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Movies like The Friend

Key Features:
Friendship, Grief, Coming-of-age, Writers journey, Mentor-mentee relationship, Overcoming adversity, Self-discovery, Urban setting, Companionship, Personal growth, Existential crisis
Tone:
humorous, earnest, restrained
Target Audience:
Indie film enthusiasts, Pet lovers, People interested in character-driven stories, Viewers seeking heartwarming narratives
Emotional Arc:
Isolation → Connection → Acceptance

The Friend

2025-03-28
The Friend Poster - Find Similar Movies

New York City writer Iris finds her comfortable, solitary life thrown into disarray after her closest friend and mentor bequeaths her a Great Dane named Apollo. The huge dog immediately creates practical problems for Iris, from furniture destruction to eviction notices, as well as more existential ones. Yet as Iris finds herself unexpectedly bonding with Apollo, she begins to come to terms with her past, and her own creative inner life.

Genres
Drama
Cast
Naomi Watts, Bill Murray, Ann Dowd, Constance Wu, Sarah Pidgeon, Carla Gugino, Noma Dumezweni, Felix Solis, Owen Teague, Bing
Crew
David Siegel, Scott McGehee, Scott McGehee, David Siegel
Rating
6.7(69 votes)
The FriendThe Friend
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Our Friend
7.1

After learning that his terminally ill wife has six months to live, a man welcomes the support of his best friend who moves into their home to help out.



The Guitar
5.5

The life of a woman is transformed after she is diagnosed with a terminal disease, fired from her job and abandoned by her boyfriend. Given two months to live, she throws caution to the wind to pursue her dreams.



The Last Word
6.6

A retired businesswoman – who tries to control everything around her – decides to write her own obituary. A young journalist takes up the task of finding out the truth, and the result is a life-altering friendship.



A Dog's Purpose
7.639

A dog goes on quest to discover his purpose in life over the course of several lifetimes with multiple owners.



A Dog's Journey
8.054

A dog finds the meaning of his own existence through the lives of the humans he meets.



Beaches
Beaches(1988)
6.684

A privileged rich debutante and a cynical struggling entertainer share a turbulent, but strong childhood friendship over the years.



The Visitor
7.128

A college professor travels to New York City to attend a conference and finds a young couple living in his apartment.



Robot Dreams
7.997

A lonely dog's friendship with his robot companion takes a sad turn when an unexpected malfunction forces him to abandon Robot at the beach. Will Dog ever meet Robot again?



Girlfriends
6.6

A photographer and her best friend are roommates. She is stuck with small-change shooting jobs and dreams of success. When her roommate decides to get married and leave, she feels hurt and has to learn how to deal with living alone.



Finch
Finch(2021)
7.823

On a post-apocalyptic Earth, a robot, built to protect the life of his dying creator's beloved dog, learns about life, love, friendship, and what it means to be human.



Kelly & Cal
6.2

Punk-rocker turned suburban mom, Kelly, is nostalgic for a life she can no longer have and uncertain of a future she doesn’t yet fit in. Seventeen-year-old Cal is frustrated at his lack of control over the hand he's been dealt. When the two strike up an unlikely friendship, it's the perfect spark needed to thrust them both back to life.



Tomorrow's a New Day

When theatre actor Giuliano receives an unexpected visit from his childhood friend Tommasso, the encounter is bittersweet. This reunion is their first meeting in many years, triggered by Giuliano’s failing health and his decision to forgo treatment. Instead he is focussed on putting his affairs in order: distributing possessions, reconciling past disputes, and, most importantly, finding a home for his beloved canine, Pato. Over four days, the two men walk the streets of Rome, visiting bookshops, restaurants, veterinarians and friends, examining their lives and speculating on what the future holds.



The Dog Problem
5.83

In the film, Solo is a down-on-his-luck writer who is encouraged by his psychiatrist to get a dog. Solo meets his love interest, who he assumes to be a dog owner when meeting her at a dog play park, but dog problems stand in their way.



