Past Lives
2023USA★ 7.76 pt match
What ties these together is longing, grief, and all-consuming love. The world both films live in revolves around men and women navigating expectations. Same energy: melancholic, haunting, and slow burn.
Children of Paradise
Les Enfants du Paradis
1945FranceLanguage: frDirected by Marcel Carné★ 8
Available in English: subtitled
In a chaotic 19th-century Paris teeming with aristocrats, thieves, psychics, and courtesans, theater mime Baptiste is in love with the mysterious actress Garance. But Garance, in turn, is loved by three other men: pretentious actor Frederick, conniving thief Lacenaire, and Count Edouard of Montray.
Themes and style
Tone
melancholicwarmwhimsicalhaunting
Pacing
slow burnepisodic
Story
pursuitunravelingjourney
Emotion
all-consuming lovelongingloss of innocencegrief
Themes
class and moneymen and women navigating expectationsold ways vs. new world
Feel
quietly hauntingcerebralrewatchablediscussion starter
Violence
mildWhere to watch
Hollywood films like Children of Paradise
If Children of Paradise hit you the right way, here are Hollywood films that share its DNA. Same emotional weight, same kind of stories, same kind of payoff.
Boyhood
2014USA★ 7.55 pt match
Both films sit with loss of innocence, longing, and grief. Both circle the same ground: class and money and men and women navigating expectations. The feel is the same: melancholic, warm, slow burn, and episodic.
Nomadland
2020USA★ 7.25 pt match
Both films sit with grief, loss of innocence, and longing. They share the same lens on class and money and old ways vs. new world. Both move the same way too, melancholic, haunting, slow burn, and episodic.
Nebraska
2013USA★ 7.55 pt match
Both films sit with grief, longing, and loss of innocence. The world both films live in revolves around class and money. Same energy: melancholic, warm, slow burn, and episodic.
Sideways
2004USA★ 7.15 pt match
What ties these together is grief and longing. Both circle the same ground: class and money. Same energy: melancholic, warm, slow burn, and episodic.
Moonlight
2016USA★ 7.44.5 pt match
Like Children of Paradise, this one is rooted in longing, loss of innocence, and all-consuming love. The world both films live in revolves around men and women navigating expectations and class and money. The feel is the same: melancholic, haunting, slow burn, and episodic.
Lady Bird
2017USA★ 7.34.5 pt match
Like Children of Paradise, this one is rooted in longing, all-consuming love, and loss of innocence. Both circle the same ground: class and money. Same energy: warm, melancholic, episodic, and slow burn.
Brokeback Mountain
2005USA★ 7.84.5 pt match
Both films sit with longing, all-consuming love, and grief. Both circle the same ground: men and women navigating expectations. The feel is the same: melancholic, haunting, slow burn, and episodic.