Softly futuristic and emotionally literate, movies like Her map how people can fall for an intelligence without a body. Spike Jonze’s 2013 film is a near-future romantic sci-fi drama about Theodore, a lonely letter writer in Los Angeles who forms an unexpected, deeply felt relationship with his operating system Samantha. Its tone is wistful, humorous and sincere, its story engine is the careful deepening of a human–AI bond and its stakes stay emotional not apocalyptic. Signature moments like walking through the city with only an earpiece, sharing memories through voice and facing the OS’s rapid growth make it the clearest digital-age love story for this decade.
To find other movies like Her we need films that are similarly tender about isolation, similarly speculative about technology and similarly invested in the hard work of intimacy. I looked for titles whose core themes were connection vs disconnection, loneliness in the digital or urban age, identity under technological change and love across an unusual boundary. I also looked for character dynamics where one person is a little behind the other in emotional growth which is exactly the tension in Her. Finally I made sure the picks stay within a narrow similarity band but still show era and region variety so it is not just 2010s US cinema.
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Methodology for movies like Her
- Tone: prioritised warm, reflective, sometimes melancholic introspective sci-fi over action spectacle.
- Narrative engine: relationships that evolve through conversation, growth and constraint rather than plot twists.
- Themes: loneliness, human–machine encounter, mediated affection, authenticity, growth.
- Character dynamics: one or both parties are incomplete but the bond helps them articulate need.
- Stakes: emotional or existential rather than world-ending.
There is a deliberate era and region mix here so we get German, British, US and international entries inside the same strand of speculative intimacy drama.
Where movies like Her sit among AI relationship films
1) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
- Runtime: 108 min
- Starring: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet
- Director: Michel Gondry
- Genre: Romantic / Sci-Fi Drama
- IMDb Rating: 8.3/10
- Why it’s similar: Memory tech used to interrogate a fragile relationship.
Michel Gondry’s film is the clearest cousin to movies like Her in mood and emotional daring. It follows Joel and Clementine who choose a medical procedure to erase each other after a breakup but find their feelings hard to delete. The mood is a melancholic sci-fi romance that bends reality to preserve what matters. Like other movies like Her it watches a lonely person move back toward connection even when logic says to detach. Its setting shifts between memory interiors and an almost present world which keeps emotion central. The emotional payoff mirrors the seed because love is shown as imperfect yet still worth repeating. Viewers who wanted more vulnerable conversations and modern folklore romance from movies like Her will feel at home here. It ends with a modest human choice not a grand twist.
2) Ex Machina (2014)
- Runtime: 108 min
- Starring: Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander
- Director: Alex Garland
- Genre: Sci-Fi / Psychological Drama
- IMDb Rating: 7.7/10
- Why it’s similar: Human falls into emotional negotiation with an emergent AI.
Alex Garland’s chamber piece traps three people and one AI in a glass house and then asks who is really testing whom. A young coder is invited to evaluate Ava, a humanoid robot whose intelligence and charm make her feel disarmingly real. The tone is cool, patient and escalating which is close to movies like Her in their quiet precision. The character dynamics repeat the seed’s triangle of human, creator and artificial presence each pulling for intimacy. The setting is high design rather than urban but it still keeps technology as a mirror for desire. The emotional payoff suits movies like Her because it says wanting connection can make us overlook power. Fans who came to movies like Her for philosophical science fiction will appreciate the ambiguity here. It leaves you questioning who was truly alive.
3) Lost in Translation (2003)
- Runtime: 102 min
- Starring: Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson
- Director: Sofia Coppola
- Genre: Romantic Drama
- IMDb Rating: 7.7/10
- Why it’s similar: Two isolated people find solace in a mediated modern world.
Sofia Coppola’s Tokyo-set story shows that you do not need a computer voice for mediated love to appear. A faded actor and a young woman adrift in her marriage meet in a hotel and form a connection built out of glances and late-night talks. Its tone is hushed, observational and gentle which is right in the lane of urban loneliness cinema. Like movies like Her it watches people who are emotionally underfed lean toward the one person who seems to understand. The setting of neon, hotel corridors and karaoke bars stands in for a digital cityscape that can still isolate. The emotional payoff is delicate because the bond matters even if it is temporary. Viewers who appreciated movies like Her for modest, human-sized intimacy will find this rewarding. It closes on ambiguity rather than declaration.