Alex & the List
5.451

Alex, a lovable, unassuming dog trainer is in love with a great woman - Katherine - smart, talented, from a good family. Katherine adores Alex's quirky sense of humor, honesty and capacity to listen. Having decided to pop the question, Alex is blindsided when Katherine produces a detailed list of well-thought-out "improvements" she feels will tweak Alex on their way to becoming the ideal couple. Alex instinctively rejects the suggestion that he needs to change anything. But with the threat of a new competitor, Alex decides to "do the list." Guided by a coterie of friends that include: Dave, Alex's loyal childhood buddy, best female friend Lily, her husband Michael, and their 8 year old son, Nicky, Alex's journey has him reconsider and question his beliefs, values and world.



Me Without You
6.4

During a long, hot summer in seventies London, young neighbors Holly and Marina make a childhood pact to be friends forever. For Marina, troubled, fiercely independent, determined to try everything, Holly stays the only constant in a life of divorcing parents, experimental drugs and fashionable self-destruction. But for Holly, a friendship that has never been equal gradually starts to feel like a trap.



Wiener-Dog
5.6

A dachshund passes from oddball owner to oddball owner, whose radically dysfunctional lives are all impacted by the pooch.



The Fox and the Hound

When a feisty little fox named Tod is adopted into a farm family, he quickly becomes friends with a fun and adorable hound puppy named Copper. Life is full of hilarious adventures until Copper is expected to take on his role as a hunting dog -- and the object of his search is his best friend!



Gigi & Nate
7.57

A young man with a bright future suffers a near-fatal accident and recreates his new life with the help of an unlikely animal friend.



Chinese Coffee
6.659

When Harry Levine, an aging, unsuccessful Greenwich Village writer, is fired from his job as restaurant doorman, he calls on friend and mentor Jake, ostensibly to collect a long-standing debt.



Young Adult
5.8

A divorced writer from the Midwest returns to her hometown to reconnect with an old flame, who's now married with a family.



Good Grief
6.211

When his husband unexpectedly dies, Marc's world shatters, sending him and his two best friends on a soul-searching trip to Paris that reveals some hard truths they each needed to face.



Carrie Pilby
6.832

Awkward, isolated and disapproving of most of the people around her, a precocious 19-year-old genius is challenged to put her convictions to the test by venturing out on to the NYC dating scene.



Darling Companion
4.98

The story of a woman who loves her dog more than her husband. And then her husband loses the dog.



A Dog Year
6.165

Jon Katz is close to burnout. He's a writer with writer's block; his wife has left for her sister's because he's emotionally distant; he rarely answers his phone. A kennel sends him a border collie that's undisciplined because of abuse. Despite a series of mishaps, Jon decides to keep trying with the dog, and he rents a dilapidated farm house to give the dog room to run. A local handyman refers Jon to a woman who might be able to help him train the dog. Reluctantly, Jon gives her a try. Is the dog the problem, or the owner?



The Humbling
5.1

Following a breakdown and suicide attempt, an aging actor becomes involved with a much younger woman but soon finds that it's difficult to keep pace with her.



Hachiko
Hachiko(1987)
7.759

The tragic, true story about Hachikō, an Akita dog who was loyal to his master, Professor Ueno, even after Ueno's death.



A Friendly Tale...
5.8

Lea and her husband Marc have known Francis and his wife Karine for a very long time. Over the years, each one of them has been assigned a specific role. The balance and dynamic of the group is blown up when Lea decides to write a novel, which turns into an immediate bestseller…



Impossible Things
8.4

After the death of her abusive husband, Matilde finds her new best friend in Miguel, her young, insecure, and disoriented neighbor.



Demolition
6.8

An emotionally desperate investment banker finds hope through a woman he meets.



The Intern
7.226

70-year-old widower Ben Whittaker has discovered that retirement isn't all it's cracked up to be. Seizing an opportunity to get back in the game, he becomes a senior intern at an online fashion site, founded and run by Jules Ostin.



Dog
Dog(2022)
7.3

An army ranger and his dog embark on a road trip along the Pacific Coast Highway to attend a friend's funeral.



