Best movies like The Truman Show
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies similar to The Truman Show? Share your familiarity to guide others discover films and tv shows you've already seen that might suit them too. Boost the cohort of people recommending videos to one another. We value your contribution!
Plot Summary:
Truman Burbank is the star of "The Truman Show", a 24-hour-a-day "reality" TV show that broadcasts every aspect of his life -- live and in color -- without his knowledge. His entire life has been an unending soap opera for consumption by the rest of the world. And everyone he knows -- including his wife and his best friend -- is really an actor, paid to be part of his life.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 12000000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: philosophical, thought provoking, psychological, touching, surreal, cerebral, clever, dramatic, motivational, spiritual
Best tv shows and movies like The Truman Show (1998):
Similar in 77%
Slacker (1990)
Plot Summary:
Presents a day in the life in Austin, Texas among its social outcasts and misfits, predominantly the twenty-something set, using a series of linear vignettes. These characters, who in some manner just don't fit into the establishment norms, move seamlessly from one scene to the next, randomly coming and going into one another's lives.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: independent film, philosophical, surreal, satirical, absurd, art house, cerebral, cult classic, entirely dialogue, experimental
Similar in 77%
Barton Fink (1991)
Plot Summary:
A renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 127000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: psychological, surreal, neo noir, dark comedy, cerebral, philosophical, atmospheric, black comedy, enigmatic, mind bending
Similar in 90%
Ruby Sparks (2012)
Plot Summary:
Calvin is a young novelist who achieved phenomenal success early in his career but is now struggling with his writing – as well as his romantic life. Finally, he makes a breakthrough and creates a character named Ruby who inspires him. When Calvin finds Ruby, in the flesh, sitting on his couch about a week later, he is completely flabbergasted that his words have turned into a living, breathing person.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 105000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: feel good, psychological, romantic, independent film, surreal, philosophical, absurd, witty, thought provoking, touching
Similar in 87%
Demolition (2015)
Plot Summary:
An emotionally desperate investment banker finds hope through a woman he meets in Chicago.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 108000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: melancholic, philosophical, psychological, touching, independent film, social, romantic drama, emotional, serious, entertaining
Similar in 88%
Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005)
Plot Summary:
The feature film debut by artist Miranda July about a various comic situations and plots that intertwine. One story line is about a father who is ending his marriage and the other story is of a video artist (possibly autobiographical of Miranda July, also played by her) who is desperately trying to get her work in a modern art museum. The film won Caméra d'Or at Cannes.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 37000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: touching, disturbing, humorous, realistic, surreal, philosophical, emotional, talky, sentimental, sincere
Similar in 75%
Being John Malkovich (1999)
Plot Summary:
Spike Jonze’s debut feature film is a love story mix of comedy and fantasy. The story is about an unsuccessful puppeteer named Craig, who one day at work finds a portal into the head of actor John Malkovich. The portal soon becomes a passion for anybody who enters it’s mad and controlling world of overtaking another human body.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 349000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: surreal, psychological, cerebral, mind bending, offbeat, mindfuck, philosophical, dark comedy, disturbing, black comedy
Similar in 82%
Henry Poole Is Here (2008)
Plot Summary:
Henry Poole abandons his fiancée and family business to spend what he believes are his remaining days alone. The discovery of a 'miracle' by a nosy neighbor ruptures his solitude and restores his faith in life.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, intense, feel good, humorous, semi serious, philosophical, spiritual, existential, hilarious
Similar in 89%
Network (1976)
Plot Summary:
A TV network cynically exploits a deranged ex-TV anchor's ravings and revelations about the media for their own profit.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 167000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: talky, political, realistic, clever, dark comedy, biting, black comedy, captivating, absurd, intense
Similar in 85%
Happiness (1998)
Plot Summary:
The lives of many individuals connected by the desire for happiness, often from sources usually considered dark or evil.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 73000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: black comedy, cynical, independent film, dark comedy, depressing, bleak, art house, disturbing, psychological, psychedelic
