Movies like The City of Lost Children
If you like "The City of Lost Children" you are looking for surreal, cult classic and visually stunning movies about / with steampunk, dystopia, children, childhood, friendship, good versus evil and surrealism themes of Adventure, Drama and Fantasy genre shot in France or Germany.
Find your next favorite and similar movies in two steps:
1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
2. Look for them in the presented list.
The City of Lost Children (1995)
75K
Original name: La Cité des Enfants Perdus
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Country: France, Germany, Spain, Belgium
Duration: 112 min.
Story:
A scientist in a surrealist society kidnaps children to steal their dreams, hoping that they slow his aging process.
Style:
surreal, cult classic, visually stunning, gothic, atmospheric, stylized, disturbing, bleak, futuristic, visual ...
Audience:
kids
Plot:
steampunk, dystopia, children, childhood, friendship, good versus evil, surrealism, cloning, flea, trippy, escape, mad scientist, sleeping, cyberpunk, girl, distopia, island, goth, bare chested male, rescue, twins, child in peril, alternate reality, coming of age, imagination ...
Time:
future
Place:
france
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to The City of Lost Children
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out weird, surreal, stylized and cult classic films with plots about surrealism, storytelling, fantasy world, imagination, distopia, dialogue and existentialism mostly in Fantasy, Drama and Adventure genres. Some movies like The City of Lost Children: Dark City (1998), Delicatessen (1991), The Zero Theorem (2013), Brazil (1985), Tideland (2005). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
225K
Genre: Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Australia, USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
A man struggles with memories of his past, including a wife he cannot remember, in a nightmarish world with no sun and run by beings with telekinetic powers who seek the souls of humans.
Style:
neo noir, suspense, atmospheric, tech noir, mind bending ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
memory, investigation, alternate reality, cyberpunk, distopia, amnesia, alien race, dream, virtual reality, mind control, memory loss, dystopian future ...
Time:
future, year 1998, distant future, 1940s, 90s ...
Place:
persia
Similarity:
94%
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Country: France
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
This bizarre surrealistic black comedy takes place in a small fictitious post-apocalyptic town where food is scarce and butcher Clapet has the macabre business of using human flesh to feed his customers. Yet when his daughter falls in love with his ...
Style:
black comedy, dark comedy, art house, visual, offbeat ...
Audience:
chick flick, date night
Plot:
dark humor, dystopia, surrealism, cannibal, cannibalism, food, underground, post-apocalyptic future, apocalypse, dystopian future, imagination, european ...
Time:
90s, year 1991, distant future, future
Place:
france
Similarity:
90%
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: UK, Romania, France, USA
Duration: 107 min.
Story:
A computer hacker's goal to discover the reason for human existence continually finds his work interrupted thanks to the Management; this time, they send a teenager and lusty love interest to distract him.
Style:
surreal, philosophical, thought provoking, offbeat, psychedelic ...
Plot:
loneliness, computers and web, society, computer, computer system, virtual reality, escape from reality, computer genius, dystopian future, uncover truth, hacker, distopia ...
Time:
future, 2010s, year 2013, distant future
Similarity:
100%
221K
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 132 min.
Story:
Low-level bureaucrat Sam Lowry escapes the monotony of his day-to-day life through a recurring daydream of himself as a virtuous hero saving a beautiful damsel. Investigating a case that led to the wrongful arrest and eventual death of an innocent ...
Style:
surreal, cult classic, mind bending, psychological, futuristic ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
dystopia, dream, satire, distopia, cyberpunk, surrealism, surveillance, absurdism, fighting the system, bureaucracy, christmas, hallucination ...
Time:
future, year 1985, year 1984
Place:
england, london, britain, europe, brazil ...
Similarity:
85%
Movie in collections
36K
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Country: UK, Canada
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
Because of the actions of her irresponsible parents, a young girl is left alone on a decrepit country estate and survives inside her fantastic imagination.
Style:
surreal, disturbing, psychedelic, cult classic, bleak ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
isolation, imagination, heroin, mental illness, drug addiction, surrealism, addiction, abandoned house, imaginary friend, mentally challenged, death by overdose, talking doll ...
Time:
year 2005, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
denmark, austin texas, texas, usa
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama, Fantasy
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
In a fantasy world of opposing kingdoms, a 15-year old girl must find the fabled MirrorMask in order to save the kingdom and get home
Style:
visually stunning, offbeat, surreal, cerebral, stylized ...
Audience:
teens, date night, pre-teens, teen fantasy, kids ...
Plot:
circus, coming of age, fantasy world, magic, imaginary kingdom, alternate reality, alternate dimension, good versus evil, trippy, parallel universe, imaginary, drawing ...