Fluke
Fluke(1995)
7.099

Workaholic Thomas Johnson dies in an auto accident and reincarnates as a dog. Remembering some of his previous being, he returns to his wife and son to protect them from the man who caused his accident. But, as time goes by, his memories return, and Thomas realizes he wasn't such a good husband and father.



Benji
Benji(2018)
6.927

Two school kids strike up a friendship with an orphaned puppy named Benji. When danger befalls them and they end up kidnapped by robbers who are in over their heads, Benji and his scruffy sidekick come to the rescue.



Helen
Helen(2009)
6.5

On the outside, Helen has it all – a loving family and a successful career – but when her suppressed mental illness resurfaces, the world crumbles around her. Crippled by depression, Helen finds solace through her friendship with Mathilda, a kindred spirit struggling with bipolar disorder.



Venus
Venus(2006)
6.634

Maurice is an aging veteran actor who becomes taken with Jessie, the grandniece of his closest friend. When Maurice tries to soften the petulant and provincial young girl with the benefit of his wisdom and London culture, their give-and-take surprises both Maurice and Jessie as they discover what they don't know about themselves.



Year of the Dog
5.41

A secretary's life changes in unexpected ways after her dog dies.



Meet Bill
Meet Bill(2007)
6.1

A mild-mannered bank executive mentors a teenage con artist and tries to make a career change as a doughnut merchant.



The Pallbearer
4.931

Aspiring architect Tom Thompson is told by mysterious Ruth Abernathy that his best friend, "Bill," has taken his own life. Except that Tom has never met Bill and neither have his incredulous friends. So when Tom foolishly agrees to give the eulogy at Bill's funeral, it sets him on a collision course with Ruth -- who is revealed to be Bill's oversexed mother -- and Julie DeMarco, the longtime crush Tom hasn't seen since they were teens.



St. Vincent
7.1

A young boy whose parents just divorced finds an unlikely friend and mentor in the misanthropic, bawdy, hedonistic, war veteran who lives next door.



The American Friend
7.063

Tom Ripley, an American who deals in forged art, is slighted at an auction in Hamburg by picture framer Jonathan Zimmerman. When Ripley is asked by gangster Raoul Minot to kill a rival, he suggests Zimmerman, and the two, exploiting Zimmerman's terminal illness, coerce him into being a hitman.



New York
New York(2009)
6.2

New York is a contemporary story of friendship set against the larger than life backdrop of a city often described as the centre of the world. Omar has gone abroad for the first time in his life and soon enough he begins to see and love America through the eyes of his American friends - Sam and Maya. It is the story of these three friends discovering a new world together.



Lila & Eve
6.098

Lila, a grief-stricken mother reeling from her son’s murder, attends a support group where she meets Eve, who urges her to take matters into her own hands to track down her son’s killers.



Truman
Truman(2015)
7

Tomás, who lives in Canada, travels to Madrid, Spain, to visit his old friend Julián. Both of them, accompanied by Truman, Julián's faithful dog, will share many surprising and emotional little moments, triggered by the hard situation Julián is going through, for just a few days.



Someone Great
6.373

An aspiring music journalist lands her dream job and is about to move to San Francisco when her boyfriend of nine years decides to call it quits. To nurse her broken heart, she and her two best friends spend one outrageous last adventure in New York City.



No Hard Feelings
6.699

On the brink of losing her childhood home, Maddie discovers an intriguing job listing: wealthy helicopter parents looking for someone to “date” their introverted 19-year-old son, Percy, before he leaves for college. To her surprise, Maddie soon discovers the awkward Percy is no sure thing.



Ellie Parker
5

Ellie Parker, an aspiring actress from Australia, lives a hectic Hollywood lifestyle, perpetually trying to land the role that will elevate her career. Living with her lothario musician boyfriend, Justin, Ellie is far from happy, finding support primarily from her friend Sam. But when Ellie meets Chris after a minor traffic accident, she sees new potential for both romance and her life in general.



Lily Sometimes
5.602

After the death of her mother, a woman returns home to care for her sister.



Almost Friends
6.3

A man in his mid-20s, still living at home with his mother and stepfather, puts all his eggs in one basket: the girl who works at his local coffee shop. The problem is, she has a serious boyfriend. As they become closer, the line between friendship and intimacy is blurred, and the situation forces both to examine where they are in their lives.



