What Dreams May Come, the visually stunning 1998 fantasy drama starring Robin Williams and Cuba Gooding Jr., is a beloved film that explores profound themes of love, loss, the afterlife, and the lengths we’ll go for those we cherish. Directed by Vincent Ward, it tells the story of Chris Nielsen (Williams), who traverses heaven and hell to rescue his wife Annie (Annabella Sciorra) after she takes her own life, unable to cope with the earlier loss of their children.
If you connected with the film’s poignant portrayal of enduring love and its imaginative vision of the worlds beyond our own, you may be seeking other movies that evoke similar feelings and grapple with related ideas. Here are 15 of the best films to watch next if you loved What Dreams May Come.
1. The Fountain (2006)
Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain is a poetic, mind-bending odyssey through love, death, and the quest for eternal life. Hugh Jackman stars in three interwoven storylines – as a 16th-century Spanish conquistador, a modern-day scientist, and a 26th-century astronaut – with Rachel Weisz playing his love interest in each. Like What Dreams May Come, it’s a visually inventive, deeply philosophical film that ponders the biggest questions about human existence and the nature of reality.
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
This Oscar-winning film from Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman is a surreal, heartbreaking exploration of love, memory, and loss. Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet star as a couple who erase each other from their memories after a painful breakup, only to find themselves inexplicably drawn together again. With its inventive visuals and profound insights into the human heart, Eternal Sunshine shares What Dreams May Come’s fascination with the inner landscapes of the mind and spirit.
3. The Tree of Life (2011)
Terrence Malick’s ambitious, dreamlike opus traces the journey of a man (Sean Penn) grappling with the loss of his brother and difficult relationship with his father (Brad Pitt). Flashing back to 1950s Texas and the dawn of creation itself, The Tree of Life is a transcendent meditation on childhood, family, grace, and the biggest questions of our existence. Like What Dreams May Come, it reaches for a cosmic perspective on life, death, and eternity.
4. Inception (2010)
Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending sci-fi thriller follows a team of “extractors” who enter people’s dreams to steal secrets. When they’re hired to plant an idea instead, they confront a labyrinth of the mind with world-shaking implications. Though more action-driven than What Dreams May Come, Inception is similarly fascinated by the power of dreams and the thin line between reality and illusion.
5. The Lovely Bones (2009)
Based on Alice Sebold’s bestselling novel, The Lovely Bones follows a murdered girl (Saoirse Ronan) who watches over her family from a dreamlike afterlife while coming to terms with her own death. Directed by Peter Jackson, it shares What Dreams May Come’s lush visual portrayal of the hereafter and poignant exploration of love, loss, and letting go.
6. Vanilla Sky (2001)
Cameron Crowe’s trippy psychological thriller stars Tom Cruise as a wealthy playboy whose perfect life unravels after a car accident leaves him disfigured. As the lines between dreams and reality blur, he’s forced to confront his own choices and the true nature of his existence. Like What Dreams May Come, Vanilla Sky questions the boundaries of life and death, reality and illusion.
7. Waking Life (2001)
Richard Linklater’s animated philosophical reverie follows a young man (Wiley Wiggins) who wanders through a series of dreams, encountering an eclectic cast of characters who discuss everything from the meaning of life to the nature of reality. With its probing existential questions and dreamy, surreal visuals, Waking Life is a kindred spirit to What Dreams May Come.
8. After Life (1998)
This poetic Japanese film from Hirokazu Kore-eda imagines a way station between life and death where the recently deceased must select a single memory to take with them into eternity. As the film flashes back to the defining moments of each character’s life, it becomes a profound meditation on memory, regret, and what we value most. Like What Dreams May Come, After Life envisions the afterlife as a realm shaped by earthly love and loss.
9. Defending Your Life (1991)
Albert Brooks’ charming fantasy-comedy stars Brooks and Meryl Streep as the recently deceased, who find themselves in Judgment City, a purgatory-like realm where they must prove they’ve overcome their fears to ascend to the next plane of existence. Defending Your Life shares What Dreams May Come’s playful yet philosophical take on the afterlife, suggesting that even in death, we’re still striving to learn and grow.
10. Wings of Desire (1987)
Wim Wenders’ lyrical fantasy follows two angels (Bruno Ganz and Otto Sander) who wander unseen through Berlin, listening to the thoughts of the living. When one falls in love with a trapeze artist and longs to become human, it sparks a poetic meditation on love, mortality, and what it means to be alive. Like What Dreams May Come, Wings of Desire is a visually stunning, unabashedly romantic vision of love’s transcendent power.
11. Solaris (1972)
Andrei Tarkovsky’s hypnotic sci-fi classic follows a psychologist sent to investigate mysterious events on a space station orbiting a sentient planet. As the planet probes the crew’s minds and rematerializes lost loved ones, the line between memory and reality dissolves. Like What Dreams May Come, Solaris is a haunting exploration of love, loss, and the power of the human psyche.
12. Spirited Away (2001)
Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning animated masterpiece follows a young girl who becomes trapped in a fantastical spirit realm after her parents are turned into pigs. As she navigates this strange and wondrous world, she undergoes a profound journey of self-discovery. With its lush, imaginative vision and coming-of-age story, Spirited Away echoes What Dreams May Come’s fascination with otherworldly realms as mirrors for the human experience.
13. The Five People You Meet in Heaven (2004)
Based on Mitch Albom’s bestselling novel, this TV movie follows an elderly maintenance man (Jon Voight) killed in an accident, who awakens in the afterlife and encounters five people who had a profound impact on his life. As each guides him toward greater understanding, The Five People You Meet in Heaven offers a poignant exploration of life’s meaning and interconnectedness, similar to What Dreams May Come.
14. Jacob’s Ladder (1990)
Adrian Lyne’s unsettling psychological horror film stars Tim Robbins as a Vietnam vet haunted by terrifying visions that blur the lines between reality and delusion. As he descends deeper into a nightmarish world of conspiracies and half-truths, Jacob’s Ladder becomes a potent allegory for the afterlife and the ghosts that haunt us. Like What Dreams May Come, it’s a film that challenges our perceptions and asks profound questions about life and death.
15. Hereafter (2010)
Clint Eastwood’s measured supernatural drama weaves together three storylines – a blue-collar psychic (Matt Damon) who communicates with the dead, a London boy mourning his twin brother, and a French journalist who survives a near-death experience. Hereafter shares What Dreams May Come’s fascination with the afterlife and the thin veil between this world and the next, approaching its subject with sensitivity and grace.
These 15 films each offer their own unique take on the themes of love, death, the afterlife, and the search for meaning that lie at the heart of What Dreams May Come. Whether through mind-bending visuals, poetic storytelling, or philosophical inquiry, they invite us to ponder some of the biggest questions of human existence – and the transformative power of connection in the face of life’s mysteries.
So the next time you find yourself yearning for the emotional catharsis and imaginative vision of What Dreams May Come, give one of these thought-provoking films a try. You may just discover a new favorite that lingers in your memory long after the final credits roll.