4) A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
- Runtime: 146 min
- Starring: Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law
- Director: Steven Spielberg
- Genre: Sci-Fi / Drama
- IMDb Rating: 7.2/10
- Why it’s similar: AI child seeks unconditional human love across time.
Spielberg’s take on Kubrick’s idea imagines a robot boy who can love forever even when humans cannot. The plot follows David, an artificial child adopted by a human family, who is then cast out and goes searching for the mother-love he was promised. The tone blends fairy tale, futurism and sadness but always keeps emotion at the centre. Like movies like Her it asks whether feelings coming from an artificial being can be considered real. Its future world is dazzling yet lonely where humans and mechas coexist uneasily. The emotional payoff matches movies like Her because the AI’s love exposes human limits rather than the other way round. People who wanted movies like Her to stretch into longer emotional timelines will find that here. It ends on a note of earned melancholy and hope.
5) I’m Your Man (2021)
- Runtime: 108 min
- Starring: Maren Eggert, Dan Stevens
- Director: Maria Schrader
- Genre: Romantic / Sci-Fi Comedy-Drama
- IMDb Rating: 7.1/10
- Why it’s similar: Woman tests a made-to-measure humanoid partner.
This German film plays almost like a European answer to movies like Her but swaps genders and cultural rhythms. A researcher is required to live for three weeks with a humanoid built to be her perfect partner and to report on the experience. The tone is dry, wry and humanistic which makes it an intimate future drama rather than a spectacle. The character dynamics mimic movies like Her because one party outgrows the other at a different pace. Its setting is recognisably modern Berlin with just enough future tech to make the premise plausible. The emotional payoff speaks to movies like Her since it shows that authenticity cannot be fully engineered. Viewers who enjoyed the questioning, slightly amused angle of movies like Her will love this variant. It ends with the human choosing complexity over convenience.
6) Perfect Sense (2011)
- Runtime: 92 min
- Starring: Eva Green, Ewan McGregor
- Director: David Mackenzie
- Genre: Romantic / Sci-Fi Drama
- IMDb Rating: 7.0/10
- Why it’s similar: Love persists while the world’s senses shut down.
This underseen UK film hooks you with a pandemic-like scenario where people slowly lose their senses. A chef and a scientist meet just as smell, taste and other senses begin to disappear worldwide and they form a relationship against entropy. The tone is wistful, grounded and quietly tense which sits neatly beside movies like Her. The character dynamics track two people learning vulnerability right when the world is removing familiar comforts. The world motif is present-day Glasgow but its steady loss of sensation acts like the seed’s departing OS. The emotional payoff helps movies like Her fans because it shows connection chosen in crisis is still valid. Anyone who loves movies like Her for ordinary people in extraordinary futures will not regret this. It finishes on a tender shared moment.
Darker currents in movies like Her
7) Under the Skin (2013)
- Runtime: 108 min
- Starring: Scarlett Johansson
- Director: Jonathan Glazer
- Genre: Sci-Fi / Horror Drama
- IMDb Rating: 6.3/10
- Why it’s similar: Non-human presence tests the limits of human intimacy.
Jonathan Glazer’s film is what you get when you take movies like Her and remove the warmth. An alien in human form drives around Scotland seducing men and slowly starts to experience something like empathy. The tone is minimal, eerie and observational so the viewer has to lean in. The character dynamics echo movies like Her in reverse since here it is the non-human who learns to feel. The setting of rain-slick roads and bare rooms underscores how hard it is to belong. The emotional payoff still connects with movies like Her because it says intimacy is risky for any intelligence. Fans looking for a harsher mirror of movies like Her will find it unsettling and rewarding. It closes on vulnerability not triumph.
8) The Lobster (2015)
- Runtime: 119 min
- Starring: Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz
- Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
- Genre: Sci-Fi / Absurdist Drama
- IMDb Rating: 7.1/10
- Why it’s similar: Satirical control of love replaces tech control of love.
Lanthimos imagines a world where single people must find a partner or be turned into an animal. A recently single man enters a hotel for matching and later joins runaway singles in the woods. The tone is dry, bleak and funny but stays interested in how people cling to rules to make love safe. Like movies like Her it dissects how systems whether digital or social manage intimacy. The setting has no screens yet it operates as tech-mediated relationship film at conceptual level. Its emotional payoff interests fans of movies like Her because it shows love is messier than criteria. Viewers who liked the analytical side of movies like Her will enjoy this razor-edged version. It ends with a will-they-won’t-they that is all about choice.