Caramelo
Caramelo(2025)
7.79

After a life-changing diagnosis, a promising chef finds hope and humor with the help of a fur-midable dog friend.



The Guest
The Guest(2019)
6.62

Dumped by his girlfriend and finding himself stranded on different couches at friends’ places, Guido tries to transform his drift into an opportunity for a new beginning.



Dinner with Friends
5.55

A husband and wife reevaluate their marriage after their closest friends, another couple decide to split up after twelve years.



Turner & Hooch
6.3

Detective Scott Turner has three days left in the local police department before he moves to a bigger city to get some 'real' cases—not just misdemeanors. When Amos Reed is murdered, Scott sets himself on the case, but the closest thing to a witness to the murder is Reed's dog, Hooch, which Scott has to take care of—to avoid Hooch being 'put to sleep'.



A Patch of Blue
7.6

A blind, uneducated white girl is befriended by a black man, who becomes determined to help her escape her impoverished and abusive home life.



Orion and the Dark
6.528

A boy with an active imagination faces his fears on an unforgettable journey through the night with his new friend: a giant, smiling creature named Dark.



This Beautiful Fantastic

Set against the backdrop of a beautiful garden in the heart of London, this contemporary fairy tale revolves around the unlikely friendship between a reclusive young woman and a cantankerous old widower. Bella Brown is a beautifully quirky young woman who dreams of writing and illustrating a successful children’s book. After she is forced by her landlord to deal with her neglected garden or face eviction, she meets her match, nemesis, and unlikely mentor in Alfie Stephenson, a grumpy, loveless, old man who lives next door who happens to be an amazing horticulturalist.



Envy
Envy(2004)
4.85

A man becomes increasingly jealous of his friend's newfound success.



Hachi: A Dog's Tale

A drama based on the true story of a college professor's bond with the abandoned dog he takes into his home.



Nelly and Monsieur Arnaud

Nelly leaves her lazy, unemployed husband to work for retired judge Mr Arnaud, forty years her senior, after he offers to clear her bills for her. While she types his memoirs the two develop a close friendship, but Arnaud becomes jealous when Nelly begins dating his good-looking young publisher.



Patrick
Patrick(2018)
6.7

A woman's chaotic life becomes more complicated when she inherits her grandmother's dog.



Things We Lost in the Fire

A recent widow invites her husband's troubled best friend to live with her and her two children. As he gradually turns his life around, he helps the family cope and confront their loss.



Unexpected
5.709

An inner-city high school teacher discovers she is pregnant at the same time as one of her most promising students and the two develop an unlikely friendship while struggling to navigate their unexpected pregnancies.



The Dreamseller
6.6

A disillusioned psychologist tries to commit suicide until he strikes up a friendship with an unlikely saviour who teaches him a new way of living.



Buddies
Buddies(1985)
8.179

David, a naive graduate student, has volunteered to work as a 'buddy' for people dying of AIDS. Assigned to the intensely political Robert, a lifelong activist whose friends and family have abandoned him following his diagnosis, the two men, each with notably different world views, soon discover common bonds, as David's inner activist awakens and Robert's need for emotional release is fulfilled.



Sacred Heart
6.41

Irene, a workaholic, is forced to re-evaluate her priorities after the suicide of her two best friends.



Junkyard Dog
6.9

Childhood pals Dog and Mirales live in a little village in the south of France and spend their days just hanging out. To kill time, Mirales has got into the habit of teasing Dog mercilessly. But this summer is different: Dog meets Elsa and romance blossoms.



Friendzone
5.9

Hopeful romantic Thibault believes his luck could change when sparks fly between him and Rose. But can he go from bestie to boyfriend?



The Dog Who Wouldn't Be Quiet

Sebastian, a man in his thirties, works a series of temporary jobs and embraces love at every opportunity. He transforms, through a series of short encounters, as the world flirts with possible apocalypse.



