Dynamic Watchlist Hub: May 10, 2026

10 Best Movies Like Essays

If you loved Essays, we've curated the perfect watchlist for you based on shared genres, themes, and directorial style.

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Expert Review & Ratings

See our full critical analysis and audience score for Essays.

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#1
Living

Living

2012★ 6.6

Why watch this? A perfect follow-up to Essays for fans of Drama. It captures a similar emotionally gripping atmosphere.

Fate brings ordeals to characters that find themselves immersed in deep crisis; they must seek the strength to cope with adversity. In a remote and cold region of Russia, Galya, a ...

#2
The Coach

The Coach

2018★ 6.6

Why watch this? A perfect follow-up to Essays for fans of Drama. It captures a similar emotionally gripping atmosphere.

Contemporary Russia. After he flubs a penalty kick, a humiliated national soccer player quits the game. He flees to a small town, where he decides to coach their local team....

#3
Ayka

Ayka

2018★ 6.9

Why watch this? A perfect follow-up to Essays for fans of Drama. It captures a similar emotionally gripping atmosphere.

A young Kyrgyz immigrant tries to eke out a living in Moscow after abandoning her newborn and fleeing the hospital....

#4
Girl in the Box

Girl in the Box

2016★ 6.7

Why watch this? A perfect follow-up to Essays for fans of Drama. It captures a similar emotionally gripping atmosphere.

The true story of 20-year-old Colleen Stan, a hitchhiking woman abducted by a young couple and held captive for seven years, during which time she's tortured and forced to live as ...

#5
An Unfinished Piece for Player Piano

An Unfinished Piece for Player Piano

1977★ 7.0

Why watch this? A perfect follow-up to Essays for fans of Drama. It captures a similar emotionally gripping atmosphere.

On a summer day in late 19th century Russia, a group of bourgeois friends and acquaintances gather at a dilapidated country estate....

#6
The Young One

The Young One

1960★ 6.9

Why watch this? A perfect follow-up to Essays for fans of Drama. It captures a similar emotionally gripping atmosphere.

A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions....

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