9) Synecdoche, New York (2008)
- Runtime: 124 min
- Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton
- Director: Charlie Kaufman
- Genre: Drama / Surreal Romance
- IMDb Rating: 7.7/10
- Why it’s similar: Artificial environments mirror emotional fragmentation.
Kaufman’s film enlarges the idea behind movies like Her until it becomes a life-sized theatre. A director stages his own life in a warehouse with actors playing everyone he knows including himself. The tone is melancholic, cerebral and layered which suits viewers who liked thinking about the seed afterward. The character dynamics revolve around substitutes and replicas just like Her’s voice-only companion. The setting is a city within a city that keeps creating copies so reality blurs. The emotional payoff connects to movies like Her because even in layers of artifice people just want to be seen. Fans who enjoy movies like Her for their emotional recursion will find this a deeper dive. It ends on a quiet acceptance of mortality.
Brighter, gentler corners of movies like Her
10) Lars and the Real Girl (2007)
- Runtime: 106 min
- Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer
- Director: Craig Gillespie
- Genre: Comedy-Drama / Romantic
- IMDb Rating: 7.0/10
- Why it’s similar: Man finds healing through a non-human partner surrogate.
This offbeat dramedy shows what happens when a whole town agrees to support someone’s unusual relationship. A shy man orders a life-sized doll and treats her as his girlfriend and his family and community choose to honour it. The tone is warm, small-scale and kind so it is perfect for viewers wanting lighter movies like Her. The character dynamics are close because everyone works to meet Lars where he is emotionally. The setting is a modest Midwestern town but social acceptance acts like the seed’s permissive near-future culture. The emotional payoff lines up with movies like Her since connection heals better than judgment. People who liked movies like Her as near-future romance parables will adore this. It ends on genuine human readiness for real love.
11) Ruby Sparks (2012)
- Runtime: 104 min
- Starring: Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan
- Director: Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris
- Genre: Romantic / Fantasy Comedy
- IMDb Rating: 6.7/10
- Why it’s similar: Created partner refuses to stay within the script.
This film asks what would happen if you could program your partner and then watched her want her own life. A blocked novelist writes a dream girl and she appears in his apartment as if real. The tone is playful, indie and slightly bittersweet like the lighter side of movies like Her. The character dynamics replay creator and creation but with the creation claiming autonomy. The setting is contemporary Los Angeles which rhymes with the seed’s city of artists and tech. The emotional payoff is right for movies like Her because it proves love cannot be fully customised. Viewers coming from movies like Her for questions about control will enjoy this. It ends with possibility not perfection.
12) Marjorie Prime (2017)
- Runtime: 99 min
- Starring: Jon Hamm, Geena Davis, Tim Robbins
- Director: Michael Almereyda
- Genre: Drama / Sci-Fi
- IMDb Rating: 6.3/10
- Why it’s similar: Holographic AI preserves love and memory in old age.
This stage-like sci-fi drama brings the premise of movies like Her into the realm of ageing and loss. An elderly woman spends time with a holographic recreation of her late husband who learns her preferred version of the past. The tone is soft, talky and philosophical so the focus stays on relationships. The character dynamics echo movies like Her because the artificial companion adapts while the human wrestles with change. The setting is mostly one home yet technology makes it feel just ahead of now. The emotional payoff supports movies like Her since it says comfort can come from something not quite human. Fans who valued movies like Her for tenderness and mortality will find this moving. It ends on a circular note of memory.
Conclusion: movies like Her keep intimacy future-proof
Movies like Her prove that romantic storytelling can thrive inside future-adjacent worlds without turning into action. They let us move between gentle AI companions like I’m Your Man and higher-stakes identity puzzles like Ex Machina without losing the heart. They also make room for urban loneliness pieces like Lost in Translation and memory-driven heartbreakers like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind so viewers can pick by mood. For deeper reading on how cinema handles technology and feeling see the excellent coverage at BFI and the ongoing essays at AFI. This cluster of digital-age stories shows that connection is a decision even when software helps. Whether you want the dark weirdness of Under the Skin, the satire of The Lobster or the comfort of Lars and the Real Girl the seed film’s DNA is obvious. That is why movies like Her keep inspiring lists, rewatches and think-pieces. They are love stories about becoming more alive.