Similar in 86%
Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
Plot Summary:
Everybody knows that your life is a story. But what if a story was your life? Harold Crick is your average IRS agent: monotonous, boring, and repetitive. But one day this all changes when Harold begins to hear an author inside his head narrating his life. But when the narration reveals he is going to die, Harold must find the author and convince them to change the ending.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 235000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: philosophical, surreal, offbeat, humorous, witty, talky, funny, feel good, clever, depressing
Similar in 85%
Edtv (1999)
Plot Summary:
Video store clerk Ed agrees to have his life filmed by a camera crew for a tv network.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 45000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: humorous, funny, light, entertaining, satirical, witty, intense, semi serious, clever, inspirational
Similar in 87%
The Station Agent (2003)
Plot Summary:
When his only friend dies, a man born with dwarfism moves to rural New Jersey to live a life of solitude, only to meet a chatty hot dog vendor and a woman dealing with her own personal loss.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 73000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: tragicomedy, sentimental, touching, humorous, sincere, feel good, psychological, captivating, dramatic, realistic
Similar in 89%
The Fisher King (1991)
Plot Summary:
Two troubled men face their terrible destinies and events of their past as they join together on a mission to find the Holy Grail and thus to save themselves.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 90000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 137 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, inspirational, compassionate, disturbing, dark comedy, clever, melancholic, cerebral, thought provoking
Similar in 86%
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)
Plot Summary:
A timid magazine photo manager who lives life vicariously through daydreams embarks on a true-life adventure when a negative goes missing.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 334000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: feel good, inspirational, motivational, surreal, scenic, touching, offbeat, funny, visually stunning, sentimental
Similar in 86%
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Plot Summary:
A family loaded with quirky, colorful characters piles into an old van and road trips to California for little Olive to compete in a beauty pageant.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 508000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: road movie, feel good, funny, melancholic, independent film, emotional, black comedy, dark comedy, sweet, humorous
Similar in 83%
Mr. Nobody (2009)
Plot Summary:
Nemo Nobody leads an ordinary existence with his wife and 3 children; one day, he wakes up as a mortal centenarian in the year 2092.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 243000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi
Country: Belgium, Germany, Canada, France, UK, Luxembourg, USA
Duration: 141 min
Plot tags: psychological, surreal, philosophical, mind bending, thought provoking, confusing, cerebral, mind blowing, reflective, offbeat
Similar in 90%
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
Plot Summary:
A fading actor best known for his portrayal of a popular superhero attempts to mount a comeback by appearing in a Broadway play. As opening night approaches, his attempts to become more altruistic, rebuild his career, and reconnect with friends and family prove more difficult than expected.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 657000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: surreal, psychological, dark comedy, black comedy, psychedelic, independent film, clever, intellectual, atmospheric, enigmatic
Similar in 81%
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
Plot Summary:
A theater director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he attempts to create a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse as part of his new play.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 97000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: philosophical, psychological, depressing, surreal, mindfuck, confusing, art house, absurd, mind bending, cult classic
Similar in 86%
Pleasantville (1998)
Plot Summary:
Geeky teenager David and his popular twin sister, Jennifer, get sucked into the black-and-white world of a 1950s TV sitcom called "Pleasantville," and find a world where everything is peachy keen all the time. But when Jennifer's modern attitude disrupts Pleasantville's peaceful but boring routine, she literally brings color into its life.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 135000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: black and white, touching, humorous, feel good, surreal, visual, light, talky, semi serious, clever
Similar in 78%
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Plot Summary:
While serving time for insanity at a state mental hospital, implacable rabble-rouser, Randle Patrick McMurphy inspires his fellow patients to rebel against the authoritarian rule of head nurse, Mildred Ratched.
