The Elephant Man
A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity. Based on the true story of Joseph Merrick (called John Merrick in the film), a severely deformed man in 19th century London.
Movies Like The Elephant Man
Similar in style, tone, and themes — find your next watch.
Something the Lord Made
2004★ 7.9
A dramatization of the relationship between heart surgery pioneers Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas.
Mask
1985★ 7.3
A significantly deformed but highly intelligent teenage boy and his biker gang mother attempt to live as normal a life as possible under the circumstances.
Radium Girls
2020★ 6.7
Young women toiling in a factory are exposed to hazardous material which takes a disastrous toll on their health.
A Woman's Face
1941★ 6.8
A female blackmailer with a disfiguring facial scar meets a plastic surgeon who offers her the possibility of looking like a normal woman.
Oranges and Sunshine
2010★ 7.0
The story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham, who uncovers one of the most significant social scandals in recent times – the forced migration of children from the United Kingdom to Australia and other Commonwealth countries. Almost singlehandedly, Margaret reunited thousands of families, brought authorities to account and worldwide attention to an extraordinary miscarriage of justice.
Awakenings
1990★ 7.8
Dr. Malcolm Sayer, a shy research physician, uses an experimental drug to "awaken" the catatonic victims of a rare disease. Leonard is the first patient to receive the controversial treatment. His awakening, filled with awe and enthusiasm, proves a rebirth for Sayer too, as the exuberant patient reveals life's simple but unutterably sweet pleasures to the introverted doctor.
Living
2022★ 7.0
London, 1953. Mr. Williams, a veteran civil servant, is an important cog within the city's bureaucracy as it struggles to rebuild in the aftermath of World War II. Buried under paperwork at the office and lonely at home, his life has long felt empty and meaningless. Then a devastating medical diagnosis forces him to take stock, and to try and grasp some fulfilment before it passes permanently beyond reach.
Oliver!
1968★ 7.0
Musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, a classic tale of an orphan who runs away from the workhouse and joins up with a group of boys headed by the Artful Dodger and trained to be pickpockets by master thief Fagin.
The Great Mouse Detective
1986★ 7.1
When the diabolical Professor Ratigan kidnaps London's master toymaker, the brilliant master of disguise Basil of Baker Street and his trusted sidekick Dawson try to elude the ultimate trap and foil the perfect crime.
Gigi & Nate
2022★ 7.7
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.
Victoria & Abdul
2017★ 6.9
Queen Victoria strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young Indian clerk named Abdul Karim.
Finding Neverland
2004★ 7.3
During a writing slump, playwright J.M. Barrie meets a widow and her four children, all young boys—who soon become an important part of Barrie’s life and the inspiration that lead him to create his masterpiece. Peter Pan.
All Is True
2018★ 6.0
London, June 29th, 1613. The Globe Theater, ran by the famous playwright William Shakespeare, accidentally burns to ashes. Seriously affected, he stops writing and returns to his hometown, where his wife Anne and daughters Judith and Susanna get surprised to hear he intends to stay there definitively, after two decades working in the capital, neglecting his sincere affections for them.
Six Minutes to Midnight
2020★ 6.2
Summer 1939. Influential families in Nazi Germany have sent their daughters to a finishing school in an English seaside town to learn the language and be ambassadors for a future looking National Socialist. A teacher there sees what is coming and is trying to raise the alarm. But the authorities believe he is the problem.
The Current War
2018★ 6.7
Electricity titans Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse compete to create a sustainable system and market it to the American people.
Cradle Will Rock
1999★ 6.5
A true story of politics and art in the 1930s USA, centered around a leftist musical drama and attempts to stop its production.
The Boy in the Woods
2023★ 6.8
The remarkable true-life survival story of a Jewish boy hiding and being hunted in the forests of Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe, based on Maxwell Smart's memoir.
Mr. K
2025★ 6.3
Mr. K, a traveling magician, finds himself in a Kafkaesque nightmare when he can’t find the exit of his hotel. His attempts to get out only pull him deeper, entangling him further with the hotel and its curious inhabitants.
The Secret of NIMH
1982★ 7.5
A widowed field mouse must move her family -- including an ailing son -- to escape a farmer's plow. Aided by a crow and a pack of superintelligent, escaped lab rats, the brave mother struggles to transplant her home to firmer ground.
The Greatest Showman
2017★ 7.9
The story of American showman P.T. Barnum, founder of the circus that became the famous traveling Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.