Time:
year 2005
Place:
brighton, england
Similarity:
88%
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
For generations, the people of the City of Ember have flourished in an amazing world of glittering lights. But Ember's once powerful generator is failing and the great lamps that illuminate the city are starting to flicker. Now, two teenagers, ...
Style:
exciting, dark fantasy, visually stunning, apocalyptic, visual ...
Audience:
kids, family friendly, girls' night, teens, pre-teens ...
Plot:
steampunk, post apocalypse, save the day, danger, dystopia, uncover truth, survival, underground city, girl, underground, puzzle, ancient mystery ...
Time:
future, year 2008, 20th century, distant future
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, War
Country: Mexico, Spain
Duration: 118 min.
Story:
Living with her tyrannical stepfather in a new home with her pregnant mother, 10-year-old Ofelia feels alone until she explores a decaying labyrinth guarded by a mysterious faun who claims to know her destiny. If she wishes to return to her real ...
Style:
fairy tale, dark fantasy, surreal, atmospheric, gothic ...
Audience:
kids, teen fantasy, date night, adult, teen drama
Plot:
monster, fantasy world, imagination, creature, mythology, macabre, legends and myths, magical, young heroes, imaginary, good versus evil, maze ...
Time:
1940s, 2000s, year 1944, 20th century, year 2006
Place:
spain, south america, europe, canada
Similarity:
86%
Movie in collections
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Mystery
Country: UK, France, Canada
Duration: 123 min.
Story:
A traveling theater company gives its audience much more than they were expecting.
Style:
surreal, dark fantasy, fairy tale, cerebral, stylized ...
Audience:
kids, teens, date night
Plot:
surrealism, imaginary kingdom, deal with the devil, mysterious character, imagination, steampunk, bet, transformation, devil, imaginary world, sex with teenager, circus ...
Time:
year 2009, 2000s, year 2010
Place:
britain, london
Similarity:
100%
27K
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Country: Ireland, USA, UK
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
In the far future, a savage trained only to kill finds a way into the community of bored immortals that alone preserves humanity's achievements.
Style:
surreal, philosophical, apocalyptic, political, esoteric ...
Plot:
post apocalypse, dystopia, artificial intelligence, immortality, satire, medieval, rebellion, surrealism, death, commune, old woman, old man ...
Time:
future, 23rd century, 20th century
Place:
arizona
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Country: Poland
Duration: 166 min.
Story:
A small group of cosmic explorers leave Earth to find freedom and start a new civilization.
Style:
surreal, avant garde, mysterious, atmospheric, art house ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
surrealism, astronaut, philosophy, male nudity, religion, planet, existentialism, moon, time travel, chaos, male pubic hair, alien ...
Time:
future, near future
Place:
poland
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: Norway, Iceland
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Forty-year-old Andreas arrives in a strange city with no memory of how he got there. He is presented with a job, an apartment - even a wife. But before long, Andreas notices that something is wrong. Andreas makes an attempt to escape the city, but ...
Style:
surreal, philosophical, psychological, enigmatic, art house ...
Plot:
dystopia, nightmare, suicide attempt, exile, accountant, alone in the world, parallel universe, suicide, emotionless, isolation, confined, captivity ...
Time:
distant future, future
Place:
argentina
Similarity:
100%
127K
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA, South Africa, India
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
In a hospital on the outskirts of 1920s Los Angeles, an injured stuntman begins to tell a fellow patient, a little girl with a broken arm, a fantastic story about 5 mythical heroes. Thanks to his fractured state of mind and her vivid imagination, ...
Style:
surreal, offbeat, fairy tale, cerebral, emotional ...
Audience:
kids, date night, adult
Plot:
hospital, surrealism, suicide attempt, imagination, escape from reality, suicide, desert, storytelling, stuntman, magic realism, imaginary kingdom, friendship ...
Time:
1920s, year 2006, 2000s, 20th century, 1910s
Place:
india, los angeles, california, cambodia, taj mahal ...
Similarity:
100%
142K
Genre: Fantasy, Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min.
Story:
Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.
Style:
surreal, psychological, avant garde, art house, experimental ...
Plot:
surrealism, baby, existentialism, nightmare, insanity, psychology, dream, loneliness, psychosis, factory, dark humor, eccentricity ...
Time:
70s, year 1977, 20th century
Place:
america, philadelphia
Similarity:
100%
256K
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi
Country: Belgium, Germany, Canada, France, UK, Luxembourg, USA
Duration: 141 min.
