Here are Cinephile Corner’s 10 recommendations for movies like A Poet:
Inside Llewyn Davis
Inside Llewyn Davis is indeed a masterpiece of nuanced character study, where the Coen brothers bring their signature blend of dark humor, existential despair, and offbeat storytelling into a film that feels as emotionally resonant as it is stylistically unique. It’s a film that pulls no punches in portraying the painful, humbling reality of an artist struggling against not just the world, but also his own shortcomings. Llewyn Davis (played perfectly by Oscar Isaac) may be a man adrift, emotionally wounded by the loss of his partner, selfish and hard to like, yet he is also profoundly human, filled with raw talent and unfulfilled potential.
Uncut Gems
Uncut Gems compounds tension about as well as any movie made in the 2010s. Josh and Benny Safdie announce themselves as filmmakers to keep an eye on moving forward with this grisly thriller set in the world of high stakes sports gambling. Adam Sandler and Kevin Garnett co-star, along with a supporting cast for the ages.
Friendship
Friendship is one of the more unique comedies of 2025—a weird, squirm-inducing, unexpectedly affecting film that feels true to its title in all the worst (and best) ways. It’s another feather in A24’s cap for championing daring, off-kilter voices in comedy. If you’re in tune with Tim Robinson’s specific wavelength, it’s a must-watch.
Blue Moon
Richard Linklater and Ethan Hawke reunite for Blue Moon (2025), a compact character study that plays in similar fashion to their collaboration nearly 25 years ago Tape. Set almost entirely inside Sardi’s Bar in 1943, the film follows a single night in the life of lyricist Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke) on the evening that his ex-creative partner Richard Rodgers’ Oklahoma! premieres to rapturous success nearby. Hawke’s Hart drinks, riffs and ricochets through memories and resentments, bending conversations to his own restless monologue whether the audience is Eddie the bartender (Bobby Cannavale), the much younger Elizabeth (Margaret Qualley), or Rodgers himself (Andrew Scott).
Marty Supreme
Marty Supreme is Josh Safdie working at his widest canvas, a 1950s period piece about a showman who can sell anything until he sells himself short. Marty Mauser, played by Timothée Chalamet, is a ping pong phenom, a sneaker salesman for his uncle, a serial charmer who glides from city to city on other people’s dimes. The world fits neatly in his palm until it does not. Safdie’s favorite subject has always been appetite colliding with reality, and this time the arc is bookended by matches that frame a life lived at match point.
Bugonia
Whether Bugonia “counts” as an alien film is part of the gag, and I will not spoil that. What matters is that Yorgos Lanthimos uses the premise to pry at paranoia, credulity, and the way hurt curdles into certainty. The first half plays a little too straight, the second half finally swings. I liked this space for him more than his recent detours, even if the result lands in the middle of the pack.
Eraserhead
Eraserhead is unlike anything you’ll ever see – both a testament to David Lynch’s early adoption of idiosyncratic, dreamlike imagery and his interest in turning the usual into the surreal. It’s no wonder the acclaimed director’s 1977 debut breakthrough still stands among the best first films ever made and a canonical entry in 1970s filmmaking; an era that saw decades of boundary-pushing auteurs establish themselves in the industry. While David Lynch‘s career arch wouldn’t take the form of a traditional blockbuster filmmaker, there was clearly enough in Eraserhead to hand him the car keys for whatever passion projects he decided to tackle in the future.
Adaptation
Maybe Adaptation rewards multiple viewings, but on this watch, I found it less interesting than I expected. It’s undeniably one of the most metatextual films ever made, but it also feels like Kaufman disappearing into his own self-obsession. He wrote a movie entirely about himself, and I’m still not sure whether to applaud him for it or roll my eyes.
Novocaine
Novocaine works best as an entertaining genre exercise. It’s competently made, sometimes clever, and visually sharp. But it never quite reaches the heights it’s aiming for. It doesn’t reimagine the action-comedy or elevate its characters beyond the surface. Still, it’s a watchable 90 minutes, and for fans of Jack Quaid or high-concept thrillers with a soft edge, it’s worth a casual look.
Roofman
Roofman is the kind of “they don’t make them like this anymore” adult caper that suits Channing Tatum better than almost anything. He dials down the movie-star wattage and leans into hangdog charm as Jeffrey Manchester, a serial McDonald’s robber who perfects the art of dropping through rooftops, then graduates to a more audacious escape-and-hide scheme after he is finally caught. Derek Cianfrance treats the true story with a straight face and a curious heart, finding room for procedure, romance, and the melancholy of a guy who is always one step from being found out.
READ MORE: A Poet (2026), Movies Like Inside Llewyn Davis, Movies Like Marty Supreme
