Films like A Beautiful Mind
15 picks with a similar feel
What defines A Beautiful Mind, going by its Boxlist taste profile: Realistic and heavy: a stirring romantic drama, slow-burning rather than fast. Best if you like depth over escapism. Its strongest markers on Boxlist are themes of self-destruction, coming of age and underdogs, plus tags such as nobel prize, mathematician and mathematics.
Here are 15 films with a similar feel, ranked by how closely they match that profile. Treat them as picks to try, not a definitive list.
Based on A Beautiful Mind (2001).
- 1
Frida (2002)
Film7.5
Why it's like A Beautiful Mind: Also emotional and weighty, with themes of love against the odds. Common ground: love of one's life, biography.
- 2
Cruel Intentions (1999)
Film6.8Darker
Why it's like A Beautiful Mind: Also emotional and grounded, with themes of self-destruction and coming of age.
- 3
The Man Who Knew Infinity (2016)
Film7.1
Why it's like A Beautiful Mind: Also grounded and weighty, with themes of underdogs. Common ground: mathematician, biography.
- 4
Kill Your Darlings (2013)
Film7.1Darker
Why it's like A Beautiful Mind: Also emotional and weighty, with themes of self-destruction and coming of age.
- 5
The Fault in Our Stars (2014)
Film7.6Faster-paced
Why it's like A Beautiful Mind: Also grounded and emotional, with themes of coming of age and love against the odds.
- 6
The Dreamers (2003)
Film7.3Lighter option
Why it's like A Beautiful Mind: Also grounded and intimate, with themes of coming of age and love against the odds.
- 7
The Great Gatsby (2013)
Film7.4Darker
Why it's like A Beautiful Mind: Also weighty and emotional, with themes of self-destruction and mysteries that are not what they seem.
- 8
The Theory of Everything (2014)
Film7.9
Why it's like A Beautiful Mind: Also grounded and emotional, with themes of love against the odds. Common ground: biography.
- 9
The Vow (2012)
Film7.2
Why it's like A Beautiful Mind: Also grounded and emotional, with themes of mysteries that are not what they seem and love against the odds.
- 10
Call Me by Your Name (2017)
Film8.3Easier to follow
Why it's like A Beautiful Mind: Also grounded and emotional, with themes of coming of age and love against the odds.
- 11
The Hours (2002)
Film7.3
Why it's like A Beautiful Mind: Also emotional and grounded, with themes of self-destruction and love against the odds. Common ground: delusion.
- 12
Where the Crawdads Sing (2022)
Film7.5Easier to follow
Why it's like A Beautiful Mind: Also grounded and emotional, with themes of self-destruction and coming of age.
- 13
Everything, Everything (2017)
Film7.3Lighter option
Why it's like A Beautiful Mind: Also grounded and emotional, with themes of coming of age and love against the odds.
- 14
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Film8.1Easier to follow
Why it's like A Beautiful Mind: Also grounded and emotional, with themes of coming of age and underdogs. Common ground: mathematics.
- 15
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
Film7.7
Why it's like A Beautiful Mind: Also emotional and grounded, with themes of underdogs and love against the odds.
Boxlist compares A Beautiful Mind with every film in its catalogue on ten taste scores (pace, tone, weight, realism and more), story themes, genres and TMDB keywords, and ranks the closest. Every pick has a TMDB rating of 6.7 or more from at least 1,000 votes, new releases wait until their ratings settle, and only one title per franchise makes the list. It is an approximation of feel, so treat it as a starting point. Ratings are TMDB audience scores out of 10.
Which of these suit you?
Take the taste test and every pick shows how well it matches you.
Take the taste testQuestions
- What should I watch if I like A Beautiful Mind?
- Picks with a similar feel include Frida, Cruel Intentions, The Man Who Knew Infinity and Kill Your Darlings. Each shares part of A Beautiful Mind's taste profile, themes or tags; the full list has 15 films.
- How are these films like A Beautiful Mind chosen?
- Boxlist compares A Beautiful Mind with every film in its catalogue on ten taste scores (pace, tone, weight, realism and more), story themes, genres and TMDB keywords, and ranks the closest. Every pick has a TMDB rating of 6.7 or more from at least 1,000 votes, new releases wait until their ratings settle, and only one title per franchise makes the list. It is an approximation of feel, so treat it as a starting point.
- Is there a lighter film like A Beautiful Mind?
- The Dreamers has a similar feel but scores lighter on Boxlist's weightiness scale.