Movies Like The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
If you liked The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007), a drama and history movie directed by Julian Schnabel, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.
- 1
Fathers and Daughters (2015)
★ 7.2/10Also dramaA Pulitzer-winning writer grapples with being a widower and father after a mental breakdown, while, 27 years later, his grown daughter struggles to forge connections of her own.
- 2
Three Colors: Blue (1993)
★ 7.6/10Also dramaThe wife of a famous composer survives a car accident that kills her husband and daughter. Now alone, she shakes off her old identity and explores her newfound freedom but finds that she is unbreakably bound to other…
- 3
Niki (2024)
★ 6.2/10Also drama and historyFrench-American artist Niki de Saint-Phalle, from the age of 23, is a model and an aspiring actor who is married and has a two year old daughter. Together, they flee the U.S. during the oppressive McCarthy era and come…
- 4
Awakenings (1990)
★ 7.8/10Also dramaDr. Malcolm Sayer, a shy research physician, uses an experimental drug to "awaken" the catatonic victims of a rare disease. Leonard is the first patient to receive the controversial treatment. His awakening, filled…
- 5
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (2023)
★ 6.7/10Also dramaHarold Fry is an unremarkable man who has made mistakes with all the important things: being a husband, a father and a friend. And now, well into his 60s, he is content to fade quietly into the background of life…
- 6
I Swear (2025)
★ 8.3/10Also drama and historyDiagnosed with Tourette Syndrome at 15, John Davidson navigates his way against the odds through troubled teenage years and into adulthood, finding inspiration in the kindness of others to discover his true purpose in…
- 7
The Prestige (2006)
★ 8.2/10Also dramaA mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy -- full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences.
- 8
Munich - The Edge of War (2021)
★ 6.9/10Also drama and historyAt the tense 1938 Munich Conference, former friends who now work for opposing governments become reluctant spies racing to expose a Nazi secret.
- 9
Origin (2023)
★ 6.2/10Also drama and historyWhile investigating the global phenomenon of caste and its dark influence on society, a journalist faces unfathomable personal loss and uncovers the beauty of human resilience.
- 10
Before I Fall (2017)
★ 7/10Also dramaSamantha Kingston has everything. Then, everything changes. After one fateful night, she wakes up with no future at all. Trapped into reliving the same day over and over, she begins to question just how perfect her…
- 11
Julia (1977)
★ 6.5/10Also drama and historyAt the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.
- 12
Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
★ 7.1/10Also dramaIn the future, the government maintains control of public opinion by outlawing literature and maintaining a group of enforcers, known as “firemen,” to perform the necessary book burnings. Fireman Montag begins to…
- 13
The Zone of Interest (2023)
★ 7/10Also drama and historyThe commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp.
- 14
Belfast (2021)
★ 7/10Also drama and historyBuddy is a young boy on the cusp of adolescence, whose life is filled with familial love, childhood hijinks, and a blossoming romance. Yet, with his beloved hometown caught up in increasing turmoil, his family faces a…
- 15
Torment (1994)
★ 6.9/10Also dramaWorking extremely hard to keep his hotel afloat, Paul begins hearing voices in his head. Convinced that his wife has been unfaithful, he begins to see every male guest as a potential threat. What follows is Paul's…
- 16
Hereafter (2010)
★ 6.1/10Also dramaThree people — a blue-collar American, a French journalist and a London school boy — are touched by death in different ways.
- 17
Spencer (2021)
★ 6.7/10Also dramaDuring her Christmas holidays with the royal family at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England, Diana decides to leave her marriage to Prince Charles.
- 18
The Hours (2002)
★ 7.2/10Also dramaThe story of three women searching for more potent, meaningful lives. Each is alive at a different time and place, all are linked by their yearnings and their fears. Their stories intertwine, and finally come together…
- 19
Unbroken: Path to Redemption (2018)
★ 6.7/10Also dramaZamperini returns to California where he wound up marrying Cynthia Applewhite while wrestling with untreated PTSD, suffering constant nightmares, angry, bitter and deeply depressed, his wife convinces Zamperini to…
- 20
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
★ 7.5/10Also dramaA 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.