Story:
Nemo Nobody leads an ordinary existence with his wife and 3 children; one day, he wakes up as a mortal centenarian in the year 2092.
Style:
psychological, surreal, mind bending, philosophical, thought provoking ...
Audience:
date night, teens, adult
Plot:
time, destiny, philosophy, choice, alternate reality, depression, twists and turns, butterfly effect, surrealism, utopia, multiple outcomes, parallel world ...
Time:
future, year 2009, year 1975, year 2011, 2010s ...
Place:
canada
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama, Fantasy
Country: France, Germany, Belgium
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
We follow 24 hours in the life of a being moving from life to life like a cold and solitary assassin moving from hit to hit. In each of these interwoven lives, the being possesses an entirely distinct identity: sometimes a man, sometimes a woman, ...
Style:
surreal, art house, cerebral, psychedelic, disturbing ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
surrealism, life & death, existentialism, creativity, obsession, multiple storylines, trippy, hidden identity, unfulfillment, power relations, lifestyle change, male nudity ...
Time:
2010s, year 2012, 21st century
Place:
paris france, france, seattle, tokyo
Similarity:
100%
477K
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 125 min.
Story:
Throughout his life Edward Bloom has always been a man of big appetites, enormous passions and tall tales. In his later years, he remains a huge mystery to his son, William. Now, to get to know the real man, Will begins piecing together a true ...
Style:
surreal, feel good, sentimental, touching, fairy tale ...
Audience:
date night, kids, chick flick, teens, girls' night ...
Plot:
surrealism, fish, journey, storytelling, fantasy world, father son relationship, childhood, mermaid, magic, loneliness, adventurer, free spirited ...
Time:
60s, 70s, 20th century, 1940s, year 2003 ...
Place:
texas, usa, alabama, southern usa, paris france ...
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: West Germany, USA
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
While hiding from bullies in his school's attic, a young boy discovers the extraordinary land of Fantasia, through a magical book called The Neverending Story. The book tells the tale of Atreyu, a young warrior who, with the help of a luck ...
Style:
fairy tale, feel good, light, surreal, sexy ...
Audience:
family friendly, teens, chick flick, kids, pre-teens ...
Plot:
dragon, magic, fantasy world, imagination, good versus evil, imaginary kingdom, book, child protagonist, evil force, child hero, boy, medieval ...
Time:
year 1984, 80s, future, 90s
Similarity:
100%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Music
Country: UK
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
A troubled rock star descends into madness in the midst of his physical and social isolation from everyone.
Style:
cult classic, psychedelic, adult animation, disturbing, surreal ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
rock, rock and roll, nightmare, music, teacher, surrealism, loss of father, musician, visceral, violent, corporal punishment, rock music ...
Time:
year 1982, 1940s, 20th century, 1950s, 50s ...
Place:
england, europe, london, los angeles
Similarity:
100%
260K
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
A young girl is institutionalized by her abusive stepfather. Retreating to an alternative reality as a coping strategy, she envisions a plan which will help her escape from the mental facility.
Style:
surreal, sexy, atmospheric, modern fairy tale, exciting ...
Audience:
girls' night, chick flick, teens, teen drama
Plot:
alternate reality, steampunk, imagination, lobotomy, escape from reality, surrealism, escape, violence, murder, sexual abuse, girl gang, dream ...
Time:
year 2011, 2010s, 20th century, 60s
Place:
vermont
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 146 min.
Story:
A robotic boy, the first programmed to love, David is adopted as a test case by a Cybertronics employee and his wife. Though he gradually becomes their child, a series of unexpected circumstances make this life impossible for David. Without final ...
Style:
philosophical, thought provoking, futuristic, touching, sentimental ...
Audience:
kids, family friendly, teens, teen drama
Plot:
artificial intelligence, cyberpunk, androids and robots, androids, distopia, adoption, robot, imagination, boy, destiny, machine, child abuse ...
Time:
future, year 2001, 2000s, near future, distant future ...
Place:
new york, persia, usa, coney island brooklyn new york city, manhattan new york city ...
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
Hushpuppy, an intrepid six-year-old girl, lives with her father, Wink in 'the Bathtub', a southern Delta community at the edge of the world. Wink’s tough love prepares her for the unraveling of the universe – for a time when he’s no ...
Style:
emotional, independent film, sad, surreal, harsh ...
Audience:
family outing, kids
Plot:
poverty, climate change, children, global warming, magic realism, father daughter relationship, childhood, coming of age, flood, single father, crab, child protagonist ...
Time:
year 2012, 2010s, 21st century
Place:
louisiana, new orleans, southern usa, usa, tokyo ...