IMDB Rating: 8.7
IMDB Votes: 11000000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: psychological, thought provoking, dramatic, serious, captivating, surprise ending, tragicomedy, bleak, emotional, inspirational
Similar in 75%
Groundhog Day (1993)
Plot Summary:
A narcissistic TV weatherman, along with his attractive-but-distant producer and mawkish cameraman, is sent to report on Groundhog Day in the small town of Punxsutawney, where he finds himself repeating the same day over and over.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 670000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: feel good, philosophical, romantic, humorous, sentimental, hilarious, surreal, clever, funny, sweet
Similar in 78%
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Plot Summary:
Joel Barish, heartbroken that his girlfriend underwent a procedure to erase him from her memory, decides to do the same. However, as he watches his memories of her fade away, he realises that he still loves her, and may be too late to correct his mistake.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 11000000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: psychological, surreal, melancholic, romantic, mind bending, sentimental, philosophical, cerebral, psychedelic, clever
Similar in 80%
Brazil (1985)
Plot Summary:
Low-level bureaucrat Sam Lowry escapes the monotony of his day-to-day life through a recurring daydream of himself as a virtuous hero saving a beautiful damsel. Investigating a case that led to the wrongful arrest and eventual death of an innocent man instead of wanted terrorist Harry Tuttle, he meets the woman from his daydream, and in trying to help her gets caught in a web of mistaken identities, mindless bureaucracy and lies.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 209000
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: surreal, futuristic, psychological, dark comedy, cerebral, atmospheric, disturbing, thought provoking, mindfuck, black comedy
Similar in 78%
Maniac (2018)
Plot Summary:
Two strangers find themselves caught up in a mind-bending pharmaceutical trial gone awry.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 85000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 386 min
Plot tags: psychological, futuristic, satirical, dark comedy, philosophical, sentimental, thought provoking, intellectual, feel good, political
Similar in 81%
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Plot Summary:
Will Hunting has a genius-level IQ but chooses to work as a janitor at MIT. When he solves a difficult graduate-level math problem, his talents are discovered by Professor Gerald Lambeau, who decides to help the misguided youth reach his potential. When Will is arrested for attacking a police officer, Professor Lambeau makes a deal to get leniency for him if he will get treatment from therapist Sean Maguire.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 10000000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: psychological, emotional, philosophical, sentimental, intellectual, uplifting, dramatic, motivational, realistic, inspirational
Similar in 78%
Dead Poets Society (1989)
Plot Summary:
At an elite, old-fashioned boarding school in New England, a passionate English teacher inspires his students to rebel against convention and seize the potential of every day, courting the disdain of the stern headmaster.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 530000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: philosophical, inspirational, sentimental, emotional, uplifting, intellectual, touching, motivational, sad, tear jerker
Similar in 81%
The Terminal (2004)
Plot Summary:
Viktor Navorski is a man without a country; his plane took off just as a coup d'etat exploded in his homeland, leaving it in shambles, and now he's stranded at Kennedy Airport, where he's holding a passport that nobody recognizes. While quarantined in the transit lounge until authorities can figure out what to do with him, Viktor simply goes on living – and courts romance with a beautiful flight attendant.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 486000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, sweet, feel good, motivational, sentimental, emotional, light, inspirational, entertaining
Similar in 90%
Fight Club (1999)
Plot Summary:
A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.
IMDB Rating: 8.8
IMDB Votes: 23000000
Genere: Drama
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 139 min
Plot tags: surprise ending, psychological, twist ending, cerebral, thought provoking, philosophical, surreal, stylized, mind bending, atmospheric
Similar in 86%
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Plot Summary:
Framed in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.
IMDB Rating: 9.3
IMDB Votes: 28000000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 142 min
Plot tags: clever, inspirational, touching, twist ending, sentimental, uplifting, emotional, philosophical, suspense, serious
Similar in 87%
Black Mirror (2011)
Plot Summary:
A contemporary British re-working of The Twilight Zone with stories that tap into the collective unease about our modern world. Over the last ten years, technology has transformed almost every aspect of our lives before we've had time to stop and question it. In every home; on every desk; in every palm - a plasma screen; a monitor; a smartphone - a black mirror of our 21st Century existence.
IMDB Rating: 8.7
IMDB Votes: 622000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: philosophical, serious, thought provoking, anthology, clever, bleak, stylized, cynical, disturbing, biting