Here are Cinephile Corner’s 10 recommendations for movies like Pillion:
All of Us Strangers
Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers emerges as one of the most quietly devastating and emotionally resonant films of 2023. From its opening scene, where Adam (Andrew Scott) and Harry (Paul Mescal) meet in the empty expanse of their apartment complex, the film invites viewers into a world filled with space, vibrant colors, and thoughtful design. Andrew Haigh, known for his work on films like Weekend and 45 Years, crafts a poignant narrative that explores the complexities of love, loss, and the haunting specter of the past. What transpires certainly stands as one of his best works yet as a director.
Anora
Anora is a film that announces Sean Baker as one of cinema’s pinnacle filmmakers. It’s a starry movie that puts you through the ringer and makes you feel just about every emotion possible. It’s grandiose filmmaking at a very high degree of execution. Baker likes to explore similar themes and character types with each of his films, and he’s never been so clear as to why he finds these particular stories so fascinating.
Babygirl
25 years after co-starring in Eyes Wide Shut, Nicole Kidman revisits similar thematic territory in Halina Reijn’s Babygirl, another holiday-set exploration of lust, power, and dissatisfaction. In Babygirl, she plays Romy, a high-powered tech CEO whose meticulously crafted life seems perfect on the surface. With a doting husband, Jacob (Antonio Banderas), two well-adjusted children, and a dreamlike home, Romy appears to have it all. Yet, beneath this pristine façade, she is deeply unfulfilled, yearning for something—or someone—to awaken her buried fantasies.
Spoiler Alert
I could see some thinking Spoiler Alert is a bit too emotionally manipulative and calculated, but seeing Jim Parsons finally get to be in a good movie that lets him show a different side than Sheldon Cooper was enough of a refreshing spin to suck me in. Ben Aldridge as his significant other Kit delivers a role that only deepens as it goes on. The movie does a beautiful job at telling a somber and heartbreaking tale with the utmost care that it deserves, one that I’m sure Michael Ausiello must be proud of.
We Live in Time
A movie like We Live in Time really shouldn’t work. The overly sentimental cancer drama is a well-trodden path, with its fair share of genuinely touching entries but even more bogged down by predictability and melodrama. We Live in Time doesn’t completely avoid these familiar pitfalls, as it leans into some of the same cheesy tropes that often plague this subgenre.
The Beast
While The Beast won’t be for everyone, its risks are what make it so compelling. Bertrand Bonello is uninterested in tying up every loose end, but those narrative imperfections feel like deliberate artistic choices rather than missteps. The film constantly shifts shape, feeling at times like an anthology, a love story, a sci-fi thriller, and an existential drama all at once.
Materialists
Materialists feels like a transitional work. It shows Celine Song experimenting with scale, ensemble dynamics, and new narrative textures—but it lacks the intimacy and precision that defined her first film. It’s a movie with moments that flirt with those same highs in small doses, but one that ultimately falls short. Still, it leaves me hopeful: the emotional territory Song wants to chart is rare in contemporary cinema, and while Materialists stumbles, it’s a sign that she’s aiming high. Her best films are likely still ahead.
Love Lies Bleeding
There’s really nothing like Love Lies Bleeding. I don’t necessarily subscribe to the blanket notion that they don’t make movies like they used to anymore – but I will say, Hollywood hasn’t consistently made films as erotic and thrilling like this since the 1980s and 90s. Rose Glass directs the dynamic duo of Katy O’Brian and Kristen Stewart.
Queer
Luca Guadagnino‘s Queer marks a rare misstep for the director, whose previous works often blend emotional nuance with bold stylistic choices. Here, his signature flair feels disjointed, leaving the movie struggling to find its footing between fragmented chapters and mismatched performances. While Queer does boast a few clever moments and ambitious ideas, it ultimately falters in its execution, making it one of Guadagnino’s least cohesive films.
Decision to Leave
Park Chan-wook deserves all the credit he’s getting for Decision to Leave – a film the relies heavily on a master filmmaker working at his best. Although it isn’t as violent or abrasive as his past gems, Decision to Leave still finds its pocket in a filmography full of clever material.
READ MORE: Pillion (2026), A24