Similarity:
100%
104K
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 167 min.
Story:
A psychologist is sent to a space station orbiting a planet called Solaris to investigate the death of a doctor and the mental problems of cosmonauts on the station. He soon discovers that the water on the planet is a type of brain which brings out ...
Style:
art house, atmospheric, cerebral, enigmatic, philosophical ...
Audience:
teens, adult
Plot:
outer space, scientist, metaphysics, space travel, space and aliens, space station, dream, trapped in space, astronaut, loneliness, science, philosophy ...
Time:
distant future, 70s, future, year 1972
Place:
soviet union, ussr, russia, tokyo
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand
Duration: 130 min.
Story:
A fantasy re-telling of the medieval tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Style:
cerebral, costume drama, bleak, surreal, fairy tale ...
Audience:
date night, adult
Plot:
creature, medieval, king arthur, myth, ghost, arthurian legend, headless horseman, knight, monster, legend, monarch, fear ...
Time:
middle ages, medieval times, 2020s
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
Max imagines running away from his mom and sailing to a far-off land where large talking beasts -- Ira, Carol, Douglas, the Bull, Judith and Alexander -- crown him as their king, play rumpus, build forts and discover secret hideaways.
Style:
touching, visually stunning, talky, fairy tale, visually appealing ...
Audience:
kids, family friendly, teens, pre-teens, toddlers ...
Plot:
childhood, imaginary kingdom, children, creature, imagination, child, fantasy world, loneliness, island, boy, surrealism, mischievous children ...
Time:
year 2009, 90s, 21st century
Similarity:
100%
15K
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Country: Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, UK, West Germany
Duration: 86 min.
Story:
A quiet young English girl named Alice finds herself in an alternate version of her own reality after chasing a white rabbit. She becomes surrounded by living inanimate objects and stuffed dead animals, and must find a way out of this nightmare- no ...
Style:
surreal, disturbing, art house, adult animation, atmospheric ...
Audience:
kids, teens
Plot:
surrealism, alice in wonderland, little girl, arthouse horror, absurdism, mushroom, stop motion, rabbit, female protagonist, child protagonist, anthropomorphic animal, skeleton ...
Time:
1800s, year 1988, 20th century, 80s, 19th century ...
Place:
czech republic, central europe, czechoslovakia, australia
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Country: Sweden, Soviet Union, Norway
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
They're two best friends, a million miles from home. On an incredible adventure, beyond the boundaries of space and time. A fantasy about a lonely boy who is transferred from his dull life with his adoptive parents to the land where his real ...
Style:
fairy tale, light, captivating, entertaining, exciting ...
Audience:
kids, family outing, pre-teens
Plot:
imaginary kingdom, orphan, good versus evil, supernatural, danger, heroes, parallel world, daring rescue, hopes, heroic mission, kidnapping, sword and sorcery ...
Place:
ussr, eastern europe, stockholm sweden
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Country: Mexico
Duration: 114 min.
Story:
A Mexican master leads a Christ figure and other disciples to a mountain of immortal wise men. The scandal of the 1973 Cannes Film Festival, writer/director Alejandro Jodorowsky's flood of sacrilegious imagery and existential symbolism in The ...
Style:
surreal, psychedelic, avant garde, atmospheric, mind bending ...
Plot:
satire, trippy, alchemist, enlightenment, surrealism, hermaphrodite, sex, spiritual journey, sex scene, absurdism, hippopotamus, lsd ...
Time:
year 1973, 70s, 20th century
Place:
mexico, south america, latin america, peru
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 139 min.
Story:
An aging Chinese immigrant is swept up in an insane adventure, where she alone can save what's important to her by connecting with the lives she could have led in other universes.
Style:
cerebral, surreal, psychedelic, philosophical, mind bending ...
Audience:
kids, family friendly, adult
Plot:
female protagonist, multiverse, fight, alternate universe, surrealism, chinese immigrant, lgbt, immigrant, parallel world, midlife crisis, kung fu, mother daughter relationship ...
Time:
2020s, future
Place:
brighton
Similarity:
67%
23K
Genre: Action, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min.
Story:
Invisible forces exert power over us in our sleep. A mercenary named Ink, on a literal nightmare mission, captures the spirit of 8-year-old Emma in the dream world. To save her, the dream-givers marshal all their resources, focusing on saving the ...
Style:
surreal, dark fantasy, atmospheric, cerebral, visually stunning ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
another dimension, parallel universe, nightmare, good versus evil, time paradox, businessman, imagination, supernatural, father daughter relationship, parent child relationship, surrealism, dystopia ...
Similarity:
60%
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