Movies like Contempt
The best movies like Contempt (1963) are Jules and Jim (1962), The Mother and the Whore (1973) and The Soft Skin (1964). If Contempt hooked you with its drama and romance, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest rated8½ (1963)8.1/10 from 2,622 votes
- NewestRendez-vous (1985)Released 1985
- In FrenchJules and Jim (1962)Also in French
Jules and Jim (1962)
In the carefree days before World War I, introverted Austrian author Jules strikes up a friendship with the exuberant Frenchman Jim and both men fall for the impulsive and beautiful Catherine.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Mother and the Whore (1973)
Aimless young Alexandre juggles his relationships with his girlfriend, Marie, and a casual lover named Veronika. Marie becomes increasingly jealous of Alexandre's fling with Veronika and as the trio continues their unsustainable affair, the emotional stakes get higher, leading to conflict and unhappiness.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Soft Skin (1964)
Pierre Lachenay is a well-known publisher and lecturer, married to Franca and father of Sabine. He starts a love affair with air hostess Nicole, which Pierre is hiding, but he cannot stay away from her.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMasculin Féminin (1966)
Paul, a young idealist trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life, takes a job interviewing people for a marketing research firm. He moves in with aspiring pop singer Madeleine. Paul, however, is disillusioned by the growing commercialism in society, while Madeleine just wants to be successful. The story is told in a series of 15 unrelated vignettes.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLast Year at Marienbad (1961)
At a weekend gathering, a man tells a woman that they had spent time there together a year prior. But, the woman has no recollection whatsoever and is convinced that he is simply fabricating the encounter. The more he speaks about their activities the previous year however, the more compelling he becomes. The question remains however – did they meet previously or not?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like this8½ (1963)
Guido Anselmi, a film director, finds himself creatively barren at the peak of his career. Urged by his doctors to rest, Anselmi heads for a luxurious resort, but a sorry group gathers—his producer, staff, actors, wife, mistress, and relatives—each one begging him to get on with the show. In retreat from their dependency, he fantasizes about past women and dreams of his childhood.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRendez-vous (1985)
Nina is a young, carefree actress who arrives in Paris searching for her big break. There, she finds drama both on- and offstage as she becomes involved with three men: a mild-mannered real-estate agent who offers her stability, a bad-boy actor who lives dangerously on the edge, and an intense theater director who casts her in a production of “Romeo and Juliet.” As opening night approaches, the emotional extremes of Nina’s love life fuel her art.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisL'Eclisse (1962)
Vittoria is a beautiful literary translator living in Rome. After splitting from her writer boyfriend, Riccardo, Vittoria meets Piero, a lively stockbroker, on the hectic floor of the Roman stock exchange. Though Vittoria and Piero begin a relationship, it is not one without difficulties, and their commitment to one another is tested during an eclipse.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBelle de Jour (1967)
Beautiful young housewife Séverine Serizy cannot reconcile her masochistic fantasies with her everyday life alongside dutiful husband Pierre. When her lovestruck friend Henri mentions a secretive high-class brothel run by Madame Anais, Séverine begins to work there during the day under the name Belle de Jour. But when one of her clients grows possessive, she must try to go back to her normal life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCléo from 5 to 7 (1962)
Agnès Varda eloquently captures Paris in the sixties with this real-time portrait of a singer set adrift in the city as she awaits test results of a biopsy. A chronicle of the minutes of one woman’s life, Cléo from 5 to 7 is a spirited mix of vivid vérité and melodrama, featuring a score by Michel Legrand and cameos by Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVivre Sa Vie (1962)
Twelve episodic tales in the life of a Parisian woman and her slow descent into prostitution.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBay of Angels (1963)
A bank clerk is drawn into the risky world of a gorgeous gambling addict.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDay for Night (1973)
A committed filmmaker struggles to complete his latest project while coping with a myriad of crises, personal and professional, among the cast and crew.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Lovers (1958)
A shallow, provincial wife finds her relationship with her preoccupied husband strained by romantic notions, leading her further towards Paris and the country wilderness.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCesar and Rosalie (1972)