The Farewell Party
6.5

A group of friends at a Jerusalem retirement home build a machine for self-euthanasia in order to help their terminally ill friend. When rumors of the machine begin to spread, more and more people ask for their help, and the friends are faced with an emotional dilemma



James White
6.574

James White is a troubled twentysomething trying to stay afloat in a frenzied New York City. As he retreats further into a hedonistic lifestyle, his mother's battle with a serious illness faces a series of setbacks that force him to assume more responsibility. With the pressure on him mounting, James must find new reserves of strength or risk imploding completely.



The Upside
7.132

Phillip is a wealthy quadriplegic who needs a caretaker to help him with his day-to-day routine in his New York penthouse. He decides to hire Dell, a struggling parolee who's trying to reconnect with his ex and his young son. Despite coming from two different worlds, an unlikely friendship starts to blossom.



Penguin Bloom
6.9

When an unlikely ally enters the Bloom family's world in the form of an injured baby magpie they name Penguin, the bird’s arrival makes a profound difference in the struggling family’s life.



Sorry, Baby
6.7

Agnes feels stuck. Unlike her best friend, Lydie, who’s moved to New York and is now expecting a baby, Agnes still lives in the New England house they once shared as graduate students, now working as a professor at her alma mater. A ‘bad thing’ happened to Agnes a few years ago and, since then, despite her best efforts, life hasn’t gotten back on track.



A Great Friend
6.553

Vincent is a famous successful entrepreneur. One day, a car breakdown on a mountain road temporarily interrupts his frantic lifestyle. Pierre, who lives apart from the modern world in the middle of sublime nature, comes to his aid and offers him his hospitality. The meeting between these two men, who are opposites will upset their respective beliefs and they will find themselves laughing. The question is...deep down, are they really each living the lives they want to live?



Good Boy
Good Boy(2020)
6.5

When Maggie gets an emotional support dog to help quell some of her anxiety, she finds him to be even more effective than she imagined... because unbeknownst to her, he kills anyone who adds stress to her life.



Tully
Tully(2018)
6.8

Marlo, a mother of three, including a newborn, is gifted a night nanny by her brother. Hesitant at first, she quickly forms a bond with the thoughtful, surprising, and sometimes challenging nanny named Tully.



Dedication
6.332

A modern love story in which a misanthropic, emotionally complex author of a hit children's book is forced to team with a beautiful illustrator after his best friend and collaborator passes away. As Henry struggles with letting go of the ghosts of love and life, he discovers that sometimes you have to take a gamble at life to find love.



Melinda and Melinda
6.178

While dining out with friends, Sy suggests the difficulty of separating comedy from tragedy. To illustrate his point, he tells his guests two parallel stories about Melinda ; both versions have the same basic elements, but one take on her state of affairs leans toward levity, while the other is full of anguish. Each story involves Melinda coping with a recent divorce through substance abuse while beginning a romantic relationship with a close friend's husband.



The Girl in the Park

A mother, enduringly traumatized by the disappearance of her three-year old daughter 15 years ago, has cut herself off from her ex-husband and son. However, when a troubled young woman with a checkered past enters her life, old psychic wounds painfully resurface, as does the illogical and increasingly irrational hope that the young woman may be the daughter she lost so long ago.



The Fallout
7.5

In the wake of a school tragedy, Vada, Mia and Quinton form a unique and dynamic bond as they navigate the never linear, often confusing journey to heal in a world that feels forever changed.



My Dog Stupid
6.029

Henri is a middle-aged writer with fading inspiration who has published nothing worthy of note in years. Feeling increasingly misunderstood by his wife and four grown up deadbeat kids, he dreams of running away to start over again. Yet when he discovers an unattractive, bad-mannered dog in his garden, he decides to adopt him and both start developing an unexpected friendship that inevitably upsets Henri’s family and neighbors.



The Apprentices
6.5

Antoine is a failed and depressed writer. Fred doesn't do much in his life and seems to be happy about it. The two of them share an apartment and live in a shambles. The adventures and mostly the misadventures of these two buddies/losers, makes them realise that despite everything that happens their friendship is the most important thing in their lives.



Snow Cake
Snow Cake(2006)
7.135

A drama focused on the friendship between a high-functioning autistic woman and a man who is traumatized after a fatal car accident.



