The Man Who Knew Too Much poster
The Man Who Knew Too Much
1956 Β· dir. Alfred Hitchcock
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7.4thriller Β· mystery Β· drama

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

An American doctor and his wife, a former singing star, witness a murder while vacationing in Morocco, and are drawn into a twisting plot of international intrigue when their young son is kidnapped.

The Lost Weekend poster
The Lost Weekend
1945 Β· dir. Billy Wilder
πŸ… 97%β˜… 7.8drama

The shared currency is paranoia

Longtime alcoholic Don Birnam has been sober for ten days and appears to be over the worst... but his craving has just become more insidious. Evading a country weekend planned by his brother and girlfriend, he begins a four-day bender that just might be his last – one way or another.

The Parallax View poster
The Parallax View
1974 Β· dir. Alan J. Pakula
πŸ… 87%β˜… 7.1crime Β· drama Β· thriller

The drama is handled with the same confidence

An ambitious reporter gets in trouble while investigating a senator's assassination which leads to a vast conspiracy involving a multinational corporation behind every event in the world's headlines.

Raging Bull poster
Raging Bull
1980 Β· dir. Martin Scorsese
πŸ… 92%β˜… 8.1drama Β· historyPrime Video

Drama of the same temperament

The life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it.

Conclave poster
Conclave
2024 Β· dir. Edward Berger
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.4drama Β· thrillerStarz

Both know what they want from drama

After the unexpected death of the Pope, Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with managing the covert and ancient ritual of electing a new one. Sequestered in the Vatican with the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders until the process is complete, Lawrence finds himself at the center of a conspiracy that could lead to its downfall.

Marathon Man poster
Marathon Man
1976 Β· dir. John Schlesinger
πŸ… 82%β˜… 7.4thriller Β· crime Β· dramaParamount+

Both play drama straight

A graduate student and obsessive runner in New York is drawn into a mysterious plot involving his brother, a member of the secretive Division.

Cutter's Way poster
Cutter's Way
1981 Β· dir. Ivan Passer
πŸ… 92%β˜… 6.8drama Β· mystery Β· thriller

The same drama instincts

Alex Cutter is a boozy, belligerent and deeply cynical Vietnam veteran whose encounter with a landmine during the war has left him minus an eye, a leg and an arm. When his drifter playboy friend Richard Bone is falsely accused of murder, Cutter sets out for revenge in his own inimitable style.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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