A young woman becomes entangled with a successful businessman, but her ex tries to win her back, provoking intense jealousy that leads her to reconsider her choice. Ultimately, one man's actions force a resolution to her dilemma.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLa Notte (1961)
A day in the life of an unfaithful married couple and their steadily deteriorating relationship in Milan.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisLola (1961)
A bored young man meets with his former girlfriend, now a cabaret dancer and single mother, and soon finds himself falling back in love with her.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPierrot le Fou (1965)
Pierrot escapes his boring society and travels from Paris to the Mediterranean Sea with Marianne, a girl chased by hit-men from Algeria. They lead an unorthodox life, always on the run.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Married Woman (1964)
A superficial woman finds conflict choosing between her abusive husband and her vain lover.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBreathless (1960)
A small-time thief steals a car and impulsively murders a motorcycle policeman. Wanted by the authorities, he attempts to persuade a girl to run away to Italy with him.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Man and a Woman (1966)
A man and a woman meet by accident on a Sunday evening at their childrens' boarding school. Slowly, they reveal themselves to each other, finding that they have something deeply in common.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBand of Outsiders (1964)
Cinephile slackers Franz and Arthur spend their days mimicking the antiheroes of Hollywood noirs and Westerns while pursuing the lovely Odile. The misfit trio upends convention at every turn, be it through choreographed dances in cafés or frolicsome romps through the Louvre. Eventually, their romantic view of outlaws pushes them to plan their own heist, but their inexperience may send them out in a blaze of glory -- which could be just what they want.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Woman Is a Woman (1961)
Longing for a baby, a stripper pursues another man in order to make her boyfriend jealous.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHiroshima Mon Amour (1959)
The deep conversation between a Japanese architect and a French actress forms the basis of this celebrated French film, considered one of the vanguard productions of the French New Wave. Set in Hiroshima after the end of World War II, the couple -- lovers turned friends -- recount, over many hours, previous romances and life experiences. The two intertwine their stories about the past with pondering the devastation wrought by the atomic bomb dropped on the city.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Rules of the Game (1939)
The Marquis de la Chesnaye and his wife host a weekend gala where a variety of complicated romantic and social entanglements between guests and servants lead to tragedy, all against the backdrop of a looming war.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLes Biches (1968)
A bored bisexual millionaire picks up a young destitute street artist and whisks her away to her villa in Saint Tropez. They meet a dashing local architect and both fall for him, setting in motion a ménage à trois of deception and betrayal.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWe Won't Grow Old Together (1972)
Jean, a married 40-year-old filmmaker, and his young working class lover, Catherine, engage in a circular series of spectacular blow-ups and tentative reunions, their mutual desire a fire that burns them again and again.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTout Va Bien (1972)
A strike at a French sausage factory contributes to the estrangement of a married filmmaker and his reporter wife.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisL'Amour fou (1969)
A troubled marriage is tested by the couple's involvement in a theatrical production of Racine’s Andromaque.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJourney to Italy (1954)
Married for eight years with no children, Brits Katherine and Alex Joyce are driving to Italy, their ultimate destination just outside of Naples to sell the villa they have just inherited from his uncle, the villa where they will be staying during their time there. On the drive, they come to the realization that this trip marks the first time that they have truly been alone together, and as such don't really know one another in the true sense.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Contempt?
The closest matches to Contempt are Jules and Jim (1962), The Mother and the Whore (1973) and The Soft Skin (1964). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Contempt?
People who watched Contempt most often go on to Jules and Jim (1962), The Mother and the Whore (1973) and The Soft Skin (1964).
What is the highest-rated movie like Contempt?
8½ (1963), rated 8.1/10 by 2,622 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Contempt?
Rendez-vous (1985) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like Contempt?
Yes: Jules and Jim (1962), The Mother and the Whore (1973) and The Soft Skin (1964).
How are movies similar to Contempt chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Contempt, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.