feelsalike.comSign in
The Return poster

Movies that feel likeThe Return (2003)

Two young brothers in contemporary Russia are reunited with a father they know only from an old photograph after his sudden return from a long absence. With their mother’s reluctant consent, they set out on a remote trip that quickly becomes an uneasy test of authority, trust, and masculinity. As the journey moves deeper into the wilderness, the fragile bonds between father and sons are pushed to their limits.

If you loved The Return, the closest films we have are Innocence (2005), Winter's Bone (2010) and Joint Security Area (2000). All three share The Return's contemplative and twisty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

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

8 of 12 streaming nowAmazon Prime Video · Shudder · ARROW

Can't choose? Answer three questions and get one movie for tonight.

Not on subscription streaming right now. Rent or buy below.

See it on the Mood Map

If The Return hit the spot, these will too

Innocence poster
Innocence
2005 · dir. Lucile Hadžihalilović
🍅 71%★ 6.8drama · mystery

The same mix in both: stillness, then twists

At a peculiar all-girls academy, new arrivals, including Iris, are delivered in coffins. Guided by enigmatic teachers, the students dance through enchanted woods by day, while the night unveils sinister lessons that blur innocence and awakening.

Winter's Bone poster
Winter's Bone
2010 · dir. Debra Granik
🍅 94%★ 7.1drama · mysteryPrime Video

Contemplative drama in both cases

After discovering her father put their house up for his bail bond and then disappeared, 17-year-old Ree Dolly must confront the local criminal underworld and the harsh Ozark wilderness in order to to track down her father and save her family.

Joint Security Area poster
Joint Security Area
2000 · dir. Park Chan-wook
🍅 88%★ 7.7drama · thriller · mystery

Twisty mystery, and it commits to that

The difference: Leans harder into thriller than The Return does

Two North Korean soldiers are killed in the border area between North and South Korea, prompting an investigation by a neutral body. The lead investigator (Lee Young-ae) receives differing accounts from the two sides.

12 poster
12
2007 · dir. Nikita Mikhalkov
🍅 76%★ 7.5crime · drama · mystery

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

The difference: Sits closer to crime than The Return does

A loose remake of “12 Angry Men”, “12” is set in contemporary Moscow where 12 very different men must unanimously decide the fate of a young Chechen accused of murdering his step-father, a Russian army officer. Consigned to a makeshift jury room in a school gymnasium, one by one each man takes center stage to confront, connect, and confess while the accused awaits a verdict and revisits his heartbreaking journey through war in flashbacks.

With a Friend Like Harry... poster
With a Friend Like Harry...
2000 · dir. Dominik Moll
🍅 96%★ 7.1drama · mystery

Mystery built on twists, twice over

While fixing up their summer cottage, Michel and his family run into a man who claims to have gone to high school with Michel.

The White Ribbon poster
The White Ribbon
2009 · dir. Michael Haneke
🍅 85%★ 7.8drama · mystery

The drama is handled with the same confidence

An aged tailor recalls his life as the schoolteacher of a small village in Northern Germany that was struck by a series of strange events in the year leading up to WWI.

Rojo poster
Rojo
2018 · dir. Benjamín Naishtat
🍅 96%★ 6.3drama · mystery · thriller

Mystery of the same temperament

A small town in an Argentinian province, 1975. The life of Claudio, a successful lawyer, gets complicated when he has a stupid quarrel with a stranger in a crowded restaurant.

Brick poster
Brick
2006 · dir. Rian Johnson
🍅 79%★ 7.1drama · mystery · crime

Both play drama straight

A teenage loner pushes his way into the underworld of a high school crime ring to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend.

The Third Murder poster
The Third Murder
2017 · dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda
🍅 87%★ 6.7drama · mystery · crime

Mystery in the same key

A lawyer tasked with defending a robbery-and-murder suspect begins developing doubts about what truly happened.

After Dark, My Sweet poster
After Dark, My Sweet
1990 · dir. James Foley
🍅 80%★ 6.5crime · drama · mysteryStarz

Both know what they want from drama

Three desperados try to kidnap a wealthy child in hope of turning their lives around.

The Imposter poster
The Imposter
2012 · dir. Bart Layton
🍅 95%★ 7.4documentary · mystery · crimePrime Video

Both are mystery through and through

In 1994, a 13-year-old boy disappeared without a trace from his home in San Antonio, Texas. Three-and-a-half years later, he is found alive in a village in southern Spain with a horrifying story of kidnap and torture. His family is overjoyed to bring him home. But all is not quite as it seems.

Mother poster
Mother
2009 · dir. Bong Joon Ho
🍅 96%★ 7.7crime · drama · mystery

The same drama instincts

A mother lives quietly with her son. One day, a girl is brutally killed, and the boy is charged with the murder. Now, it's his mother's mission to prove him innocent.

In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies →

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