Film

Little Fish

Name: Little Fish
Genre: Romance, Science Fiction, Drama
Released: 2021
Cast: Olivia Cooke, Jack O'Connell, Soko, Raúl Castillo, David Lennon

A couple races against a memory-erasing virus to preserve their relationship and identity. *Little Fish* is a tender, intimate sci-fi drama that uses pandemic catastrophe as metaphor for how fragile love can be. Quiet and thoughtful rather than action-driven, it's for anyone who's felt time slip away from a relationship.

TMDb rating

3.6

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Never Let Me Go2010

Romantics will recognise this quiet devastation: two people clinging to ordinary moments while an inhuman force counts down their time. A masterclass in what science fiction can do when it trusts heartbreak.

But Emotionally punishing. There's no plot twist that saves anyone, and the film never rushes toward resolution. It sits in sadness.

The Fountain2006

Three timelines, one couple, one question: what does love survive? Visually sumptuous and formally ambitious, it stakes everything on the idea that connection outlasts everything, even memory and death.

But Demanding and baroque. Some will find it pretentious; others will feel bludgeoned by its earnestness. It doesn't wear accessibility lightly.

Arrival2016

Sci-fi about communication, sacrifice, and what you'd risk to hold onto someone. Quietly devastating in the same register as *Little Fish*—intimate stakes in a world-changing scenario.

But The central twist divides viewers. Some find it transcendent; others feel manipulated by its emotional gambit. Slow-paced for a thriller.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Little Fish

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Day the Earth Stood Still1951

Both use existential threat (memory loss, planetary destruction) as a lens to ask what we would sacrifice to stay close to someone we love.

A visitor threatens to erase human consciousness if we don't change. In this 1951 film, the apocalyptic premise serves a small, intimate human story: an ordinary family learning to let someone in. Same DNA as *Little Fish*—an impossible outside force testing what people will do for love and connection.

But A 73-year-old sci-fi film with dated effects. The politics are quaint and the pace glacial by modern standards. Needs patience to love.

Her2013

A love story between a human and an AI that's genuinely moving and unexpectedly lonely. Londrake Jonze explores connection, distance, and the parts of ourselves we can't hold onto.

But Very melancholic. The romance is beautiful but the ending is about loss. It's not uplifting, and the protagonist doesn't get the fairy tale.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind2004

Two people in a memory-erasure clinic realise they still love each other. A meditation on whether love matters if you can't remember it—your question exactly, but audacious and Kaufmanian.

But Structurally complex and frequently confusing. It requires attention and rewards it, but it won't hold your hand. Emotionally raw in ways some find exhausting.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind poster

Sicario2015

A couple separated by violence and circumstance, desperate to hold their ground. Tension-soaked and morally claustrophobic, it's about what we're willing to sacrifice for connection.

But Much darker and more violent than *Little Fish*. The marriage is almost secondary to the thriller machinery. Might feel thematically distant.

A Ghost Story2017

What does it mean to haunt a place you loved? Casey Affleck's ghost witnesses time erode everything—including memory. Quietly devastating meditation on permanence and loss.

But Deliberately paced to glacial. Long, static shots and minimal dialogue will test patience. More tone poem than narrative.

The Time Traveler's Wife2009

A couple torn apart by involuntary time travel, desperately trying to keep their story intact. Romantic and science-fictional, it shares *Little Fish*'s urgency about holding onto each other.

But Schmaltzy when it needs to be sharp. The mechanics of the time travel are confusing and sometimes contradictory. Some will find it too earnest.

Twisters2024

Former lovers reunite chasing storms. A beautifully shot adventure about rediscovering someone you thought you'd lost. Fun where *Little Fish* is mournful.

But Lighter and more conventional. The emotional stakes are lower, the tone sunnier. If you want the weight and strangeness of *Little Fish*, this won't satisfy.

Historical Roasts2019

Parallel structure and emotional register: a couple confronting the exact same terror—that the person they love will become a stranger to them.

A four-part Korean miniseries about a couple losing their memory simultaneously. Not science fiction—they're losing themselves to illness—but structured exactly like *Little Fish*: two people racing against erasure, holding onto the shape of their love. Devastating and formally inventive.

But Subtitled, very sad, and quite short. If you want something uplifting or plot-driven, this isn't it. The sadness is the point.

The Last Station2009

Both are intimate studies of a couple trying to hold their relationship together while an external force—virus, celebrity, history, age—threatens to pull them apart.

The last days of Tolstoy, told through his wife's desperate attempt to hold him steady. A historical drama about a woman fighting to preserve her marriage while history crowds in. The texture is entirely different from *Little Fish*, but the core is identical: panic, intimacy, the terror of losing someone who's still standing beside you.

But Stagey and period-bound. Might feel slow if you're expecting narrative momentum. Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren's performances will feel heavy-handed to some.