Past Lives
2023USA★ 7.75.5 pt match
Both films sit with longing, grief, and figuring out who you are. Both circle the same ground: caught between worlds and family wounds passed down. Same energy: melancholic, haunting, slow burn, and dreamlike.
Only Lovers Left Alive
2013FranceLanguage: EnglishDirected by Jim Jarmusch★ 7.2
Available in English: subtitled
A depressed musician reunites with his lover. However, their romance, already played over several centuries, is disrupted by the arrival of her uncontrollable younger sister.
Themes and style
Tone
melancholichauntingdark comedysurrealcold and detached
Pacing
slow burndreamlikeepisodic
Story
reunionunraveling
Emotion
longingall-consuming lovefiguring out who you aregrief
Themes
family wounds passed downcaught between worldsold ways vs. new world
Feel
quietly hauntingcerebralrewatchablediscussion starter
Violence
suggestiveWhere to watch
Hollywood films like Only Lovers Left Alive
If Only Lovers Left Alive 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★ 7.54.5 pt match
What ties these together is longing, figuring out who you are, and grief. Both circle the same ground: family wounds passed down. Same energy: melancholic, slow burn, and episodic.
Moonlight
2016USA★ 7.44.5 pt match
Both films sit with figuring out who you are, longing, and all-consuming love. Both circle the same ground: family wounds passed down and caught between worlds. The feel is the same: melancholic, haunting, slow burn, and episodic.
Nomadland
2020USA★ 7.24 pt match
What ties these together is grief, longing, and figuring out who you are. Both circle the same ground: family wounds passed down, caught between worlds, and old ways vs. new world. The feel is the same: melancholic, haunting, slow burn, and dreamlike.
Lady Bird
2017USA★ 7.34 pt match
What ties these together is figuring out who you are, longing, and all-consuming love. Both circle the same ground: family wounds passed down. Both move the same way too, melancholic, dark comedy, episodic, and slow burn.
Brokeback Mountain
2005USA★ 7.84 pt match
Like Only Lovers Left Alive, this one is rooted in longing, all-consuming love, and grief. They share the same lens on caught between worlds and family wounds passed down. Same energy: melancholic, haunting, slow burn, and episodic.
Nebraska
2013USA★ 7.54 pt match
Both films sit with grief, longing, and figuring out who you are. They share the same lens on family wounds passed down. Both move the same way too, melancholic, dark comedy, slow burn, and episodic.
Sideways
2004USA★ 7.14 pt match
Both films sit with grief, figuring out who you are, and longing. They share the same lens on family wounds passed down and caught between worlds. The feel is the same: dark comedy, melancholic, slow burn, and episodic.