Daniel Isn't Real
6.094

A troubled college freshman resurrects his imaginary friend to help him cope with a violent trauma.



Smoke
Smoke(1995)
7.2

Writer Paul Benjamin is nearly hit by a bus when he leaves Auggie Wren's smoke shop. Stranger Rashid Cole saves his life, and soon middle-aged Paul tells homeless Rashid that he wouldn't mind a short-term housemate. Still grieving over his wife's murder, Paul is moved by both Rashid's quest to reconnect with his father and Auggie's discovery that a woman who might be his daughter is about to give birth.



Memory
Memory(2023)
7.068

Sylvia is a social worker who leads a simple and structured life: her daughter, her job, her AA meetings. This is blown open when Saul follows her home from their high school reunion. Their surprise encounter will profoundly impact both of them as they open the door to the past.



Fireworks
Fireworks(1997)
6.203

Ottone, a professional dog sitter who's uncertain about most things in life, asks an analyst if he made the right decision love-wise while recounting the significant relationships he had with four women.



The Art of Racing in the Rain

A family dog – with a near-human soul and a philosopher's mind – evaluates his life through the lessons learned by his human owner, a race-car driver.



Heart of a Dog
6.538

Lyrical and powerfully personal essay film that reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother, her beloved dog, and such diverse subjects as family memories, surveillance, and Buddhist teachings.



Fixed
Fixed(2025)
6.239

After learning he's getting neutered, a dog has 24 hours to squeeze in one last balls-to-the-wall adventure with the boys.



Amanda
Amanda(2022)
6.43

Amanda, 24, lives mostly isolated and has never had any friends, even if it's the thing she wants the most. Amanda chooses her new mission as to convince her childhood friend to believe that they are still best friends.



The Party Is Over
6.1

Despite their differences, Celeste and Sihem quickly become inseparable. The common will to get out of drugs seals their fusional friendship. This will be as much a force as an obstacle when, transferred from the center that welcomes them, they find themselves left to themselves, to the test of the real world and its temptations. They will have to fight to finally live.



House of D
6.3

In the present, artist Tom Warshaw recalls his traumatic coming of age. As a 13-year-old growing up in New York City in 1973, Tom hangs out with Pappass, a mentally disabled man. With Tom's mother battling depression after the death of her husband, the young boy is left to his own devices. When Tom develops a crush on schoolmate Melissa, Pappass feels abandoned and begins behaving erratically.



Life During Wartime

Friends, family, and lovers struggle to find love, forgiveness, and meaning in an almost war-torn world riddled with comedy and pathos.



The Party
The Party(2017)
6.343

Various individuals think they’re coming together for a party in a private home, but a series of revelations results in a huge crisis that throws their belief systems – and their values – into total disarray.



Miss You Already
7.4

The friendship between two life-long girlfriends is put to the test when one starts a family and the other falls ill.



The Good Heart
6.368

Jacques is the curmudgeonly owner of a gritty New York dive bar that serves as home to a motley assortment of professional drinkers. Jacques is determinedly drinking and smoking himself to death when he meets Lucas, a homeless young man who has already given up on life. Determined to keep his legacy alive, Jacques deems Lucas is a fitting heir and takes him under his wing.



Based on a True Story

Delphine is the author of an autobiographical novel that has become a bestseller. Exhausted by the promotional tour, just when she feels out of place, paralyzed by the idea of having to start writing again, she meets Elle, a young, attractive, intelligent, intuitive woman who seems to understand her better than anyone.



Terri
Terri(2011)
6.325

Terri, a pajama-clad, disaffected high school student learns how to engage the world with the help of Mr. Fitzgerald, his assistant principal.



Lawn Dogs
Lawn Dogs(1997)
7.1

In the affluent, gated community of Camelot Gardens, bored wives indiscriminately sleep around while their unwitting husbands try desperately to climb the social ladder. Trent, a 21-year-old outsider who mows the neighborhood lawns, quietly observes the infidelities and hypocrisies of this overly privileged society. When Devon, a 10-year-old daughter from one family, forges a friendship with Trent, things suddenly get very complicated.

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